Volume 3 / Chapter 109

TL: LightNovelCafe

[TN: Just when I think I detect some tenderness in our MC…I realize that tenderness is mainly for music.]

When Jun Hyuk got to the conference room on Professor Hirani’s call, there was a grungy looking boy he was seeing for the first time. Also, there was not just Professor Hirani but 3 other professors drinking coffee and smiling.

“Are you two meeting for the first time? Say hi to each other. This is Jun. And this is Alexander.”

The two boys lightly shook hands and sat opposite the professors.

“I’m sure you can guess why we called you?”

“Excuse me? Oh, is it because of the judging…..?”

Alexander’s eyes sparked.

“That’s right. Your songs were picked together as first place. Unanimously. No one disagreed to this.”

“I see. Thank you.”

Unlike Alexander who was expressing his happiness, Jun Hyuk eyed Alexander for a moment as if surprised. It was because he had never seen him in composition classes. There are less than 30 students majoring in composition. He knew everyone’s faces even if they were in different grades.

This scary looking person is not a composition major.

“First, Jun. I’m sure you’re thinking of playing the piano yourself?”

How would this teenager express his youth? Professor Randall Poster was slightly excited at the thought of hearing Jun Hyuk’s extreme pianissimo. However, Jun Hyuk’s response made all of his expectations come crashing down.

“No. There’s another pianist I’m thinking of. Honestly, I was able to write this song in a week because it’s what I thought of after listening to her perform…..”

Alexander who was listening from next to Jun Hyuk furrowed his eyebrows. One week? What kind of song was it that he had written it in a week? It had taken him 2 months of revision to write his 8 minute song.

“Hm. I’m sorry but we can’t choose a pianist you have in mind if you don’t intend to play it yourself. We need to pick the members through fair auditions.”

Professor Randall Poster did not throw away his anticipation for Jun Hyuk’s piano. With this, wouldn’t Jun Hyuk play it himself?

“Ah, I see.”

“There’s nothing we can do. No matter who you thought of, this song has been revealed. It’s a song that anyone can play from now on. It is its premiere, but we can’t give preference to the pianist you have in mind.”

“I understand. Then we’ll have to have auditions.”

Jun Hyuk thought it a pity, but did not worry. He did not have confidence up to the 3rd part, but the 4th part is an impossible performance unless Amelia plays it. Not just anyone can play the piano with such explosive strength.

“And we’ll have to keep it a secret that you’re the composer of the selected song until we choose a pianist.”

Professor Poster could tell that Jun Hyuk did not have any intention to play the piano. All he wanted now was for a good pianist to perform.

“That’s because we give students a week before the soloist audition, but all of the pianists in the school will bother you if they know that you’re the composer. They’ll want to hear how you interpreted the song. And it’s inevitable that people will misunderstand if you have personal relations with some of these people.”

“Ah, I see. You’re saying it needs to be fair?”

“Yes. You understand?”

The professors shifted their gazes to Alexander.

Oboe major Alexander Dubchek is from a Czechoslovakian musical family. His grandfather was a pianist and he was born from a violinist father and cellist mother.

He is an amazing performer who will be joining the Prague Philharmonic as the 2nd oboe.

“Alexander, the same goes for you. The sopranos need to be chosen through a fair audition. You need to keep quiet.”

“Of course.”

When they came out of the conference room, Jun Hyuk asked what he had been holding back,

“Uh… You said you’re an oboist?”

“Yes.”

“Then how come I’ve never seen you in the concerts?”

“Ah, I’m done after this year. This is my last semester. Most people can’t participate in the concerts in their last semester. There are a lot of things we need to prepare for.”

“I see. I would like to hear your oboe before you leave the school. Then goodbye.”

Alexander was a little surprised by Jun Hyuk who had turned to leave after saying what he wanted, but there was something he needed to check. He wanted to see Jun Hyuk’s score that was up on the school intranet.

***

The notice board on the campus intranet was noisy. No one could hide their excitement that not only were there two selected songs, but there would be auditions for the piano, soprano, and violin in one week.

The violin is not for the concert but to fill the spaces emptied by the members who had gone to Paris for the Long Thibaud Competition.

Things like the cinematic quality of the selected songs did not matter. The famous maestro of the Philadelphia Philharmonic is coming. What is important is standing out in his eyes and gaining recognition.

All of the violinists, pianists, and sopranos in the school printed the score and began practicing. They only have one week’s time.

Alexander could not believe it when he saw Jun Hyuk’s score. It felt like a song Haydn wrote in his late years. It would be fitting to say that a white-haired, long bearded man had written the song. He could not believe that the young Asian kid he had just met wrote the song.

On the other hand, Jun Hyuk smiled as he looked through Alexander’s score. It is a fun song. He could feel a bustle throughout the song as if the neighborhood old ladies had come out to chat. He had not been able to help but smile when he thought of how someone who looks like a hoodlum could have such a tender consciousness.

As soon as Amelia saw the score, her hands shook. She was sure that this song was for her.

It was pianissimo, what she had to work on the most, until the 3rd part and then her greatest advantage and specialty, the passionate piano, began in the 4th.

She suddenly remembered a melody! Amelia looked at the 3rd part again.

The Bach cantata she played on the harmonica and then again on the piano! The 5 cantata melodies had been broken apart and cleverly placed across 12 segments.

Amelia realized that the composer of this song is the skinny Asian kid. She was running with the score in her hand to confirm the composer, but stopped.

What would she say once she met him? Would she ask him to help her interpret the song? Will she ask him to play the orchestra part for her? The soloist is chosen through the auditions anyway. More than anything, she first needed to ask herself if she wanted to play this song.

Amelia went back to the practice room and sat in front of the piano. At first, she played the way it was indicated on the score. There was no splendor through the 3rd part. An even pace, there were no parts that were so fast it would make it seem as though she has 20 fingers.

The listener is lonely and the flow continues so slowly that the performer feels as if their patience is being tested. It even required pianississimo.

She played until the 3rd part and took her hands off of the piano when the forte began in the 4th part. She had been so drained of all her energy while playing the piano with such concentration until the 3rd part that she could not play any longer. She just wondered if the Asian composer was in his right mind to demand such a rapid change of the pianist.

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