Chapter 2.2 - Bit by bit 2 (2/2)
There still was an amiable smile on his lips, but his eyes carried a sense of seriousness in them – the seriousness of a singer with over 20 years of opera experience, the baritone Ku Mingi’s.
Noh Jusup sitting nearby gulped in nervousness.
“Concerted music, meaning singing together.”
Starting with that, the teacher continued as if singing.
“Singing in unison, harmony or an ensemble, the form doesn’t matter. Once there are multiple people singing together, it’s commonly referred to as concerted music. It is also the same thing by definition – more than 2 people singing together.”
Briefly stopping his words, he looked into every students’ eyes before continuing his words.
“But as you sing, you’ll sometimes think of things like this; what is the difference between solo and concerted music? Is it just referring to the number of people singing? Then if two people singing ‘solo’ were to sing next to each other, would that be considered concerted music?”
Glancing around, it seemed they couldn’t readily form an answer. If two soloists sang together, that would be concerted music. Technically it was right, but it felt different – the classroom was filled with that thought.
It was then, that Lee Suh-ah raised her hand.
When teacher Ku Mingi signalled her with his eyes, she replied in an apathetic voice.
“Concerted music needs to have different sounds come into harmony. If two people were to sing ‘solo’ in whatever manner they preferred together, there would be no harmony at all.”
Teacher Ku Mingi nodded with a smile facing Lee Suh-ah.
“Correct. Different to ‘solos’ sung by one person, harmony is important in concerted music. Harmony, or polyphony – however you say it, the meaning is evident. The sound from every executant within the group must have exactly the same magnitude and same space.”
“…”
“To achieve this, the vocalisation process required in concerted music is quite different from a soloist’s vocalisation process…”
While I was listening, a yawn left without me realising.
‘Yawnnn….’
Ah, it seems I slept too late last night practising breaths. The terrible appoggio got me extremely upset and I ended up pretty much staying up all night… I guess I need to sleep properly from now.
Being slightly embarrassed, I looked around and well, I found Lee Suh-ah glancing over with a frown.
Her image of me will plummet again…
“Well, it is hard to understand from just words right? Let’s give a few examples, then. Student Jun Shihyuk over there?”
“Yes!”
Jun Shihyuk stood up with a flash. Smiling at that, teacher Ku Mingi glanced through the students one more time. The students suddenly started fidgeting and looked away, resembling rabbits in front of a lion.
His slow gaze soon came to a stop
On me.
“And student Jo Yunjae.”
“Yes.”
Following the teacher’s gesture, I stood up next to Jun Shihyuk.
Slam. A canterbury was placed before the two of us, with a score sitting on top. It had the title, ‘Concone 50. Op.9 No.1’ written on it.
…Is he telling us to sing this…
“It’s quite obvious, right? You just have to sing that. Concone no 1. Shall we start off with student Jun Shihyuk?”
“Yes.”
He replied with confidence. His posture as he walked up to the canterbury showed off his pride. I stepped back slightly to appreciate the scene while Jun Shihyuk still had his eyes facing front. His eyes did not reflect the score nor the canterbury.
‘Already sang enough to remember, huh.’
Silence, where even a drop of a needle could be heard, had filled the class. After a heavy gaze to the front, Jun Shihyuk raised his hands forward.
And vocalised.
“Ah – ah – ah – ah ah-”
The melody started from low before strongly picking up. It wasn’t a difficult song – the pitch siding up would stay at the highlight for a bit – that kind of simple song.
Yet a simple song couldn’t conceal his skills.
It was truly a case of talent showing itself. The pitch flowing and rising along the rhythm is as precise as a chisel. The ringing was thunderous and the pitch stringing out from the head is smacking at my ears.
And lastly, the highest pitch E4.
“Ah-”
A thunderous high note from the tough build filled the class, and yet his lips were raised as if it did not take a toll on his body. A smooth vocalisation as if he was singing a low note.
Hearing that made a light admiration escape naturally.
‘That’s something hard to hear from high schoolers.’
The constant timbre regardless of the change in pitch. It was the proof that the passaggio connecting the low and high notes was quite developed.
E4 wasn’t particularly a high note and the timbre revealed a few vibrations but it was nonetheless a skill unthinkable to be of a student’s. As expected of Jun Shihyuk I guess – I could see a glimpse of the future best baritone of the country.
Even teacher Ku Mingi was nodding with interest.
“Ah-”
The song thus finished,
And a round of applause exploded out from the crowd as he lowered his head
“Wow…”
“How is the quality so different despite singing Concone…”
“It’s Jun Shihyuk.”
“I heard he came first at the last spring’s concour.”
Perhaps hearing the chatter, he gave a little smile before turning towards me. He then flicked his head up in a somewhat rude manner.
…He’s saying it’s my turn now, huh…
“Shall we have student Jo Yunjae sing it now? Let’s do the same verse.”
As I stood in front of the canterbury, I could feel the eyes of 20 opera students gathering towards me. I glanced and found gazes filled with expectations.
Expectations.
What kind of feelings were behind those? Were they truly expecting me to do well, or expecting something that would accentuate Jun Shihyuk even more?
‘It doesn’t matter’.
They were also kids who jumped into opera due to their music craze. To them, the songs would speak for themselves – no matter the background or who that person is.
Because that, is opera.
‘So I just need to do well.’
I lowered my head and slowly prepared the vocal cords. Doing the pre-singing practice; checking breathing, forming and getting rid of space inside the mouth and loosening the larynx off of the pressure.
Ahh I want something sweet. It is a must to have chocolate before a performance.
‘Performance’.
Suddenly, I remembered that this was the first performance after my time travel. Not the solo inside a toilet and not the sight-reading kind, where I read the pitch like a machine.
The first song in front of an audience.
‘I can’t ruin such a song.’
Raising my head back up, I could feel the eyes of 20 people. A light nervousness started budding up.
Can I do it well – I should be able to. I decided to make it that way. An executant had to believe in themself, saying, I think I can do well, and I must do well.
‘I couldn’t get used to the body after coming back in time’ was no longer a viable excuse. The highest pitch in this song was 2 Octave E, a sound within my vocal range.
It was a sound this body could make.
I focused, and readied my emotions.
Concone no1. It was commonly used as a basic textbook material for opera vocalisation. Harmonics, rhythm and beat. It was a practice song made to learn these aspects so was therefore easy, and was without a clear theme.
But I assume.
Through the score, various information came in. 4/4, C Major, the long lines of crescendo, and decrescendo.
Humming the song inside, I realised it was a very emotional song. A somewhat pitiable yet sometimes joyous song.
Slowly opening the mouth, I sucked the air in. The filled stomach then protrudes.
Then, I let it out.
“Ah-…”
The first sound echoed out.