Episode #67. test.
Julia was moody.
Therefore, I often acted according to my own mood rather than rules, and I had many experiences of giving unconventional classes because they were unusual for a professor.
However, it was the first time she had ever received such an absurd class request from a student.
“You want me to hear you play? So, Li, you will learn on your own?”
“Did you say that?”
“Are you serious?”
“why? There is nothing that can’t be done.”
Seeing Limon’s natural reply, Julia felt something snapping in her head.
Even if you don’t want to play.
Even if you can’t learn sheet music properly.
Even though she suffered from headaches, she still considered Limon as a student and tried her best to teach.
However, the nonsense that Limon calmly spread made Julia’s stomach boil.
“…Does Lee’s violin playing look funny? Or do you think there is something wrong with my ability to teach or that I am deliberately not teaching you properly?”
“Can it be?”
Unlike Julia’s cold voice, Limon’s voice was calm.
“If I thought playing was funny, I wouldn’t have deliberately tried to learn it. I’m not particularly dissatisfied with your lessons.”
“Then why are you making this request?”
“Right now, I think this method is the fastest and most efficient.”
“Are you aware that you are saying that you are dismissing the teaching method that countless musicians have studied and perfected for hundreds of years as inefficient and worthless?”
“No, I have no intention of doing that. I also know that learning step by step from the basics is usually the fastest way.”
Limon shook his head slightly.
He was also once the owner of the Sword Tower and taught numerous disciples.
He was not ignorant of the importance of the basics and teaching methods perfected over hundreds of years.
“But I will probably be different.”
So he knew
That there are sometimes exceptions in the world that don’t fit the mold for the ‘normal student’.
And Limon himself thought it was a sufficient condition for a sword master over a hundred years old to apply for that exception.
“…What else is the reason for the flax attached to that confident statement?”
“Well, it’s the first time I’ve ever done that.”
Wouldn’t it be too arrogant to be 100% sure of success on the first attempt?
For a moment, look at Limon with a stunned face as he speaks with the utmost arrogance and humility.
Julia finally pressed down on her throbbing temple before opening her mouth.
“Okay, I’ll do anything you want. Instead, I also have a condition.”
“What conditions do you mean?”
“Only once.”
Julia raised a finger in front of Limon who made an interesting expression.
Then, looking straight at Limon with deep green eyes, he repeated in an extremely serious voice.
“I’ll play it just once, so learn something there. If you learn nothing, I will quit your lessons.”
Julia knew.
How absurd their conditions are.
To play is to practice and learn until your fingers become calluses because they are swollen. Like a skill, it wasn’t something you could acquire just by seeing and hearing it once.
So it’s practically rejected. It was a warning to quit now if you want to continue learning from him.
Anyone who would accept these absurd terms would be a lunatic or…
“I accept those terms.”
“….”
I closed my eyes at the neat and prompt reply and was silent for a while.
Julia finally opened the case with a light sigh and took out an antique violin.
Is it because of meticulous management?
A violin that retains a fresh light as if it were just made, even though it has been stored for hundreds of years.
Stradivarius.
Julia, who is one of the three great instruments that all violinists wish for even in their dreams, and who holds a treasure more precious than her own life, checked her condition.
Then, confirming that both he and his instrument were ready to perform at their best, he looked at Limon coldly.
“What about the selection?”
“You said that. I want you to hear the best performance.”
Julia didn’t bother to ask Limon if he was really okay.
From the moment she took out the Stradibaius, she became a musician before she was a teacher, and as a musician, she was a woman with no expectations.
‘If you want the best performance, you have to do what you want.’
After taking out the electronic sheet music and setting it.
Making up her mind, she braced the violin with her chin.
Then, gently sliding the bow attached to the string, he began to play a song.
The first and probably the last song to be heard by Limon.
It is said to be one of the best pieces he could play and at the same time moved the most people among the many violin concertos.
Opus 8 No. 1 by Antonio Vivaldi, a representative composer and runner of the Baroque era. 1-4.
‘Le quattro stagioni.’
Gee ying.
That moment.
Julia forgot everything.
The existence of Limon right in front of my eyes.
The conditions you set on him.
Where am I and who am I?
Like an idiot, the white empty mind contains only the notes floating on the electronic score and the melody created by the violin.
In that empty world where everything was emptied, she was immersed in playing.
Giing.
‘Restez (while maintaining the position).’
the music is beautiful
More complex than humans, purer than humans, more ecstatic than humans, and more emotional than humans.
That’s why she was good at playing.
To the extent that I would have wanted to be born as an instrument rather than a human being if I could.
So I became a violinist.
Not because I play the best, but because the violin is the instrument that gives me the best sense of unity with the instrument.
Gee ying.
‘Simile (same as before).’
She was called the witch of the violin because she could play as well as a player without any skill, but to her it was nothing more than a matter of course.
no matter how high the level is.
whatever skill you use.
In the end, there was no way that her performance, which became a part of the instrument and squeezed her soul, could not be better than the performance of those who used the instrument as a tool and only boasted of their skills.
Gee ying.
‘The prey is bewildered by the clamorous dogs and the noise of the guns.’
Julia could understand laughing at herself, but she couldn’t tolerate laughing at the performance.
So, she was angry and disappointed at Lee’s attitude of making fun of music, but now she has forgotten even that feeling.
The movement of the electronic score stopped.
The bow that was sliding on the string stopped.
Until the moment I found myself in silence.
She became just one instrument and devoted her soul to creating melodies.
* * *
“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa….”
Maybe it’s because he exhausted his stamina from playing with all his heart.
Or was it because of the regret that came back as a human being after getting away from the instrument that used to create melodies?
For reasons unknown to herself, Julia let out a deep breath and removed her bow from the string.
Clap clap clap clap!
‘Looks like Lee finally knows what real music is like.’
The ringing in the ears is an enthusiastic applause.
Julia turned to Limon with a satisfied expression at that voice filled with emotion.
“As expected, this is the first class of this era.”
“…?”
And I opened my eyes round.
It was because the dark-haired young man, who naturally thought he would be applauding and thrilled, was staring at him with his arms crossed.
So who is this applause for?
Julia looked back, confused, and confirmed the owner of the applause and put on a dumbfounded expression.
“…What kind of breed is that bluebird that listens to music and claps?”
“What are you looking at so strangely? There are gorillas that beat drums with their chests, but birds that go crazy after hearing the sound are common.”
“I’m seeing that common bird for the first time?”
How can you raise a bird and make it clap so passionately.
For a while, I even forgot the lingering sound of the performance and put on a bewildered expression because of the question that welled up.
Barely coming to her senses, Julia returned her gaze to Limon.
“So are you satisfied now?”
“Ah, it was a good performance. I learned a lot thanks to you.”
“What did you learn?”
“What would you have learned to learn? Of course I learned to play the violin.”
“…Lee, I don’t intend to go over as a joke.”
Julia frowned.
It was because the condition I had to play for her who loves music was never meant to be taken as a joke.
However, Limon’s reaction was unconcerned.
“What is it that you don’t believe me?”
“It is a teacher’s virtue to trust students, but it is a teacher’s duty to test students.”
“It’s an undeniable truth.”
One time to laugh.
Resting his chin on one hand, Limon muttered to himself as if thinking about something.
“Hmm, if it’s the same whether you quit or run away, there’s nothing you can do about it. If it’s just imitation, I think it’ll be fine.”
As if he had finished organizing his thoughts, Limon removed his hand from resting on his chin and scratched the back of his head before speaking plainly to Julia.
“Julia, can I borrow that violin for a minute?”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“You asked me to prove what I learned. So I just want to show you.”
“Lee, what about your violin? It’s not like it doesn’t exist.”
“Because mine is a little difficult to write. I think it would be best to use it to show ‘correctly’ what I’ve learned.”
If you don’t want to lend it to me, I’ll prepare another violin, so please wait a moment.
Hearing Limon treat his Stradibaius as just an ‘easy-to-use instrument’ that can be replaced any number of times, his mouth trembled for a while.
Julia, who had reached the point where she had overcome her rage, held out her violin while gritting her teeth.
“Okay, try it. Instead, borrow my violin and know that if you haven’t learned anything, you’ll get slapped on the cheek.”
“Oh, don’t mind.”
Limon deliberately handed over the violin with both hands as a courtesy for lending him his precious violin.
That rare courteous attitude calmed Julia’s anger a little, but she didn’t take away her cold gaze.
From the moment she asked for her violin, her evaluation of Lee had fallen to the bottom.
‘If you thought you would be able to play great music with only good instruments, you’d be mistaken.’
But whatever she thinks.
Limon didn’t care about Julia’s gaze at all.
I just held onto the violin I borrowed from her and got into my posture.
“Hmm, as expected, it’s hard to be exactly the same because our physiques are different. But if this is enough…”
I guess someone is not a beginner.
Julia frowned as she watched Limon, who took the violin in and out between her chin and shoulder and twisted her shoulder around as if adjusting her own arm length.
‘…I know I’m a beginner, but this is too much.’
Go Soo can tell a lot just by looking at his posture.
In that respect, Limon’s appearance reflected in Julia’s eyes is truly the worst.
Regardless of whether or not he was a beginner, he looked doubtful whether he knew how to play the violin, which was already destined to fail.
Even if I couldn’t read it, it was already full of problems from the point where I didn’t even spread the sheet music.
‘I just wasted my time, really.’
Wouldn’t that just ruin the instrument?
Limon finally fixed the position of the violin as Julia watched anxiously.
That’s how Limon took his stance.
The moment he opened his mouth.
“Okay, I got it.”
Goosebumps ran down Julia’s back.
