Chapter 291: Everyone’s Waiting
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
Franz totally understood. When he was under poor health condition, many times he still pushed himself to an even further limit just because the passion and inspiration could not be shut down at that moment.
Therefore, Franz nodded with a sincere smile, “I see, Mr. Evans. I’ll try my best to help you. When I first heard the fourth movement of the symphony, the chorus movement, I was totally shocked by its beauty and grandness. And the idea of adding chorus in a symphony is a great innovation! It’s my great pleasure to be part of this helping you complete this masterpiece. It’s gonna be one of the most memorable things in my life.”
In order to fit the long verse in, to avoid those parts that were disrespectful to God, and to keep its original linguistic beauty, Lucien and Franz had spent a lot of time and thoughts.
Franz was a very dedicated musician and a great fan of Lucien. In front of his idol, Franz praised the movement with great excitement.
Lucien coughed hard and then asked in an excited way, which was a bit strange, “Thank you, Franz! Now our job’s almost done! Then, the lead singer and the chorus shall start practising and provide us with feedback. Do you think it’s… too hard?”
Franz shook his head, “It’s hard, but I wouldn’t say it’s too hard. Any changes would take the beauty away from the movement. A great singer and a chorus should be able to handle it.”
“I think so too.” Lucien grinned.
At this time, someone knocked at the room door, and then the door was gently opened. It was Victor. Lucien and Franz were now in the piano room of the Musicians’ Association, on the fourth floor.
“Mr. Victor, we just finished our work.” Lucien smiled.
“I really picked a good time. Congratulations, Evans.” Victor smiled. Then he took a step aside and introduced, “This is Mr. Fabbrini, a great singer. Mr. Fabbrini’s the lead singer of the Golden Cathedral Chorus.”
Before Ode to Joy (The Symphony No. 9 in D minor from Ludwig van Beethoven) was completed, Lucien asked for Victor’s help to find him a great singer and a chorus.
Mr. Fabbrini was in his early twenties, had blue eyes and blond hair, looking like an angel serving the God of Truth. Unlike most men, Fabbrini was wearing light make up. In his fancy clothes, Mr. Fabbrini had this sense of feminine beauty.
Lucien was not too surprised, because most outstanding musicians were castrati, not to mention a lead singer of the Golden Cathedral Chorus.
Lucien smiled, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Fabbrini. Hope we can work well together.”
Here in this world, castrati were very popular. A countess in Gusta crazily loved their voice and once even started a war for a castrato.
“Mr. Evans, I’m going to meet the chorus and we’ll be waiting for you there in the concert hall. You don’t look very well, sir. Please take care,” said Fabbrini in his gentle voice.
After Fabbrini left, Lucien started coughing very badly, as if his lungs were going to come out.
“Are you alright? You still haven’t recovered, have you?” asked Victor concernedly. “Maybe we can put off the concert until you feel better.”
Lucien shook his head firmly, “It’s okay, Mr. Victor. I’m a knight, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Maybe the fact that Lucien was a knight really assured Victor, so he nodded, “We’re both musicians, so I do understand. But as your teacher, I still think having a doctor come over is necessary.”
“I will. Thank you, Mr. Victor.” Lucien was confident that he could deceive a doctor and have the doctor believe that although the injury could not be cured shortly, it would not be a life risk.
…
After more than a week, in the middle of the Month of Flower. In the concert hall on the fifth floor of the Musicians’ Association.
“How many times do I have to tell you, Fabbrini?!” Lucien pretended that he was a bit out of control, “Why do you keep making mistakes here?”
Fabbrini looked at Lucien’s pale face and hurriedly explained, with tears in his eyes, “Mr. Evans… This part’s too challenging… I need… need more practice…”
“But we’ve practiced a lot!” Lucien waved his arms.
Fabbrini took a deep breath and said, “Still not enough, sir. Please give me some more time, or maybe you can alter this part to make it simpler.”
“No way! This is perfect, and I’ll never allow it to be ruined! Fabbrini, just try harder. I believe you can do this! We can put off the concert a few days as long as…” Lucien started coughing very bad. And he squatted down beside the stage.
Franz hurriedly lent a hand to Lucien. Fabbrini also comforted him, “I’ll try even harder, Mr. Evans. I won’t let you down.”
At the end of this rehearsal, when he walked down the stage, Fabbrini, in his black shirt embroidered with golden threads, somehow looked back at the stage, as if he could still see Mr. Lucien standing there, acting crazily but full of passion.
…
“…Maybe at that time, Mr. Evans already had the hunch, so he was that pushy and strict, which was not at all like how people commented on him as being polite and gentle.” A few years later, Fabbrini recalled what he remembered of Mr. Evans when preparing the concert. “He was that dedicated, that hard-working, and that crazy… as if he was trying to burst out all the energy and radiance left in his life to leave no regret. I was blessed by God, so I was lucky to know Mr. Evans at that time, and finished the symphony with him. I saw, as the brilliant musician he was, his great passion towards music, and his piety to God.”
…
Glinton, the merchant that Lucien met in Massawa town, headed for the north after leaving Aalto.
In the Kingdom of Syracuse, he sold all his goods and then again bought some Syracuse goods, ready to leave for the fortress in the north of Violet.
This morning, when he was having his greasy breakfast, a glance at the newspaper suddenly stopped him from cutting the brisket. He could not believe his eyes, and he double checked a few times.
He was very surprised, but also a bit upset. He did not expect that Mr. Evans would come back as soon as he left Aalto.
“May twenty-sixth… the Psalm Hall… ‘Return’ Concert…” Glinton murmured to himself. He wondered if he should spend sixteen days going back to Aalto. Right now, it was already May fifteenth.
Putting down knife and fork, he took a few steps back and forth. Then he finally made the decision. He had missed Mr. Evans’ first concert, so there was no way that he was going to miss the second one, not to mention the fact that Mr. Evans just came back from his three-year trip.
Glinton decided to leave right now and leave the goods to his butler. He was not going to sit in a coach, but would ride with several guards. If he was quick enough, eleven days probably would be enough. Knowing quite a few nobles, Glinton was confident that he should be able to get a ticket. At least, he should try.
…
When Glinton arrived in Aalto, it was already May twenty-eighth, thirteen days later.
He was not upset at all, because he heard that the concert had been put off to June first.
Without taking any rest, Glinton directly headed for the Psalm Hall.
“What? Sold out? But… but there’re still four days!” Glinton was a bit pissed off, “I know Knight Mitch of the Hayne family, and…”
Glinton started listing.
The man sitting in the ticket office pointed at the many citizens around and said, “I’m sorry, sir. The tickets are sold out. There are just to many people waiting for the concert, and as far as I know, even Knight Mitch also failed to get a ticket.”
Glinton was very discouraged. Looking back, he saw crowds around the Psalm Hall.
In the corner, a journalist from Aalto Weekly quickly wrote down what he saw on his notebook, “Except for Aalto Music Festival, we’ve never seen a concert like this that can attract these many people to come to Aalto, as if they have forgotten that the Psalm Hall tickets are not usually for common folks…
“Lucien Evans has become an idol that the whole city or even the whole duchy has been crazy about…
“This has become a phenomenon. Maybe we should create a new word for this…”
