Volume 5 / Chapter 179
TL: LightNovelCafe
[TN: Hey guys…we had a donation come in for God’s Song Queue and I realized I haven’t been keeping up with my scheduled releases…which isn’t an issue until I actually get a donation like this. So I want to say thank you to Kirindas $15 and Kagemugen $20 for their donations. Please note that there will be 8 chapter releases this week for God’s Song instead of 7 due to that donation. This is 1 of 8!]
Yoon Kwang Hun read the thick bundle of scores that Jun Hyuk gave him several times. It was to figure out what fun Jun Hyuk had been talking about.
But before he could find the fun in it, his jaw dropped at its configuration. Just the instrumentation is incredible. There are 29 instruments. It is such a large song that in a real performance, it would require over 100 people to play.
The song is long enough that even when played at an incredibly fast speed, it would take over 1 hour an hour to play. Yoon Kwang Hun was having such fun with the scale and changes of the song that he did not have time to think about the secret Jun Hyuk mentioned.
Looking at the number of movements in the symphony, it is not very different from a 4 movement classical. But the conventionally slow 2nd movement is nowhere to be found and instead retains change and taut suspense until the 3rd movement.
Once the radical presentation ends, there is an epitasis of over 180 bars. There wasn’t the typical method of using repeat marks to replicate a constant thematic progression and instead went straight into the repetition and closing.
He thought that it was a symphony when he first opened the score, but it transformed into a double concerto. The piano and violin had appeared out of nowhere.
As soon as the 2nd movement started, piano and violin solos jumped out so suddenly the person looking could almost pass out from surprise.
The 3rd movement did not transform different subjects in a variation format, but kept throwing around one subject. It kept pushing forward through a sweet harmony, a dignified performance, a destructive rampancy, and an explosive timpani.
The most bizarre aspect was the 4th movement. The emptiness that could be felt in the first 3 movements appeared in the 4th.
Until the 3rd movement, it was like watching a blockbuster movie of a magnificent scale, grand effects, and continuous action. However, the 4th movement changed into a dry art film.
He could not guess why Jun Hyuk had created such a configuration. He looked the score over dozens of times to see if the fun that Jun Hyuk had talked about was hidden there, but was not able to find it.
“Hey! Give me a hint. What’s so fun about this song that it’s such a secret?”
“The fun is in finding it. Ha ha.”
Jun Hyuk laughed proudly. It could be that the fun Jun Hyuk is thinking of is in watching people look for the hidden fun in the score.
“And Sir, that score isn’t complete. There’s something I need to add to it. I left it out because if it’s there, anyone can figure it out. Should I give it to you?”
“No. I’m going to figure it out no matter what.”
Yoon Kwang Hun glared at a laughing Jun Hyuk and buried himself in the score again.
Yoon Kwang Hun got lost in the score as though he had discovered a new toy. He finally found the hidden secret 2 days later.
Once he figured out the secret, he was blank and did not move for a while.
Jun Hyuk put himself to a rash challenge for 2 months, and it seemed that challenge had been a success. He cannot be sure that it is a success because he has not yet seen the score that Jun Hyuk hid.
Jun Hyuk had not gotten enough sleep while doing work, so he did not leave his bed for half of the day.
Jun Hyuk finally came down to the cafe when the sun was setting.
“Oh, you figured the secret out. Your expression… What do you think? Isn’t it great?”
Jun Hyuk smiled brightly when he found Yoon Kwang Hun not looking at the score and blankly enjoying a cup of coffee.
“Hey! Didn’t you say that it falls short of a masterpiece?”
Yoon Kwang Hun yelled as though Jun Hyuk had used trickery in a fun game.
“I’d be embarrassed to call it a masterpiece.”
“What’s your standard of a masterpiece? Though, I guess I’ll have to see the rest of what you haven’t shown me yet. Hurry up and hand it over.”
Jun Hyuk looked at Yoon Kwang Hun’s hand and kept laughing.
“You have to tell me the answer to the riddle first.”
Jun Hyuk urged Yoon Kwang Hun’s answer with sparkling eyes.
“Give me the vocal part.”
“As expected. You solved it in 2 days. Wait a second.”
Yoon Kwang Hun got goosebumps at the sight of Jun Hyuk running to get the score. He was more surprised by Jun Hyuk’s rash challenge than he was pleased by solving it.
He spent another day looking at the rest of the score that Jun Hyuk brought him.
Jun Hyuk waited the entire day for Yoon Kwang Hun to finish looking at the score.
“What do you think? Sir, honestly isn’t it great?”
“You said yourself that it isn’t a masterpiece. But what are you saying is so great?”
“Masterpieces aren’t the only ones that are great. I’m pretty sure this kind of fun configuration is the first.”
More than fun was the fact that he had done a configuration that no one had ever done before. Even if someone had thought of it first, doing the actual work is a different issue. How many people are capable of creating something like this? Yoon Kwang Hun could only sigh while looking at Jun Hyuk, who said that it was just for fun.
“Whew – Anyway, what are you thinking of doing with this? Did you just make it? You want me to store this one too?”
“No. I’m actually pleased with this one. So I’m thinking about it.”
It had been a while since Yoon Kwang Hun had seen Jun Hyuk with such confidence, and made him realize something.
“Jun Hyuk.”
“Yes.”
“You signed on with a management agency so you don’t have to think about stuff like that. Show them the score and discuss it with them.”
“Ah, that’s not what I’m thinking about. It’s what Amelia said about gaining work experience through a competition. I wrote this song with the Queen Elisabeth Competition in mind.”
“Do you need to do that? Stern would be able to spread this out to maestros all over the world.”
He is grateful that Amelia worries about Jun Hyuk’s future, but it could be a faster path than gaining experience through competitions. Yoon Kwang Hun thought that if it is Isaac Stern, he would be able to lay out a highway for the future in front of Jun Hyuk.
“Then I won’t be able to conduct it. If I win in the composition part of the Queen Elisabeth Competition, I would be able to conduct it myself.”
“What? Is that why you made this a double concerto? Because the piano and violin winners perform in the finals?”
“Yes. Then I’d get to conduct this song multiple times. I thought of how I would perform it slightly differently with the piano and violin.”
He stated the reason of gaining experience, but it showed that his desire to conduct the song was really greater. It could be inevitable that he has the ambition to do it when it is a song of such a grand scale.
“Do you really need to do that? President Stern would make it so that you would be able to conduct the premiere.”
“Oh, do you think that much would be possible?”
“You have to end the contract if he can’t even do that. Not being able to do it is one of two reasons. Either he doesn’t have the eye to see this song’s worth, or his company doesn’t have the ability to get the New York Philharmonic for this song.”
Jun Hyuk found courage in Yoon Kwang Hun’s words and already started drawing a picture of himself conducting for the New York Philharmonic.
“Scan the score and try sending it to him. Let’s see what kind of response comes back.”
The score was so large that it took a whole day to scan it. If Yoon Kwang Hun is right, Isaac Stern would call the second he opened to the 1st movement. However, a week passed and he did not receive a call.
President Stern had been able to recognize Jun Hyuk’s piano playing before Laura’s beautiful singing but did not show a reaction, making Jun Hyuk nervous.
Stern is not showing a reaction when he is the type of person who identifies the value of music exactly. There are over 40 maestros signed with Stern Corporation. It could be that he is showing the song to these maestros in order to make a precise judgment of its worth.
The fact that he is nevertheless silent could mean that he decided the song does not live up to expectations as much as Jun Hyuk thought it would.
Jun Hyuk is restless like a child, but Yoon Kwang Hun is in a relaxed state.
“It’s okay. He’s not saying anything because it’s great. If it was mediocre, he would have called right away. He would have just said things like ‘I got the score. It’s as good as I thought it’d be.’”
“Why isn’t he showing a reaction if it’s good?”
“Are you saying you still don’t know? I’ll tell you another thing about the way adults work, so listen well, little one.”
Yoon Kwang Hun pushed Jun Hyuk into a seat by his shoulders.
“President Stern isn’t your fan anymore. That’s a private matter. Now you have a business contractual relationship. There’s no reason for him to be praising you on your music. Whether he likes it or not, it’s his job to make it into ‘work’.”
Yoon Kwang Hun knows from experience that there is no point in business partners saying nice things to each other.
“It’s Isaac Stern’s job to look at your score, think about what he’s going to do, create a plan, and put that plan into motion. He’ll be doing that work now. He can just look for you when he absolutely needs to.”
Jun Hyuk’s face finally relaxed considerably.
“Did you just send the score? You didn’t tell him your thoughts?”
“No. I also wrote asking what he thought about submitting it for the competition.”
“Then I’m sure he included that in his plan as well. He’ll work in your favor. Keep it in mind. Don’t trust people who only say things you like to hear. You need to put your trust in people who show you results instead of words.”
