God's Song Volume 4 Chapter 3.4

God’s Song
Volume 4 Chapter 3 Part 4

He had reduced the instruments to ⅔. This is the first time he is experiencing something so absurd. However, Jun Hyuk did not lose his confidence as though asking what the problem is.

“Is there a problem?”

“Why are you reducing the members on your own? We…”

“The organization is up to the conductor. Don’t take it the wrong way. I’m not doing this because the performance was bad. Isn’t it definite that there are appropriate instruments for each song?”

“Are you saying that this is the organization for appropriate instruments? It needs to be twice this size at the least!”

Using a lot of instruments has the effect of amplifying the sound. In the past when there was no sound equipment, the way to make the sound spread to all corners of the theater was to increase the number of instruments.

If there are six 1st violins however, there is the difficulty that they need to play the same note. As there are more instruments, the conductor’s role becomes more important in having them play the same notes.

“That’s what you think. I think 19 people… Oh wait, this is a mistake. The two clarinet runners, please fall out. I’m thinking of performing to Mozart’s first version.”

The two clarinet runners slammed their seats and left in disbelief.

If they follow Mozart’s score list, this symphony was completed in July of 1788, but the score that is performed today is a little different. The clarinet is not included in the 1st version, but before this song premiered in Vienna in April 1791, Mozart created a new score with two clarinets added in.

An interesting fact is that the person who conducted the premiere in Vienna was not Mozart, but Salieri. Salieri loved Mozart’s music and cherished him. He also taught Mozart’s son. These facts are in the movie ‘Amadeus’.

The concertmaster glared at Jun Hyuk for a while, but the person holding the baton is Jun Hyuk. The only thing they could do was to get everyone to boycott, but they could not do that in an audition.

“Don’t think about it in a bad way. This whole orchestra needs to perform in Salzburg anyway. I’m just saying that I’ll do the audition song with the best organization. And the audition tomorrow is for me, not for orchestra members. I hope you’ll follow my wishes.”

As soon as Jun Hyuk finished speaking, the performers took their instruments and left. He is right. They did not know what he meant to show with minimal instrumental parts, but this is the audition to choose the conductor. Some performers even felt relieved that they gained two extra days to practice.

Once the practice room was straightened out, Jun Hyuk spoke.

“Alright. Now everyone listen well. I can say it nicely, but we don’t have time. Tomorrow is the audition and we can’t practice all night… I have special classes at night and I get in big trouble if I miss them. So I hope you’re not too offended by it…..”

Jun Hyuk came down from the podium and approached the 1st violin. He flipped through a few pages in the score on the music stand and pointed,

“Here, here, and here. You lost strength in your fingering. It’s too weak. And… Here, here, here, you know you went off tone, right? Pay attention to that. And from here, you were a little fast for 6 beats. When you speed up, all the other violins follow you.”

Starting with the 1st violinist, he went through 17 members to show them the parts where they made mistakes and made special requests. After going through each person, 30 minutes had passed quickly.

For those 30 minutes, Jun Hyuk’s low voice was the only sound that rang throughout the practice room and no one even breathed loudly.

This is the first time they are seeing such a conductor since they started music. A conductor uses animated descriptions to explain the type of music he is trying to express. He only points out mistakes to individual members when there is a grave mistake.

Although the entire orchestra is just an instrument to the conductor, these kinds of criticisms may as well be insults to the performers.

However, they were just surprised that he could remember all of the sounds that 57 instruments made for 7 minutes and did not think about their prides.

“Alright. Please just fix the parts I asked you about. And the thing to keep in mind is that you need to play the parts I did not talk about exactly as you did before. If not, we need to do this again. Let’s not waste each other’s time.”

When no one could speak, Jun Hyuk looked at the concertmaster.

“And I’ll respond to what the concertmaster said before. If you fix the places you need to perfectly, the feeling that will come out. The day for your pay at work to come into your bank account has passed, but it didn’t come in yet. You’re nervous and angry, but I’m sure you can’t make a fuss to your boss in case you get on bad terms and get fired. At times like these, doesn’t everyone think in a good direction? You’re nervous, but you’re sure it’ll come in. I wonder if Mozart wasn’t feeling like this as well. Then shall we start?”

As soon as Jun Hyuk picked up the baton, the concertmaster shouted out in a desperate voice,

“Wait… wait. Can we take a 10 minute break?”

“Why? You played a 7 minute song and rested for 30 minutes.”

“That’s…..”

When the concertmaster stammered, Jun Hyuk smirked and said,

“Fine. If the concertmaster wants to take a break, we need to take a break. Instead, let’s do it in one go. I don’t want to point out the mistakes again either.”

Jun Huk left the practice room alone and murmured in Korean,

“Kid. Where is he trying not to listen…..”

“What on earth is he?”

Students from the other two schools murmured, but Clayton students quietly looked through their scores and checked the parts that Jun Hyuk had pointed out to them again.

“Look here. Tell us what you know. You go to the same school.”

When someone voiced his frustration to Clayton’s cellist, the cellist spoke loudly for everyone to hear,

“I don’t want to say much… so I’ll just say one thing. Forget it if you’re planning on being lax with this. 7 minutes? This is nothing. It’s a piece of cake to that kid. He’s someone who memorizes a 74 minute choral symphony. He doesn’t leave a single choir behind.”

Everyone looked as if they could not believe it, but the cellist did not pay attention and continued speaking,

“Philadelphia’s Bruno Kazel even said that he could lead the New York Philharmonic now. He’s the pianist in the Stanley Clarke album that just came out.”

There were students who finally realized who Jun Hyuk is. It is the first time they are hearing about what Bruno Kazel said, but there are a lot of people who know about Stanley Clarke’s album.

“He’s the future principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic. Do you know how many students there are in our school who try to get his recognition? Everyone is in a craze to try to be on the same team as him. Being recognized by him is the same as being guaranteed a future spot as a soloist in the New York Philharmonic.”

Lastly, the cellist looked around.

“The interesting thing is that he almost never participates in things like this. I’m more curious as to why he’s going out for this.”

When Jun Hyuk came back, everyone stopped talking. The practice room was full of an awkward silence.

“Why is the atmosphere like this? Let’s relax and take it easily. My baton is going to deliver the message exactly, so don’t lose it.”

After they practiced a few times, he started to hear the sound he wanted. Jun Hyuk’s face was much brighter. They performed a few more times and Jun Hyuk lightly bowed his head.

“Then let’s meet at the audition tomorrow. I’ll leave it to you.”

Chapter end