Chapter 42, Song 42...
Soon it was time for the New Year's concert. Although she couldn't convince Xia Xiaolei, Qu Jiaying decided to stick to her own style and perform in her current way.
The resulting evaluations were naturally polarized.
On one hand, people say her performance is better now, and her violin playing seems to blend seamlessly with the violin; on the other hand, they criticize her style as too strange, saying that although the music is better, it has changed the previous form.
"I still need to revise the score next!" Qu Jiaying said irritably.
Cai Rui nodded: "Many excellent violinists are also very good at arranging."
After all, there are only so many classic pieces, and people will eventually get tired of them and start playing other pieces. But there's a reason why they haven't become classics: they're just not that good. So performers will adapt them to better suit their own performance style.
Many composers don't play the violin, so the violin parts in their works aren't necessarily the best. But another important point is that excellent performers aren't necessarily great arrangers.
"So you need to be careful. Before you're sure you can handle the arrangement, use your own feelings to make the piece sound better," Cai Rui instructed earnestly.
Although he has many flaws, he is a truly good educator.
“When you reach this point, you will definitely be a top-notch soloist,” Cai Rui encouraged her. He knew that Qu Jiaying still had many doubts in her heart when Xia Xiaolei and others did not support her.
Qu Jiaying had many uncertainties in her heart, but everyone was pulling her in this direction.
After Xiang Min's fever subsided, he still didn't go to Cai Rui's class, but instead spent all his time dragging Qu Jiaying to teach her composition theory. Yan Zheng also joined in to give guidance. Le Yi originally didn't participate, planning to practice with the choir members in her spare time, but was persuaded by Qu Jiaying to do so.
Qu Jiaying didn't want to be the only one "suffering." Besides, with Le Yi included, their "three missing one" quartet was active. And another point is that, as fellow performers, this is an indispensable skill.
Although Le Yi was unwilling to admit the importance of understanding the arrangement to him personally, and he claimed that he did not intend to become a soloist and did not need to understand it so deeply, he had actually been persuaded by Qu Jiaying and had joined the "cramming".
Then the three of them turned around and persuaded the indecisive Qu Jiaying to persevere.
Qu Jiaying originally did not plan to do things her way in both the midterm exam and the New Year's concert. She was well aware that her current style would be liked by ordinary audiences. After all, no matter how she changed her performance, it was still for the sake of being pleasant to listen to, rather than for the sake of innovation.
At the same time, she was also well aware that before becoming a soloist, the classical music circle was very small, and those in authority would decide everything. It was precisely because the circle was small that they did not allow their authority to be challenged.
Qu Jiaying originally wanted to compromise a little for Teacher Xia Xiaolei, but she couldn't go back to her original state. It was like she had already grown to 1.8 meters tall and couldn't shrink back to 1.5 meters.
Teacher Xia Xiaolei was very angry and made up her mind that if she continued like this, she should not come to her class. Fortunately, Qu Jiaying can now practice on her own without attending classes.
No matter how anxious she was, there was nothing she could do but continue in her current acting style.
However, this was the first time she had gone against Teacher Xia Xiaolei, and she was under a lot of psychological pressure.
Qiu Xue's boyfriend, Wang Zhou, happened to invite Qu Jiaying to participate in a music event at the cultural center organized by his record company.
Qiu Xue has been in much better spirits lately, and she's back to her excited self, showing off her video account to Qu Jiaying: "Look, aren't I amazing!"
She kept updating and releasing her videos, which Qu Jiaying admired immensely. She never stopped updating, even though she was in so much pain before that she couldn't get out of bed.
The content of the videos has also changed. Unlike the initial quirky style, Qiu Xue has tried several different styles, which are mostly adaptations. There are pop songs adapted into classical music styles, and vice versa. Classical pieces are adapted into pop styles, and children's songs are adapted into classical music styles, and vice versa.
Qiu Xue had many creative ideas, and of course, Wang Zhou, a composition major, also helped out. The video data was pretty good, but the one that became even more popular was the one that was changed to a classical music style.
Although Wang Zhou's composing skills are not top-notch, with Qiu Xue's performance, the arrangement turned out quite well and received very positive reviews.
In addition, Qiu Xue has lost some weight, so there aren't as many comments about her appearance anymore.
Qu Jiaying asked Qiu Xue and learned that the doctor had advised her to exercise more. Accompanied by Wang Zhou, she would exercise whenever she was in a bad mood. In the past few months, except for the first two days of her period, she had been exercising almost every day. She had lost a lot of weight and spent the rest of her time working on her video account.
Qu Jiaying admired her even more. She also exercised, but she didn't have as much energy as Qu Jiaying.
Qiu Xue said frankly and easily, "Actually, it's also a way of saving myself."
She knew about Qu Jiaying's recent troubles and advised, "You're still too tense. Relax. Even someone like me can make a living, so what are you afraid of?"
Qiu Xue then made another irreverent joke: "You should find a man to relax with."
Qu Jiaying rolled her eyes at her.
Qiu Xue said half-seriously, "The secretion of dopamine makes people happy."
"Why don't you just suggest I exercise more?" Qu Jiaying said irritably.
"But you've always been consistent with your exercise routine." Qiu Xue also admired Qu Jiaying, who was willing to improve her physical fitness for a solo concert that was still sometime in the future.
Qiu Xue asked curiously, "Why are you being so coy? Your quartet, which is called 'Three Missing One,' has three men. You can just pick any one of them, right?"
Qu Jiaying asked, displeased, "Have you heard any rumors?"
Qiu Xue chuckled: "I just know that almost every band with both men and women has romantic entanglements."
Qu Jiaying rubbed her forehead: "You mean rock bands, right? Do you have quartets too?"
Qiu Xue nodded: "Even if it's a team formed by teachers, it's the same. You know there are graduate students who specialize in quartets, right? When I lived in the dormitory, I often heard stories from those senior students, which were very dramatic."
Qu Jiaying could understand, after all, every performance or competition was very hard, and without an emotional connection, they would quickly break up because of arguments. She was very troubled: "...We don't have any story."
Qiu Xue stared at her.
Okay, Qu Jiaying confessed, "I don't want any stories."
"Coward." Qiu Xue saw right through her.
Qu Jiaying smiled wryly. Everyone was maintaining a delicate balance, and she hoped it would continue.
Things are different now than when we first met. She cares about them all, so getting any closer to any of them would disrupt the balance.
“If I were you, I’d get one outside of them and bring it to the three of them!” Qiu Xue laughed.
Qu Jiaying laughed and called to Wang Zhou, "Come here and listen to what your girlfriend is spouting nonsense about."
Wang Zhou cut up the fruit and brought it over, saying gently to Qiu Xue, "She's different from you. She's serious, so don't make jokes that go too far."
Qiu Xue immediately became obedient.
Qu Jiaying jokingly teased Qiu Xue, "You've finally met your match."
However, she was still quite surprised. In fact, based on her understanding of Qiu Xue, Qiu Xue was indeed as she said, she was afraid that the world was not chaotic enough and was capable of doing things that disrupted the peace. She pursued fun, but Wang Zhou's emotions were very stable. Qu Jiaying did not expect that the two of them would have such a way of getting along.
Qu Jiaying recalled when Wang Zhou was pursuing Qiu Xue. Although he was emotionally stable, he was very bold and persistent. He even revised his graduation project for Qiu Xue near graduation. If he didn't have this kind of personality, he probably wouldn't have been able to win Qiu Xue's heart.
Qu Jiaying was somewhat envious of the two of them; they were so lucky to be able to complement each other in both music and life.
"By the way," Wang Zhou said to Qu Jiaying, "I was thinking of having your quartet add some variety, but your overall level is still a bit lacking. With my authority, I can only include one piece. Do you want to perform alone, or with Le Yi, a sonata? Could Xiang Min write a piece for you to perform? And could Yan Zheng help you make some adjustments?"
"So it wasn't just me they invited," Qu Jiaying said dejectedly.
"It was mainly an invitation for you, but as your senior, I hope you all have a bright future," Wang Zhou said.
In any case, Qu Jiaying felt much better after joking around with Qiu Xue for a while, but she didn't expect that Wang Zhou's invitation would bring new trouble.
“I don’t want to play his compositions,” Le Yi said.
Xiang Min said impatiently, "I don't want to write it for you yet!"
Qu Jiaying was racking her brains to figure out how to resolve their conflict when Yan Zheng pulled her to the other side and said, "Don't worry about them. This platform is great and perfect for your solo performance. I've picked out a few pieces for you. Take a look at these cadenzas."
Qu Jiaying hesitated for a moment, then followed Yan Zheng to choose a piece of music.
Le Yi and Xiang Min glanced at her, then glared at each other.
Le Yi wasn't sure if Yan Zheng had noticed, or what had happened between Xiang Min and Qu Jiaying. Perhaps Yan Zheng had sensed it but chose to pretend he hadn't.
He was extremely agitated, but he had no right to ask what was going on. Was he just supposed to wait for the day when the two of them held hands?
While recommending the violin part of the first movement of Mahler's Fifth Symphony to Qu Jiaying, Yan Zheng glanced at Le Yi and Xiang Min, then looked down at Qu Jiaying again.
They didn't understand Qu Jiaying, but Yan Zheng knew very well that all he could do was wait patiently for her.
Qu Jiaying is indeed somewhat evasive when it comes to relationships, but she is not lacking in love, so she will find persistent pursuit annoying, and she will let go if nothing is done.
Yan Zheng didn't think Qu Jiaying and Xiang Min would have a happy relationship. There were many things between them, and it wouldn't be so easy for them to get together.
Moreover, Qu Jiaying is currently experiencing some anxiety about her life and doesn't want any more worries right now.
Yan Zheng continued to introduce Mahler, whose symphonies are both novel and beautiful. His works are complex, but they are very suitable for Qu Jiaying today.
Yan Zheng smiled slightly, watching Qu Jiaying's eyes light up as she flipped through the score.
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