Chapter 21 Harpsichord
Victor was very satisfied, Lucian was still learning as fast as a few days ago, and in less than fifty minutes, he had completely memorized the remaining grammar rules.
As soon as he was in a good mood, Victor immediately had an idea, hummed a short melody, then clapped his hands and smiled gently: "Gentlemen and ladies, after studying for so long, you must be very tired, why not have a cup of afternoon tea, eat some fruit, and relax your spirits."
After saying that, he went upstairs to record the melody.
Holding an elegant and beautiful pale white glazed porcelain cup, Lucian took a sip of black tea and found that he had sadly adapted to this strange taste, and rubbed his temples to relax the swelling of his head caused by the high-intensity study in the past few days.
"Phyllis, when did you invite us to hunt at your manor? I miss the charming fresh taste and the bouncing rabbits and deer."
Another noble girl, Anne, suddenly smiled and spoke, she had beautiful long golden hair and emerald-like eyes, but her facial features were not good, very ordinary, and her family situation was not very good, her father was only the most inconspicuous of the many children of a certain baron, not only had no hope of inheriting the title and territory, but also seemed to be unable to inherit a manor or estate, and could only barely maintain decency by relying on the income of being a city court clerk and the baron's pension.
In contrast, as a member of the Hayne family among the major families of the Duchy of Vaulite, Phyllis's father, although he failed to inherit the earldom and hereditary territory in the end, the old count still left him a large estate outside the city of Aalto, with forests, fruit groves, vineyards, and even patterned rock fields, as well as a property in the city of Aalto.
Therefore, Phyllis's family background is the best among the aristocratic children in the room.
In the hot summer, you can go to the suburban manor to hunt and escape the heat, and enjoy the delicious wine made at home, which is the most envied by ordinary aristocratic teenagers and girls who do not have a manor in their own small family, including Lot, so Anne faintly flatters Phyllis.
"Really? Miss Phyllis, your manor has cute rabbits and beautiful fawns?" Renee, a civilian girl, interjected and asked, with a look of curiosity and yearning.
On Lucian's first day of study, Renee tried to get close to Phyllis, Lot, Anne and other aristocratic students by talking about music, and the effect was very good.
Encouraged, she didn't know where she had inquired about music theory knowledge in the past few days, and then asked Phyllis or Anne with inquiries and doubts.
With her example, Colin and David, two civilian teenagers, also looked for topics in this regard and approached the aristocratic students, and the effect was equally obvious, only Lucian, who was focused on his studies and didn't even say a word.
Since Lucian did not take the initiative to approach, neither aristocratic students such as Lott and Phyllis, nor civilian students such as Renee and Colin would lower their identities to talk to him, and still maintained a cold and estranged attitude.
Phyllis maintained a dignified sitting posture and replied with a standard and polite smile: "I also miss those cute animals, but Mr. Victor's symphony is still more than three months away, and during this time, every weekend, Lot, Herodotus, and I have to go here or the Musicians' Association to help Mr. Victor rehearse the music and practice his own instruments, and I really don't have time to go hunting in the countryside."
For Annie's flattery, Renee's yearning, envy and flattery, Phyllis is actually very satisfied and happy in her heart, who doesn't like this feeling.
Lucian on the side listened to their conversation, of course, he also had a certain yearning, and he also wanted to have his own manor, but the most important thing at the moment was how to borrow a lingua franca dictionary from Mr. Victor, and how to read such a thick dictionary in the hall and store it in the soul library.
In the exchange of Phyllis, Lot, Annie, Colin, Renee and others who were either reserved or deliberately flattering, Victor walked down, and a faint smile could still be seen on the corner of his mouth, obviously very satisfied with the melody just now.
Just as Victor was about to continue teaching, the housekeeper Ace opened the door and walked in, whispering to Victor: "Master, your scheduled guest has arrived."
"Oh, I forgot, damn it, I was addicted to music again in the morning." Victor shook his right hand, looking a little annoyed, "Please come in."
After Ace went out respectfully and gracefully, Victor turned to look at Lucian and the others, spread his hands, and his face was full of apology: "I'm sorry, dear gentlemen and ladies, I forgot to make an appointment with a guest today, and you will make up for the rest of your homework tomorrow at two o'clock in the afternoon, okay?"
Victor was so polite, Lot, Phyllis, Annie and Lucian would not be unkind at all, but Lucian decided to borrow a lingua franca dictionary from Mr. Victor for a few days while he was apologizing.
Just as Lucian was about to speak, Ace had already led the guests in, a handsome silver-haired man wearing a red shirt and a black coat, and a white-haired old man carrying a wooden box in both hands.
"Mr. Rhine......" was spoken by Lucian and Phyllis at the same time.
Phyllis had a faint blush on her face, while Lucian was completely surprised, unexpectedly that Rhine, who was just a bard, had become a very important guest of the musician Mr. Victor.
"Hi, Phyllis, hi, Lucian." Rhein smiled and greeted him gracefully.
Phyllis smiled shyly, then came to her senses, and with Lot and the others, she looked at Lucian in surprise, he and Mr. Rhine knew each other?
"Lucian, do you know Mr. Rhine?" Victor asked with a smile.
Lucian nodded: "I have met Mr. Rhein once, but I didn't expect to meet Mr. Rhein again at Mr. Victor's house."
Rhein smiled a little charmingly and echoed: "Although I have only met it once, Lucian has a deep impression on me, hehe, you really have to start learning words, well, I admire young people with ambition and dreams the most."
Thinking that Rhein seemed to be a man and a woman, Lucian couldn't help but shudder when he was so appreciated.
Victor introduced with a smile: "Mr. Rhein is the principal of the symphony orchestra I work with, he has an extraordinary understanding of music, and it is through communication with him that I can write a satisfying piano concerto with inspiration."
"He, he actually became the principal of the mixed symphony orchestra?!" Lucian was almost stunned, Rhine was still living in the Copper Crown Tavern in the slums a few days ago.
In the past few days, from the conversations between Phyllis, Lot and others, Lucian compared several books in the library and learned that the composition of the world's symphony orchestra is roughly the same as on earth, and he also learned a lot of knowledge, understanding the position of the principal in the symphony orchestra, he is the first violinist, and he has to be responsible for conducting and coordinating when there is no conductor.
As if seeing Lucian's surprise, Rhine smiled humorously: "Because the previous bandleader fell in love with a noble lady and eloped with her to the Syracuse Kingdom a few days ago, I had no choice but to let me reluctantly replace her."
Phyllis couldn't help but interject: "Even if the former chief gentleman is still there, Mr. Rhine is strong enough to become the first violinist, and he just needs to practice a few more times to cooperate with the band."
"Yes, Mr. Rhein is one of the best violinists I have ever met, and he has his own unique views on music." Victor also praised, "Meeting him is the biggest gain I have had in this time."
Lucian looked at the smiling and inscrutable Rhein, and still felt very strange in his heart, as if it was too coincidental, a bard who wandered from the Syracuse Kingdom with a harp, and within a few days, he became the first violinist of a symphony orchestra.
Rhein pressed his right hand on his left chest, bowed slightly, thanked Victor for his compliment, and then introduced the white-haired old gentleman next to him: "This is Mr. Xavier, one of Artaud's best harpsichord makers, and he should be able to help Mr. Victor complete the transformation of the harpsichord." The harpsichord is also called a plucked piano.
"Welcome, Mr. Xavier, I came to you because the current harpsichord cannot meet the requirements of my new piano concerto, and I hope you can make some changes." Victor greeted him warmly, taking Rhein and Xavier to the second floor, without giving Lucian a chance to borrow the dictionary.
However, he also seemed to have forgotten to let Lucian, Annie, Colin and others leave, while the housekeeper Ace on one side was unsure of Lucian's relationship with Rhine, so it was inconvenient to ask them to leave directly, so the curious Annie, Colin and others quietly and quietly followed Phyllis and the others to the staircase.
Lucian hadn't borrowed the dictionary yet, so naturally he wasn't willing to leave like this, so he followed him as well.
Going up to the second floor, Victor took Rhein and Xavier into his piano room.
"Mr. Xavier, I hope that the harpsichord can freely and accurately control the volume through the force of my fingers, and that the vocal range is wider, louder, richer, more delicate, and clearer." Victor watched as Xavier opened the harpsichord, revealing the complex mechanisms, plucked pipes, and strings inside, while making his own requests.
Since the invention of the harpsichord, its flaws have been very obvious, it is difficult to achieve a change in volume with the help of changes in key power, so as to control the strength and strength of the music, but many musicians and producers have also tried and modified this, by attaching other devices, such as ejector rods, sound stoppers, converting keyboards, etc. to achieve similar effects, and finally made it an instrument that can barely control the change in volume and play.
Xavier frowned: "Such a requirement cannot be completed, after more than three hundred years of development, the transformation of the harpsichord has reached its limit, at most relying on experience, there are slight improvements."
Victor and Rhine didn't expect Xavier to answer so absolutely, the two suddenly fell silent, especially Victor, his face turned pale, if the harpsichord did not meet his requirements, then his newly composed piano concerto could not be perfectly presented, which for him who played in the Psalm Hall for the first time, it meant that he had failed before it started, and it was unacceptable to rewrite or compose the music.
This silent silence lasted for a long time, giving Phyllis and the others the illusion of suffocation.
"Why don't you pluck the pipe and change it to a mallet to strike the strings?" Lucian thought for a long time, weighed the gains and losses and whether he would show his feet, and suddenly spoke in the silence.
It seems that the world has not really given birth to the modern piano, known as the "king of musical instruments", and is still in the stage of two types of clavichords.
In the Lucian Soul Library, from Victor's request, Lucian opened the two books "Piano Making and Tuning" and "Principles of Modern Piano Mechanics", and hurriedly scanned the first dozen pages to get a general impression.
Xavier looked at Lucian sternly: "What's the difference between this and the piano? Although the volume can be controlled through the strength of the fingers, and the variations and contrasts are richer, the volume is too weak, too soft, too thin, and only suitable for playing in a home room, not in the hall."
Lucian, as the capital of music and the city of Aalto, neither Xavier, nor Rhein, nor Victor was surprised or doubted why he knew the differences between the two pianos.
(End of this chapter)