Failed composer Maestro Romão, ill, is seeking desperately to complete a piece of music he had abandoned in 1779, shortly after his marriage. In this brief and moving tale by the Brazilian master Machado de Assis, one of his finest, the frustrated artist Romão struggles momentarily against the oblivion that, he now sees, will be his lot.
Genre: short story
Translated from Portuguese (Brazil) by Juan LePuen
Date of English translation: 2012
