Volume 3 / Chapter 107
TL: LightNovelCafe
[TN: I’ve been wanting to post a singing clip since volume 1 because I think I mentioned I wanted to be a singer…and the first volume of this book reminded me of when I used to audition. But I keep forgetting. Maybe this weekend? ? Anyway Enjoy!]
When Jun Hyuk went back to his dorm room after his 3 hour lesson, there was someone waiting for him in front of the door. Fortunately, it was not Coline.
She was sitting in front of his room while playing the harmonica, not shying from the gazes of other students.
“We finally meet again. Do you have a moment?”
“What? Why?”
Amelia suddenly grabbed his wrist and led him to a practice room with two grand pianos.
“I played it the way you said before, but it’s not that good. Help me out a bit.”
Jun Hyuk threw his bag on the floor and sat in front of one of the pianos,
“Play the first. I’ll play the second.”
“Okay.”
As soon as Jun Hyuk heard Amelia’s first note, music flowed out. An unbending melody. A rampancy that was as though she was taking the soft Bach and shaking him by his hair. She was ignoring the calm expression and playing the piano with power.
Jun Hyuk had heard that this girl had flunked at last year’s Chopin Competition. Her piano clearly showed why. Chopin and this girl do not have chemistry. No matter how well she expressed the delicate Chopin, the judges would only have remembered her passion. It is relayed that powerfully.
He had no doubt that she was learning pianissimo (very weakly) in this school. If she learned to delicately hide her strength, she would become a perfect pianist.
After the 1st piano’s solo flowed for about 3 minutes, Jun Hyuk started playing his piano. In order to keep the cantata theme alive, he came in so slowly that the 1st piano would not notice. The two cantatas modified exquisitely to sound like a single song, and he focused on completing a harmony.
After playing for over 10 minutes, the song was coming to an end but Jun Hyuk kept playing as if he could be and could not be present.
Amelia pressed down the last notes as if bringing down a hammer and bolted up from her chair in exhilaration. He did not speak a word and without being able to control the excitement she felt in her fingertips, she pulled Jun Hyuk into a hug and kissed him. They kissed so deeply that he could not breathe for a few minutes and he left the room with a flushed face.
Jun Hyuk knew very well that his flushed cheeks were not just a result of the kiss. The indescribable satisfaction that is felt after finishing a wonderful performance – this is the reason. However, Jun Hyuk could not hide his disorientated state. He quietly mumbled behind Amelia who was running out of the room,
“You, good kisser.”
Of the three teams performing that night in the bandstand, one was Amelia’s piano. So as not to forget the excitement she felt while playing the piano with Jun Hyuk, she performed the variation on Bach’s cantata with Professor Greenfield in Jun Hyuk’s place.
Jun Hyuk watched the performance with interest, but he could not hide his bitter smile when it was over.
Professor Greenfield had not been faithful to his supporting role as the second, and had shown a comparable piano. The configuration of his piano was to show the grandiosity of the piece, so Amelia responded with a piano that sounded as though she was trying hard not to be pushed back.
Eventually, the two ended with the pomp that comes from a fiery battle rather than sophistication. Their faces were not very bright either once they finished their performance.
The 2nd team to appear was a string quartet, but they were unable to overcome the powerful finish leftover and ended their mediocre performance without showing their full potential. Jun Hyuk left without listening to the rest.
When he came outside, he could hear a girl’s sharp voice. Amelia was speaking strongly to Professor Greenfield.
Anyone would yell in this situation. Professor Greenfield had ruined the performance due to his greed as a pianist. Of course Professor Greenfield would not be able to understand why Amelia was getting so angry and how he had ruined the performance. The song that he performed was not bad either.
However, he would have been able to understand if he had heard the performance of a second piano that stays in the background and supports the first piano. He would know that harmony takes priority over grandiosity.
Jun Hyuk did not know that after this day, Amelia declared that she would no longer participate as a guest in Professor Greenfield’s performances.
At the start of November, the many students majoring in the piano and violin were nowhere to be seen. Along with the students competing in the Long Thibaud Competition in France, students and professors had left en masse to visit the country and see the people who would become the fresh performers of the world. Thanks to this, the team performances that occurred every night were suspended for the time being.
Danny had gotten on the plane to France. He was not participating in the competition, but he wanted to see the participants. Jun Hyuk was able to focus on composition while alone in the quiet. Yoon Kwang Hun who was always the first to see Jun Hyuk’s new scores praised him saying that his music was becoming more elaborate every time they spoke.
One day when the composition lecture ended, Professor Hirani stopped Jun Hyuk as he was leaving the classroom.
“Jun, are you going to submit a song?”
“Excuse me? What do you mean a song?”
“The song CH orchestra will perform. This year, the principal conductor of Philadelphia will be visit to command.”
“Ah, are you talking about the performance in December?”
“That’s right.”
The CH orchestra is an orchestra made from Clayton-Hoffman students. The activity period regardless of grade and relation is 1 year. Students who are talented enough to dream of becoming soloists go through a cutthroat competition to become a member. Everyone desperately tries to become a member because of the performances that open twice every year.
They perform in a midsummer night festival in New York’s Central Park. This performance is opening for the New York Philharmonic.
The winter season performance opens in the theater inside the school.
A conductor who is eminent in America comes to orchestrate both of these performances. If a student stands out, he could earn an amazing opportunity. Furthermore, the opportunity to become a soloist comes if the selected repertoire is an orchestra.
Since the summer performance is in front of a general audience, they perform a widely known song. However, because the winter performance is done inside the school, it is done with a song created by a student.
“Ah, is it also possible for students?”
“Not only is it possible, we only do the performance with a student’s song. You didn’t know?”
“No, I didn’t know the students wrote the songs. I just thought they performed a famous song. When do I need to submit it by?”
“It’s next week. What a waste… The other composition major students will probably be refining their songs right now. I guess you couldn’t tell that the other students were on edge lately. They’re all on the brink of meltdowns. It’s an honor if they’re selected and it’s a disgrace if they aren’t. Ha ha.”
“Really? Should I give it a try?”
“Oh, I guess you have something made?”
Professor Hirani had an expression of anticipation for what Jun Hyuk’s song would be like.
“I do have something I made but… it’s old… Wouldn’t it be better to make a new one? I need to use what I learned from you as well.”
To start composing now? When there is only one week left? Well, it does not have to be a 40-minute symphony. Since it is a free choice song without a format on the number of parts it needs, it would not matter if it was 10 minutes long.
“Try making a concerto while you’re at it. It’s better if even one more person is able to participate.”
Jun Hyuk suddenly recalled a song at Professor Hirani’s words. Then he decided what kind of song he would write.
A piano concerto. Not a song for the Argentinian beauty Amelia’s passionate piano, but a song that presses the passion to its limit. What that girl needs to learn. Pianissimo! Jun Hyuk was going to make an extreme pianissimo.