“What are you curious about?”
Normally, I wouldn’t have stepped forward like this. Not only do I dislike receiving attention, but it was also an uninvited place.
But hadn’t the melody continued to touch my ears? As if testing me.
“Why did you change the arrangement of the introduction of the first movement?”
“You said the arrangement was changed?”
“Yes, in the original score, the introduction of the fourth part starts with a slow tempo and floating harmony. It transitions from a creepy, dark atmosphere, like walking through the night streets, where B-flat minor changes to major and then from C minor to D major, continuously changing the flow until the resounding brilliance of the trumpet.”
Beethoven, Symphony No. 4.
The early Romantic composer Schumann described this piece as ‘a slender Greek beauty between two Nordic giants.’ And rightly so, Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony ‘Eroica’ and 5th Symphony ‘Fate’ are such masterpieces. There’s even a saying that all of Beethoven’s beloved symphonies are odd-numbered.
At that moment.
“However, the introduction of the 4th movement you conducted was faster than the markings in the score, almost like a scherzo.”
It was a change in the introduction so brief that one could call it a moment. Even a regular classical music enthusiast wouldn’t have noticed it. At first, I thought I misheard, but by the second movement, I was sure of it.
“And in the second movement, you switched the themes of the first and second violins. The second violin was singing along with the dotted rhythm accompaniment pattern of the first violin.”
“How can you be so sure? Since it was a rehearsal, the seating arrangements could be different than usual. The member you thought was in the first violin part could have been in the second violin part.”
“The melody is different for each part.”
Having experienced the Belgian Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony, I could clearly tell. Each part has its characteristic habits and nuances.
Of course, not all symphony orchestras are the same, but each violin part has its unique melody. Think of it as the difference between soprano and alto.
“Have you ever attended a Berlin Phil rehearsal before?”
I had seen performances by the Berlin Phil in my past life. But this was my first time attending a rehearsal. The interest was evident in the conductor’s eyes.
“Do you have some time to talk more?”
“It would be my honor.”
Suddenly, memories of my judicial training days came flooding back. In my past life, hadn’t I engaged in long debates with senior professors about numerous precedents and legal interpretations?
Of course, it wasn’t to show off or to put down the senior professors. It was purely to quench the thirst that grew the more I studied. There was a reason they called me a ‘studious beast.’
Indeed, now that I had superior software, that thirst was even greater, not less.
Gulp―!
How much time had passed? By now, the undergraduates of the Berlin Academy were looking at me with astonished eyes. Even the members on stage were looking at me with curious eyes.
Though we conversed for a long time, it was a heated debate where no one could speak. I rebutted the conductor’s words, and the conductor immediately countered my points.
Was I upset? Not at all, I felt refreshed, as if I had just come out of a sauna. The conductor must have felt the same.
“What is your major at the Berlin Academy? Conducting?”
“No.”
“Then, are you a violinist?”
Oh no, how should I explain this? Even the undergraduates of the Berlin Academy sitting next to me looked curious. In reality, I was just a high school student. It was a moment where I felt my throat tighten as if it were tuned by a string winder.
“Maestro.”
Like a relief pitcher, the lion of the Berlin Phil entered the concert hall.
As soon as the maestro, nicknamed the lion, stepped onto the stage, even though it was a rehearsal, an inexplicable tension and silence fell over.
The maestro briefly glanced over the full score and then looked up to check the academy undergraduates in the audience. Then,
“Hyun?”
He looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“Yes, Maestro.”
“What are you doing there?”
Indeed.
“Mr. Son, congratulations, though it’s late.”
It was a box that looked expensive at a glance.
“Old man, what is this?”
“Open it. It’s a gift from an older brother to a younger one.”
“Come on, man. There’s only a two-year gap between us, what do you mean by older brother?”
As he opened the box, revealing oak bark and moss, there lay a noble-looking ginseng. It was long enough to reach from the crown to the roots, about the size of a palm.
“It’s a wild ginseng I found halfway up Jirisan Mountain. I asked a ginseng digger I know to get it for me. You know how hard it is to find one this good.”
“Chairman Yoo, are you really giving me this entire root?”
“I already ate a small one on my way here.”
Of course, Chairman Wang could easily buy ginseng with his money. But wild ginseng from Korea is not easy to obtain.
Chairman Wang carefully plucked a small side root and ate it. Then,
“It feels like a furnace is burning inside my body―!”
His wrinkled face turned rosy. Chairman Wang and Chairman Yoo talked with blooming faces. The main topic was business in China.
“I was planning to send Hyun to China with Mr. Kang as soon as he returns. It’s because of Hyun that Dongju thinks favorably of Tianjin.”
“Chairman Yoo, isn’t it fascinating? No one can teach guanxi, yet.”
Just as Chairman Wang said, Hyun knew how to win the hearts of the Chinese.
In China, prices vary based on guanxi. In that sense, Hyun seemed to be born with an understanding of guanxi, as he sent gifts and letters to Deng Zheng every year.
“If your second son and my third could follow even half of Hyun’s example, it would be great. Both are just growing older without maturing.”
At that moment,
Chairman Wang’s secretary entered the reception room. After whispering something to the secretary, Chairman Wang’s eyes widened.
“The third one is here.”
“Hongwon?”
“Yes, he seems to have come to ask for forgiveness, kneeling at the mansion’s entrance, just like the birthday table incident where he hinted at wanting a subsidiary.”
Chairman Wang’s third son, Son Hongwon, had disappointed him multiple times with his lack of business acumen. They say you can predict ten things from one; he was clearly not suited for business.
Chairman Wang plucked another small root of the wild ginseng.
“Secretary Kim, bring a large ladle.”
A spoon wouldn’t be enough to fix the third one’s mindset.
‘That undergraduate is violinist Hyun?’
Conductor Samuel’s face was clearly flustered. The other members were equally surprised.
Who would have thought that a prospective member invited by the maestro would be present at a rehearsal attended by Berlin Academy undergraduates? They were amazed by Hyun’s deep musical knowledge and experience.
“The members were quite surprised.”
The lion of the Berlin Phil, Yuri, greeted me in his office. Though it was two days earlier than scheduled, his face showed only a gentle smile.
The reason was simple. Unintentionally, I had shown off my skills to the members.
“Especially Conductor Samuel seemed quite shocked to find out you were not just a Berlin Academy student but also the prospective member violinist Hyun whom I had invited. Did you plan this surprise?”
“No, Maestro. There was no intention to deceive. Since we are both Asian and have similar names, the staff seemed to have mistaken me.”
“Indeed, I know you don’t enjoy such antics. But the members might think differently.”
Undoubtedly, I had left a strong impression from the first meeting. Who would think of debating music with the conductor of the Berlin Phil?
“Hyun, even though I called you to Berlin Phil out of my desire, the members’ resistance is not insignificant. They won’t show it in front of me, but I’m telling you so you don’t get hurt.”
“I had already anticipated it.”
“You anticipated it?”
Of course, this is the world’s top-rated symphony orchestra. The members’ musical pride and values are incomparable.
Just as the new members of the London Symphony had done, they wouldn’t be pleased with a prospective member suddenly dropping from the sky. Come to think of it,
‘Tsk.’
Hadn’t I experienced this in my past life as well? When I graduated from high school in the provinces and moved to Seoul, there was quite an uproar when a provincial graduate topped the entrance exam at Korea University Law School. The prodigies who had taken the exam after receiving extensive private education must have felt quite humiliated to be surpassed by someone like me.
“Experiencing Berlin Phil as a musician is priceless. I will strive to earn the members’ recognition.”
“You don’t seem nervous at all.”
“I’m not lacking in confidence. I’ve already made a promise.”
Hadn’t Emanuel repeatedly advised me? He said the Berlin Phil members would undoubtedly be territorial because I was different from them.
The London Symphony was a unique case. Most of the top orchestras in the world have strict discipline, almost like a military unit.
Their musical pride was also strong. There’s even a history of members uniting to oust an incompetent conductor.
If it weren’t for Maestro Yuri’s influence, I wouldn’t have been invited to Berlin as a prospective member.
“By the way, you learned conducting in London, right?”
“Pardon?”
“I saw an interview. The Maestro in London mentioned that a new wave of conducting would flow through London.”
It seemed an interview had taken place without my knowledge. But to say a new wave would flow through London, was it just my imagination or did Maestro Yuri’s eyes seem unusually intense?
“Hyun, what do you want to learn in Berlin?”
It was a straightforward question. I hadn’t thought about what I wanted to learn from Berlin Phil. I was just very curious about it. Wasn’t it the ideal place that many musicians, including Baek Junghoon, aspired to?
Then Yuri leaned in and asked again.
“You haven’t signed a contract with London yet, have you?”
“No, Maestro.”
“Then that’s a relief. It means we still have a chance.”
Why did I suddenly feel a cold sweat trickling down my back? Which musician wouldn’t be thrilled to receive such a love call from the world’s top orchestra? And at just seventeen years old.
“Hyun, did you come here alone?”
Oh no, I unconsciously stood up. Hadn’t it already been an hour since I entered the concert hall?
At that moment, Chrissy’s urgent voice came through the internal speakers of the concert hall. If I were any later, it would be a scene straight out of a movie.
