The Healing Life of a Music Genius - Chapter 211



Only Noblemtl

211 Concerto

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“Koooooooo~ Koooooooo~”

When I opened my eyes, there was a cute creature sleeping on my bed.

He has thrown his blanket far away and even exposed his stomach.

I covered myself with the blanket instead and thought back to yesterday.

‘I talked to Suyeon until quite late at night.’

Suyeon, who had been staying in Brussels for over a month, told me every little thing that had happened to her.

Suyeon said she had a dream.

‘Oppa. I want to write like Mom and Dad. And I want to learn how to play the piano a little. So I can inspire many people like you, Oppa! Hehe. That’s my first goal and dream. Oh! By the way, keep it a secret from Mom and Dad. Got it?’

Every word and every little action of Suyeon’s was very precious to me.

My younger brother, who unknowingly gave me great comfort when I was having a very hard time.

The youngest of our one and only Han family.

I ran my hand through Suyeon’s hair a few times and patted her shoulder to help her fall into a deep sleep.

When Suyeon’s breathing changed from ‘kow-kow’ to ‘sae-geun-sae-geun’, I came out of the room.

It was still dark.

The dusk of dawn penetrates deep into the living room of the house.

I opened the refrigerator door, took out the barley tea my mother had brewed, and poured it into a cup and drank it.

The refreshing, yet familiar taste calms the mind.

This was a house in Brussels rented through Airbnb, but thanks to my mother’s devotion, it felt no different from our house in Saebom-dong.

I went out into the yard carrying a fruit lunch box that my mother had prepared in advance.

I walked across the grass with my bare feet and sat down in the rocking chair.

The grass sways in the blowing wind.

At the same time, it starts tickling my toes too.

I put a grape in my mouth and looked up at the sky.

The full moon was losing its strength as the sun was just beginning to rise.

Little by little. Little by little.

Dawn comes so slowly that it’s hard to notice unless you’re conscious of it.

I slowly closed my eyes.

I listened to the melody created by nature.

In the wind and the grass.

From the moon and stars.

A unique melody is heard.

That wasn’t all.

The graceful melody created by waves.

The splendid harmony created by the sun.

Even the rustling breathing sounds made by a small, cute child had something unique about them.

Musicians make music with these things.

Create melodies from your own life and something that is embedded in your life.

Beethoven did it, Mozart did it, Chopin and Schumann did it, Tchaikovsky and Liszt did it.

I was just like them.

The melody that came from Mr. Miller was deeply embedded in me.

The music I learned from Professor Kang Yu-han is clearly engraved in my head.

I also looked into my own music again through the music of Sister Lucas and Jankowski, Sister Hyunju and Turner.

Nothing passed by.

All of these things make it possible for a musician like me to exist in this world.

There are countless melodies that you can easily feel just by stretching out your hand.

I conducted lightly at the center of that melody.

Suddenly, that moment came to mind.

That time, I was drifting on the sea in a small wooden boat with Mr. Miller.

I stretched out my hands and conducted, hoping that countless stars would reach out to me.

In a wooden boat dancing on the gentle waves like rocking a cradle.

I think I wanted to make this kind of music that I’m making now.

I am a person blessed with time.

He broke the chains of time that ordinary people could never break, and created melodies along with them.

He created a unique melody that must be returned to this world as is.

I had a duty.

There was a mission that had to be done.

It took me two years to come to this realization, I’m just a young and foolish musician.

I shouldn’t have made music with just my will and my intention.

This······.

Now I finally know a little bit.

I was the person standing in front of the castle.

A person who has never set foot in it before, and who doesn’t even know how to set foot in it.

I was just hanging around there, obsessed with making music.

Now, today, I can knock confidently.

The country realized the direction in which the musician should go.

Knock on the door as a musician.

I, who used to try to act calm and collected while overcoming loss and sadness, am no longer around.

There was only one musician, suffering from pain and smiling from joy.

To my honesty······.

Finally, the giant gate slowly opens.

I was finally able to step into the small castle that resembled a chapel.

I am with them,

I want to become a musician who can make music representing them all.

My thoughts and my resolutions are firmly established.

A beautiful melody, as if coming from heaven, is heard from far away.

A noble melody that I cannot even dare to sing along to or transcribe is engraved in my heart.

I quietly listened to the melody that was quietly coming from······.

In line with that······.

.

.

.

I slowly opened my eyes.

The scenery of the waiting room of the Beaux-Arts Concert Hall, which has become quite familiar, comes into view.

Musicians wearing formal attire, stylish suits, and fancy dresses were passing the time, each recalling their own music.

The final round of the second round, the last day of competition, had already started a long time ago.

A graceful melody can be faintly heard through the crack in the waiting room door.

Grieg’s piano concerto.

The orchestra and piano were in harmony and were soon entering the third movement.

At that moment, Sister Lucas, who was sitting across from me, looked at me intently and said.

“You’ve got incredible concentration. It must have been quite a while. You didn’t open your eyes once during that time. Did you do any image training?”

I nodded with a small smile.

“It’s similar. I’ve been thinking about one thing since this morning. I think I’ve finally come to a conclusion.”

“Thoughts? Conclusion?”

“Yes. Not yet······. I think I need more time.”

“······?”

I dare not say that I know everything in this world.

Pleasure, suffering, beauty, ugliness, sadness, pain, love, pity, loneliness, emptiness, ecstasy, depression, joy, happiness······.

Of all the things, I only understand a very small portion of them.

Maybe a few years.

Something that might take decades to ponder.

I had just taken my first steps.

The contest officials inform the next contestant to prepare in advance.

Sister Lucas stood up, listened to the explanation until the end, and nodded.

Meanwhile, the piano’s melody began to change rapidly.

He gives his all to put an end to the performance.

The pianist’s passion is reflected in the melody.

Sister Lucas listened to the sound for a while and then muttered.

“Brian Turner. He may have a bit of a weird personality, but he’s good at playing the piano.”

Thanks to this, the waiting room burst into laughter.

At that moment, cheers from the audience were heard.

It means the performance is over.

There were now three performances left.

This brings this year’s Queen Elisabeth Competition to a close.

The contest officials ask Sister Lucas to wait.

Sister Lucas got up from her seat, walked a few steps, and then cautiously called out to me.

A very small gesture made while making eye contact.

I went there to do something······.

“Thank you, Seo Jin-ah.”

Sister Lucas hugged me gently.

Then he whispers so quietly that no one can hear.

“I learned a lot through your music.”

“Because I grew up as an orphan, I can’t express it all in words······.”

“I had that kind of frustration······.”

“It gave me the opportunity to accept those things. It gave me courage.”

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to move forward. I think that’s how it happened.”

“I really wanted to tell you before the final performance of the competition, Seo Jin-ah.”

I stood there a little awkwardly, listening to Sister Lucas’ story, then carefully patted her on the back twice.

“I’m grateful to you too. For taking care of me like a younger sibling at Chapel and throughout the competition.”

“He’s like a real little brother. It felt like I had a family······.”

“Family, yes. That’s what I think.”

“Thank you······. And······. Even your family members are all so kind to me······. Really······.”

If I stayed still like this, I felt like Sister Lucas’s beautifully made-up face would become a mess because of the tears.

So I made a little joke.

“If we keep doing this, aren’t we going to perform in a crumpled dress and a crumpled tuxedo? When we go on stage for the finals, we might hear people say that we didn’t even iron our clothes.”

Sister Lucas must have understood what I meant, because she laughed and let me go.

“Okay. Then it would be a big problem.”

“I told you I could be in the article?”

“I can’t afford to be embarrassed.”

We smiled at the same time.

At that moment, Brian Turner, who had been receiving a long round of applause from the audience, returned to the waiting room.

The moment when Sister Lucas must go out on stage is approaching.

I sent my final words of encouragement.

“Concerto. Show it off beautifully. More brilliantly than anyone else.”

“Yes, I will. I will show the audience the best performance that will leave no regrets.”

After hearing from the competition officials that the orchestra’s tuning was complete, Sister Lucas went out on stage.

For a moment, I was worried that maybe Sister Lucas’ emotions had been disturbed by the conversation just now.

I was able to relax thanks to the piano sound that was more intense than ever before, which could be heard all the way to the waiting room.

Sister Lucas’ performance was wonderful.

It was flawless and overwhelming.

It was so perfect that you would believe she was the winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition.

After finishing all the performances and receiving cheers from the audience, Sister Lucas’ face looked very relieved.

There are now two performances left.

Just as Sister Lucas had done, Jankowski, who was to perform right before me, stood in front of me before going out on stage.

He extended his hand to me.

He acts bluntly, without saying a word.

I thought to myself, “This is so Yankovsky-like,” and took his hand.

“Did you have a great time?”

I was the first to say to him a word that had many meanings.

Yankovsky nodded with a faint smile.

“Yeah. It really was······. It was a wonderful time. The best time of my life. Thanks to you.”

He went straight to the stage following the instructions of the contest officials.

After some time, I began to hear the melody of the ⌜Emperor⌟ that I had played in Ettlingen.

The ⌜Emperor⌟, who is completely different from me.

It was a somewhat sad and heartbreaking performance, but unlike the preliminaries, it was definitely······.

A warmth began to linger in Jankovsky’s music.

Just as the eternal snow melts little by little, creating a stream, it seemed that changes were coming to his music as well.

Time goes by.

A contest official approached me and gave me some guidance.

“There are about 10 minutes left until the previous contestant finishes playing. If you include the time for the orchestra to tune up, you can think of it as about 12 minutes left.”

“Yes, I understand. Thank you for letting me know.”

I took a deep breath and let it out.

I repeated that several times.

The melody I have to play.

That beautiful melody lingers around me.

When I looked, I saw musical notes.

When I tried to listen, the sound rang in my ears.

My ten fingers also want to dance a little faster.

It was a moment of immersion.

It didn’t take me that much time.

As soon as Jankovsky finished playing, a huge cheer erupted from the audience.

1 minute. 2 minutes. 3 minutes.

One of the contest officials approaches me and tells me about the situation on stage.

I think we need a little more time to calm the audience down.

They tell us that it will be sorted out in 10 minutes.

I nodded.

Even in the midst of all that, I didn’t let go of the string of melody.

A moment later, Yankowski returned to the waiting room.

He looked at me, smiled faintly, and left the waiting room first.

and.

I got up from my seat.

The contest officials open the waiting room door wide.

Dozens of orchestra members sat on the stage of the Beaux-Arts concert hall.

Under the splendid lights, the golden crowns sparkled, and the dark brown string instruments waited breathlessly to play.

The orchestra members were all looking at me with fixed eyes.

Their expectations and aspirations are clearly felt.

The audience was the same.

It seemed as if each and every one of their breaths of anticipation reached the stage.

Time began to pass slowly for me.

Maybe I feel this way because I want to remember this moment perfectly.

I looked at the orchestra and the audience once each before walking forward with a serious look.

I shook hands with the conductor first at the center of the stage. I also shook hands with the concertmaster.

I also made eye contact with the lead performers of each section whom I had met once during rehearsal.

I sat down at the piano.

He unbuttoned his tuxedo and slightly rolled up his sleeves.

Next, I slowly stroked the keyboard.

The slightly cold feel of the keyboard is directly transmitted to your hands.

The black keys that stick out above the white keys tickle my hands.

I felt the conductor’s gaze.

I looked up and looked at him.

The conductor asks questions without saying a word.

‘Are you ready?’

I shook my head.

That didn’t mean I wasn’t prepared.

This concert hall just needs a little more time.

Just wait a little while and that moment will come.

1 second. 2 seconds. 3 seconds······.

The stage began to become increasingly quiet.

The tense atmosphere makes my ears more sensitive.

An extremely quiet atmosphere that makes you feel suffocated.

at that time.

The melody of silence tells me the time.

The moment when the music must begin.

You instinctively realize that the time has come.

There was no need to understand.

This one, I could just tell.

I could see the road where the melody was waiting.

I raised my head and looked at the conductor.

He noticed my subtle nod and then raised his baton all the way.

I shouted inwardly.

‘Horn.’

As the conductor’s baton descends, four magnificent horns descend from the beginning, signaling the beginning of the piece.

The string quintet follows immediately.

As soon as the orchestra finished its short five-bar introduction, changing the melody······.

I hit the keys harder than ever before.

With all my might, I press down on the thickly layered piano chords.

With the melody of all those who resonate strongly within me······.

With them, I created one finale.

A concerto in the true sense of the word.

That great melody is slowly awakening.