Chapter 85
E-flat major, 6/8 time, rondo form.
A rondo is a form in which the theme is repeated with interludes in between. It is mainly used as a splendid final movement of sonatas, symphonies, and classical concertos, and in Beethoven's case, the theme and the beginning of each inserted section were quoted from the final movement of the Piano Sonata Opus 13, "Pathétique".
An energetic rondo dominated by a steady rhythm.
The piano, which had been struggling and picking a fight the whole time, presented the theme in a soft (piano) tone as if nothing had happened. And then there was a sudden switch to loud (forte). But there was no more fighting. The theme played by Soo-hyun on the piano was followed by the same melody played by the orchestra led by Kirill. The rhythm was accentuated by timpani and trumpets, and the main melody was played by the string instruments.
A fantasy was reflected in Hermann's eyes, who slightly relaxed the tension in a completely different atmosphere. The orchestra disappeared, and only Soo-hyun and Kirill remained on the stage.
"After a long battle, two emperors who could not decide the winner…"
In his eyes, he saw two emperors wounded in battle. However, neither of them lost their dignity and remained noble. The war was over, but neither showed any weakness to each other and seemed to be checking on each other.
Then, Soo-hyun quickly played a seven-bar pattern with both hands in sixteenth notes and moved on to the second theme. A beautiful melody with trills and syncopation. The orchestra growled in response, but the piano responded with a light melody.
Professor Lech smiled hollowly.
"The orchestra seems to want to fight on, while the piano seems to be ignoring me as if it were no longer its opponent."
As Professor Lech said, the orchestra attacked with a strong rhythm from the strings, but suddenly the piano rhythmically played the third theme with a soft note and supported the orchestra's performance with a long trill. As if asking to stop fighting and make peace. Unlike the orchestra, whose entire body was drenched in sweat, Soo-hyun's performance, with a faint smile on his face, unfolded as if he were silently proposing a poem to the orchestra.
We have been fighting for a long time.Why did we fight?All I want is something other than you.It would have been an honor for me to be stronger.Did you do that too?Perhaps we were defending ourselves.Before you forgive me for shedding blood,Be lenient with your situation,Let's scold each other harshly.An act of compassion.An act of liberation.Not for you and me,A choice for the people.Maybe we made the wrong choice from the beginning.The truly strong are generous and elegant.A person with a noble spirit.It's not too late.The three hardest things in the world are,To keep a secret,To forgive,And to make the most of your time.We must become truly elegant.Let's move on with this.What do you think of my suggestion?
The song gradually became quieter as the rhythm of the repeating timpani continued. As the intense movements subsided and Kirill waved his baton lightly towards the timpani, he recalled the conversations he and Soo-hyun had shared while sitting next to each other in the audience during a practice break.
"What meaning do you, Soo-hyun, attach to the act of playing?"
He just asked, without much expectation. He had great skills, but he was still a child. But the answer he received exceeded his expectations.
"A poem for myself and for the people."
"…what?"
Unlike himself, who was bathed in sweat, Soo-hyun looked relaxed and said as he looked at the empty stage during the break.
"I learned that understanding a performance begins with understanding the lyricist. The only thing we can truly understand about others are the emotions that we can create ourselves. Just as I have emotions, lyricists have them, and we need to understand them, empathize with them, and understand their free emotions."
Cyril was amazed. He was only fourteen.
'What on earth are they teaching this child?'
Soo-hyun smiled shyly as he watched the surprised Kirill.
"Sometimes it takes a long time to understand something so simple, but when I let the poem fly in my mind, fragments of it somehow reach the audience."
Beethoven's 'Emperor' Symphony. The performance, which posed a new challenge even for the world-renowned conductor Kirill, was coming to an end.
'It's a shame. My tired body was screaming, but my spirit, which had overcome the physical pain, was constantly offering me a new spiritual catharsis.'
The last part of the piece, where the piano powerfully played the Piu Allegro scale and the orchestra powerfully played the beginning of the rondo theme. Kirill's ears heard the powerful roar of the orchestra he was conducting.
Oh, look!More glorious than the glory of war,A place of reconciliation!No one got what they wanted.No one lost their dignity.The paths of the two emperors were different, butTheir path will be bright!Light of reconciliation!Light of peace!The war is over!The two wise emperors will shine forever!
Kirill's new form was moving. There had been times in his long conducting career that had moved him. But this was the first time he had heard the poetry of the orchestra as one through his own ears. Kirill finished his conducting with a fierce movement. The tip of his baton, raised as if to pierce the sky, trembled. Drops of sweat, shining in the light, fluttered on his sweaty forehead. Kirill wiped the sweat that was running down his eyes with his sleeve, and before he could open his eyes, he had already turned his head towards Soo-hyun.
'The boy who made all this possible.'
His vision, which was blurred due to the rain-like sweat, returned to normal, and he saw a beautiful boy sitting in front of the piano, looking at him.
'A boy who surprised me with his extraordinary acting skills and amazed me with his perfect interpretation skills related to his performances. Perhaps I will spend my whole life reliving this moment.'
At that moment, a great round of applause was heard that made the ceiling of the concert hall tremble. The applause was so loud that it was deafening, and so loud that it was difficult to tell whether it was a classical concert hall or a soccer stadium. But the audience who was clapping so hard was not clapping with excitement or tears of emotion, but clapping from the heart.
"Bravo! Bravo!" "It was a cool show! I'm glad I came!" "That was the best performance of my life! Kirill! Kirill!"
Someone called Kirill. It was a piano competition, but from the audience's perspective, it was Kirill who conducted this amazing performance. Kirill's gaze, which was directed at Soo-hyun, then turned to the audience.
'The main character is not me, you guys. Your applause belongs solely to this young genius. I did nothing. Against the tsunami that was sent through the piano, I just struggled not to give up.'
Kirill's gaze to the audience said a lot. But the audience stood up and applauded Kirill. Kirill's gaze turned to the orchestra members again. He also saw the face of Keron, who had been with him even in his old age and had not let go of the oboe. Compared to the young people, this gentleman, who lacked physical strength, played with such passion that his white hair was soaked in sweat, and he responded to the audience's applause with a bright face as if he were young. Kirill's gaze turned to Soo-hyun again. The boy who was standing quietly slowly raised his hand and applauded. A boy held out his hand to the orchestra and to himself, leading them to applaud.
Cyril's eyes wavered.
'Why? This was your stage. Didn't you do it all?'
Cyril, who couldn't stand to be like this, came down from the stage, grabbed Soo-hyun's arm, and helped him up. Then he whispered.
"It was your stage."
As Kirill raised Soo-hyun's hand and held it with his other hand, pointing at Soo-hyun, the audience's applause was directed towards the pianist.
"It was amazing! A new interpretation of Beethoven's Emperor! I never thought I would see a performance like this in a competition!" "It was amazing! It was the best performance of my life!"
Unlike the other contestants, the applause lasted for a very long time. The judges also applauded along with the audience. Professor Hermann in particular seemed very excited and used all the strength of his body to give the loudest applause he could. Professor Hermann, who had been making eye contact with the other professors and giving them a look that said, "Isn't this amazing?", then looked at Professor Lech, who had been sitting in his seat for a while. Hermann, seeing Lech's expression, which was very serious, stopped clapping and sat down to ask.
"Professor? Why are you doing that?"
Lech, who had been quietly watching Soo-hyun holding Kirill's hand and greeting him amidst the applause and cheers, opened his mouth.
"Professor, what do you think of that child's performance?"
Hermann said it as if it were a matter of course.
"It was the best stage. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it opened a new horizon in the classical music world."
Lech sighed at Hermann's excited voice.
"That's exactly the problem."
"Yes?"
"Professor, the classical music world is old-fashioned. Do you think a music professional who is not here will approve of this interpretation of the piece?"
"…"
"They will be eager to criticize and belittle it. If they admit it, the music they have made of Beethoven so far will be denied."
"That…"
'I want to refute this. How can you say something like that after listening to this kind of performance?'
But Professor Lech was right: it was unlikely that the old-fashioned and closed-off music world would accept a different interpretation of a great composer's work. Professor Lech stood up and said,
"Professor, what kind of child do you think Soo-hyun is?"
"…Mmm."
'What a great kid, a genius. Did you really expect that answer when you asked the question? No, it won't be. Professor Hermann, who didn't know what answer he wanted, closed his mouth, and Professor Lech, who was leaving the audience and heading to the judges' waiting room, said,'
"To me, that child is a jewel that I must protect. From now on, I must fight to protect him."
Professor Hermann, who had been staring blankly at Professor Lech leaving his seat, clenched his fist and looked at Soo-hyun. A boy who was passing the ball back and forth with Kirill, leading to an encore from the audience. Professor Hermann, who was staring at him, chased after Professor Lech and shouted.
"I'll join you too!"
Professor Lech heard Professor Hermann's shout from a distance and smiled slightly, nodding as if to suggest they walk together.
The awards ceremony that followed Soo-hyun's last performance. At the awards ceremony of the Beethoven Youth Competition, Soo-hyun won first place and Junwoo won second place. Soo-hyun, who was holding the winner's trophy amidst a thunderous applause, received a gift prepared by Chairman Park Ki-joon.
It's a party of bouquets brought by people standing in line! Soo-hyun couldn't understand why people he was meeting for the first time were bringing him flowers, hugging him, and patting him on the shoulder to congratulate him on his excellent work. Besides, most of them were foreigners, not Koreans.
Chairman Park Ki-joon prepared more than thirty large bouquets. He asked the audience, who were moved by Soo-hyun's performance, to give him the flowers. He concluded that it is much more valuable to hand over flowers to a moved audience than to buy people with money. Of course, there were also flowers from Professor Lee Chan-ho and Kim Ji-ye. Since he couldn't carry them all, Soo-hyun put most of them down on the floor and only held the bouquets from Ji-ye and Professor Lee Chan-ho. He stood next to Professor Hermann, who was smiling at him.
"Soo-hyun, can you tell us how you feel about receiving the award?"
There was nothing like this during the Chopin Competition, so I guess it's different because it's a youth competition.
'What should I say?'
As I stood in front of the microphone, the audience seats, which were hidden by the lights during the performance, became clearly visible. There were so many people. I wasn't nervous at all, but suddenly I felt so nervous that my legs were trembling. All the faces in the audience were looking at me. I didn't realize it at all during the performance.
"Uh…"
Soo-hyun stood in front of the microphone and had no idea what to say. The audience laughed at Soo-hyun, who had shown his frightening playing skills, but had now returned to being a shy teenager. Professor Hermann, who couldn't bear to look any longer, came over and whispered,
"Have you ever seen the acceptance speeches of other award winners?"
'I've never seen anything like it, Professor. Where would I have seen something like that?'
The professor whispered to Soo-hyun, who was crying.
"Just tell me who you're grateful to."
Soo-hyun stared at Professor Hermann, who said what he wanted to say and then stepped back.
'Who are you grateful to? I am grateful to Ji-ye, Professor Lee Chan-ho, Junwoo, Jaehee, and Professor Leh. Should I mention them all?'
Soo-hyun, who had been thinking quietly, raised the flower slightly towards the ceiling where the lights were falling like stars and spoke.
"Did you happen to hear that?"
'Who are you talking to?'
A handsome boy with a smile spoke.
"Thank you, Mr. Beethoven."
The speechless audience looked at Soo-hyun.