For The Musical Genius (Novel) - Chapter 54

Chapter 54

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“Yuri, sorry to trouble you.”

Humans are powerless against time.

“Not at all, Maestro.”

The lion of the Berlin Philharmonic, Yuri, was silently pushing the wheelchair. His master, who once seemed larger than anything else, now showed how mercilessly time had passed, as bent as his curved back.

“Maestro, couldn’t you just call that violinist? This is something that could be handled that way.”

There was no need for the elderly Gustav to move personally. One word from him, and violinists would come running, dropping everything. Though it had been long since he put down his violin, he was still the eternal Maestro. Even the Belgian king would come personally to see Gustav. The reason was simple. He was the former master of Chapelle.

“How can I wait when my aged heart is beating so strongly?”

Was it that significant?

“Yuri, honestly, I thought you would refuse my proposal to go meet that child. I was half resigned, so I was surprised when you readily agreed to come along. Didn’t you dislike me?”

“That’s a misunderstanding, Maestro.”

“Eden warned me to be careful of you, saying you might sneakily let go of the wheelchair handles on a downhill slope.”

“That redhead hasn’t changed a bit.”

Yuri frowned, rubbing his dry lips.

“May I ask you one thing, Maestro?”

“Of course. Being escorted by the lion of the Berlin Phil, a question is the least I can answer.”

“I’m curious why you chose Eden Simeon that day.”

“Time really has passed, hasn’t it? I never thought you, as solid as steel, would be curious about that.”

In the past, there was a time when he stood on the testing ground with Eden. Specifically at Chapelle. Yuri had no doubt he would inherit Gustav’s baton. He prided himself on being superior to that redhead in every way. But Gustav chose Eden as his successor. The sense of loss and frustration that day was incomparable to anything else. Of course, all of that might have become nourishment that led to where he is now.

“Yuri, you’re mistaken. I didn’t choose Eden.”

The smoothly rolling wheelchair wheels stopped.

“It wasn’t that I chose that child, but that child chose me.”

What could this mean?

But Gustav still wore that enigmatic smile.

“You’ll understand someday.”

*

“Special instruments, you ask?”

An orchestra’s knowledge is vast. Experience and vivid presence from the field overflow like a bursting dam, something theory alone could never teach. Just look at Michael, the snare drum player. He shared his experiences with me without holding back.

“In classical music, percussion wasn’t used much. Its use gradually increased after the Romantic period – maybe that’s why I came to love Mahler so much. Anyway, if I had to pick the most unusual instrument I’ve played instead of the snare drum, it would definitely be the hammer.”

“A hammer?”

“Yes, in Mahler’s Symphony No. 6, there are parts where you hit the ground with a hammer. And that’s not all – depending on the conductor’s style, instruments can be used in various ways. There’s no rule that orchestras must only use standardized instruments. Sometimes we use sleigh bells to create the sound of gentle breezes. And there’s more…”

Michael demonstrated shaking sleigh bells.

“Kang Hyun, don’t stay next to chatty Michael, come over here. If you keep listening to him, he’ll start telling you about when he first learned the snare drum as a kid. Or he might go on about his thoughts on the seasoned chicken he ate a few days ago. I can guarantee it as his friend since childhood.” It was Principal Cellist Emmanuel. Michael immediately pushed out his lips and shouted ‘I’m not chatty, you baldy!’ making the practice room burst into laughter.

“Kang Hyun, your vibrato the other day was really impressive. Could you check my form?”

“Me?”

Emmanuel was the principal player. Moreover, he was a cellist.

“Is there a problem?”

Emmanuel questioned back while taking his position. I carefully observed his left hand. His vibrato technique of gripping the fingerboard and creating vibrations was textbook perfect. But his expression didn’t look pleased.

“I’m trying to do it like you, but it’s not working.”

“I may not be qualified to judge, but you’re doing it very well?”

“I’m grateful for those words from the young Paganini. The advantage I saw in you is that you use the strings as if they were gut strings.”

“Pardon?”

Emmanuel continued, pointing at the strings.

“Until the Baroque period, strings were made from animal gut, and these gut strings had rich and natural sounds. They say it made the music feel alive. But they were difficult to make and couldn’t be used for long. After metal strings became common, gut strings disappeared completely. But that’s where the problem arose.”

“Problem?”

“Metal strings are good for producing sharp and accurate pitches, but to create the same rich sound as before, you need to use strong vibrato. The naturalness disappeared within this artificially created richness. But your melody was so rich and smooth. Just like sounds produced from gut strings.”

It was high praise. My face reddened without realizing it. Emmanuel looked at me with satisfaction and added.

“Ah, ahem. This hairstyle is my style. Unlike that sparrow, I know fashion.”

Before I could respond, Michael, who had suddenly approached, shouted ‘This guy has been bald since he was 19!’ Amidst the endless laughter, Dmitri entered the practice room. The London Symphony’s concertmaster, somewhat like the Russian master Alexei, glanced at me once before taking his seat.

Then.

Thump.

As Maestro Spencer entered the practice room, the boisterous members became composed as if nothing had happened.

“Kang Hyun, sit here.”

Spencer prepared a seat next to him. Like the conductor’s position, it was where all the members could be seen clearly. When I wasn’t practicing collaboration with the orchestra, Spencer always had me sit here. It felt as warm as when grandfather always took me to his office.

The seating arrangement in the London Symphony was variable. It would be accurate to say that all positions except first violin changed slightly according to Spencer’s will. For instance, sometimes the cello and viola positions would be switched, or the percussion instruments’ locations would be changed. Everything had to maintain optimal conditions, so positions changed flexibly depending on the symphony being performed and the concert hall’s condition.

“The Seoul Arts Center doesn’t have as much reverberation as other venues. If I had known, we should have held the performance in a cathedral instead. Everyone, please keep that in mind and pay attention to your final notes.”

An orchestra is one breath.

In a way, it could be seen as one massive instrument. They had matched their breathing for so long that they could read each other’s minds just by exchanging glances. This isn’t achieved through mathematical formulas. Only long experience can meld such breathing together. The thrill felt from the conductor’s position must be beyond words. The moment the Maestro’s fingertips rose to play this massive instrument, the members’ gazes changed simultaneously. As if by agreement.

* * *

“Dmitri, what do you think?”

The Maestro’s fingertips seemed lighter than ever.

“About Kang Hyun.”

“An extraordinary performer. Certainly.”

Dmitri didn’t evaluate Kang Hyun as a child. He treated him as a full-fledged performer. The orchestra members were like sharpened blades. As sensitive musicians, they don’t easily open their hearts to strangers. But didn’t they all treat Kang Hyun familiarly, as if they had known him for a very long time?

“He has a magic that draws in the audience.”

“I agree with that, but how about his performance ability? As concertmaster, that is.”

The concertmaster is the master who oversees all string instruments. They must view the members differently from the conducting Maestro’s perspective. Particularly, they must carefully observe whether the soloist’s breathing harmonizes well with the members. “Unbelievably, he blended so well with the orchestra that you wouldn’t think we’d only practiced for a few days. Even the fastidious Emmanuel opened up and approached him warmly. Though the occasional melody seems to lead ahead of the orchestra, even that felt like it encompassed everything. This kind of experience…”

“Is a first?”

Dmitri nodded without hesitation. There had never been a case of practicing a collaboration for the main performance in just one week. Yet hadn’t Kang Hyun absorbed the orchestra’s essence at a frightening pace?

“Maestro, may I ask why you have Kang Hyun sit beside you?”

Kang Hyun always sat beside the Maestro during conducting.

“I wanted to test if he had talent for conducting as well. What do you think?”

“Maestro, when I first joined the orchestra, I couldn’t even look at your gaze. But one day, I suddenly thought about how immense the pressure must be on the Maestro, receiving the gazes of so many members. In my opinion, having Kang Hyun sit beside you was an excellent choice. The way Kang Hyun looks at the members…”

Like a Maestro.

Dmitri swallowed the last words.

*

Sizzle sizzle―!

The Ichon-dong mansion was busier than usual. Both the housekeeper and mother were absorbed in preparing dinner. The reason was simple: Chairman Wang and Yu-ha were visiting. Yu-ha rolled up her small sleeves, insisting on helping mother. Mother’s smile never left her face, finding it quite adorable. One way or another, the usually empty dining table was now full. Of course, Yu-ha claimed the seat next to me.

“Mr. Kang, how’s the graphene development department?”

Father had moved to the new materials development department.

Ah, that’s good. It would become a core department leading Dongju’s future.

“Since it’s related to my field of study and an area I’m interested in, I’m really enjoying it. I’m working hard not to waste the opportunity you’ve given me, father-in-law. I’ll continue to work harder to not disappoint you.”

Father’s response was somewhat stiff, but understandably so with Chairman Wang sitting across from him. Though they must have met several times before, he was still an intimidating business world giant.

“Chairman Yu, must we talk about work at the dinner table? He’ll get indigestion. By the way, Kang Hyun, how’s the collaboration preparation going?”

“Yes, grandfather.”

“Your grandfather’s smile hasn’t dropped once.”

It was a continuously warm dinner. Mother’s soy sauce marinated crab sold like hotcakes, to the point where Chairman Wang asked to take home any leftovers. Grandfather bickered, saying there wasn’t enough for himself, but their interaction kept everyone laughing. It reminded me of Nordic Eric who would devour my braised chicken in the blink of an eye – my cooking skills must be inherited from mother.

“Oppa, do you like lotus root?”

Yu-ha asked curiously, seeing me continuously eating the braised lotus root. Though I hated it so much in my past life, now I can’t get enough. When I nodded, Yu-ha’s round eyes lit up as if she’d made a decision. She quickly stuffed some braised lotus root in her mouth and proudly declared.

“I rike rotus root too!”

After the dinner that rivaled a royal feast.

Grandfather and Chairman Wang were busy discussing the bundle they had exchanged earlier. The materials created by the Strategic Planning Office were impressive, covering real estate, stocks, industrial development, and market expansion. It was meticulously researched, including aspects ordinary people wouldn’t think of, and I was amazed that Chairman Wang had spearheaded it all. I understood once again why Son Il-sun feared Chairman Wang.

Of course, since future market trends couldn’t be definitively predicted, there were occasional errors. It would be nonsensical to perfectly predict the future through academics like statistics.

Ah, that part is wrong?

Suddenly, Chairman Wang looked at me as I frowned.

“Kang Hyun, did you notice something strange in what grandfather said?”

I nodded briefly and.

“Well, I don’t know. Obviously.”

Oops, I almost fell for his scheme and started explaining everything. I had unconsciously become absorbed in the conversation. I felt cold sweat forming on my back.

“Hmm, is that so?”

The old snake’s gaze remained unsettling.