God of Piano

And, the life of Chopin who met George Sand in that sadness.

At some point, the professors heard what Rowoon’s ballad was trying to convey to us. Of course, not all verbal messages were conveyed, but they seemed to know, albeit vaguely, what kind of Chopin he was trying to express, what kind of sadness and joy he was trying to express.

They listened to Rowoon’s playing. I was focused to understand what he was saying. And they were surprised to realize that this little boy was saying so many things in a different voice than they thought. Surprised, I focused more.

And Rowoon’s fingers, remembering Chopin’s playing, began to follow Chopin’s movements more clearly, perhaps because he was conscious of the audience listening to his performance.

“…!”

It was unknown. The professors felt a very strong sense of incongruity at the same time, regardless of who said it first. Rowoon’s skills are still lacking. No matter how much you try to hide your lack of experience, it will eventually show through, and Rowoon was like that too.

But even so, they couldn’t stop paying attention to Rowoon’s voice. ‘Direction’ was the problem. Although Rowoon’s expressive voice might be lacking right now, the ‘goal’ he wanted to express was not.

Melody, rhythm, dynamics, and the seams of all of them meshed very exquisitely, raising the atmosphere of the performance. Although there were definitely clumsy and unripe parts, it was a performance with a very attractive scent.

The professors sniffed their noses to smell the scent. We struggled to find out the identity of the smell we smelled. what the hell What on earth makes them find this performance attractive? they were worried,

Before the trouble was over, the performance was over.

Even the lingering sounds of the piano faded, and only the sound of their slow breathing resounded above the silence. The professors looked at Rowoon without thinking about applauding, and suddenly realized. I listened to it to the end without interrupting the 8-minute performance. What does it mean?

After getting the answer, Donatti laughed.

This young student’s performance is far from perfect. If you can find the amateur part, you can find it. However, this amateur’s performance…

For eight minutes, the three professors forgot that they were judges and became mere spectators.

‘······ Eureka.’

At that moment, the professors thought at the same time.

I have to catch it. this jewel.

＜ Flight of the Swan (4) ＞ End

＜ Flight of the Swan (5) ＞

The eyes of the professors were definitely shaped compared to the first time. Rowoon couldn’t see him. But I didn’t even have to look. He knew better than anyone what his performance was like.

‘I thought it would cut off midway, but it didn’t.’

It was a problem I didn’t pay attention to when I was playing, but now I’m a little puzzled. It wasn’t something that usually happens in auditions. Well, if you think about it, at other schools where I had previously auditioned, I had listened to his performance to the end a few times. I’m not sure why.

It was fortunate that, like some students, I didn’t practice roughly, saying that I wouldn’t have to play the latter part anyway.

Rowoon turned his head. And I looked at the audience seats where the judges would be. With the piano and the spotlight shining on it, the auditorium looked almost dark.

the darkness spoke in a woman’s voice.

“Mr. Lee. Can you say that this song is the best you can do right now?”

“yes. But it is not the only best.”

“then?”

“One of the best. I prepared everything for this audition. I don’t want any songs to be lacking.”

To be precise, all the songs except for the doggie waltz were like that. The puppy waltz performance log homework, ‘parting with the one you love’ was not something he could do because he wanted to. Of course, if he had broken up with Kate on purpose, he could have obtained that journal… but if he had that much of a heart in the first place, he couldn’t say that he loved Kate.

But other than that part, there was no lie. When I was told to play the song I was most confident in, I brought up Chopin’s Ballade No. 2 not because I was confident in playing it the best, but because I wanted to play it the most. I wanted to tell them about Chopin’s life. At least through this journal, it was Chopin who gave Rowoon the most thoughts.

Chopin was special to Rowoon in many ways. It was Chopin’s music that I first played through the Walkman, and it was Chopin who looked into his life the longest.

Chopin and Rowoon couldn’t be called friends or family, but Rowoon believed that there was a bond between them that could not be built with such an ordinary relationship. Maybe it’s just his one-sided thoughts and wishes.

“Then, will you play Beethoven this time? I’m curious.”

The sensibility of Chopin and Beethoven is clearly different in its direction. If the hands of a pianist playing Chopin’s music resemble the wings of a butterfly, Beethoven’s music makes them look like the wings of a bee.

Rowoon’s Chopin was simply wonderful. As such, in the realm of Beethoven, there is no choice but to show the relatively lacking side.

Rowoon noticed the judges’ intentions. But I didn’t care. And instead of answering, he faced the keyboard again.

‘Beethoven.’

It slowly drives away the afterglow of Chopin that still lingers in him. The emotions he felt through Chopin’s diary, the weight and softness of his fingers, his longing for Sand, and his love for his country, Poland, are all destroyed one by one.

And, in its place, it fills Beethoven’s life.

‘······hmm?’

At that moment, Han twitched his eyebrows for a moment. Rowoon’s attitude changed. I’m not talking about attitude. It really changed my physical, physical posture.

It was a subtle difference. His shoulders pulled up, his back a little more upright but leaning forward just as much. His elbows were a little further apart from his chest, and if his posture, when he was playing Chopin’s just before, had the feeling that he would be sucked into the piano at any moment, now he had the image that he would strike the keyboard and smash the piano at any moment.

‘what?’

It wasn’t something you see often. Just as each person has their own gait, so does the posture of a pianist. However, his gait has changed. Maybe because the song is different.

In fact, even Rowoon didn’t know about it. Replaying the performance log was more than just practice for Rowoon. It was a hobby and a blessing. You can feel Beethoven’s performance with his body. Could there be a more ecstatic moment than that?

The more he repeated Beethoven’s performance diary, the more his unconscious remembered him. How much Beethoven’s body leans, how far he pulls out his chair, how he strikes the keys.

And it was not only Beethoven’s ‘posture’ that Rowoon remembered and learned.

Another! The first chords spread out by surprise. Even though the hand that had been expressing the delicate sound of Chopin until just a moment ago was exuding the passionate sound of Beethoven, I didn’t feel anything out of place. The hand seemed to exist for Beethoven’s music from the beginning.

Taylor thought with a puzzled expression.

‘······Was it a friend who played so passionately?’

Until he played Chopin’s ballad, Rowoon’s body trembled in response to each sound of the piano. as far as their eyes can see.

However, the person who did that was now playing the piano as if he would eat it at any moment. It’s like a person changed in an instant. Taylor looked at Rowoon’s eyes, who were almost half-glaring at the piano, and soon understood.

‘Yes, that type.’

There are such pianists. The most important thing in playing is a deep understanding of the composer. I can’t say that’s the correct answer, but it’s true that pianists who say that usually show decent performances on average without any change in their skills, no matter what composer they meet, depending on how hard they try.

But even they can’t show such a stark change depending on the composer as Rowoon did. No matter how much I try to understand and accept composers, it’s because they have a basic sense of color.

Rowoon is not a pianist without color at all. It’s just that I lacked a bit of experience, and I couldn’t properly find my own performance. That turned out to be an advantage. Beethoven, Chopin, and Bach filled every void in his soul.

And whenever we met our songs, their presence was inevitably revealed.

In that respect, this performance is at least partially Beethoven’s.

The soul that Taylor, Han, and Donatti unconsciously feel. In their common sense, it could only be explained as an expression of the level of talent, but I dare say that it was definitely worth more than talent.

And, in such a quiet surprise, the first movement, Allegro Vivace (Fast and Again) ended, and the second movement, Largo Appassionato (Passionately Slow), began.

‘Passionately slow.’ As contradictory as its name suggests, it is a very difficult song to play with feeling.

The opening, which expresses the style of a string quartet and furthermore, pizzicato (plucking a stringed instrument with the hand instead of a bow), was easy to play, but it was not easy to play a captivating audience. If the force of the fingers pressing the keys is even slightly out of balance, that very refined passion will come out and ruin the song.

However, Rowoon’s fingers remembered Beethoven’s diary, which he had already reproduced countless times. I remembered how those fingers moved with a uniform or slightly different force and suppressed the passion in them.

What Rowoon did was no big deal. I just chased those memories and rummaged through them. just played On top of Beethoven’s performance, Beethoven’s life he looked into is overlaid.

Beethoven did not give a word of praise to his playing until the end,

Nonetheless, Rowoon was playing more like Beethoven than anyone else.

That alone was enough to convince the judges. Chopin’s ballad he presented is neither a fluke nor anything. No matter what song or composer you meet, his hand moves in pursuit of the most ideal performance.

“······stop.”

So, the voice that interrupted Rowoon’s performance contained unavoidable regret. Rowoon’s fingers stopped. He looked into the darkness again. While some students would look at the darkness and imagine the expression of the invisible judges, worry, and be afraid, Rowoon didn’t have to.

“I also listen to Bach.”

The judges did not speak at length. Rowoon didn’t bother to answer. Again his hands were on the keyboard. And the pianist who was Chopin and Beethoven became Bach again.

Waves of Goldberg Variations pour over the judges.

A song written in 1741 to erase Count Kaiserlink’s worries.

In 2013, the song was erasing the last bits of doubt the judges had.

Limited time and remaining applicants forced the judges to stop the wave.

However, now that there was no longer any doubt about Rowoon’s qualities, there was nothing to regret about not being able to hear Rowoon’s performance any more. Soon, their ears will be greeted by that performance again.

the dark said A face still invisible, but somehow Rowoon seemed to be smiling at it.

“great job. Rowoon. Thank you for coming this far. Be careful on the way back…”

The voice hesitated to say something more. After a moment of silence, he added.

“See you again.”

“yes.”

Rowoon replied plainly.

“See you again.”

That was it. Rowoon stood up, put his hand on the body of the black piano for a moment, then removed his foot. Back to the spotlight, back to the judges, backstage.

Rowoon headed towards the hallway instead of the waiting room. Heading to the bathroom, I turned on the water in the sink and washed my hands. Then I looked in the mirror and saw the face of the pianist who had vomited everything up. A white, empty, blurry smile on his face like a mark.

‘it’s over.’

The California Conservatory will now be his new home. A lot of things will be unfamiliar, but don’t worry. He is quick to adapt

Because the landlord seems to like him already.

＜ Flight of the Swan (5) ＞ End

＜ Flight of the Swan (6) ＞

‘It’s fun.’

Rowoon looked into the mirror and smiled. The results weren’t even out yet, but he was acting like he had already entered the California Conservatory. A subject that had not been prominent even at Hidden Valley High School, let alone at the California Conservatory of Music, until just half a year ago.

But it didn’t seem like a hasty idea. Rowoon’s performance was excellent. I could be sure that no one who could play better than that at the student level was rare, not only in California, but also in the United States.

And when he entered the waiting room, Rowoon was once again confirmed that it was not his own idea.

“…”

“…”

Everyone in the waiting room looked at Rowoon. Some stare openly, some sneak a peek. But whatever the look of that look, it was clear that they were filled with wonder, reverence, and wariness.

The moment they heard Rowoon’s performance, they all felt as if a heavy rock had fallen on their chests. It is not simply a matter of skill. There was something in Rowoon’s performance that they couldn’t get even if they worked hard for decades or hundreds of years to improve their skills. The souls of Beethoven, Bach, and Chopin felt by the judges.

If you’re a musician, you can’t help but feel that soul. And from the moment they felt that spirit, they couldn’t regard Rowoon as the same supporter as them.

This place, which was a test bed for them, was a stage for Rowoon. It was inevitable that the realization gave them a sense of deprivation.