Chapter 3, Song 3...
Qu Jiaying's ominous premonition came true.
The next day, she carried her violin case to the music room that Le Yi often used. It was still a small room, but it was on a higher floor and had a better view from the window, overlooking the sapphire-like lake in the center of the campus.
The wooden floor in the music room was so old that it was warped, and there were several Ultraman and Elsa model toys on the piano, but once Le Yi sat down to play, she was completely oblivious to her surroundings.
After parting ways with her yesterday morning, Le Yi found the sheet music and started practicing. He can now play it without making any mistakes, and it's even Qu Jiaying's version with a faster tempo.
But he quickly became immersed in the music and began his performance, seemingly forgetting that he was the accompanist and becoming his soloist.
Qu Jiaying had already stopped; she wanted to see when Le Yi would react.
Completely unaware, Yue Yi continued playing, his body swaying gently to the music. His blond hair reflected the bright afternoon sunlight, instantly transporting Qu Jiaying to a pastoral idyll.
Qu Jiaying couldn't help but recall the times her parents had taken her to the ranch. Horses moved slowly forward, sheep ran alongside big dogs, streams babbled, and grass and wildflowers swayed quietly in the wind.
The first movement of Brahms' Violin Concerto in D major is a blend of pastoral lyricism, majestic grandeur, and the style of a Hungarian dance.
Le Yi's performance was beautiful, but it was all pastoral and idyllic, which was a bit strange, mainly because it was different from Qu Jiaying's performance.
The first movement was about twenty minutes long. Le Yi played it all in one go, and with a hint of enjoyment, he put his hands down and looked at Qu Jiaying with bright eyes: "This is the first time I've played this piece. It's really beautiful."
He then accused her, "Oh! By the way, why didn't you continue playing in the middle?"
Qu Jiaying laughed in exasperation: "You're the one providing accompaniment, so you should be playing along with me, right?"
"Sorry... this is my first time being a accompanist. Please do it again, I'll cooperate with you," Le Yi said awkwardly.
Since he didn't do it intentionally, Qu Jiaying turned to the first page of the score and started from the beginning.
At first, it was fine; Yue Yi remembered it well. But when the melody softened, his rhythm slowed down, some notes were drawn out, and there were many more breaths between measures. This was different from Qu Jiaying's interpretation or the score.
Qu Jiaying stopped again, this time interrupting Le Yi, saying mercilessly, "Even if you wanted to be a pianist before, you couldn't have done it."
"I'm sorry, please do it again. I'll definitely remember this time," Le Yi quickly apologized.
Despite saying this, he would forget the lyrical and tender parts every time he got to them. It wasn't intentional; he just couldn't control himself.
Le Yi had no choice but to be frank and honest: "Every time we get to that part, your music doesn't sound quite right, so I want to add something. I'll hold back next time and practice it again."
boring?
Qu Jiaying said, annoyed and embarrassed, "No matter how well you play, if you don't accompany the violinist, you're the worst piano accompanist!"
Le Yi was unhappy and glared at her.
"Maybe I didn't play the lyrical part very well, but you just played it all the time, right?" Qu Jiaying said angrily. "You said you weren't interested in the competition, but with your performance that's so far off-topic, I don't think you'll ever get a place in the competition!"
"So what? You're just showing off your skills, you don't have your own style, and you'll never become a soloist!" Le Yi said angrily, without thinking.
Qu Jiaying glared at him, then removed her shoulder pads, loosened the bow strings, packed everything away, slung the violin case over her shoulder, and slammed the door as she left Le Yi's music room.
Le Yi covered his face, realizing he had messed things up...
He carefully chose his words when sending a message to Qu Jiaying, but never received a reply.
After thinking for a while, Le Yi remembered that Yan Zheng and Qu Jiaying knew each other, and thought that there might be a way. He quickly called Yan Zheng.
"I misspoke, but did I do something wrong? Her emotional parts weren't performed well enough, and I wanted to help her. Was that wrong?" Le Yi said dejectedly.
Yan Zheng sighed. Both of them were very confident in their performances, which formed their pride. Of course, they also knew their weaknesses, which were completely different from each other, making them even more intolerant of each other pointing them out.
Yan Zheng asked, "You're so concerned about this, what can you get in return for being her piano accompanist? Has she agreed to join the quartet?"
“Oh? We didn’t make any such agreement. I just really admire her passion for the violin,” Le Yi said.
Yan Zheng was silent for a while: "She does have the enthusiasm that I lack, but the other side of her enthusiasm is coldness. You've only met her a few times, how can you understand her?"
“I could tell from her music that she’s not that kind of person,” Le Yi said. “I don’t know you and Xiang Min either, but after listening to your performance, I know that you have a different perspective on music than most people.” But Le Yi couldn’t quite put his finger on how.
Yan Zheng was at a loss with him: "I heard Jia Ying play that day. How did you play it? I'm heading over to your place right now."
"You two have such a good relationship, you even call each other by nicknames." Le Yi didn't know Qu Jiaying's name before and thought Jiaying was her full name.
Yan Zheng hesitated for two seconds: "We used to date."
"Huh?!" Le Yi was completely taken aback and said indignantly, "Even so, you can't say I don't understand her, can you?"
“I knew she didn’t tell you, she dumped me so easily,” Yan Zheng said. “I don’t care anymore, you don’t need to worry about our relationship being affected.”
"What do I need to worry about?" Le Yi asked blankly.
Qu Jiaying, who didn't really care, went home to practice the piano. Her mind was full of Le Yi's words and she was furious, but she knew that Le Yi was right.
My mother is off today and is busy at home reviewing the case files for next week's court hearing. My father has prepared dinner and knocked on the door to call her to eat.
Qu Jiaying put down her precious violin and, as soon as she turned on her silent phone, saw the message Le Yi had sent a few hours earlier.
"I just wanted to help you, I'm sorry."
Who needs his help!
Qu Jiaying was furious. This was her performance, and no matter how it was interpreted, it was still hers.
She sat at the table fuming and ate very little.
Mr. Qu asked with concern, "What's wrong? You've eaten very little today. Isn't it said that you need to eat a full meal to practice the piano well?"
Qu's mother laughed and said, "Who are you angry with? You can only lose your appetite when you're angry."
Qu Jiaying explained simply, "Gao Ying is injured, so I found a new sparring partner. That guy always shoots unpredictably, and he has an exam the day after tomorrow."
Although Qu's father didn't play any instruments, he had listened to a lot of music and asked, "Are you practicing the first movement of Brahms' Violin Concerto in D major?"
Qu Jiaying nodded.
Qu's father asked, "Do you know the process by which he composed this piece?"
Qu Jiaying shook her head and smiled, "All I know is that he admires Schumann's wife, Clara."
Qu's mother asked curiously, "A love triangle?"
Qu Jiaying explained this gossip to her mother: "It's not really true. Brahms and Schumann were good friends. Schumann had mental illness and died relatively young. Clara was several years younger than Schumann and remained a widow for a long time. She also maintained a friendship with Brahms. It can only be said that Brahms had a crush on her."
"Clara was a well-known pianist at the time, and many of Schumann's piano works bear the shadow of his wife. But now many pianists omit Clara when interpreting Schumann." Qu's father then brought the topic back, "The same goes for Brahms' concerto. It was written for the violinist Joachim, and some parts were written through consultation between the two of them, especially the violin cadenza, which was entirely given to Joachim."
“I remember this person. His wife cheated on him, but Brahms supported her, so their friendship broke down,” Qu Jiaying said.
"You only remember gossip, don't you?" Mr. Qu laughed. "This concerto was composed after they broke up and reconciled. Brahms dedicated it to Joachim."
"Did Teacher Xia choose this piece for you? It does suit you quite well. Compared to the Romantic composers of his time who emphasized lyricism, Brahms was more like a successor of Classicism, paying more attention to structure. His style was not as ornate and dazzling as that of his contemporaries, but rather more rational and simple," said Qu's father.
The problem is, despite how eloquently Qu's father speaks, he can't explain how to perform it better.
Then it's no wonder Qu Jiaying couldn't understand it; she didn't know how to transform a theoretical "ism" into her own interpretation.
She only knows how to use the bow, how to control the bow speed to present a beautiful tone, how to shift positions, how to ensure the pitch of high positions, and how to play each note quickly, accurately, and clearly.
Qu Jiaying still didn't want to give up on her exam. After finishing her meal, she sent a message to Gao Ying, asking her to ask her classmates if there were any free people who could be her piano partner.
After a while, Gao Ying replied, "None of them work. I've even asked my seniors."
"Okay..." Qu Jiaying's mind raced. How much money did she have? If all else failed, she could hire a professional pianist.
“I just remembered, there’s a senior student who should be able to help. She’s from my first piano teacher’s class. She’s really good, but she didn’t get into a music academy. She got into a prestigious university because of her piano skills. Now she’s graduated and runs a bar. She often plays at her bar and has performances every week. You should be able to find her if you go now.” Gao Ying knew Qu Jiaying well and wanted to find her a piano accompanist. She couldn’t choose someone with terrible skills, especially since there was only one day left. Someone with poor skills wouldn’t be able to practice well.
Qu Jiaying checked the bar's address; it wasn't too far. She changed into a green dress and went out.
The spring night was still a bit chilly. Qu Jiaying got out of the car, rubbed her arms, and strode forward, pushing open the thick, heavy door of the bar.
The heat and the free-spirited jazz music rushed towards her.
Squeezing through the swaying crowd to the front, Qu Jiaying saw a saxophone player, a double bass player, a guitarist, and a drummer in the center of the stage. Finally, her gaze settled on the piano.
A handsome young man in a black satin shirt danced across the piano keys, while a corresponding movie clip was projected on the screen behind him—a scene from near the end of "Green Book," where a black classical pianist and musicians from a black bar played jazz together.
Qu Jiaying asked the dashing female bartender and learned that tonight's theme was a jazz and movie night, and the boss was not there.
Logically, she should have gone home since she hadn't found anyone, but the cheerful music held her back.
Despite the jazz pianist's occasional mistakes and disjointed playing, why is it so enjoyable?
Her gaze remained fixed on the young man until he finished playing.
Sensing her gaze, the young man stepped off the stage and went to the bar, saying to the bartender, "Make her a Green Grasshopper. You know how to make it, right?"
The bartender rolled his eyes at him: "Xiao Ming, are you underestimating my skills?"
Qu Jiaying asked the handsome young man called "Xiao Ming" with some confusion, "Why did you invite me to drink this?"
The young man sat down beside her and chuckled softly, "Aren't you curious why I invited you to drink? Are you only concerned about what kind of alcohol it is?"
Qu Jiaying knew she was fairly good-looking. After going to Germany last week, she often went to bars and would occasionally be approached by people like that. However, the cocktails they offered were all the usual kind. Even though she was clueless about romance, she still knew she should take the flirting lying down: "Because I'm staring at you."
"Your green dress is very eye-catching. Standing at the front, I can't ignore it. However, no matter how beautiful it is, it can't compare to your sparkling eyes." The young man pushed the pale green cocktail towards him, his eyes gentle and ambiguous.
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