Double stops was a technique that pressed on two strings simultaneously withtwo fingers to create an effect similar to playing two tones.
The technique seemed simple, one manyamateurs could do. But. . . to utilize it to the fullest, there was a piecemany violinists couldn"t circ.u.mvent——
《Dance of the Goblins》.
Brilliant golden sunlight shonedown on earth, the statue"s shadow cast over the youth below. Despite it, his slenderhands were still exposed to the light.
The audience could only see themmoving at unbelievable speed. The violin, in such excellent hands, seemed togain a life of its own.
With skill this excellent, even alayman could see it.
Hidden amongst the layers of thecrowd, Akkad couldn"t see Qi Mu at the center. Even so, he could imagine howshocked the audiences were by his student"s performance just from the sound ofthe fast-paced piece.
Bazzini"s 《Dance of the Goblins》 also has thealias, 《Fairy"s Dance》. As arondo, it repeated the same melody many times but used a variety of dazzlingtechniques.
Double stops, spiccato, artificialharmonics, left-hand pizzicato…
It had all the standard techniquescrammed into a three-minute piece.
The music was exciting andpleasant, but this time, the melody wasn"t the most important. Instead, it wasthe dazzling visual effects.
Akkad laughed helplessly andchided, "This Little Seven, he actually used this piece full of dazzlingtechniques as the third song. . . So mischievous."
Generally speaking, short pieceslike this weren"t accompanied by a symphony orchestra. Of course, there werealways exceptions. When their concert ended, many maestros used the song as theencore piece to thank the audience.
However, because it was so tricky thateven professional musicians struggled with it, it wasn"t popular. But. . . It became ornamental.
From the audience"s gaping mouths,they completely worshiped Qi Mu"s violin. Some youngsters even took out theirphones to record the performance.
Qi Mu was focused on his left-handpizzicato, so he didn"t notice.
《Dance ofthe Goblins》 was so complicated that,even with Qi Mu"s skills, he had to concentrate on avoiding mistakes.
His left hand danced rapidly on thefingerboard, occasionally needing to pluck the strings while his right handheld the bow and demonstrated the staccato. Each tap produced the precisesound, no extraneous notes ringing out.
The enthusiastic melody filled thesquare. It was as if no one dared to breathe, there was only the sound of theviolin.
It was so fast and skillful that bythe time Qi Mu"s artificial harmonics reached the highest range, the sound ofthe violin had already stopped for half a minute, yet no one reacted.
"Bravo！"
A cheer came from the back of thecrowd, and Akkad applauded his student with a heartfelt smile.
At his prompt, others started toapplaud as if they had just awakened from a dream. Some immediately uploadedthe recording on the internet.
Qi Mu smiled and bowed to thankthem. But just as he was about to pack up, the tender, crisp voice of a girl criedout once again——
"Encore. . . En. . . Encore!"
Qi Mu was flabbergasted.
The next second, more and morevoices chanted the same word, "Encore! Encore! Encore! Encore! Encore. . ."
Qi Mu: ". . ."
In just one morning, Qi Muperformed a total of five pieces. Only then did he finally manage to find anescape. Over the past six months filled of practice, he gained better enduranceand could perform more pieces with complicated techniques but. . .
That didn"t mean he could play allday long without stopping!
When Qi Mu finally escaped thecrowd, he looked back and saw people were still gathered under the statue. Thedensely packed crowd made him feel as if he was back in the subway during theSpring Festival in Huaxia!
. . . There were more than a dozenlayers of people?!
Didn"t a report say many countriesin Europe were experiencing a decrease in population recently?!!!
He saw Akkad waving at him. Heheaded over, but before he could say a word, the proud but awkward Akkad sethis hat on him. "Little Seven, didn"t I tell you to play three songs? Why didyou play five?!"
Qi Mu reached up to fix the hatthen looked at his professor. Akkad wore an angry expression.
Qi Mu, who knew the other man"stemper well, reached out to touch his woolen scarf. "Professor, it is becauseyou taught me so well that my violin can attract so many people. They blockedmy escape, so. . . I had to end it well. Don"t you think so, professor?"
Akkad was satisfied with the youth"spraise.
As they walked out of the square,Akkad said, "Well, you played the five pieces very well. But. . . Little Seven,I told you to choose a professional-level piece that could be played at theGolden Hall. Why did you choose 《Dance ofthe Goblins》?"
The morning pa.s.sed, and soon, itwas already noon. In May, Vienna was well past the winter cold, the wind blewin the warmth of spring. The burning sun hung high in the sky, the shadow fromhis hat obscuring most of Qi Mu"s face.
Qi Mu smiled and replied, "Professor, didn"t you. . . Didn"t you play this piece in Golden Hall thirtyyears ago? I remember you got quite the applause back then."
Akkad was very impressed with hispraise. It was smooth and light without a trace of over-flattering. He noddedwith a smile and said, "Well, good, good. I did play the piece 《Dance of the Goblins》 many yearsago."
Seeing his professor unable torestrain his smile, Qi Mu smiled, too, controlling the twitching of his lips.
Having known each other for solong, Qi Mu understood the proud old man"s character. If he could make histeacher happy, then. . . he might have an easier time later?
But, Qi Mu didn"t stay happy fortoo long. When they walked out of the Heroes Square together, Akkad hailed ataxi. After getting on, he said, "Little Seven, you must do well thisafternoon. Don"t let teacher down!"
Qi Mu: ". . ."
The corner of Qi Mu"s lipstwitching, he squinted and stared at Akkad. "Professor. . . I don"t know whatyou mean by that?"
Akkad looked shocked, then spoke,"In the afternoon, we"re going to Josefplatz like this morning. Little Seven, you must play well and don"tmake your professor lose face!"
Qi Mu was almost unable to keep thesmile on his face. He sighed heavily and said, "Professor, Josefplatz is near HeroesSquare. We only need to walk a bit to get there. . . Why did you hail a taxi?"
Akkad, exposed as "direction blind": ". . ."
After reaching out to cover hismouth, Akkad coughed heavily, ears red. "No…Nonsense! Little Seven, you haven"tbeen to Vienna often, so you don"t know. In fact, Heroes Square is a bit farfrom Josefplatz so we will have to walk for quite a while. . ."
"We"ve arrived, sir."
The taxi driver interrupted Akkad"snext remark.
Akkad: ". . ."
Qi Mu: ". . ."
After paying the fare, Qi Mu andhis direction-blind professor exited the car together. When Qi Mu looked at thecity he had lived in for more than 10 years, he felt funny yet helpless at thesame time.
"Professor. . . Please be sure tofollow me in the upcoming days! Although. . ." Here, Qi Mu paused and continuedwith a smile, "Although I haven"t been to Vienna that many times, I can stillread the map. Please rest a.s.sured."
Professor Akkad: ". . ."
Zurich, evening.
Following the back-to-back concertsof their New Year"s Spring Tour, the members of the Berlin PhilharmonicOrchestra carried their simple luggage. They walked into the ZurichInternational Airport in an orderly manner, about to fly off to their nextdestination.
Daniel looked at the man behind theparade of the members with his hands in his pocket, lips twitching.
"Min! Why did you stay in Paris forso long?! Do you know how much work I had to do in your absence?!!!" The blond scratchedthe back of his head irritably and said, "Being your and Bai Ai"s manager, myblood will be moldy for eight generations! You irresponsible man, you devil!"
Min responded to him with his usualsilence, he was too lazy to even give half a glance to this bad-tempered fellow.
Daniel was furious. "Huh, Min!There"s a little time before the orchestra"s next concert in Vienna. So youmight as well just go to Paris again. I don"t understand. What on earth wereyou doing there? You even served as a judge for the Paris" National Conservatoryof Music. Well, are you not afraid of trouble?"
Min Chen calmly said, "I"m verywarm-hearted, no trouble."
Daniel: ". . ."
"I dare you to say that again infront of the orchestra"s members!!!"
The Bai Ai"s members before them:". . ."
Daniel, ifyou want to provoke the conductor, do it alone, don"t drag us along!!!
Daniel got angry. "You can just goto Paris. There are still a few days before the concert in Vienna."
"No."
Daniel: ". . . Just go!"
"No."
Daniel got depressed. "So why areyou not going to Paris now?"
"Because. . . he"s already inVienna." The man murmured to himself, voice low and weak, drowned out by othernoises.
Daniel: "Ah?! Min, what did you sayjust now? I couldn"t hear. . ."
"Min?"
". . .Auston?!"
"Auston Bertram?!"
"This devil! G.o.d should just sendan angel down to tidy up this abominable demon!"
. . .
Min Chen ignored Daniel"s complaints.He turned to the airport"s huge gla.s.s windows. On the runway, a plane took offand flew steadily upwards. Against the backdrop of the blue sky and whiteclouds, it looked particularly laid-back and relaxed.
Angel. . . huh?
Maybe G.o.d had already sent one.
Translator
(s): Kuro
Editor
(s): Empress, AyN, Bet