The Healing Life of a Music Genius - Chapter 200



Only Noblemtl

200 Like any musician

* * *

The guide I received from Master Debbe on my first day here included a map of Chapel.

Where do I go to find the walking trail?

Where do you go to find a pond?

Also, where can I go to find the entrance to escape this place, etc.

It was thanks to that that I was able to find the Chapelle Castle right away.

After finishing piano practice in the morning, I always went out for a walk.

There was also the intention of trying to imitate Beethoven’s actions, and sometimes new ideas would come to mind when basking in the warm sunlight in a place with such good air.

Today, I walked along the forest path for about an hour and returned to the Chapel Mansion.

In the lobby, participants were having a light conversation.

We usually talked a lot about music, but we never asked each other about ‘Beethoven’s music scores’.

A rule that is implicitly created without anyone suggesting it first.

We’re on good terms now, but it seems like it happened naturally because we’re also competitors.

My older sister Hyun-ju, who was sitting on the sofa reading a book, spots me and waves to me.

“You’re sincere. Did you go for a walk again?”

“Yes. The air outside is nice. Sister, you should go out for a bit. The smell of grass is nice, and the breeze is refreshing.”

“Hmm. But I really hate heat. I just like being in the air conditioning like this.”

Sister Hyun-ju spreads her arms in the direction the air conditioner is coming from.

Well, it’s the Music Chapel mansion, which boasts tradition, but it also has everything you need.

“If you do that, you’ll catch air conditioning sickness.”

“There’s nothing I can do. This is the epitome of modern life. Still, Seojin, I’ll try to go out with you in consideration of your worries. Thank you.”

Then he gives me a cough syrup.

They say that nothing is better than this to wake you up.

Japanese and Chinese participants also spoke to me.

I went to the place with the pond last time and it was pretty nice.

He suggested that we go for a walk together next time.

Since it’s already been five days since I came to Chapel, I’ve become quite friendly with the other participants.

Maybe because I was relatively young, everyone took good care of me, but thanks to Reiko, a Japanese participant, cutting my Castella in half for me, I had a chance to talk.

In a word, they were all good people.

‘But······. That Castella was really delicious.’

‘A thought suddenly occurred to me.’

I didn’t forget, and wrote on the request form in the lobby that I wanted Castella and milk added tomorrow.

A system where if you just write something down, it will be delivered the next day.

I once again thought that Music Chapel was pretty good.

I went back to my room, took a shower, and headed straight to the study.

And I always opened up my music score and book in the seat where I sat.

I had already added numerous annotations to Beethoven’s copy of the score.

‘It seems like it’s getting more and more complicated······.’

The enigmatic puzzle in his score was also slowly being solved.

Beethoven wrote a scribble-like sentence on the last page of this score.

A total of 3 sentences.

When I first saw it, I thought it was a song dedicated to someone, but that wasn’t the case.

I opened the book.

A book written by a scholar who has studied Beethoven’s handwriting throughout his life.

This book is definitely a bestseller at Music Chapel right now.

Fortunately, there were several copies of each book available, so there was no difficulty in borrowing books.

I began to read the book again carefully, looking back and forth between it and the sheet music.

Beethoven’s quote written at the very end of the third movement.

The first sentence, which was written so blurry and had lines drawn indiscriminately that it seemed impossible to understand, was finally understood today.

I put my hand on the sentence written by Beethoven.

Selbst das Verständnis des Herzens einer Person scheint unmöglich zu sein.

‘I may not even be able to properly understand one person’s heart······.’

A meaningful phrase.

It’s possible that I misinterpreted or mistranslated it, but I don’t think the meaning is off the mark.

What did Beethoven mean by writing this sentence in his musical score?

In the second sentence he wrote, he identified the words ‘hand’ and ‘hate’.

In the last sentence he wrote, he only understood the word ‘to me’.

Because of this, my thoughts became more and more complicated.

Anyway······.

There is no doubt that Beethoven’s handwriting was a huge obstacle to properly understanding this work.

‘Is this why there were no young participants in the Queen Elisabeth Competition?’

I had to basically communicate in English with the participants and contest officials.

I had to be able to read the English and German books in Chapel’s study without any trouble.

To be honest, I thought that if I hadn’t studied German hard, I might have had a hard time.

I raised my head and looked out the window.

The arched windows were now tinted orange.

‘The days go by so quickly.’

A time when I focus solely on music.

The time I’m spending at Music Chapel right now seems to have some similarities to the time I spent on the deserted island.

I put my books away, put the music scores in my bag, and headed to the restaurant.

And I packed a lunch box with my name on it, which was in an insulated bag.

After eating lunch with Sister Lucas, who had just come down to the restaurant, I went back to my room and started practicing for the evening.

Beethoven’s music is gradually built up to the steady sound of a wooden metronome.

I tried to read his intentions and thoughts, and played each word carefully.

The room began to get darker and darker.

Indirect lighting from stands erected here and there illuminates the place.

The moon was visible outside the window.

The first day I came to Chapelle, all I could see was stars, but today a thin crescent moon is softly illuminating Chapelle.

I stopped playing.

I thought this would be enough for today.

Mr. Miller always emphasized that you shouldn’t overdo it.

I spent over 6 hours today practicing piano alone, so this was enough.

I always followed my uncle’s advice faithfully.

I opened the window.

Unlike my older sister Hyun-ju, I welcomed the breeze from nature more than the air conditioner.

I sat down by the window and began reading some of Beethoven’s other scores.

Beethoven’s piano scores borrowed from the study.

These were the sheet music scores that I was looking at from time to time, thinking that I might find some better hints here.

I closed my eyes for a moment.

It seemed as if the melody flowed from the score and lingered in my ears.

Habits formed on a deserted island.

I listened quietly to the sounds I heard.

At this very moment, the melody of the ⌜Piano Sonata No. 33⌟, which I care about the most, comes to mind naturally.

The melody is expanded by adding notes little by little and changing the beat, taking a small motif.

Beethoven’s unique style.

Although he was called a musical saint, Beethoven never found it easy to create musical scores.

Repeat the agony and distress.

Find the right note among 88 keys.

Repeat that over and over again.

A painful and agonizing task.

This tedious process is repeated over and over again.

Even the saint of music who left his mark on history······.

When I was composing, when I was drawing the music score, I thought about it endlessly.

Beethoven’s ten-note staff suddenly unfolds before my eyes.

I took my time looking through his music.

Among the numerous phrases that contain various meanings, a few notes stand out.

A very small musical motif.

I reached out to those few notes.

A thin, small melody rings in my ears.

A very delicate and delicate melody.

My eyes opened naturally.

“no way······.”

Wasn’t the piano the starting point of this work?

A sudden thought occurred to me, so I checked my watch and hurried to Chapel’s study.

There was no time limit on wandering around the mansion.

Participants were given 14 days, 24 hours a day to use freely.

The study was very dark.

There was no light except the moonlight coming through the window.

I just realized that I don’t even know where the switch to turn on the lights in the study is.

So I decided to just look for the sheet music first.

If I were outside of Chapel, I could easily listen to the music on my smartphone or PC······.

There was no other way than analog here.

“1826······. 1826······.”

Beethoven’s sheet music arranged in chronological order of composition date.

Before long, I was able to get my hands on the sheet music I wanted.

I went to the window.

And I slowly looked at Beethoven’s score under the soft moonlight.

It was a piece by Beethoven that I had heard two or three times before.

I was able to find the melody I wanted in this score.

“⌜String Quartet No. 16⌟······.”

The source of the delicate and delicate melody that appears in ⌜Piano Sonata No. 33⌟.

The melody······.

It was the sound of a violin, not a piano.

Today is five days after I came to Music Chapel.

I finally found a clue to Beethoven’s unpublished scores.

* * *

Taiwanese virtuoso pianist Lang Yu asks:

“······ ⌜String Quartet No. 16⌟?”

“That’s right. There I was able to find the melody that became the motif of the ⌜Piano Sonata No. 33⌟. It’s a very small motif, but there is definitely a similar part.”

Lang Yu looks incredulous at the words of Russian master Basyanov.

Bashanov found the score of Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 16 on his laptop and showed it to him, and only then did Lang Yu express his admiration.

“Huh? So, are you really saying that Beethoven composed String Quartet No. 16 and Piano Sonata No. 33 at the same time?”

“I think that’s very likely.”

“······.”

Now, they were roughly interpreting and understanding ⌜Piano Sonata No. 33⌟.

The final round of the Queen Elisabeth Competition will be broadcast live throughout Europe, including Belgium.

Rather than just showing music, the host and commentator have conversations to create a proper ‘competition broadcast program’.

The two masters who are advisors to this year’s Queen Elisabeth Competition, Lang Yu and Basyanov, were also scheduled to provide commentary on the program.

They continued to compare copies of the Piano Sonata No. 33 with the String Quartet No. 16 under the watchful eyes of the Queen Elisabeth Competition’s top officials.

During a heated discussion with professors from the Conservatory of Music in Leuven, Belgium’s top university.

They have been spending quite some time in this lab.

Beethoven had one peculiar habit when composing.

He enjoyed composing two works simultaneously whenever possible.

For example, Beethoven’s Symphonies No. 5 (Fate) and No. 6 (Pastoral), as well as Symphonies No. 7 and No. 8.

In some ways, these works can be seen as ‘brotherly works’.

Listening to Beethoven’s works together can be said to be one of the fun ways to appreciate his music.

then.

If, as they see, ⌜String Quartet No. 16⌟ and ⌜Piano Sonata No. 33⌟ have similar motives······.

The composition period of the previously unpublished ⌜Piano Sonata No. 33⌟ can now be clearly identified.

⌜String Quartet No. 16⌟, the last piece composed by Beethoven during his lifetime.

⌜Piano Sonata No. 33⌟, which is likely a sibling work of that work.

Of course, it would take a lot of time and research to get a definitive answer, but they were given only a very short amount of time.

So they quickly came to their own conclusions.

Langwei continues speaking softly while looking at the music score.

“I think I finally understand why this score feels so ‘unfinished.’”

Bashanov nodded calmly.

“Yes. Beethoven didn’t have time to finish this score.”

“······ It’s sad. No, I guess I should see this as part of music too.”

“I think so too.”

“This score would be a huge discovery in the history of classical music. It’s another piece that contains Beethoven’s final thoughts… A truly incredible piece of music might have been born into this world.”

“That too, as the young boy’s first performance.”

An unfinished work.

A work that had to be left unfinished.

Beethoven was unable to complete the last movement of this score······.

He was buried in the Central Cemetery in Vienna, Austria.

Like some musicians.

Like any musician.