Chapter 114
3rd movement - At the beginning of Allegro con fuoco.
Chairman Park Ki-jun, who was listening to the faint music that could be heard even from outside, had a confused expression on his face.
'I hadn't heard of Soo-hyun's piano music, but I couldn't overcome my curiosity and requested the orchestral music files in advance from Professor Lee Chan-ho, which I received and listened to. It's good music. It's like listening to Tchaikovsky's symphony inspired by Beethoven, but the problem is that there's a bit of dissonance.'
At that time, I simply ignored the professor's words, who said that he was in the process of registering the copyright and that it was not yet finished. I thought it would improve with practice.
But when I listen to the music being performed, I can't imagine how much practice the children have had. Chairman Park Ki-jun, who was rolling his eyes and concentrating with his ears, asked Professor Lee Chan-ho, who was listening to music with his eyes closed next to him.
"How much time do the students have to practice?"
Professor Lee Chan-ho, with his eyes closed, answered only by moving his mouth.
"It took about a month. It took Soo-hyun a month to finish the music, and it took the boys another month to finish their parts."
'It could have been just a month, no, neither long nor short. Maybe you've only rehearsed two songs.'
"So, how long do you practice?"
"Well."
"Hmm?"
'Does the professor in charge not know?'
Then Professor Lee Chan-ho opened his eyes and smiled.
"I once went to see him around 11 p.m. with some snacks because he said he was still practicing."
'Until 11 at night? The children must have had a hard time.'
"Did you practice until 11?"
Professor Lee Chan-ho shook his head.
"That day I gave them a snack and watched them from behind for about ten minutes so as not to disturb them, and then I went home. But the next day, I had something to do early, so I went to school at about 6:30 in the morning."
'Hmm? What are you trying to say?'
Professor Lee Chan-ho said with a smile.
"There were also children like that back then."
Chairman Park Ki-jun's eyes widened.
"Do you mean… you stayed up all night?"
"It didn't seem like it was just a couple of days. Some children even brought sleeping bags. I saw children sleeping in the corners of the practice room. In particular, I heard that Young-eun, a student from the violin department, didn't go home for the entire month of practice."
Chairman Park Ki-jun quickly looked through the closed door of the concert hall.
'How much was this boy named Soo-hyun bullying other children in the name of performance? Was the face of a dictator hiding behind the name of a genius?'
Professor Lee Chan-ho, who noticed Chairman Park Ki-jun's thoughts, shook his head firmly.
"Soo-hyun only practiced for three hours a day and then went back. The others practiced of their own free will."
This was even more surprising.
'But did they all do it voluntarily? What moved the children? Was it because it was a performance for the poor?'
Chairman Park Ki-jun asked casually.
"Why do you think it was? Because it was good music? Or because you wanted to grab the hem of the genius Nam Soo-hyun's coat?"
Professor Lee Chan-ho said as he looked towards the firmly closed door of the concert hall.
"The song that's playing inside me right now."
"Yes, it's Soo-hyun's song."
Professor Lee Chan-ho laughed and shook his head.
"Among the children inside, no one thinks that the song playing now is Nam Soo-hyun's."
"Ah… You said they did it together, right?"
"No."
'Yes? Or no?'
"These boys are not playing a song we wrote together, but their own. Each one believes it's their own."
"What is that...."
Professor Lee Chan-ho gestured to Ji-ye, and she took some documents out of her bag and handed them over.
'What's this? Is it a copyright registration document?'
"Of course, this music will be used for free, but I have prepared the documents to register the copyright first. Look at the name of the original author."
'Of course it says Nam Soo-hyun. Do I really need to see it?'
Chairman Park Ki-jun's body froze as he flipped through the documents. In the space where the simple name Nam Soo-hyun should be written, there were up to twenty names. He quickly raised his head and froze as he held the documents.
"Are you saying you included the names of all the orchestra members in the name of the original author?"
Professor Lee Chan-ho smiled and nodded.
"Legally, this is a children's song. The young people will perform it as practice as long as the Korea University Center for Musical Education for the Gifted exists. Even if they don't make money, they will leave their mark on history. But can't they feel responsibility for their own music?"
Chairman Park Ki-jun laughed in vain.
"It's amazing! Just by putting their names on it, you're instilling responsibility in all the children. It's really amazing."
"What do you think, Professor?"
The professor smiled and looked at Ji-ye. She scratched her cheek as if she were embarrassed and said,
"That's… Soo-hyun told me a similar story, so I suggested he do this."
Chairman Park Ki-jun looked at Ji-ye. Someone who didn't know much about music. Someone who was not Soo-hyun's father or older sister. But the person who loved Soo-hyun more than anyone. The person who could see Soo-hyun's heart, which was invisible from his perspective. Chairman Park Ki-jun nodded his head in admiration.
"You are a greater person than I am."
Ji-ye felt embarrassed when the head of a global conglomerate said that. From his perspective, the embarrassment was even greater because Chairman Park Ki-jun was the employer who hired him.
"Oh, no, President. I just made a suggestion. It was possible because Soo-hyun liked it so much and gave me permission. It was all Soo-hyun's work."
Chairman Park Ki-jun said with a smile.
"But Soo-hyun didn't even think of that. The best results always come from teamwork. I have confirmed once again that you are a great help to Soo-hyun. Please continue to take care of me in the future."
The three people in the lobby shared a warm look and a smile. At the same time, suddenly, a dance party broke out inside the concert hall. The third movement, rough and lively, based on a Russian peasant dance, made the old men move their shoulders. Young-hoo looked bewildered when he saw the elderly people getting up from their seats one by one and shaking their bodies.
"Oh, grandpa! What the hell is this…?"
Not all of them, but about five of them came to the front and danced awkwardly just below the stage. Sambokdo also watched the weather and prayed for Young-hoo.
'Hyung, stop me. It's not like Soo-hyun is smearing food on his face, and what the hell is this doing in a classical music concert? How ridiculous!'
"…"
While Young-hoo was trying to get up to stop the old men, Sambok suddenly grabbed him by the neck. Young-hoo, who was suddenly forced back into his seat as he was trying to get up, shook off the heat and spoke.
"Did you say let go of me? You help me too."
"Brother."
"What?"
"Excuse me."
The place where Sambok winked. Young-hoo's head turned forward. A strange sight caught his eye. Soo-hyun, who should be conducting at the front of the orchestra, had his body half-turned to look at the elderly people and was waving his left hand towards their dance. It was like conducting an orchestra and dancing together.
"Look at the faces of the boys in the orchestra," Sambok said.
The expressions of the children watching the elderly people's dance moves as they played their own instruments. There was not a single child who felt bad or embarrassed. Everyone was smiling and laughing.
'What happened?'
At that moment, a vision appeared in Young-hoo's eyes. Curves of various colors extending from all the instruments that the children were playing emerged at once and wrapped around Soo-hyun's arms. And the curves that were soaring into the sky thanks to the tremors that were occurring in Soo-hyun's hands were falling from the sky to the audience seats like hundreds of flower buds scattering. Young-hoo's eyes, which were looking up at the ceiling in surprise, were filled with flower petals.
Unwanted separation,
Something like lonely loneliness,
Let's put it aside and dance.
Dance for the dead.
Don't think we'll never meet again.
I'm with the dead.
I know where they are.
It's warm and pretty among the trees.
Among the black and shiny pianos,
A quiet log cabin.
Sometimes I drink red wine,
Sometimes I sing and dance.
What makes us sad is the dead,
Could he be trapped in a cold and dark abyss?
I wonder if he'll be sick there too, if he'll miss me.
Worry and longing. That's why.
But we sing.
But we dance.
Our songs and dances reach them.
Blessing you a beautiful death,
Rejoicing in eternal rest,
Let me tell you.
Putting aside the emptiness for a moment, leaving the sadness behind.
The sound was as if dozens of people were singing together. Young-hoo, startled, quickly turned around, but all he saw were the smiling villagers looking at the old men dancing to the cheerful and exciting orchestral music.
He could hear Sambok muttering.
"Isn't the title of the music Death? But what is this exciting music? In a classical play, the old people are dancing, but why do the children have those expressions?"
Young-hoo lost his strength. He understood the secret behind the children's expressions.
"Content..."
"Content?" Sambok asked after hearing Young-hoo's murmurs.
"The satisfaction that their music is being properly conveyed."
"…?"
Young-hoo said with a serious look in his eyes as he watched the orchestra members playing the third movement towards the end.
"No, should I say I'm glad that the language of music has been properly conveyed?"
The sound of the twenty people shouting in unison filled the concert hall.
Let's rejoice!
Let's rejoice!
Let's put aside despair and futility.
Blessings for those who have found rest.
Those who have reached eternal rest,
So that you can rest comfortably.
I'm worried about being left alone,
So that you don't stay without being able to rest in peace.
- - - -
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