Chapter 127
The pianists' village, the Zelkova piano stage in front of Rachmaninoff's house.
Two tall men were seen sitting next to each other, leaning on the piano.
The taller one with the shorter hair was Rachmaninoff, while Soo-hyun, with silver hair, who was smaller but had a similar build, spoke with his gaze turned towards the forest.
"I persuaded my team members as the professor said."
"Already?"
"At first, when I proposed performing Brahms's Clarinet Quintet, they were very surprised. But they all said it would be fun. I think they thought it would give them a competitive edge over other teams."
Soo-hyun chattered, pleased that his persuasion had worked.
"Since they are all winners of famous competitions, some say they are competitive even performing the same piece, but honestly, it's hard to find anyone who hasn't won a competition at the Vienna University of Music. Just looking at the Chopin competition, there are four winners from our school, including me. When I mentioned that, they agreed right away, haha."
Rachmaninoff looked at Soo-hyun's profile.
'A strange boy. He seemed to know nothing of the ways of the world, so I thought it would take me a while to convince him, and I also thought about using several musical pieces as examples to persuade him more easily. But the boy came back and persuaded his teammates very easily.'
"Have you ever learned persuasion?"
Soo-hyun smiled.
"Have you forgotten who raised me?"
'Ah, Chopin. I'm also reminded of Chopin, who delicately suggests and persuades. Chopin, who glares at you fiercely and threatens you coldly.'
Rachmaninoff, who was sweating profusely for a moment, cleared his throat and changed the subject.
"Johannes Brahms was a German composer. However, his music is deeply imbued with the 'emotion of Hungarian music'."
'That's right. No wonder there's a song called the "Hungarian Dance" that represents him.'
Rachmaninoff said with his arms crossed.
"Hungarian music was passed down by the Magyars who settled in rural and mountainous areas throughout Hungary. The folk songs and dances they enjoyed constituted what could be considered the authentic national music of Hungary."
'Rachmaninoff has a military-like appearance. His tone is serious and his face is expressionless. However, when talking about the pianist's body and music theory, he exudes an aura of a scientist.'
"This mission must begin with an understanding of Hungarian music."
'That's right. The International University of Vienna is a place where you can find a lot of information on this subject, as befits its reputation. But which of the many resources should I choose?'
"What should I study first to understand Hungarian music?"
Rachmaninoff looked at Soo-hyun.
'Do you not think about sports or art anymore? Good thing!'
Rachmaninoff, who was quietly looking at Soo-hyun with eyes that seemed to be genuinely asking for advice, said.
"If that were the case, there was no need to worry in the first place."
"Yes?"
"There are two musicians who represent Hungarian music. First of all, Bartók Béla. He was a musician who actively embraced the new trends of European music, such as Debussy's impressionism, Schoenberg's expressionism, and Stravinsky's primitivism, while at the same time manifesting a strong individuality."
Soo-hyun was hearing about this musician for the first time, but if the professor said so, then so be it. Soo-hyun, who had never doubted the teachings of those who had been here from the beginning, accepted his words at face value.
'Did you say there were two musicians? Who is the other one, besides Bartók and Béla?'
Rachmaninoff looked at Soo-hyun blankly.
"Are you really asking because you don't know?"
"…"
"Franz Liszt."
"My goodness."
'Yes! Uncle Franz was Hungarian! Why did I forget?'
"Aaaaahhhh! Give me back my cute Soo-hyun! Damn Rachmaninoff! I'm going to break his balls right now!"
When Soo-hyun visited Franz's house, Franz was seen crying while holding the hem of Soo-hyun's clothes, who had become a giant.
'It's funny to think that this kind of person is a representative composer of Hungary. To Soo-hyun, he is always a friendly father and an older brother.'
Soo-hyun silently grabbed his shoulder and said.
"Calm down, sir."
"Ughhhhhhhhhhhh! Look at these hands."
Hands that had become as thick as Beethoven's. In addition, he had grown in height and his hands had grown tremendously. Franz began to cry again at the sight of Soo-hyun's hand, which had grown so large that he could cover his face with his palm.
"Is he a monster or a person? Huh? I saw it in the comic you brought me last time. Something like that!"
'Huh? A comic? What did I bring you?'
"Do you know that cartoon? The one about skinned giants attacking humans! The one about flying around with ropes around their bodies!"
"Haha… That, that one?"
'I'm not big enough to hear the giant's voice, sir.'
Now, instead of hugging Soo-hyun, Franz just clung to him. Soo-hyun sighed and said to Franz, who was clinging to him and shouting, "Give me back my cute son!"
"I came today because I had something to ask you."
"Ughhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
"Sir… Please calm down. I'm still the same. I'm just taller, but I'm still the same Soo-hyun."
"Still, ughhhhhhhhhhh!!"
Soo-hyun shook his head and comforted Franz for a while.
'In the past, when I cried, my uncle would pat me on the back, but now it's the other way around.'
Soo-hyun, who was comforting the sobbing Franz, said that he waited until he calmed down.
"Sir, you know a lot about Hungarian music, right?"
"Oh, of course. It's my country."
"Can you explain it?"
"Huh? Why that all of a sudden?"
Soo-hyun's explanation. When Franz heard that the school was going to perform a mission and play Brahms' clarinet piece with the quintet, he said it as if he had never cried before.
"Oh, how fun! Of course, the music is Hungarian! Good idea. Is it yours?"
"No, Mr. Rachmaninoff's."
"Go on! Damn it!... Rah!... Ah, no! I really did it this time. Phew!"
Soo-hyun spoke to Franz, who couldn't erase his resentful gaze towards Rachmaninoff, who had taken away the cute Soo-hyun.
"My professor said that you and Bartók are representative composers of Hungary."
It always felt good to hear words of self-recognition, but Liszt spoke humbly.
"There's also Kodály. He was a great musician."
"Kodály? That sounds like a Japanese name."
"Kodály Zoltán. It's also good to study his music. The piano piece Allegro Barbaro, the ballet music The Wooden Prince, and the opera Bluebeard's Castle are masterpieces that masterfully fuse Hungarian and European folk music."
Soo-hyun took out his notebook and took notes.
"K-O-D-A-L-Y… Zoltán. Okay. Sir, is there anything in your song that I can use as a reference?"
"Well, if it's my song, there's the Hungarian Rhapsody."
Franz said when he saw Soo-hyun taking notes again.
"But although I'm Hungarian, I wasn't a musician who studied Hungarian folk music like Kodály and Bartók. Rather, I liked European music more. Beethoven was my life's teacher. On the other hand, Bartók and Kodály collected over 10,000 traditional folk songs from the Transylvania region, including Hungary, Romania, and the Czech Republic, and incorporated them into their music."
Franz always seemed arrogant, but that was only true when he was a pianist. As a musician, he never lost his humility and instead emphasized that there were musicians who were greater than him.
"The characteristic of Hungarian music is that it must have a beautiful and lyrical melody, but also an exotic air reminiscent of the gypsies of Eastern Europe. Above all, it has a lyrical air about rural life. In other words, it is a song that expresses the joy of finishing work and harvesting through dance."
"Hmm… I see."
"Listening to music is the best. You said that there is something called a record these days, right? Can you listen to music with that?"
"Yes, there are no records that the professors themselves played, but there are records that other musicians played."
"Well, that's okay. Let me hear it. Something like 'Adagio for Cello and Piano' or 'Intermezzo' might help."
'I think it was a good decision to come and see Uncle Franz. No other professor at the Vienna Conservatory of Music could have given such detailed teaching.'
As Soo-hyun looked at him with warm eyes full of gratitude, Franz, who had been looking into his eyes, suddenly began to cry again and grabbed Soo-hyun's face.
"Give me back my cute Soo-hyun!! Ohhhhhhhh!!!"
'Phew, if he didn't do this kind of thing, he would be a truly respectable person.'
The first mission assigned to the first-year students always received the attention of the professors. Professors who were not first-year students also roamed around the studios they had rented to help the students practice, wondering what kind of practice they were doing. Boris, the dean, was also not free from it, as he listened to the faint sounds of the instruments leaking from the well-soundproofed studios.
"Haha, everyone is working hard."
It was past 10 p.m., but there was not a single empty studio. Perhaps it was because it was the first mission, but I was so happy that there was not a single student here who did not have a passion for music. Dean Boris, who was walking down the studio hallway with a smile on his face, saw Professor Gruber standing in front of a door near the center of the hallway with his arms crossed and approached him.
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
"…"
Professor Gruber looked at the door in silence. The sign in front of him said Studio H. Dean Boris found it strange that only this studio was quiet and looked inside through a small round window.
"Huh? So that's the team that includes Nam Soo-hyun? But instead of practicing, what are they doing?"
A spacious and comfortable practice space. The first thing that stood out was Nam Soo-hyun. A handsome boy sitting cross-legged on the floor, smiling. He was the first to catch the eye, no matter where you put him. And in front of him, two twin girls were dancing, pretending to lift the hems of their skirts even though they were wearing jeans. A black girl sat in a chair and clapped, and a small Japanese young man sat in a corner. But these five had one thing in common: they all had earphones in their ears.
"Are you listening to music?"
'Enjoying music and dancing is a great sight to see on the campus where young people gather. I guess it's time to take a break.'
"Haha, we went through times like that too."
Boris just smiled and looked at his friend. Professor Gruber spoke to the dean.
"Look carefully at the dance moves of those twins."
"Hmm?"
"Hungarian dance?"
'Do university students get together and dance to Hungarian music? Today's students?'
"What was the team mission for those kids? If there were five of them, would they be a quintet?"
"Mmm."
"Among the pieces performed by the quintet… was there a Hungarian dance?"
"…"
Professor Gruber, who had been silently looking out the round window, uncrossed his arms and said,
"I don't know what he's doing, but Nam Soo-hyun, it seems that boy is trying to surprise me again."