Peter Rakoczy: The Music of My Life

Chapter 1: Brothers and Adversaries

The fat white snowflakes fell lazily across the winter sky before settling in a soft blanket over the grounds surrounding the Rakoczy Estate.  Peter sat by a window in the music room.  He was looking outside at the Christmas wonderland unfolding before his eyes, as twilight rapidly descended.  He idly traced a pattern with his finger over the frosted glass while his thoughts wafted like the snowdrifts created by brutal December wind outside.  Inside the Rakoczy Estate everything was warm and cozy in preparation for the upcoming holidays.  The fires were lit in every room, and the Christmas trees were decorated with colorful baubles, popcorn strands, and bright candles.  The spirit of the season was everywhere, filling the entire manor with the smell of cinnamon and pine cones.

"Only two more days until Christmas," Peter thought.  "And then... the New Year's Ball."

As he suddenly remembered that New Year's Eve was less than two weeks away, Peter woke up from his reverie.  He walked away from the window and sat down at his grand piano.  It was a ten-year old Bosendorfer, and Peter's favorite possession.  His father bought it for him on his tenth birthday.  By that age, it was clear that Peter was something of a musical prodigy and that he had outgrown the upright piano that still remained in the front parlor.  Peter's Bosendorfer was placed back to back with his brother's identical piano.  Count Rakoczy expected both of his sons to be proficient musicians, even though Peter was the one with more natural talent.

Peter gently lifted the black wooden lid.  His fingers automatically positioned themselves over the correct ivory keys, without him having to even look at the keyboard.  As a Chopin nocturne came to his mind, Peter idly used only his right hand to play the melody.  Soon, he couldn't resist, and he performed the entire piece at full volume and speed, both of his hands moving with grace and ease.  After he finished the nocturne, Peter began an etude which required even more coordination and dexterity.  His focus on the music was intense, and he didn't hear the door to the music room open and close.  Only after the last chord did he realize he wasn't alone in the room.

"Bravo, little brother," Peter heard Stelian speak from behind him.  Stelian's clapped his hands, but somehow it seemed more like mockery rather than admiration.

Stelian Rakoczy was Peter's older brother.  He was a year older almost to the day, yet he acted like he was much worldlier and wiser.  Now that Stelian had just turned twenty-one, he pranced around the manor like he owned it.  Peter was beginning to tire of his brother's pompous, all-knowing attitude.  Unfortunately, their father, Count Stelian Rakoczy, after whom his brother was named, always took Stelian's side in every argument.  It was difficult for Peter to stand up to both of them.  Especially since it wasn't in his nature to argue.

Peter was a bit of a dreamer.  He often found himself lost in thought while staring out the window at nothing in particular.  His brother took that for idleness and criticized Peter at every opportunity.

"Your head is always in the clouds, Peter," Stelian would say.  "When are you going to grow up and come back to earth?"

Peter found his solace in music.  He had apparently inherited his talent from his late mother, Clara.  She had been Count Rakoczy's second wife.  It was a May-December marriage, as the count was in his mid-forties while Clara was barely twenty when they met.  The Count had previously been married for over twenty years to the first Countess, Wilhemina, with whom he had two daughters, Judith and Erzy.  His wife passed away when his daughters were already grown women, in their early twenties.  The Count felt he was too young to be a widower, and also hoped for sons.

He met Clara through his younger daughter, Erzy.  They had been colleagues and close friends at an all girls school in Bucharest.  Erzy invited Clara to visit her in Cluj over summer vacation.  When Count Rakoczy laid eyes on the beautiful, nymph-like girl, he immediately decided she was the one.  They had a whirlwind romance and quick wedding, and within a year, Clara had given birth to Stellian.