Chapter 80
'Is this a fantasy?'
Kirill opened the door wide and saw Beethoven sitting at the piano, right next to the conductor's chair where he had been. Although he had never seen Beethoven in person, he had seen him in portraits hundreds of times. He was visible. No, the problem was not that he was seeing his illusions at this very moment. The melody played by his hands.
Kirill, whose entire body was trembling, held on tightly to the automatically closing door and trembled. A powerful piece played with a certain majesty, without being over the top. And then, reaching its climax, a powerful explosion of energy that proudly sang of human joys and sorrows! The song was reminiscent of the calm before the storm, with its continuous, tense, and intense rhythms. The first theme presented the same melody with an interval of two octaves in pianissimo. It sounded like a soft knock on a door, immediately followed by the frantic race that was executed forcefully, without breath. It was grand and forceful, but it was not a dark song. On the contrary, it was full of joy.
An upbeat poem from a middle-aged man echoed in Kirill's ears:
As long as the sun shines, hope shines!Listen!The beautiful song of the birds,The full sound of a forest stream.Making the sound of purity,Sounds of joy!The black sky that had been falling for so long,The sound of raindrops,The sounds of forsythia blooming on the road.The sound of the clouds clearing in the sky.I can even hear the sound of my eyes clearing!Oh, listen!The sky also curves accordingly,The sound of the flowers that are not held back.Oh, listen!Swirls and chimes,Resonance of joy!
A huge resonance echoed in his ears. Kirill, who was rubbing his ears as if something had gotten into them, looked at Keron with a surprised face.
"Why is that, Conductor?"
"Hey, what did you just say?"
"I didn't say anything."
When the surprised Kirill turned his gaze back to the stage, the sound of the performance suddenly stopped. The flushed face of Beethoven, sitting in front of the piano, also disappeared. There, a boy with curly black hair looked at them. Soo-hyun, who had a beautiful and splendid appearance, had a rather embarrassed face.
"Wow, he's a very handsome boy," Keron said, walking past Kirill and heading to the stage.
When the older person approached, Soo-hyun stood up with both hands together and bowed in an oriental manner.
"Hello, I'm Nam Soo-hyun."
Keron asked, slightly surprised when he heard Soo-hyun speak fluent German.
"Don't you speak German?"
"Yes, I can."
"Ah! Is that why you're here alone without an interpreter? And your teacher didn't come with you?"
"There was no space in the parking lot, so I came out first. Please park and come back soon."
"Haha, you really speak German fluently." Keron gestured to Kirill, who was still standing at the door. "Conductor! This child speaks German! Isn't that amazing?"
At the word conductor, Soo-hyun's eyes turned to Kirill, who was looking at himself with an expression of astonishment.
'I had heard that he was young, but when I compare him to the conductor Janusz I met in Poland, I feel that he is a very young conductor.'
Soo-hyun came down from the stage, stood next to Keron, and greeted him.
"Hello, conductor. My name is Nam Soo-hyun. Please take care of me."
Kirill was still standing at the back door. As Soo-hyun greeted him, he hesitated and greeted him back awkwardly, walking towards her reflexively as he staggered. He approached me, rubbing his forehead as if he were dizzy, and asked me a question without even saying hello.
"What was that song just now?"
"…"
"That's right," Keron also asked if he was curious. "It's a song I'm hearing for the first time, but it's very familiar and strange. What song is it?"
Soo-hyun hesitated. Chopin's advice came to the boy's mind.
'Let it never be known that this is Beethoven's song, Soo-hyun. If anyone asks, tell them it's your song. If you go out into the world with this and shout that it's Beethoven's new song, you'll be treated like a madman.'
Kirill, holding the boy's shoulder, asked again.
"Tell me. What was that song a moment ago?"
Cyril's voice seemed to be somehow imbued with passion. Soo-hyun looked at him in silence and said.
"This is a song I wrote."
Keron's eyes widened and Kirill's hands gave way. Instead of Kirill, who let go of Soo-hyun's shoulder and took a step back, Keron intervened.
"Did you write a song? At that age?"
"…Yes."
'I'm going crazy saying a lie I've never told. How can I get rid of this?'
Kirill just looked at Soo-hyun with a blank expression. Keron, who had been looking back and forth between the two, said after seeing Kirill's condition.
"Hey… I think the conductor is a little tired. There's still time, so go back with the teacher in charge."
Soo-hyun bowed his head and said, "That's right."
"Yes, I will."
Soo-hyun left the concert hall at a brisk pace. Keron spoke to Kirill, who did not take his eyes off the boy until his figure had completely disappeared.
"Is it true? Is it true that that little boy composed the song? It's an incredible feat for him to have composed such a difficult classical piece at that age, and even more so for a genius like Beethoven or Mozart."
Kirill, exhausted, slumped into his seat in front of the audience, holding his head as he spoke.
"Lie…"
Keron said with a perplexed look on his face.
"Are you lying, Conductor?"
"I know, Beethoven… that was Beethoven."
"What do you mean?"
Kirill, who had lost his concentration, muttered in a daze.
"Beethoven… Beethoven's perfect musical design…"
Keron said with a frown.
"There are numerous studies on Beethoven's musical design today. Isn't it possible for a student who has studied such materials?"
Cyril shook his head vigorously.
"Those who follow the path of a genius will inevitably leave traces of imitation. A genius is someone who creates an untrodden path. Even if you create a song with the same design, the traces of the genius will inevitably remain. But that song just now…"
Keron was also speechless after hearing Kirill's words. Cyril, who had been lost in thought for a moment, suddenly sat up.
"If what the child says is true, then he is a genius who only appears once every hundred years. We must tell the truth at once!"
"Hey, Commander! Where did you say you were going to report this?"
Kirill, who was about to run, stopped.
'Yes, who should I tell? The sponsor, Deutsche? Or the judges? Who on earth came up with the idea of telling them?'
Kirill, who was hesitating, straightened his clothes and spoke with a stern face.
"I need to meet with that child's teacher first. Please arrange everything when the members arrive."
Kirill, leaving Keron alone, headed for the parking lot. As soon as he opened the door, Kirill, who saw Professor Lee Chan-ho and Soo-hyun coming in from the parking lot entrance, spoke hastily in English.
"Are you the professor in charge of Nam Soo-hyun?"
Professor Lee Chan-ho asked to shake hands with an embarrassed expression.
"Nice to meet you, conductor. I'm Chan-ho Lee."
Kirill looked at Soo-hyun. Soo-hyun, with a clearly visible anxious expression, was watching him intently.
'There's definitely something there.'
Cyril said with a wink.
"I'd like to talk to you two before practice."
"Really? It's an honor. Soo-hyun? Do you want to go in first?"
Soo-hyun entered the concert hall hesitantly, silently watching Professor Lee Chan-ho and Kirill. As he entered the concert hall, he wanted to look back several times, but Soo-hyun clenched his fists because he didn't want to give anyone any reason to doubt him.
'I don't know! Let's just do as the old man says and stick it out to the end.'
Soo-hyun opened the door of the concert hall and entered, thinking that whatever was meant to happen would happen. Even after being left alone with Professor Lee Chan-ho, Kirill stared at Soo-hyun until she disappeared and asked urgently.
"When did Soo-hyun start composing songs?"
"…Yes?"
"Is my English pronunciation bad?"
"Oh, no. It's not that. What do you mean… by composing?"
Kirill stared at Professor Lee Chan-ho. It was a very clueless expression.
"You really don't know?"
"What do you mean?"
"That child is composing music."
"Huh? That, that kind of…"
'Are you saying that even the professor doesn't know this?'
"Yes, I had no idea…"
A look of concern crossed Professor Lee Chan-ho's face.
'Soo-hyun has mastered the piano perfectly. Although he is still learning emotions, he is doing so at a very fast pace. But composing is another story. If Soo-hyun were to compose with poor skills, he would receive criticism instead of praise from the world. Because the classical music world is old-fashioned.'
"What song was it?"
"…"
Kirill didn't answer. With a dazed expression, he recalled the performance he had heard a while ago. After being lost in thought for a while, he opened his mouth silently.
"It was a song of stormy joy."
"…"
It was too early to know. Were Cyril's words a compliment? Professor Lee Chan-ho was sparing with his words. Kirill said, turning towards the concert hall.
"And today I saw the young Beethoven."
Professor Lee Chan-ho looked at Kirill's back as he walked towards the concert hall with a surprised expression on his face.
'Young Beethoven! Who would dare to receive such high praise from a world-renowned orchestra conductor? In addition, this is not an evaluation of the performance itself, but of the song that Soo-hyun composed. I'm so curious I can't control my body.'
Professor Lee Chan-ho, who was left alone, stared blankly at the closed door of the concert hall.
'Is it true that he was even called the young Beethoven? What kind of music is it…?'
I felt a little sad. It's okay to have composed the song behind my teacher's back. But it's sad that someone else heard it first and not me. Professor Lee Chan-ho sighed and took a step forward.
"We can ask after practice, so let's go for now."
As I opened the door of the concert hall, I saw the stage where everyone was seated, with Keron instead of Kirill preparing the members. Kirill stood on the conductor's podium, staring at Soo-hyun, and Soo-hyun avoided his gaze and looked at the orchestra.
'It seems there really is something there.'
As the ignorant members were checking their instruments, the harpist suddenly raised her hand.
"I'm sorry, conductor. I think one of the strings is about to break and I need to change it. Could you give me a moment?"
Changing the strings doesn't take much time. It should take you five minutes at most to tune it. As Kirill waved his hand as if to tell Soo-hyun to do it while keeping his gaze fixed on her, the harpist was busily moving as if trying to change the strings as quickly as possible. It was a time for the members who were checking the musical scores to relax for a moment and chat with each other. Kirill, who was looking at Soo-hyun, said.
"Did you say your name was Soo-hyun?"
Soo-hyun, who was sitting on the piano stool, looked at him and said.
"Yes, conductor."
"If you're bored, you can play alone."
"It's okay."
"I'd like to see you play, would you like to give it a try?"
"Yes, of course. If that's the case, I'll play it."
Cyril said with a look of anticipation on his face.
"What song are you going to play?"
'I'm screaming inside. Let me hear that song you just played one more time! That song that delighted my ears, like Beethoven, one more time!'
Soo-hyun thought silently and stared at the orchestra. Soo-hyun, who caught the thought that suddenly came to his mind, smiled slightly and said.
"Since we will be performing with an orchestra, I would like to play a song that fits the occasion."
A look of disappointment appeared on Kirill's face, as the nuances of the song he had just played did not seem to be the same.
"I see... It's okay, give it a try."
"Yes, conductor."
Interest faded. It didn't matter what song you played or what skill you showed, Kirill was no longer interested. He only thought of the new song he had just heard. However, all the orchestra members looked at the boy, curious about Soo-hyun's skills. The sharp sound of the piano came to Kirill's ears as he lowered his head. Kirill, who was looking away as if he were not interested, suddenly raised his head.
'Beethoven/Liszt: Piano transcription of Symphony No. 9!'
A piece of extreme difficulty created by Franz Liszt, who admired Beethoven, by forcing all the orchestral notes of his symphonies into the piano.
'It was just practice, I never thought I would play a song like this.'
As soon as the performance began, all the orchestra members focused their attention on the boy with amazed eyes. And then, when Kirill looked at Soo-hyun with surprised eyes, he saw that the boy was playing fast, as if he had eight arms growing from his body.
"Ugh, this is crazy...!!!"