Volume 8 / Chapter 256
TL: LightNovelCafe
Editor: Isleidir
Amelia hugged Jun Hyuk with happiness and surprise, and President Stern was unable to hide his joy.
However, Jun Hyuk himself just seemed to be surprised. It would have been normal for him to cheer out in happiness. He quickly changed and just looked like someone who had received an offer for an ordinary job.
“Why? You don’t want to do it? Your expression doesn’t look that happy about it.”
President Stern looked over Jun Hyuk’s expression and felt something strange.
“No. I’m happy. It’s a good offer, but…..”
“I guess you don’t want to do it from the way you said ‘but’.”
“Since being a standing conductor has a big role as a player. Regular performances need to be put up each season with an orchestra as an instrument, but I think I’m more of a composer.”
No matter how much of an issue Jun Hyuk’s songs become in the world, performance repertoires need to be filled with Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, and Marlowe’s songs in the end.
Jun Hyuk cannot ignore the audience, who is the consumer, and perform the songs that he composes. No matter how great Jun Hyuk’s songs are, no symphony board will tolerate the use of a top orchestra as a tool to release new music.
“So you want to play the role of composer?”
“Yes. The New York Philharmonic can’t just play my songs if I write 20 symphonies in a year, but if orchestras around the world play one out of those 20 songs in a season, all 20 can be put on stage.”
President Stern’s jaw dropped at Jun Hyuk’s bold statement.
Jun Hyuk’s intention to erase a masterpiece list that has been compiled over 300 years to fill with new songs.
He is thinking of standing shoulder to shoulder with the cla.s.sical greats from Monteverdi, who made modern opera’s season orfeo in 1607, to Shostakovich… He might even mean to create more masterpieces than they did.
It is impossible for a standing conductor who is in charge of one orchestra, but if various orchestras play Jun Hyuk’s songs or invite him to conduct, it is entirely possible.
If Jun Hyuk says that he will perform the songs he writes at this point, most if not all orchestras will invite him. No orchestra will miss out on the chance for a premiere.
It is not a foolish dream.
But Tara cannot sit back and watch Jun Hyuk toss away the chance to conduct for the New York Philharmonic.
“Jun. It’s okay to perform the songs you write yourself. But it’s not bad to show your abilities as a conductor for 1 or 2 years either. Of course you can intermittently release your work in that time as well. Can’t you go on with your work like that?”
When Tara rushed to say how she felt, Amelia nodded.
Becoming the standing conductor of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw or the New York Philharmonic means standing at the vertex of the cla.s.sical world.
Though the New York Philharmonic has received damage to its status in recent years, tradition and power cannot be underestimated. It can take over the top again if it meets a great conductor.
It is the best position that everyone cannot help but long for. But it did not seem like Jun Hyuk saw it as a high place.
“I already conducted Beethoven’s No. 9, Choral Symphony with the New York Philharmonic. If my abilities don’t show in the performance, alb.u.m, and live video, then that’s more of a reason not to go. No?”
Jun Hyuk is laughing as he speaks, but he has already made up his mind.
“But Jun…”
“Tara, let’s stop.”
President Stern had been listening to Jun Hyuk, and gave Tara a signal.
“Don’t forget our jobs. Tara, it’s priority for us to achieve whatever Jun wants. Jun conducting for the New York Philharmonic is what we want to see. The order is wrong.”
President Stern looked back at Jun Hyuk.
“Jun. It’s a really interesting thought. But there needs to be one premise to do what you’re talking about.”
“Of course. It’s that conductors all around the world need to want to play the songs I write.”
President Stern snapped his fingers.
“That’s it! You can do it, right?”
“Should we try testing it?”
Everyone looked at Jun Hyuk as he laughed jokingly. They start to have joyful imaginations whenever he laughs like that.
“Test?”
“Yes. I’ll give you 5 of the songs I think are okay of the ones that I’ve made until now. Show those.”
“Show them? To who?”
“The conductors most suitable to play the 5 songs.”
“What? Did you think of the conductors while writing the songs?”
“No. I’m not that considerate of a person. I just thought about who would be best at expressing them after writing them.”
Jun Hyuk said that composer is his job, but it is not the right expression. He is trying to supply orchestras all over the world with music. Just as he created a fuss in the music market by revealing scores with melodies, he intends to bring the same shock to the world of cla.s.sical music.
It seems that the offer of becoming a standing conductor had become an opportunity for him to think about what he is better at.
“This sounds like it’ll be fun. I’m already curious to see what expressions maestros will make when they receive your scores.”
Unlike President Stern, Amelia was unable to hide her disappointment. Being a standing conductor is the most grand and varying position, and it would mean that he has in his hand an orchestra, the hardest instrument to handle.
There is a happiness and bliss that a conductor feels after tr.i.m.m.i.n.g that instrument and it becomes all his own. It is a bliss that not even visiting conductors can experience.
Amelia witnessed that moment of bliss while performing with an orchestra. Jun Hyuk is giving up that happiness.
However, she did not voice her thoughts. Her boyfriend is someone who lives in another world. She already knows from plenty of experience that it is impossible to completely understand him or persuade him.
Amelia was lost in her own thoughts, but came back to her senses when President Stern spoke.
“Oh right. Can you come back in February for a bit?”
“February? Why? Is something happening?”
“The Academy Awards. We received an official notification that the film music you made has been nominated for an Oscar.”
Jun Hyuk thought for a moment.
“Aha. I forgot about that. You’re talking about that thriller, right?”
“Yeah. You were nominated for 2 categories: Best Original Score and Best Original Song. Isn’t it a definite that you’ll win? Ha ha.”
President Stern’s boasting could really be a given. The OST strangely rose in the top 10 in alb.u.m charts, and it rose in ranks for New Age and Pop music ranks.
Jun Hyuk’s music was called the best film music since Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ in ‘8 Mile’ in 2003, so there is no doubt that he will win.
The Best Original Song award is not selecting the film’s main theme song. It is selecting the best single song out of all film music. That single song could be an instrumental without a singer. The person who sings the theme is not the award receiver.
It is evaluating the entire music used in the movie. The award is not given if each song is outstanding. It evaluates how harmonious it makes the movie and whether it complements the movie.
That is why the composer and lyricist are in 2 categories.
“It’s a bit much to go all the way to LA to get that trophy. We don’t even know if I’ll win. If I do win, can you just go and speak on my behalf?”
“Me? The film’s director can speak instead.”
President Stern waved his hand. The Oscars is a festival for people related to the film industry. The Grammy Awards following soon after is the stage that President Stern wants.
“We need to go to LA anyway. Don’t even dream of having someone accept the award on your behalf at the Grammys. Alvin and your friends will be flying over from Europe as well. You need to attend. Didn’t you promise me?”
Jun Hyuk’s music is nominated for various categories and there is a high chance that he will win, so President Stern is dreaming of Jun Hyuk with his arms full of trophies.
***
The Oscars began in 1929 and members of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted and chose among the movies of that year.
It is the award show that represents the world of film and show business and is broadcast live regardless of time zones like the Super Bowl, Grammys, and Golden Globes.
The awards ceremony is held in Dolby Theater, which used to be called the Kodak Theater, with musical actor Neil Patrick Harris as host. It is a grand show where Hollywood stars can be seen in one place.
Comedians introduce the nominated movies and reveal the winners with “And the Oscar goes to…”