KOCM

36-40

Chapter 36
Although the judge was joking, it had Qi Mu between tears and laughter. When he began his audition, Qi Mu himself did not notice that he had become serious.

Although Boswell never spoke to Qi Mu before, Qi Mu still took the judge's joke to heart because only he knew that he had gone through a "back door."

Having found out Boswell's favorite song through Min Chen, was that not a back door?

《The Boy's Miraculous Horn》was one of Gustav Mahler's masterpieces. He was a famous German composer in the 19th century, and the song was composed for a poem with the same name by a German poet named Clemens Bretano. Generally speaking, few violinists would choose this song for a recital. Since Qi Mu had selected this song, naturally he was prepared.

A musician knew, that no matter how talented someone was, it was impossible to master every single song. Qi Mu had practiced this song for a few weeks after he entered the Geneva College, but never had the chance to play it.

The handsome youth laid the bow on the strings and let out a gentle exhale. The next moment, a soft sound emerged from the violin. It was as though the melody came from the distant horizon, passed over the rippling Rhine River, and echoed from afar.

This song was a short piece called 《Rheinlegenchen (Little Rhine Legend)》 which was fourth in the 《Des Knaben Wunderhorn》 collection. In the original arrangement, the song was sung by a sweet but loud soprano, and so for this section, Qi Mu used the violin to play the role of harmony, depicting the legend of the Rhine River in all its touching aesthetic.

The whole thing was only three minutes long, and the difficulty wasn't high. However, for this seemingly simple piece, it had different effects when played by different people.

Among Mahler's works, Allen Boswell preferred 《The Boy's Miraculous Horn》and several other well-known songs. As a world-class conductor, Boswell thought that he had heard every rendition of this piece, but very few people could play 《Little Rhine Legend》.

"Few" did not mean that he had never heard of it.

The Berlin Philharmonic concertmaster once played this song. Boswell had to admit, regarding the technical aspect alone, Christole's* performance, coupled with a world-class soprano singer, was better than the current performance.

*Previously translated directly as Christi

However, for some reason, Boswell thought that the young man currently performing. . . was not inferior.

If Christole's《Little Rhine Legend》 was atmospheric, then this youth's was melodious and intimate.

This was understandable, as Qi Mu did not have an orchestra to cooperate with, and without a large stage, it was impossible for him to showcase his rendition thoroughly. While practicing last night, Qi Mu did, in fact, think of a way to play this song in the absence of accompaniment.

He had thought about it for a long time and eventually came to a solution that could barely be called as such, and it left him very unsatisfied. But this morning, on the way to the venue while he was still contemplating this matter, he heard that low, aristocratic voice at his side.

"Do you like listening to opera?"

Qi Mu was in a daze, so he turned to look at the man beside him in surprise. Min Chen was holding a magazine, and he casually flipped a page. There was no particular expression on his face, and it looked like he had asked the question in passing.

Thinking it over for a bit, Qi Mu replied, "The opera is good, but. . . I don't listen to them much."

Qi Mu wasn't lying. Although his adoptive parents were not poor, they were not exactly well off either. After he started learning to play the violin, he did some odd jobs to earn money for concert tickets, so he did not listen to opera much.