909. Langton's first lesson, Xiaopang Duan's semester task! [Part 1]
"Mr. Qin Jian, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I will be the person in charge of ensuring that you can use the Steinway piano without any problems while you are living in Vienna."
Before leaving, the brown-haired Steinway senior technician who was responsible for delivering the piano and installing it handed Qin Jian his business card.
"That's great, thank you for your hard work." Qin Jian scanned the business card in his hand and thanked the other party with a smile, "Mr. Eugene."
Eugene smiled back and left with the three porters.
At this time, the change of positions of the two pianos made the originally clean living room into a mess again.
It was not until 1:30 noon that the living room returned to the tidy appearance it should have, thanks to the busy work of the two of them.
After a simple lunch, Duan Ran entered piano practice time.
Qin Jian chose to take a lunch break.
At 14:30, he got up and got ready to go to school.
In the living room, the little fat guy in front of the Kawa piano is thinking about how to distribute the power concentrated on the fingers to other parts of the upper limbs.
"Come on, but don't get into trouble. If you have any problems, wait for me to come back."
As he spoke, he walked out of the living room door.
——
On the way to Langton's office, Qin Jian called home.
"Dad, we've rented a house here. It's an apartment right in front of the school. I'll send you the address later."
At the other end of the conversation, Qin just walked into the office, "Who are the people living in your narration? I read online that the student apartments there are quite messy."
Qin Jian thought for a while and decided not to explain to his family about living with Duan Ran for the time being, mainly because it would be a long time to talk about it.
"Don't worry, it's not a student apartment." He explained, "It's Professor Bachmann, Teacher Liao's piano professor when she was studying abroad in Vienna. She recommended the house. The surrounding residents are all college teachers and local musicians."
When Qin Gang heard this, he knew what he was talking about and warned, "What about that? Then you can take us to treat Professor Naba to a meal and thank him properly. Also, do you think you need anything else for sending your luggage this time?"
Something? Can you bring some specialties to your school teacher?"
Qin Jian: "No, no, just send me the suitcase I had before, nothing else."
Qin Gang: "Okay, we get it. Have you had lunch? Where are you now? Why do I hear the sound of cars?"
Qin Jian: "After eating, I'm crossing the road at school. I'm going to go to the professor's office. I have classes in the afternoon."
Qin Gang: "Okay, hang up. You can go ahead and call home if you have anything to do. Don't forget to send the address. We will send it to you in two days."
After hanging up the phone, Qin Jian sent the prepared address to the group of four people, then installed his mobile phone and entered the campus.
——
When Qin Jian came to Langton's office, he was engrossed in writing something.
"There is no need to knock on the door from now on, just come in. I usually don't have anyone coming."
Langton started writing faster, "There is fresh strawberry pie and juice in the refrigerator. You can do whatever you want. I still need a few minutes."
"Thank you, I've had lunch."
Qin Jian looked around and came to the giant iron bookshelf.
I have to say that compared to yesterday, Classroom 6 today is cleaner than the hospital ward.
His eyes soon fell on a book titled "The Archaeologist with a Photographic Memory—Saint-Saëns".
Archaeologist? He wanted to make sure that the man with the photographic memory was the same person as the author of Carnival of the Animals.
He almost certainly is, so it's extra novel.
"Professor, can I look through your book collection?"
"Of course, but it's best to remember the position where you pulled it out. After reading, please insert it according to the original position. It doesn't matter if you forget. There is a code under each number. Just follow the code to return it to the original position."
"Thanks."
Qin Jian took out the book, and after opening it, he discovered that it was a handwritten book.
After flipping through a few pages, he found that there were not only French, German, but also Latin in it.
He opened the directory, but there was nothing related to archeology in the directory, which made him tremble.
[Saint-Saëns’ Absolute Pitch, p143]
Qin Jian turned to page 143.
'He was discovered to have absolute listening ability at the age of two, and before he was five he could play the piano part of a violin sonata by Beethoven.'
"Professor, what should we make of Saint-Saëns?"
"Are you referring to the musical works he created, his identity as a pianist, or his miserable life?"
"Whatever, you can say whatever you want."
Langton put away his pen, stood up and patted his belly, picked up the book on the table and walked towards Qin Jian.
"From an Austrian perspective, he is a first-rate musician, a second-rate performer, and a third-rate composer."
"From a French perspective, he is a first-rate composer, a second-rate musician, and a third-rate performer."
Listening to the completely different answers from the two perspectives, Qin Jian could vaguely understand the points, and then he couldn't help but be curious: "What about the Germans?"
Langton shook his head and stopped beside him, "Germans don't like Saint-Saëns."
"What about the British?" Qin Jian asked again.
Langton sighed, "It's a pity that the British don't have classical music."
Without waiting for Qin Jian to refute, Langton continued: "I know what you want to say, early Purcell, barely counting Handel, later Elgar, Britten, Holst, etc."
"Is it right?"
Qin Jian nodded. These were the "important witnesses" he wanted to refute with examples. Among them, Handel and Elgar were both composers he liked very much. "
Langton: "So can you give me just two examples of British composers from the 18th and 19th centuries?"
When asked this question, Qin Jian was stunned.
In the end, he resisted the urge to open up space and explore, and he had to say that he really couldn't think of a single British composer during this period.
Purcell and Handel were from the Baroque period, and others like Elgar Britton only emerged at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
"Disconnection." Then a vacuum period appeared in his mind. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were the most prosperous periods of European classical music.
Qin Jian's eyes looking for confirmation fell on Langton's face.
Langton smiled and did not give an answer, pointing to the left corner of the fourth-floor bookshelf, "If you are interested, you can look through the red book."
Then he handed a stack of music scores in his hand to Qin Jian, "Duan's music score, by the way, how intensely does she practice piano on weekdays?"
"Very high."
Qin Jian looked away from the book "British Market Economy" and said, "Under normal circumstances, she practices for more than 8 hours a day."
After taking the music score, Qin Jian thanked him and said, "Any questions? Professor."
Langton nodded thoughtfully and returned the topic to the beginning, "So why do you pay attention to Saint-Saëns?"
"Are you planning to study his works soon?"
Qin Jian briefly talked to Langton about the Paris Music Festival.
After listening to it, Langton said: "That is a good work. Bruno is very good at conducting French local works. Your program will definitely blow up the entire music festival."
Qin Jian: "Thank you, will you go to Paris then?"
——
Langton smiled proudly: "I have been blacklisted by major music festivals."