The Healing Life of a Music Genius - Chapter 199



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199 gifts

* * *

My heart was pounding.

A tingling sensation rises from behind my back and reaches the crown of my head.

Goosebumps appeared on my arms, and I swallowed my saliva without realizing it.

This is always how I felt when I first encountered Beethoven’s music.

Melody that wanders in the heavens.

Beethoven’s unique tone, with a calm yet elegant tone.

His music was so beautiful.

However, as expected from a score written by someone with a famous(?) bad handwriting, not all elements of the score could be recognized.

Fortunately, there were traces of an attempt to clearly write the positions of the notes, so I was able to sufficiently grasp the overall development of ⌜Piano Sonata No. 33⌟.

I took a deep breath.

At that moment.

“I guess this is all I can do.”

The Russian master, pianist Basyanov, showed me his wristwatch again.

I nodded, and Judge Scott collected the score and put it back in the safe.

The safe locks again with a rattling sound.

“It’s a little······. disappointing.”

“I’ll distribute copies in the afternoon, so please wait until then. Still, since you came in first place in the semifinals, you had a time advantage over the other contestants. Even if the time difference is not that big.”

Mr. Debbe, the headmaster, speaks calmly.

The three of them began to fill out some documents in front of me.

He asked me to leave a note saying who looked at this score and at what time.

I took that brief moment to recall the Beethoven score I had seen earlier.

‘It was a song with a unique calm and quiet feeling in the key of F major······.’

‘The structure was a three-movement structure that is often used in sonatas······.’

‘I think the performance time will be around 15 minutes? It might be shorter than that.’

‘however······.’

There was one thing I personally had a question about.

Beethoven’s music is always clear.

Sad songs are written sadly, and happy songs are written happily.

But this music is like······.

‘I felt like I was just talking.’

I felt like they had focused on the lyrical melody and then rushed to end the story.

⌜Piano Sonata No. 33⌟ did not provide any conclusion.

Indeed, did Beethoven write this song on purpose?

If this work had been published ‘previously’, many scholars would have studied it and come to some conclusion, but this song is being revealed to the world for the first time.

Thanks to that, there is no information.

I had to solve every problem myself.

‘I guess I should go to the study first.’

Since Chapel doesn’t allow any electronic devices, all information had to be obtained through books, so I heard that there was a fairly large library here.

I arrived here in the evening yesterday so I didn’t have much time, but today I have some free time so I thought I could go straight to the study.

While I was lost in thought for a moment, the three of them seemed to have finished their work.

The headmaster of the Debbes school who had brought me here stood up.

“Thank you for your hard work. I think it would be best if you came back to the lobby with me now.”

Before I left this place, I asked the three of them a question just in case.

“I······. But were the 10 sheets of music I received all there were?”

“What does that mean?”

“I think there should be more to the latter part of the score. I was wondering if you missed anything.”

“······.”

A question that may seem presumptuous.

But I had to ask this question because it just didn’t seem to me that ⌜Piano Sonata No. 33⌟ would end like this.

After a brief silence of about 2 or 3 seconds.

Pianist Bashanov answered on behalf of the group.

“These ten sheets were all that Brussels received at the auction. These are all the sheets we received. I showed you all the sheets of the ⌜Piano Sonata No. 33⌟.”

“······Is that so?”

“Yeah. We didn’t make any mistakes, so don’t worry.”

“Okay, thank you for your answer.”

Pianist Bashanov looked at me and smiled faintly.

The time when I could see Beethoven’s handwritten scores in person is over.

With this memory in my mind, I followed Professor Debye back to the lobby of the Chapel.

The lobby of the Chapelle Mansion is as large as the lobby of a large concert hall.

All of the finalists were sitting on the sofas scattered here and there, and when Director Debbe called their names, Yankowski was the only one to stand up.

Mr. Jankowski and Mr. Debbe walked back down the hallway I had come from.

I looked at their backs and then turned my head towards the lobby······.

“So how was it???”

“Whoa!”

As I was about to turn around, Sister Lucas was already right in front of me.

“I almost lost my liver!”

“Liver? Why is your liver falling out? Where does it hurt?”

“No. That’s not it······.”

I was so surprised that I ended up saying Korean vocabulary in English.

“That’s how surprised I was.”

“Well, that’s good. So what about Beethoven’s music? What kind of piece was it???”

“······.”

Now that I look, not only Sister Lucas, but all ten of the participants sitting in the lobby were looking only at me.

Queen Elisabeth Competition finalists.

Pianists who have devoted everything to music and come this far.

For those of us, including me, Beethoven’s unpublished piano pieces were like a dream come true.

The participants who looked at me with bright eyes looked no different from children.

Even Turner, who had been scolded by Jankowski and Sister Lucas yesterday, was glancing at me from the corner.

When I first imagined Music Chapel, I thought it would be a place with a tense atmosphere······.

Well, I guess that’s not the case.

I cleared my throat slightly and decided to give them a little hint.

“First of all, Beethoven’s unpublished work is a piece in F major.”

“F major? Wow! Then it would be a lyrical song?”

“To some extent.”

“F major is my favorite key! Awesome!”

“What genre is it? Bagatelle? Variations? Sonata? Waltz? Prelude? Polonaise?”

“I’m so excited!”

“But will there be time to practice?”

“That’s right. I have to practice the concerto too, but if I want to memorize a new piece······.”

“It’s hell. Hell.”

“It’ll take a long time just to get a first impression.”

“Queen Elizabeth has a really crazy schedule, huh?”

The finalists each have a word to say.

Hyunju, a contestant from South Korea like me, also came near me and pricked up her ears.

Suddenly, I felt like teasing them a little, but I didn’t.

I decided to tell you the most important thing I noticed when I first saw the score.

“Beethoven had a terrible handwriting. Because of that, he couldn’t read the music properly. I think he probably had to spend a lot of time interpreting the music.”

“Bad handwriting?”

“oh!”

“My German skills are really bad! At this rate, I’m going to end up not being able to read instructions.”

“Hahaha······. What should I do?”

The atmosphere in the room became turbulent for a moment.

I only let my acquaintances Hyunju and Lucas know that Beethoven’s unpublished piece was a sonata.

Sister Lucas said thank you and put two chocolates in my hand, and Sister Hyunju watched the situation and quickly handed me a cough syrup.

It was actually a throat lozenge sold in Korea.

If you call this a bribe, there’s nothing to say, but I think it’s more like a small pleasure shared among participants who feel a sense of kinship in a confined space.

Sister Lucas soon found herself in the distance, where Turner was, and began teasing him.

In English with a hint of a French accent, I could vaguely hear, “Merong! You didn’t hear anything from Seojin! Aren’t you sick? That’s why people should always behave well······.”

I put a piece of Belgian chocolate in my mouth, greeted the participants, and headed to the study first.

Today is the day when my full-fledged Music Chapel life begins.

Perhaps because I saw the innocent faces of the contestants, I felt like I was about to laugh.

* * *

The room containing the Music Chapel’s safe.

“Time is up. Let’s stop here.”

“Oh, yes. I understand. Thank you for your hard work!”

A Canadian participant stands up from his seat and greets everyone.

The three contest officials smiled at the sight and asked him to wait a moment longer.

After another 2 or 3 minutes had passed.

The Deputy Director took her out, while Bashanov and Scott, who remained in the room, checked their watches out of habit while going through the papers.

“That was the last turn, right?”

“Yes. There were 12 of them. They were all pianists with lively eyes.”

Judge Scott looks pleased.

Bashanov stared absentmindedly at the locked safe and opened his mouth.

“Out of 12, only one mentioned ‘that’?”

Scott smiles faintly.

“Yes, that’s right. Only that child said that the score didn’t seem complete. He asked me specifically if there was a second half of the score.”

“Even though it is a perfect three-movement sonata form, I had doubts about Beethoven’s score. Strangely enough.”

“Is that child also feeling it instinctively?”

“Maybe so. Like us······. Maybe they noticed that this score was unfinished.”

Excluding the participants, only about ten people in Belgium have seen this score so far.

Among them, there are a total of 5 musicians who can be called masters.

These five musicians all viewed the score as an unfinished work.

Although it is a formally perfect and flawless work, I felt a strange sense of discomfort from the bland ending that was so uncharacteristic of Beethoven.

Bashanov continued, recalling a conversation he had had with Taiwanese master Lang Yu the day before.

“⌜Piano Sonata No. 33⌟ must be a four-movement piece. It is music that cannot be otherwise.”

“So, was the rest of the score lost? Or was it that Beethoven never had time to compose until the end?”

“Well, I wish I could ask him directly. It’s a shame I can’t. But.”

Bashanov mentioned the child directly.

“I think that maybe that boy named Han Seo-jin could make this score, though incomplete, perfect.”

“Unfinished but perfect music······. That’s an incredible statement.”

“That child reached the conclusion that we had been thinking about and struggling for days in an instant, and in just 15 minutes. I think he was truly the right person to be the premiere of the ⌜Piano Sonata No. 33⌟.”

“That’s great praise.”

“That kid is a worthy performer. Even Judge Scott has heard him play himself.”

“······.”

Scott didn’t bother to answer.

Bashanov didn’t even bother to ask him for an answer.

After finishing organizing the documents, the two left the room.

Looking at the tightly locked safe once more······.

The large door to the room is firmly locked with an iron padlock.

* * *

“This is crazy! I need a cryptographer! Aaaah!!!”

Sister Lucas finally exploded.

Sister Lucas, confused as to whether Beethoven’s instructions were to be ‘soft and fast’ or ‘slender and delicate’, grabs her head.

He takes a rubber band out of his pocket and ties his long brown hair tightly.

“Do you think I’ll give up, Seo Jin-ah!”

“yes?”

“Sister, I’ll sleep for exactly 30 minutes. Wake me up then. Okay?”

“······.”

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m human too. Shouldn’t I work while resting? You too, when you grow old. Isn’t it easy?”

“······But you said my sister got old?”

“It’s better than you. Okay, that’s it!”

“······.”

This year, I am 19 years old.

Sister Lucas, who would have just started college in Korea, collapsed on the desk as if she had fainted.

After a while, the sound of breathing changes to ‘saegunsaegun’.

The place we were now was Chapel’s study.

A huge library the size of a typical bookstore.

The bookshelves made of antique wood were mostly filled with books about classical music, and there were various music books here, ranging from very old books to new books published within the past month.

A place where the unique smell that lingers in a space with books lingers.

I thought that if Suyeon came here, she would probably like it quite a bit.

Because the space was spacious, participants sat comfortably in their respective seats and read books.

As we received a new score of Beethoven, we had to infer the background of its composition.

The first step in ‘interpreting music’ is to understand what mindset the composer had when he created the music.

Depending on the situation the composer is facing at the time, how to play the music is naturally decided.

Fortunately, I was able to narrow down the scope a lot thanks to the clear clue of the piano sonata ‘No. 33’.

Beethoven composed Piano Sonata No. 32 around 1821 or 1822.

And Beethoven died on March 26, 1827.

In other words, all you had to do was look for data from 1822 to 1827.

For that reason, I too was going through Beethoven’s records from 1825 one by one.

However, since deciphering Beethoven’s sentences was also a bonus, it was only natural that the participants would spend more time in the study.

After waking up Sister Lucas after 30 minutes, I went outside for a bit.

The weather is quite hot even though I’m wearing short sleeves and shorts.

I decided to take a walk along the forest path, just like Beethoven did.

If I keep doing this, I think some thoughts will come to mind.

The leaves of the lush trees provide shade and help relieve the summer heat.

The scent of trees and the smell of the earth mix to create the smell of the forest.

I took a deep breath.

My complicated head, filled with Beethoven’s music, feels refreshed.

I walked while looking at the map of Music Chapel that Professor Debbe had given me.

After walking along the forest path for about 15 more minutes.

An open field appeared and a small castle appeared.

Music Chapel Palace.

The place, smaller than the Chapelle Mansion, was reduced to ruins by the long war.

We took a seat at the edge of the forest with a good view of the Chateau de Chapelle.

A cool breeze blows from the top of a low hill.

The grasses dance swaying to the beat.

I lay down, feeling like I had no idea what to do, using the tree roots sticking out of the dirt floor as my pillow.

Sunlight filters through the branches and leaves.

The light creates waves in time with the wind.

I reached out there.

It is not known exactly when Beethoven composed Piano Sonata No. 33.

At that time, I already knew from books that he had completely lost his hearing.

‘then······.’

He must have composed this piano sonata solely based on the melody he heard from within.

Now I can hear the sound of the wind and the trees, but Beethoven could not even hear this.

I slowly closed my eyes.

And I recalled his score before my eyes.

Sonata in F major.

An impressive piece with a surprisingly beautiful and lyrical introduction.

I lay on the grass in the Music Chapel and played the Piano Sonata No. 33 in my mind.

Thinking back to those moments on a deserted island when a fake piano that didn’t actually make a sound no matter how hard I pressed it produced a sound more wonderful than anywhere else······.

Beethoven gave me a gift over many years,

I started making that beautiful melody my own.