Several elderly gentlemen in exquisite black suits walked slowly into the auditorium.
All the students stood up and saluted until the teachers took their seats in the first row.
Dean Gould walked to the podium on the front side.
"Ladies and gentlemen, good evening!"
There was a mellow sound, and the sound pickup effect of the carbon electrode microphone was not ideal, but the decibels were loud enough.
"I think that during the graduation season in June every year, the most exciting and highly anticipated thing for me is the graduation concert."
"The history of the University of San Lenia is not the oldest, only more than 140 years ago. However, the School of Music has produced several world-class art masters and a large number of influential musicians."
"Let me think about it. Except for Master Gilles, the three representative figures of the Authenticism period all came out of here. Master Meyer premiered "The First" at the college's graduation concert in 1979.
Symphony", Master Karatani premiered "Piano Sonata No. 5" at his graduation concert in 1881. Later, Master Niemann's "Piano Concerto No. 1" premiered in 1898 and became the foundation of his artistic career.
The first peak of romanticism in
“I believe it will be the honor of your life to leave your work at the graduation concert of the University of San Lenia!…”
"...then, students who are competing for the selection of large-scale works, come on stage and start improvising, and accept the most fair evaluations from the professors!"
Dean Gould's speech ended quickly, but the purpose was achieved, making everyone fascinated and waiting to see what happened.
Indeed, not all of them, but many music masters here started to become famous with their blockbuster debuts at their graduation concerts.
The empire awarded knighthoods to artists with outstanding merits. Artists, like scientists, were one of the groups that were highly respected. Whether they were nobles with a long history or emerging business owners, they were all eager to have their names mentioned in a certain work of the master and regarded as their own.
For the glory of the family.
Life lasts only fifty or sixty years, but art is eternal. The masters are buried underground, but people all over the world commemorate them every day, perform their music, and find enlightenment and comfort in the spiritual world.
The final situation of this work selection competition is that 182 people will participate in the collection competition of small solo or chamber music works, and 22 people will compete for large-scale works.
"Black envelope No. 1, Roberta Maugham, fourth grade composition department." The staff member's voice sounded.
A tall and thin man in black dress came on stage, saluted, opened the envelope, took out the music paper inside, and stared at it for a while.
"Show us the material before you, Maugham, and then you can begin."
Dean Gould sat back at the chief judges' table and reminded him gently.
Maugham finally regained his composure, nodded, expressed his gratitude to the judges, then walked to the nine-foot black Boethius piano and took off his gloves.
He stretched out his left hand nervously, and played a melody with only 4 bars in the middle and bass area, in the key of C major, all with white keys. It sounded bright, calm, elegant, and had 2 decorative tones.
"The distinctive Kashunich style theme, and the sound of the piano is so beautiful." Fan Ning commented silently in his heart.
Kashunich, who lived from 621 to 685 AD, was born in the Holy Kingdom of Janus in the Western Continent. He was a representative music master in the late period of medieval music (430 to about 700 AD).
This period is similar to the Baroque period in Fanning's previous life. The music is either as solemn and sacred as a church, or as gorgeous and elegant as a palace, with complicated and gorgeous decorative sounds, mostly polyphonic music.
The concepts of tonic music and polyphonic music are opposite. The former can roughly regard the music composition as melody + accompaniment, while the latter is the interweaving and staggered development of two or more independent melody parts, resulting in the beauty of harmonious movement.
In small-scale works, there is a relatively clear boundary between the two, but large-scale works are usually a comprehensive application of the two methods.
"This first question is very difficult." Someone whispered.
"Main-key music is somewhat better to improvise. How to improvise this?" Cecil, the leader of the third grade group, thought.
"If I get this question, I will forcibly give it an accompaniment, and then improvise using the keynote music method, but that style may not be right." The head of the piano department, Merich, also fell silent.
The melody develops forward through Maugham's left hand. In the 5th bar, his right hand adds a new creative melody. On the basis of maintaining the clear and generous singing nature of the original theme, it brings a sense of rhythmic power and contrasts.
There are even two out-of-key modulations in the middle, and the changing sounds bring about differences in the color of the music.
Fan Ning was a little shocked. Improvisational polyphony? Musicians in this world are much more powerful than he thought.
Why do they have such high levels of inspiration and talent?
Maugham's performance style is relatively pure, in line with the characteristics of late medieval music, with some errors in pronunciation and rhythmic counterpoint.
The music stopped at the 24th bar. Maugham took out his handkerchief to wipe his sweat, bowed and left the stage. It was obvious that he was very nervous.
The time is indeed not long, more than 40 seconds, and it does not end on a complete phrase or section (16 or 32 bars), but it is already rare.
Many viewers in the audience, including several professors, had approval in their eyes.
The average score results were soon announced, with a score of 5 and a full score of 20 in the first round of testing.
"These professors really like to score points. This score should be quite high. The details will depend on the comparison later." Fan Ning thought to himself.
It may be that the performance of No. 1 Maugham was very impressive, but the performances of the following players were mediocre, with 0 points, 4 points, and 6 points.
"No. 5, Edward Merich, fourth-year piano department. Next No. 6, Carolne Van Ning, is ready."
The team leader sat behind the piano bench and opened the envelope slowly.
Then he smiled slightly and struck 6 bright and warm notes in the high range with his right hand.
"A group of three and three should have a rhythm like three beats, right?" Although Fan Ning couldn't see the chart, he thought to himself, "The material is a set of square and convoluted sound patterns. If you want to develop
It sounds really nice, depending on the improviser's next harmonic direction, and the melody also needs some adjustments, otherwise it will be too rigid."
After showing the material, the piano genius took his hands off the keyboard, adjusted the distance of the piano bench, tried the feedback strength of the pedal, and then played a powerful three-beat accompaniment in the bass area with his left hand.
The right hand immediately joined in, and the six even notes were modified in varying lengths, forming a syncopated rhythm that spanned the bars, developing into a waltz melody filled with passion and elegance.
"Reminds me of that wonderful dance we went to last night."
"The melody is so beautiful. I didn't expect that a simple main chord in D major could be transformed into such a charming one." Two ladies in the audience were sincerely amazed.
The audience, including those who were tasked with composing music, had already opened the topic, but were not in a hurry because the opportunity to watch a genius perform was really rare.
They sorted out their creative ideas while referring to the musical inspiration of the performers on stage.
The mood eased slightly, and the music progressed to the middle interlude, switching to a parallel minor key. The mood became a little more gloomy, and there were obviously several more key changes later, forming a meaningful contrast.
"Oh my god, his modulations are so natural and charming, and they are so improvised that I have to think about it for a long time even when writing. Did he switch to parallel keys first? What's next? He seems to have changed the key several times." There are people from the music department behind him.
The female classmate asked Fan Ning in a low voice.
"After B minor, from B flat minor to A minor and then to A major, the descending chromatic harmony improvises to prepare for the reappearance of the theme. This is very romantic and completely different from the coquettish bitches in market music." Fan Ning
Without looking back, he made a casual comment.
"How do you get your ears so long? They are so amazing."
"Carolen could hear it in the past, and Fan Ning on Earth can also hear it. Now that I am Carole Fan Ning, I am stronger, okay?" Fan Ning crossed his arms and thought to himself.
The main melody of the examination question is reproduced under Merich's hand, the music returns to elegance and gorgeousness, and finally the mood gradually rises, ending with a gorgeous and bright major chord power play.
The professors and the audience burst into warm applause, expressing their full affirmation of this impromptu performance.
The score is given: 9 points!
It's very high, but it deserves its name. After more than 2 minutes of improvisation, Merich formed a two-part form with a regular structure. In terms of completeness, it is much better than the previous ones. The development techniques of the melody and the modulation skills in the middle are incomparable.
Nothing is amazing.
"No. 6, Carolne Van Ning, Department of Music!"
The crowd became eerily silent, without any transition, which made people even wonder if there was something wrong with their hearing.
Everyone turned their heads and looked at Fan Ning, who was sitting in the back row.