Chapter 294: Nostalgia
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
Facing this unique style, most musicians subconsciously felt a little bit uncomfortable. However, the composer was Lucien Evans, one of the top musicians, known for his spirit of reform and innovation, so they still listened very carefully.
Soon, most musicians who were not originally from Aalto found that the passion in the music was contagious. It reminded them of the busy life they lived when they first arrived in Aalto.
The life back in the days was beyond busy. They had to run around every day just to make a living as an instrumentalist. During their very limited spare time, they were either pulling hair seeking for a piece of melody or playing instruments despite the pain in their hands. They could only find peace in music.
Then, they heard a brand new style of music, which came from another country’s exotic folk music. The new world of music brought the audience great shock, just like when they first arrived in Aalto and heard the music there. The totally different style let them have a new understanding of music and expanded their horizon like never before.
Christopher’s knitted brows gradually unfolded. He had lots of memories in his mind.
With his music dream, Christopher left his hometown and finally arrived in Aalto after going through great difficulty. However, Aalto was a place that never lacked talented musicians and instrumentalists. Christopher knew it well that without outstanding talent and accomplished playing skills, it was going to be very hard for him to stay here in this city.
Therefore, Christopher had no choice but to play music on street. At that time, he lived on very little money given by strangers. During the countless nights, Christopher studied the music from Aalto crazily. At the same time, he was also saving money to learn how to read and to borrow books.
By chance, he met Mr. Lessing, a person who changed his life completely and opened the gate toward symphony for him.
When he first listened to a symphony, he felt that he had arrived in a brand new country.
Christopher had to say that Lucien’s music perfectly reminded him of his past experience, Despite the stereotype he had in his mind towards the music style.
Then the band started to play together. The melody was full of passion like strong waves, and the two secondary themes were revealed. Flute and oboes brought out the sadness and feeling of alienation in the two themes.
The new structure of the music surprised the musicians present. At the end of the first movement, they finally found how the recapitulation part was arranged in such a unique way. After several turns and delays, the recapitulation part finally started.
Most nobles and common folks did not have this strict sense of structure. Although they had some feeling that this symphony was different from the ones they listened to before, and some could even tell which parts were different, they all agreed that New Country was an outstanding and touching masterpiece.
They were listening to the music using their ears and heart.
After pausing a bit, Lucien raised the baton again, with his eyes slightly closed. The bass part brought out the mysterious yet gloomy atmosphere. Lucien had lots of memories in his mind, and those memories had all turned into many pictures that he missed:
He missed his family and friends, and the memory of them together was still so fresh; Mr. Victor, who was always nice, kind and upright, had offered him so much help and support; uncle Joel and aunt Alisa took care of him just like his mother and father, who lent him all their savings and tried their best to protect him from the gangsters; his friend, John, chose to fight with him facing the gangsters; Natasha, the humorous and generous princess, had helped him so much wholeheartedly, and they had gone through a lot of things together…
He missed the shabby shanty in Aderon. Lucien fixed the wood door himself, and underground there was a ruined magic lab. Living in the shanty, Lucien learned how to read, fought against the heretics of the Argent Horn, and became an apprentice…
He missed his garden villa, although he only lived there for a few months. He remembered clearly the stone bricks and vines covering the walls. In the garden villa, Lucien played For Silvia and Moonlight. There, Lucien got to know the existence of the Congress of Magic from Mr. Rhine…
He missed the Musicians’ Association, its soft and thick carpet, quiet atmosphere, big library and well-designed instrument rooms… They had all witnessed the countless times of practicing and how Lucien came all the way there until today…
Those pictures were all in Lucien’s mind, but what was even clearer was the fact that he was going to say goodbye to all of these.
The sorrow had been turned into the music notes flowing along Lucien’s baton.
Then, the oboes played the melodious part, filled with mixed joy and sorrow. The melody seized the audience’s heart.
Christopher felt that he was in a dream. For a moment, he felt that he was brought back to his small hometown. He wondered whether the classic two-storey buildings still looked the same old and a bit gloomy, and whether the ghost stories were still being told. He also wanted to know if the river running along the town wall was still that clear and if the apple tree in front of his old place could still produce fruits… and also, whether the lady he admired when young now had wrinkles all over her face just like him, and whether his families were still visiting their ancestors’ graves…
The melody brought Christopher great nostalgia like never before.
Betty, Joanna, and Simon also lost in their thoughts listening to the music. They thought of the mountains and winding roads in Djibouti, as well as the horrifying stories about those necromancers. They missed their childhood friends, their parents, and their old house…
Betty and Joanna’s eyes started to get full of tears. They suddenly wanted to go back home.
The music reminded Joel and Alisa of the small town in the south, the patio that carried their love story, and even trees and stones there. They still remembered the moss in the corner of the stone wall and the taste of the cuisines…
In the music, Grace saw Sturk. She saw the stone bridges over the rivers, the boats with a pointed tip, and the wax statues in the museums. Also, she saw her parents who were getting old day by day and her elder brother, who labored all day…
In the weeping-like beautiful melody, all of the people present, no matter nobles, musicians, businessmen or common folks, had been overwhelmed by the great sense of nostalgia.
Many of them had tears in their eyes.
Then, the first theme of the symphony slowly pulled people back to reality—the reality that they were all alone in a strange place by themselves.
The violin ended the second movement with the chord.
There was no applause. People were silent. People were lost in their thoughts and their own memory of the past.
The third movement burst out the great passion that was full of different colors, bringing people the beauty and charm of the new country.
Then the fourth movement was grand and exciting, and it reviewed all the previous themes again with the movement’s unique power—the power from people’s wish to go back home and the belief that they would go back home one day, with a better life!
Like a flowing river, the fourth movement ended the symphony in joy and hope.
And the new country slowly faded away.
The strong feelings in the symphony won the heart of everyone present. Thunder-like applause burst out of the crowd. And people started to cheer for the young musician and the symphony.
The applause just would not stop. Lucien had to keep bowing to the audience.
People were still applauding, although their hands felt numb, and their faces were covered with tears.
Lucien’s music expressed the nostalgia and their wish to go back home for them!
Christopher said to Othello, Victor, and Natasha in a gentle voice, “Tomorrow, I want to go back to my hometown to take a look.”
After pausing a bit, Christopher added, “This is the most touching lento I’ve ever heard in a symphony, and I forgot to focus on the structure… Maybe when a person gets old, he misses his hometown even more…”
