King of Classical Music

Now that the conductor was present, the rehearsal officially began.

Tan Zheng Hui was the conductor of this orchestra. He had a great reputation within the orchestra and Huaxia as a whole. Since he took over as conductor ten years ago, he led the orchestra to perform both at home and abroad. His interpretation of Dvorak’s, in particular, amazed people in the West who couldn’t quite believe that a conductor from the East who understood the work of Dvorak existed.

Tan Zheng Hui turned 56 this year but his hair was already white. Although he appeared very spirited and lively, it couldn’t hide the signs of aging.

After the death of Qi Mu’s mother 8 years ago, he suddenly began aging quickly.

Qi Mu’s mother grew up in B City before she got married and relocated to S City. She didn’t have a good family environment, as a child. While at university, her parents died of illness at the same time. She was a very talented young woman who was also very caring towards Tan Zheng Hui. She was his concertmaster before she went to the S City Symphony Orchestra.

Such a great and talented person in the younger generation suddenly died in an accident, of course, Tan Zheng Hui was heartbroken by it. And with Qi Mu being the way he was, he was even more distraught.

“Second violin group, drop the vibrato to mp!”

“Third french horn? Slower!”

“Second violin group, you entered too fast!”

“Stop! The trombone is one tone off, Li Cheng, start again.”

. . .

The first rehearsal was always the most difficult. Each type of instrument consisted of more than a dozen people. To play with consistency and controlling your own rhythm was already difficult. Not to mention they had to play in combination with other instruments.

Even though B City Orchestra had played Dvorak’s songs many times over the past years, it was inevitable that minor mistakes would occur. This was also a test for the conductor.

In the past, he was the deputy concertmaster of Vienna Symphony Orchestra. So he too could hear the mistakes such as the pitch of the instrument, the rhythm, vibrato, tremolo, etc. Sometimes he could also hear the smaller mistakes in the string section or the bigger ones from the wind* section.

*Literally woodwind, which is a section of wind instruments other than the brass including flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons.

However, after a while, the conductor suddenly stopped and yelled, and even Qi Mu was a bit surprised.

After all, Vienna Symphony Orchestra was one of the world’s top orchestras. The mistakes that occurred were few and far between. When the ensemble reached the late stage, even a single mistake couldn’t be heard. By then, only the conductor could hear the subtle mistakes that were hidden in the strong sound.

“Li Cheng! Did you stay out late last night? Have you eaten? Your play is a mess! Do it again!”

On the towering podium, Tan Zheng Hui’s face was already flushed red with anger. The second trombone he reproached was also embarrassed and hastened to play it again. Seeing this, Qi Mu shook his head and smiled. He sympathized with the man a little.

“Xiao* Qi, do you think he played as badly as Lao* Tan said?” the young man beside him asked in a low voice. Tan Zheng Hui was already angry enough to go straight for the trombone group. So it was hard for him to hear their whispered conversation at the front. “I think Lao Li didn’t play any differently from before, so how can he be so bad today?”

*Xiao means “little” and is an affectionate form of address for others that are the same age, or younger. Lao means “old” is a form of respect (and admiration) for those that are older.

Hearing this, Qi Mu chuckled and explained, “There is no problem with the intonation and the pitch of the second trombone. But when he entered, it sounded louder than the first trombone, overwhelming it. By the end of the paragraph, he exited too fast and didn’t hold the horn.”

The young man was shocked and asked in confusion, “Is that really true?”

“Chen-Ge, don’t you think so?” Looking up to the other party, Qi Mu’s light-colored eyes seemed to reflect a smile. He then calmly said, “If he still doesn’t get it right this time, Lao Tan would. . .”

“Disproportionate! It’s too heavy at the top! Did you not play the 《Sixth》 for the past few months? Or did you forgot how to play trombone entirely? Tell me, Li, when did you start making such a mistake? You’re in too much of a hurry, you shouldn’t rush the Horn!”

Qi Mu hadn’t finished speaking when Tan Zheng Hui’s angry voice rang throughout the practice room. Qi Mu froze slightly, but then he smiled and closed his mouth, and he didn’t say anything else. But the young man didn’t let him go.

“No way! That was such a subtle mistake! Xiao Qi, you could hear it? Your ears are really sharp!”

Qi Mu smiled modestly, his beautiful eyes moved a bit, thinking of what to say, “My parents really liked listening to Dvorak’s 《Sixth》, so they often talked to me about it, explaining it. Even though Lao Tan’s style is not the same as my father, in this aspect, it is identical.”

The young man nodded and didn’t ask anything more, but Qi Mu smiled meaningfully.

He had been able to slowly grasp the notes that were constantly emerging in his mind, courtesy of his hearing. Because there were too many sounds, he couldn’t control it all at once. And he also had to trouble himself with the need to use a tuner. But now, although he wouldn’t dare to say that his hearing was better than Lao Tan, it should be almost the same, if they were to compare it.

For a conductor, the most important thing was their ears.

Even Beethoven, the music maestro himself who had written his own symphonies despite being deaf, was faced with opposition from orchestras when he wanted to be the conductor of his own songs. And the musicians who heard the news all shivered.

He can’t hear and yet he wanted to lead an orchestra? That was an impossible mission!

Qi Mu knew, with the gift that this body had, it wouldn’t be hard for him to climb up in the industry. This talent was suited best for being a conductor, not a violinist. But. . .

Was perfect pitch the only thing needed to be a conductor?

Every world-renowned conductor had an ear that, through training alone, was no less than having perfect pitch. The achievements they had earned could not be imagined by someone without absolute sound.

Qi Mu had heard about something similar in Vienna. It was also because of this that he met the modern king of classical. Since then, he could only concede defeat to Min Chen.

It was said, that when he was conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, he once heard a violin change strings after an ensemble.

What kind of hearing was that?

Either way, even in terms of Qi Mu’s current talent, he still couldn’t imagine it.

“Ah, this is barely okay. You will play it again later. If you are passable, you can go home for dinner!”

Lao Tan snorted then walked back to his podium. Before he picked up his baton, his gaze swept across the auditorium to meet Qi Mu’s. The young man was surprised but he quickly smiled——

Just now. . . was he heard?

When the rehearsal ended, Qi Mu had not stood from his chair when he suddenly heard an old man’s voice coming from the podium, “Qi Mu. . . with me. Come.”

Qi Mu startled, then set down his violin, and followed. He passed the others and everyone gave him looks that said “Xiao Qi, you’ll still be a hero eighteen years later” or “Xiao Qi, you worked hard. The revolution needs you!” It made him want to both laugh and cry.

When he caught up with Tan Zheng Hui, the old man was standing in the corridor outside the hall and his hands were tucked behind him. He did not turn to look at him, instead, he stared out the window. Qi Mu walked up to him quietly and followed his gaze down.

The wooden window sill was touched by age and beyond it was a garden blessed by the autumn wind. Most of the flowers had begun to succumb to the cold, and only the golden shade of the ginkgo tree’s leaves scattered across the ground like a thin blanket. It resembled the sun in full bloom from a distant, glaringly bright.

“Lao Tan,” Qi Mu said respectfully.

“Ah,” Tan Zheng Hui sighed. After a long time, he said, “How many years has it been since I’ve seen you. . .”

Qi Mu thought for a moment then said, “Three years.”

Tan Zheng Hui shook his head. His old, upright face showed a trace of grief as he said, “Three years and two months. Last time, you had yet to grow into adulthood and still wanted to grasp hold of that ‘Edith.’ Those of us old guys got together to meet you, and yet you only saw one side of it?”

His eyebrows rose slightly, then after a while, Qi Mu sighed, “Yes.”

‘Edith’ was the name of the violin his paternal grandmother had in a Swiss bank.

The original was eager to take Xiao Gongzhu from the back to sell it for cash. Therefore, the old friends of his parents gathered together to change the conditions for taking out the violin. So far, Qi Mu was not interested in selling the violin.

“If you just want to play, this circle is not for you,” Tan Zheng Hui said without feeling. “In my orchestra, if you’re going to rely on your background to climb, it’s impossible.”

Qi Mu naturally understood Lao Tan’s meaning. He was worried that he was still unrepentant.

He looked down at the halo reflected on the floor, and this movement had the hair on his forehead falling naturally to obscure his eyes. He said, “Lao Tan, I am very serious about wanting to start over. In the past, I was ignorant and young. In the future. . . please rest assured.”

Lao Tan was surprised, and he turned to look at Qi Mu in amazement.

The setting sun on the horizon rendered the clouds in the sky a gorgeous purple and it made everything look softer. It poured in through the window and cast across the young man’s white face, refining the appearance of his handsome features.

This made him resemble his mother twenty years ago!

After a long while, Lao Tan sighed, “This weekend. . . there is an international violin competition. Go participate.”

Qi Mu heard this and was shocked. He stared up at Lao Tan for a long time.

Looking at this old man’s helpless compromise, Qi Mu’s mouth slowly curled into a smile. Then he solemnly nodded and said:

“Okay.”

Chapter translated by Kuroshinji and Betwixted, edited by Betwixted