Please, come home and practice the piano

Chapter 1248, Section 468: What is a Talented Perspective? Lin's First Music Season Record [Part 1]

To Tang Xiaoxing, the teacher's translation was accurate.

So what are the shortcomings in the composition of Beethoven's works?

This is actually a question worth discussing.

When I first discussed Chopin's works with Professor Mohr in class, he raised a similar question.

The principle that water overflows when it is full also applies to classical music. No great work has ever achieved perfection in melody, harmony, counterpoint, or orchestration.

Just like how divine beauty is never formed by a combination of perfect facial features in one area.

Returning to the issue of Rolf's conducting, what aspects of Beethoven's music are lacking?

Perhaps this question can be interpreted in another way: what imperfections in Beethoven's music made it great?

With this in mind, Tang Xiaoxing gradually began to have a direction for her thoughts.

At the same time, Xiao Che's thinking about this problem was completely different from Tang Xiaoxing's.

Xiao Che had no experience discussing the shortcomings of Chopin's musical composition with Professor Mohr, nor did she make any assumptions to consider the deeper meaning behind the question.

The question she heard was about the shortcomings in the composition of Beethoven's music.

So her problem is to find what she considers inadequate from her own perspective.

If she had been asked this question a year ago, she probably wouldn't have known where to begin.

Because at that time she had not practiced enough representative Beethoven piano works, nor had she listened to enough of them.

However, she now has some say in the matter.

As a performer who has already played several Beethoven works, her first thought was that Beethoven really didn't consider the performer's perspective when he wrote some of his works.

Beethoven's works are really not easy to play.

From this perspective, various images immediately came to mind.

For example, those melodies that seem several times simpler than Mozart's melodies.

Are Beethoven's melodies really simple?

simple.

After repeatedly confirming her thoughts in her mind, Tang Xiaoxing gave her opinion on Beethoven's melodies, which was simple.

While the two children were silently pondering with their knives and forks in hand, the adults were also thinking about the same issue.

Even if Tang Jingren could say a few words about this issue, it goes without saying that the others present would not be able to answer.

However, neither of the adults was in a hurry to speak; they were more interested in the two children's thoughts.

Rolf didn't seem to be in a hurry, and he was also waiting for Ang Lee's answer.

He knew that the two young girls in front of him had already achieved enough personal success, but even so, in his opinion, this was still not a topic that music learners of this age could discuss.

Just then, Tang Zhongfu spoke with a smile.

"Which of you two will speak first?"

The two girls looked at each other, sensing through their eyes that the other probably already had an answer.

“No need to be modest,” Ang Lee added with a smile. “There’s no standard answer to this question.”

As soon as Ang Lee spoke, Rolf's attention was immediately drawn to him, but he couldn't understand what he was saying.

Yang Hui then acted as a translator, conveying the words of the old man and Ang Lee to Rolf.

Rolf smiled and nodded when he heard this, acknowledging that there was indeed no standard answer to this question.

A moment later, an interesting scene unfolded.

The two children put down their utensils and raised their hands in perfect unison.

"Scissors! Rock! Paper!"

The adults laughed along.

Rock, paper, scissors, one round decides the winner, the winner goes first.

Little Star chose paper and won against Little Car's scissors.

The next second, everyone's eyes were on Tang Xiaoxing's face.

Tang Xiaoxing paused, then looked in the teacher's direction without using German: "Melody."

The moment the word "melody" came out of Tang Xiaoxing's mouth, the dinner table immediately fell silent.

If Wang Xiaohu had answered with "melody," Ang Lee would probably have just shaken his head. But Tang Xiaoxing pointed out the melody, which made him look forward to what was to come.

It's important to understand that Beethoven's music cannot be so crudely dissected, so Tang Xiaoxing's point about the single melody is more like the opinion of an amateur.

But is Tang Xiaoxing an amateur?

Tang Xiaoxing's next words indeed made everyone fall into deep thought.

"Beethoven frequently used dissonant effects in his melodic writing. He liked to use a lot of chromatic melodies, which, from a purely auditory point of view, are not aesthetically pleasing."

"His melodies are often too simple."

Tang Xiaoxing is absolutely right. In terms of pure auditory experience, Beethoven's melodies cannot be compared with those of melody masters like Chopin and Tchaikovsky.

However, she did not mention other composers for comparison, but continued: "But it was precisely this simple chromaticism that became a component of mainstream music in the early Romantic period."

After Yang Hui translated her daughter's words to Rolf, Rolf looked surprised.

Without the following addition, his idea would be consistent with Ang Lee's—it's a child's naive statement, simply dissecting the melody from Beethoven's music and then performing a simple analysis.

However, with the subsequent additions, this answer was brought into the historical context.

While seemingly pointing out certain shortcomings in the components of Beethoven's music, this very imperfection solidifies Beethoven's status as a leader of classical music.

Yes, who can say that Beethoven's melodies are impeccable, but who can say that Beethoven wasn't a pioneer standing at the forefront of the times?

Tang Zhongfu smiled with satisfaction, thinking to himself that Yun'er's six months away had not been without any gains.

In a flash, he seemed to see his granddaughter had grown up a lot.

Just then, Tang Xiaoxing looked at the car.

"Linlin, it's your turn."

What insights will the little car offer on this issue? Yang Hui and Tang Qianfeng then came to the little car.

Yang Hui, in particular, was eagerly anticipating Xiao Che's answer, as it was also part of Ang Lee's teaching achievements.

Just like her daughter's answer, which seemed to be just a few words, it contained more than just Beethoven's music; it was the result of years of cultivation by the whole family.

She agreed to send her daughter to Chengdu, but she was still worried about some issues, such as whether her daughter could receive guidance from multiple perspectives when encountering such problems—music is not just a few notes and a melody.

She trusted Ang Lee, so she was now waiting for Xiao Che's answer.

"Well."

After a moment, the car spoke. "Beethoven's piano music is too difficult."

As soon as Xiao Che finished speaking, the expressions of everyone present underwent subtle changes.

Such a description is too general, and it doesn't sound like something a music student should say.

But it was Xiao Che who said this, and everyone present except Rolf had heard Xiao Che play Beethoven's Sonata in F minor.

Ang Lee smiled and translated what the car had said to Rolf, who in turn smiled.

It was a very fair assessment, but his problem was pointing out the shortcomings of certain components in Beethoven's music.

next second.

"I don't think he created music from the perspective of a performer."

The expressions of the people present changed again, and these two events, when put together, became the starting point of an argument.

"Xiaoxing and I have slightly different opinions."

Tang Xiaoxing nodded, her face full of seriousness.

"On the contrary, my experience is that Beethoven's melodies are not simple."

As he spoke, Xiao Che chuckled self-deprecatingly, “He always uses repeated notes to advance the melody, and the teacher asked me to examine these repeated notes from a structural perspective during this process.”

"motivation."

"This is the part that gives me the biggest headache, like here at Dangdang."

As Xiao Che spoke, he hummed a melody and unconsciously raised his hands and tapped them a few times in the air.

Her cute yet earnest appearance amused everyone at the dinner table.

Ang Lee then translated for Rolf: "Each of his repetitions is like a prelude to the next note, making it difficult to grasp. If I treat each repeated note as the same note, I lose the musical expression."

"But if we use a fixed method to deal with these repeated notes, the music will seem too formal. Beethoven would not have written such meaningless melodies."

"When adding a section of doldoldoldoldol, Haydn might just need these notes as a melodic transition, Mozart might be pursuing a symmetrical flow, while Beethoven has foreshadowing in addition to the above two possibilities. If these four dolds are placed on a dominant position and fluctuate continuously, then the performer needs to be even more careful."

"Because a series of dissonant sounds might appear immediately afterward, Xiaoxing believes that these dissonant sound effects cause Beethoven's melodies to lack a certain aesthetic appeal when listened to on their own."

"I can't grasp this yet because I haven't tried practicing Beethoven's melodies separately from the harmonic framework."

"My current feeling is that these notes are too complex for my playing ability."

"If Beethoven had been able to write the motive behind each note, the performer would have had a much easier time."

"Therefore, I think that the lack of guidance for the performer is a shortcoming in the composition of Beethoven's music."

Seeing the car stop, Li An asked, "Is there anything else?"

The car bared its teeth and shook its head.

Rolf seemed to understand Ang Lee's words and also understood the short-haired girl's head-shaking gesture.

At that moment, he didn't know what to say, but the girl had mentioned an extremely important keyword.

motivation.

The motifs behind each note are analyzed, and the different purposes of the three composers in using the same melody are also examined.

What moved Rolf the most was the perspective of this short-haired girl, who completely regarded herself as a pianist when discussing the issue.

In comparison, the granddaughter of the Tang family, standing to the side, spoke in a manner more akin to that of a music scholar.

Both girls gave excellent answers, but deep down, he preferred the car's answer.

He found the answer he was looking for from Ang Lee in the car's response.

motivation.

The motif behind every note of Beethoven's music possesses immense energy.

He decided to attend Ang Lee's student's concert tomorrow night in person, hoping to gain more insights from it.

Because this was a student whom Ang Lee treated like a daughter, Tang Qianfeng told him.

"well said."

Tang Zhongfu led the applause for the two children.

"You two should communicate more in the future."

The two little girls looked at each other again, and once again saw genuine smiles on their faces.

Yang Hui then smiled and said, "Dad, it's your turn now."

Ang Lee: "Applause!"
-
The next afternoon arrived in the blink of an eye, with less than two hours left before the car was scheduled to take the stage.

The group was still discussing the topics they had discussed at lunch yesterday.

Rolf dressed up specially for the concert hall today, as if he were there to listen to a master's concert.

As the night passed, his anticipation for the concert grew even stronger.

During his conversation with Ang Lee last night, he told Ang Lee that Xiao Che would definitely become an excellent pianist.

"When she talks about music, she always puts herself in the position of a performer."

Rolf called it a rare talent.

At this moment, Ang Lee had no time to worry about the cars being prepared backstage; he was busy getting ready to receive the various important audience members who were about to arrive.

Old Master Xie should personally receive them.

Xiao Hongxia should receive him personally.

He should personally receive Liang Shan.

There was nothing he could do; the black figure on the giant poster behind him was a car.
Two months later, Che Lin's name is once again making waves in the piano industry.

Today's audience also includes some familiar faces. Boss X saw that Zhao Weilin had also come with Sun Wenjun and Li Zemin's children.

He even went up to say hello.

The camera pans backstage, where Yang Hui's personal makeup artist is applying makeup to the car.

Tang Xiaoxing was giving Wang Xiaohu and the others a live text and picture broadcast while laughing and joking.

Time passed little by little, and more and more people filled the audience seats.

Xiao Jingchen also arrived at the scene accompanied by his father.

A closer look reveals that there are quite a few contestants from the Yanjing area participating in this year's Xiao Xiao competition.

"Teacher Li!"

"Hey, what are you doing here if you're not preparing for your final exams?!"

"Hehe, I had to come on such an important day."