Old-time musicians

"Proposal? Please speak, Lord Marquis." Bishop Mir, who stood with his hands behind his back at a corner of the altar, politely indicated that he was listening.

McAdam said loudly: "It's still early, and everyone is still interested in discussing this topic. I suggest that everyone in the inspection team, if you have other musicians you are familiar with, can introduce one or two to us, and it will also give more participants who are interested in pursuing art an opportunity to show off."

"Lord Marquis is always happy to appreciate and support the younger generation." Bishop Mir smiled warmly, "In fact, this is an open discussion activity. The inspection is not an exam or a competition. There is no link to immediately rank the high and low. I think next, even without your proposal, any young artist As long as you stand up and show your willingness to give it a try, everyone will be happy to listen. "

Bishop Christopher, a colleague of Bishop Mir and a member of the inspection team, took over the conversation and said: "Indeed, I guess what you are worried about is that these young people are intimidated by the masters' works, or too much influenced by the performances of newly mature artists. Let me come up with an idea. Young friends who are undecided, how about pretending that this is a master's open class?"

This remark immediately hit the little thoughts of many young artists in the back seat, and there was another round of eye contact and helpless laughter.

Indeed, their current problem is not that they have no opportunities, and they know that it is not time for them to compete with mature artists. They are purely in the tangle of "eager to enter the field of vision" and "worrying about being shy on stage".

There are several Mendelssohn, Chopin or Schumann-like figures who are comparable to Blue Star sitting in the audience listening to their own performances. Who wouldn't be nervous? Even someone who has already made a plan has a much faster heartbeat than usual.

"Your Excellency, you are too kind. My main concerns about newcomers are age, potential and character." McAdam's tone was still calm.

Although Bishop Mill's question was rhetorical, it was obvious that the Marquis's words were cautious and restrained: "In return for some previous interactions, and of course based on objective evaluation, I think the young composer and conductor Carloen Fanning can try to discuss this topic on stage. If he is willing and performs steadily in the early stage, he should be able to reach a level that can be included in his vision."

He has met and examined too many outstanding young artists. This wording not only shows the stability and high status of the McAdam family, but also objectively avoids "praising to death" and leaves room for the possible risks of the proposed person in his performance.

As soon as this was said, almost everyone turned their heads and looked at an inconspicuous corner somewhere in the back row of the ceremony, where Fanning smiled friendly and politely at the person whose eyes met.

"Carloen Fanning? Is he the new permanent conductor of the Santa Lania Orchestra?" Everyone exchanged and confirmed the information privately.

"That's right. He is only 23 years old and was hired as an honorary associate professor right after graduating from school. It is very rare for him to have such titles at this age."

"It should be said that he is indeed qualified to be included in the vision and even participate in the competition. His violin concerto, which is about to be premiered, is amazing from the opening of the radio station. I just don't know what the subsequent level will be."

Although people in the Santa Lania music circle could not match the name with the face before, it is obvious that with the upcoming summer art festival, they are still very clear about Fanning's recent movements-although Santa Lania University is not as good as the "Big Three", the influence of its music major is also in the top five among the Imperial Colleges.

Can Carloen do it? Viadrin, who was sitting on the far left of the first row, was secretly worried. His and Master Niemann's performances were too good, and the performances of the ten mature artists behind him were not ordinary. If the gap was too big, it would probably affect his artistic reputation, and his piano technique level...

Anton Konar described Fanning's piano level in an objective and detailed letter. He had also heard the performances of "Fantasy Impromptu" and "Funeral March" and was very familiar with Fanning's technique. His finger function was at most at the level of an excellent piano graduate, but he was only good at improvisation, sight-reading and score reduction. In the art world's cognition, his title did not include "pianist".

As long as he could keep his stress-resistant mentality stable, he should be able to compete with these mature artists with his improvisation ability that made people unable to see through the upper limit, but if he wanted to perform well, he needed to spend more time on the content of the music.

For the sake of safety, he should not speak out to agree with McAdam. It was not a good thing to raise the volume so high.

Viadrin thought about this, made up his mind, and continued to wait and see.

"Interesting coincidence." At this time, Christopher on his right said, "Although everyone can try, Mr. Fanning is also at the top of my mind in terms of recommending young artists."

Why did the Holy Sun Church also stand on Carlon's side? Now Viadrin really found that he couldn't understand.

After all this time, except for the Special Patrol Office, only the Guidance School itself did not express its position?

The nomination of "Boethius Artist" is related to the promotion qualification of the Enlightened. The current Enlightened in various official organizations within the empire only add up to more than 20 people, which is undoubtedly extremely precious. Behind those artists just now, it is the invisible pushers of various organizations who are at work, but one more is not too much.

Anton was a believer in religion. Could it be that Christopher was trying to use Fanning's master relationship? Or was it because there were too many people who were afraid of the stage today, and they really had no other suitable candidates besides the original contestants?

Viadrin really couldn't think of any other reason.

"Thank you very much, Your Excellency, for recognizing the artistic personality of our school members." Although he was puzzled, he still thanked him politely.

Unexpectedly, in addition to the Guidance School, two other organizations also supported him? He Meng, who was sitting in the middle, was a little surprised. Vasius's information was very accurate. Fanning's "character" had reached the limit of "bridegroom" or "sower", and was close to the "blade holder" equivalent to a group of mature artists.

Is this situation good or bad? He Meng was a little undecided, but he would definitely follow Poglieriqi's instructions and thoughts.

"Then let's see what Mr. Fanning wants," He Meng's smile was a little sinister anyway, "Frankly speaking, I really hope to hear more discussions and interpretations on this theme."

"To be honest, I'm very nervous." Finally, Fanning stood up and spoke.

His tone and attitude were very sincere, and his expression also showed helplessness and uneasiness that everyone could understand: "I do have some small ideas, and the style may be a little different, but Mr. Christopher's words before gave me a little psychological retreat..." He paused and slowly walked out of the ceremony seat, "Well, I hope I can perform well, so that the effect should be good, but if not, I will just treat it as a master's open class for everyone to set an example."

"A veritable 'Master's Open Class', right?" Fanning walked forward.

His words showed the gentleman's modesty and courtesy, without excessive humility, and at the same time conveyed just the right amount of awe and confidence. Including the three masters, everyone looked at him with a hint of encouragement in addition to their curious and expectant eyes.

"You can do it, Mr. Fanning!" Fanning raised her fist as she passed by Luo Yin.

Sitting down in front of the piano, the warm and delicate black and white keys were close to her again.

The church was silent, people's shaking was minimized, and even the sound of the corners of clothes rubbing against each other had disappeared. In the ten seconds when she lowered her head and moved the piano stool to adjust her sitting position, she could only hear her heartbeat.

The nervousness Fanning mentioned was not just a polite remark.

Compared to performing with a symphony orchestra on the podium, a piano solo concert is like a lonely and long battle. The only person a pianist can rely on under the spotlight on the stage is himself. Hundreds of thousands of listeners may close their eyes, hold the score, or look at the stage. What kind of music they will hear and what kind of evaluation they will give depends entirely on their ten fingers.

The scene at this time is also similar to a concert. Although the number of listeners in the peripheral vision is not as large as the number of people in the college auditorium last year, they have gathered a group of artists with the highest attainments in Theolian.

Fanning just recalled the feeling of music smoothly in the audience, thinking that the fragments that could not be continued could always be remembered at the last moment, but now that he was really sitting in front of the piano, facing this great work of a huge scale, he didn't know if he could still do this in the next long performance.

After taking a few deep breaths, Fanning, who was sitting in front of the piano, turned his head and stared at the eight notes on the bass clef.

He never had the courage to play this great work in full in front of others, but its bass line appeared here today.

It should be endorsed and the world should appreciate its glory.

There is nothing to be timid about.

With a pious mood like a pilgrimage to Bach, his emotions gradually calmed down.

Raising both hands, the 3rd finger of the left hand and the 2nd finger of the right hand gently landed on two G notes at the same time, opening the prelude to this masterpiece.

"Gothenburg Variations", theme aria, four-part polyphonic structure.

The music under the fingertips is quiet, sacred, and spotless, like the opening remarks before telling a story, and also like a guide, leading the audience to the magnificent church door.

"Kasiusnic style? He really doesn't use romantic vocabulary to explore?" As early as the first four bars, the three masters had noticed it.

Mr. Fanning used the method of playing the ornaments from the strong beat. Moreover, the left hand seemed to play the broken triad, but in fact, each of his notes maintained the time value, and the continuity of the bass line was guaranteed by changing the same tone, which shows that he actually set up three other independent parts in addition to the right hand melody.

These are the characteristics of the medieval music period, or the characteristics of Fanning's previous Baroque music.

Sure enough, they began to move at different levels, embellished with pleasant ornament changes, coupled with the simple and beautiful texture, the simple and melodious melody, all of which reflect the medieval style of the Kasiusnic era.

"Polyphonic music requires rationality and written structure. He can improvise such a pure medieval music with this bass progression. It is not simple, very not simple." The 80-year-old master Sweelinck nodded repeatedly.

"Variations with fixed bass as the development logic are very popular in the music of this period... This aria seems simple and does not have any showmanship, but the arrangement of each note, the continuation of the subsequent harmony, the complementary rescue between the voices... are all just right. One more would be redundant, and one less would not exist." Master Schillings commented in his heart.

32 bars, 4 regular parts, following the tonality layout of G major-dominant D major-parallel minor E minor-G major, the sixteenth notes of the ending phrase are restrained and gentle, allowing all the anxiety and restlessness to be released safely.

"Although it is a little short, the logical structure is perfect. Such a level of improvisation is definitely not something that ordinary young composers can achieve." Niemann's vision is so sharp. He believes that Fanning is indeed qualified to enter the vision of the inspection team and is ready to applaud to appreciate the courage of this young man.

At this moment, Fanning lifted the pedal, cutting off the main chord sounding quietly in the piano body, and at the same time opened his slightly closed eyes, and his spiritual state became high in an instant.

His left hand fell decisively, repeatedly hitting the metallic bass and big jumps, while his right hand played bright and light sixteenth notes.

"Good guy, there are variations? Harmonic variations of fixed bass." Niemann's hand, which was about to applaud, was put down again.

Variation 1, two-part, polonaise dance form. It originated in France in the previous life and was often played in weddings and festivals of court nobles. It is presented at a medium speed, starting with a strong beat and ending with a weak beat. In a warm atmosphere, it has a noble and solemn temperament. (Note: The transliteration name and folk origin of the dance genre assume that there are similar sources in other worlds. Due to the wide variety of types, in order to avoid confusion, no additional fabrication will be made.)

The first variation, which was born out of a quiet atmosphere, was played confidently and heartily by Fanning, especially highlighting the left hand, creating a "solemn march" harmonic change with a staccato bass and staccato touch, which makes people burst into tears purely because of the sense of harmony advancement while being bright and happy.

Since there are variations, there must be more than one variation. With everyone's psychological preparation, Variation 2 arrived as scheduled. Here, the fixed bass in the left hand is presented in the form of eighth note progression, and the two parts of the right hand appear in the ascending fourth degree jump + descending fifth degree scale, forming a fun three-part creative song.

"Kaloen has something this time." Viadrin was very surprised. "The theme plus two variations, it's already the third piece, and his structure still maintains a strong logical stability."

Each piece is 32 bars long, divided into 8-bar sections with 4 groups of tonal layouts, and the sections can be further divided into 4+4 and 2+2 phrases and sections. The fixed bass is repeatedly presented in this arched structure, which makes everyone initially feel a certain foresight - the artist seems to want to use the smallest unit with regularity and change, step by step to build something magnificent.

The right hand falls back to the main tune in the form of a sixth double tone, while the left hand takes the ending step, almost without stopping, and plays the eighth note similar to the broken chord in a staccato way, while the right hand plays a singing melody.

Variation 3, Canon of the same degree. The real stroke of genius starts from the second measure. When the right hand singing melody continues to go on, another completely identical melody reappears, and it is also the right hand that is responsible!

So the audience found that Fanning's right hand was playing two identical melodies at the same time, but they were staggered by one measure in time, forming a strange chasing effect.

The subtlety of the music is fully presented in the third measure. At this time, the eighth note of the left hand suddenly doubled its speed and turned into a long-breathed sixteenth note series - a continuous undulating sound group, two chasing canon melodies, and the three parts still maintain the exquisite counterpoint in such a dense movement, and also follow the harmony and measure structure of the previous variation.

The first person to react violently was the Marquis McAdam. He straightened up from his seat and turned to ask his daughter in a low voice: "Does he usually compose like this? Why didn't you tell me about it?"

Luo Yin, who was concentrating on listening to Fanning's performance, was a little confused by the Marquis's inexplicable question.

"Dad, you have never talked to me about anything else except asking me to notify him to attend the meeting this time."

The Marquis took a deep breath, sat down again, and muttered to himself: "He took a different approach, it was really a different approach. When everyone was trying their best to be romantic, he made such a choice... At the age of 23, he had just graduated from an art career and improvised in the style of medieval music... This can not only compete with mature artists, but also definitely exceed the average of those in front. It only lacks a stable ending. Let's see how many variations he has left."

Christopher next to him agreed deeply and analyzed in a low voice seriously: "Generally speaking, there should be about five or six variations in total."