136. I’m not a performer, I’m not someone who has to act

Paris National High School of Music and Dance

It is the oldest and most prestigious music university in France.

So many young musicians flocked to study music from all over the world, and the entrance exam was rumored to be difficult.

Most of the students were very proud of the fact that they were attending the school because they passed the difficult test and entered the school.

[Espace Maurice Fleuret]

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Named after the French composer Maurice Fleuret, it was a lecture hall and performance hall, and was the most frequently used by piano students.

From the morning, first and second year students of the master’s degree in piano entered the fullure room crowded with people.

“I thought class was closed today, so I liked it, but what kind of chaos is this from the morning?”

Didier, a sophomore in the piano department, grumbled, scratching his messy hair.

Didier’s best friend, Eric, said with a laugh.

“Professor Lucas is summoned, is there anything special? We are now in our graduating class. How will you handle it if you get filmed and don’t graduate? You must go out.”

“Aww… you’re right, Eric. A weak graduate student, I have to go when the sky-like professor calls me. It’s my seller.”

“Still, you know that Professor Lucas recommends a lot of good seats because he is not only talented but also has very wide feet. I was introduced to seniors and went to a lot of good places.”

In fact, Maury Lucas introduced talented students to jobs in many ways, but he was like a savior to those who didn’t know what to do for a living because he only did music.

“I admit that. So, didn’t I wake up early in the morning too? I want to look good to Professor Lucas, so I want to become a music director.”

“By the way, did you hear why the professor gathered all the kids?”

In response to Eric’s question, Didier said as he took a seat in the classroom.

“Listen, I heard that someone evaluates the performance?”

“Performance evaluation? Who is it? Are you a student here?”

“That won’t be it. If that was the case, there wouldn’t have been a need to bring them all together. It looks like an outsider, but I don’t know who it is.”

“What. He must be an old student of Professor Lucas. I see you go to a contest or something. Just play badly. I’ll just give you a sharp critique.”

Eric agreed with Didier’s words.

“So do i. The professor took away our precious morning time by being rude, so if you can’t do it, you should be cursing. Let’s see where.”

while chatting like that.

Lucas appeared at the center of the stage.

Lucas scanned the cascading classrooms.

About 40 students were in their seats.

“Nice to meet you. Everyone. It was originally announced that the class would be canceled due to personal circumstances, but it was withdrawn in a hurry. I apologize. Personally, there were things I wanted to ask for help from you, and I prepared this event because I thought it would be of some help to you in your studies.”

Didier, who was sitting in the front row, raised his hand.

“Professor, I have a question for you.”

“Say yes. Didier student.”

Didier raised his hand to appeal as much as possible that he came here on purpose.

“You said it was personal help, but I wonder what kind of help it is.”

“Anyway, just as I was about to speak, student Didier asked a question. I usually told him to fix his quick temper a few times, but he didn’t. If Didier hadn’t asked the question, I would have been able to hear the answer by now.”

“Large. Sorry for interrupting you.”

Ha ha ha ha ha

Laughter broke out around him, and Didier, embarrassed, scratched his head and sat down.

“Yeah. Today, we will replace the lecture and invite an outsider to listen to the piano performance. You just have to listen to his performance and evaluate it as it is without adding or subtracting. Students with questions, please ask.”

Eric, who was next to Didier, raised his hand, thinking it was this time.

“Yes, Professor. This is Eric, a 2nd year piano major. Who will be playing? Are you a student at another university? Or are you a senior from our school?”

Lucas gave a meaningful smile to a student’s question.

“Neither one. But you will probably recognize it right away when you see it.”

male voice

“You know right away when we see you? Who is it?”

“I haven’t been out of school lately…?”

Professor Lucas continued.

“And at the request of the performer, we will turn off all the lights in this classroom and perform without being seen. That is, it proceeds with a blind evaluation. And the song to be played will be unfamiliar to you. In conclusion, you can evaluate the performer’s technique, the feel of the song, and the level of completion only with the sound heard in the dark. Are you a great person? I don’t think I can do that either.”

Professor Lucas’ words, which were lightly sarcastic, made the classroom even more noisy.

“To judge this much… What kind of America’s Got Talent is this?”

“It’s worse than that! I still leave the lights on there.”

“But can it be played with the lights off?”

“I don’t know because I’ve never done it before.”

“I think it could be an easy song, but to be honest, I don’t think I can play something like the Moonlight Sonata.”

Although they were students who came here with dreams of becoming musicians, they were dumbfounded by the unfamiliar evaluation method they were experiencing for the first time.

“But which piano are you going to play on? Shall we just listen and guess? Will it be fun?”

A total of three pianos were placed on the stage in the lecture hall.

On the far left is a Graf piano with a very beautiful, clear sound as if marbles are rolling on a silver tray.

The middle piano is an Erard piano, like a male tenor singer, with a magnificent sound and a large melody.

Lastly, the piano on the far right was a piano with its own personality, including the Lengeler piano with unique melodies that pierced the eardrum.

“Let’s start playing the evaluation. I’ll say it again, but you, the evaluators, just listen to the performance in the dark and evaluate it as you hear it. It doesn’t matter if you criticize it harshly.”

It was the nuance of Professor Lucas, as if he was asking for a harsh evaluation.

“Okay then, I’ll turn off the lights. Students, please be quiet.”

“…………”

Silence fell in the classroom along with Professor Lucas’ words, and Professor Lucas turned off the lights.

click

Perhaps because of the thick blackout curtains, no sunlight entered the classroom, so nothing could be seen.

Didier whispered softly, as if Eric couldn’t hear him.

“Hey. Eric. why am i nervous? uh huh Can’t you see anything at all?”

“That’s right. It will be difficult to find and sit down at the piano.”

Shortly after their conversation was over, the sound of someone walking on the wooden floor of the stage was heard.

all over

chin

It was pitch-black, but I could tell that the musician had walked over and sat down at the piano.

“Looks like you’ve finally arrived.”

In the dark, the musician pressed a few keys without saying anything.

Ding ding ding

“Thank you to the students who came here to evaluate my performance today. Then we will begin.”

“You speak French very well. Are you French?”

The mysterious performer gave a simple greeting and immediately announced the start of the performance.

“The title is ‘imaginary friend’”

The forgotten song of a young master who disappeared lonely after burning his short life reappeared in the present world through Kyu-ha.

The song ‘Imaginary Friend’ was created with Ferguson’s wish to have a friend.

However, he could not get out of the mansion of Wilkins, the owner, and there was no one to be friends with Ferguson, who was a blind man due to his slave status.

Even slaves of a similar age considered Ferguson to be favored by Wilkins and receive special treatment, so they treated him as an invisible person.

Feeling very lonely at the fact that no one was around him, Ferguson could only play the piano.

“I wish I had a friend…”

With that aspiration, Ferguson began composing songs,

The song that was created that way was called [Imaginary Friend].

At the moment he played this song, Ferguson was not lonely because he played the piano with his friends in the space of his imagination.

Ferguson was 13 at the time.

The play has begun.

Everyone’s ears perked up at the strange melody they heard for the first time.

It was a decent start.

The dreamy and bright melody tickled my heart for some reason.

“uh…?”

Moving on to the middle part, the melody mysteriously changed.

Clearly, it was an extremely simple and short melody that any student majoring in piano could have easily digested.

“It’s obviously a bright song, but why does my heart hurt so much…?”

In a way, it was a cheerful song that could be considered a nursery rhyme, and it had a simple melody,

The high level of musical beauty was concentrated, and the more strangely I listened to it, the more my heart was pounding.

I felt like I was in a silent, vacant cloud as if I had entered someone’s dream.

So the first performance was over.

“Haa… Was there a song like this…? Is it too new and novel?”

“It’s like eating a very sweet apple pie, and the end is like chewing a whole piece of ginger.”

After a while, the performer’s mouth opened.

“The next song is ‘the sound of the night wind’”

It was a song that Ferguson, who is especially sensitive to sound, realized that the sound of the wind blowing during the day is different from the sound of the wind blowing at night.

The melody that started from Kyuha’s fingers rode through the air and stirred the dark classroom.

“uh? Have you changed the piano? The sound has changed.”

The melodies that were so delicate that they were so mesmerizing created the illusion that a cool night breeze was passing by.

“This kind of dynamic control…”

As I focused only on my ears in the abyss-like darkness, the image of the song was drawn in my head.

That’s how the performance of the second song ended.

A mysterious performer’s voice came from the darkness.

“I will do it here.”

“ah….”

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No matter who said it first, a sigh broke out in the dark lecture room.

mate

clap clap clap clap

Soon applause broke out for the pianist who gave a wonderful performance in the dark.

Professor Lucas turns on the lights in the classroom.

“Ooh, it’s dazzling.”

Students who were dazzled by the sudden light covered their eyes with their hands.

“Is that person? You look young from the back…?”

The mysterious player who was still sitting at the piano could only be seen from the back, so it was impossible to infer his identity.

Professor Lucas grabbed the microphone with an expression of surprise.

“This is true… I am also a musician, but the more I know about music, the more magical and attractive it is. How can you change people’s emotions like this in just a few minutes? It was an amazing performance. My discernment is very lacking.”

The students also nodded their heads in agreement.

“I will introduce a performer that many of you will be curious about.”

All attention was focused on the person sitting behind him.

Soon, a common casual man in jeans and a black hoodie turned around and stared straight ahead.

Didier, who was watching intently with his eyes wide open.

“Who is it…? Are you Asian?”

Eric, who was next to him, tilted his head.

“But where have I seen it…? Why are you so familiar?”

Then someone screamed in surprise.

“It’s Song! Does it look like Song?”

male voice

“What!? Hero of the Bataclan? Triumph Over Peter? Why is that person here?”

“How did this happen? Aren’t you supposed to be a songwriter and not a performer?”