Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Custom Chopin Etudes
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Yeonwoo hammered away at Chopin's etudes without a break. He played so intensely that even Grandmother told him to stop because his fingers were getting strained, diving into the etudes day and night without regard for time.
The reason Yeonwoo had taken to the piano like this wasn't anything else.
His skills were growing slowly.
But truly, as he played the etudes day after day, his skills improved noticeably.
Having started to play Chopin's etudes fluently, Yeonwoo grew ambitious.
He pieced together Chopin's etudes to create his own Chopin etude.
He blended techniques required from pieces like Op. 10-2, 25-6, and 25-8 into a single etude.
And he uploaded the video.
[Chopin Etude Yuin ver - Subtitle: Hell]
Small, delicate hands were dazzlingly tormenting(?) all of its fingers.
The reaction was explosive.
- Yuin, this kid... ;;;
- No way, remixing Chopin etudes like this?
- If this came up in an audition, you couldn't even get into a third-rate local music school;
- Who can play this?
- I definitely can't ;;;
- Yuin, seriously;;; Is this an etude? Wasn't it made to break fingers?
- Look, even he subtitled it "Hell" lololol
- But is this really 7-year-old piano skill? Insane
- You guys only seeing those fingers? Mixing etudes into an amazing track is even more astonishing
- Hello, this is Yuin. I meant to comment but was late. Thought it'd be fun so I made it, but it was too hard and I messed up a bit. I'll upload the sheet music to the community. Older brothers and sisters who want to try, give it a go. Thank you.
- What, Yuin ㅠㅠㅠ Love the song
- Yuin, make more like this?
- Yuin, what were you even thinking making this?
- That performance had mistakes?
- Sheet music shows one tiny slip;
- Yeonwoo, let's prep for concours, it'd be killer
The comments were on fire.
It simply didn't look like the playing of a 7-year-old.
Not only that, but the piece itself was great.
It demanded insane technique, yet the melody was light, upbeat, and accessible even for people who hated classical music.
This etude reached Park Jeonghun too.
Park Jeonghun listened to Yeonwoo's Chopin etude on his tablet, his hands trembling.
"This... how can a kid like this be wasting time making songs for those hacks!!!"
He bellowed.
The old man, a pillar of dignified Korean classical music, shuddered at Yeonwoo's newly created Chopin etude.
In the time since he'd last seen him, not only had Yeonwoo's piano skills advanced by leaps and bounds, but he'd even created etudes that pushed classical piano to its limits.
He coveted Yeonwoo even more.
Park Jeonghun thought.
What if he showed this child an orchestra? What kind of reaction would he have?
Wouldn't he draw inspiration and create something monumental?
Just thinking about it thrilled him.
Vitality returned to the eyes of the old man, who had been drifting through his later years, passion, will, and joy forgotten, merely waiting to die.
"Life is worth living long to see what happens."
He replayed Yeonwoo's performance and smiled contentedly.
But Yeonwoo's etudes didn't stop there.
From Park Jeonghun's perspective, he wished Yeonwoo would keep delving into classical, but Yeonwoo still preferred other music over classical.
[Chopin Etude - Jazz ver]
[Chopin Etude - City Pop ver]
[Chopin Etude - House ver]
Yeonwoo began fusing the Chopin etudes he'd practiced with modern music genres.
The base was Chopin's etude, but he experimented with distinctly different genres.
"No, what are you doing to Chopin!!"
Park Jeonghun flew into a rage, but Yeonwoo, who would listen, wasn't by his side.
After uploading various versions of the Chopin etude, he didn't post anything particularly new, but his experiments continued.
Yeonwoo used the fairies to assemble various sessions, forming his own orchestra, trying to incorporate classical into his world.
Park Jeonghun's fairy raged in his place, but as the orchestra gradually took shape and they began producing high-level tracks that blurred the line between pop and classical, it stopped complaining.
That way, Yeonwoo created his own arias with the fairies, but couldn't fully realize them. Or rather, didn't.
Virtual instruments would do for that, but he believed the songs he was making now needed real musicians assembled into an orchestra for proper performance.
In truth, JOP or Park Jeonghun could help realize this, but Yeonwoo thought calling dozens of people was a huge undertaking, so he didn't bother.
It was just a hobby that still needed research.
* * *
After immersing himself in the classical world for a while, Yeonwoo soon turned his attention elsewhere.
It wasn't that his affection or passion had cooled.
A 7-year-old can't stick to one thing forever. From July to nearly two full months into August, he'd been deep into classical, now shifting to other genres.
Truthfully, it wasn't boredom.
Yeonwoo was self-aware as a pro.
When work came in, hobbies(?) took a backseat.
Especially as an agency artist.
"Alright, time to prep Invincible's full-length debut album."
Invincible's mini-album title track Roar had rocketed them—a rock band—to the top of the charts for the first time in decades.
Their fandom had exploded, and rock enthusiasts waiting for the genre to resurface saw Invincible as the savior reviving nearly dead rock.
Chae Hayeon was thriving amid this, with fans even protesting the inactivity of fellow label mates Invincible.
Since fans wanted it, Yoo Jaehyuk and the Invincible members were eager for a quick full-length comeback.
Above all, Yoo Jaehyuk, desperate to take the stage, throat still itching to sing nonstop, even brought his own composed tracks with burning passion.
Yeonwoo didn't dislike Yoo Jaehyuk's passion.
"Not the full album, but at least one new song first would be good."
"Why?"
"The biggest rock festival is coming up soon."
The rock festival Yoo Jaehyuk mentioned was the Incheon Passport Festival.
Originally held around July and August, it moved to September due to frequent heat-related accidents from the extreme summer weather. It was one of the top three largest rock festivals in Korea.
Not just massive in scale, it was among the oldest, but Yoo Jaehyuk desperately wanted to participate because it was the root of Invincible's predecessor, the Invincible Band.
Of course, almost no one remembered that stage now, but for Yoo Jaehyuk and the members, the festival held special meaning.
It was the only major stage the late Park Kangjun had shared with them.
Hearing the story, Yeonwoo nodded.
He knew well from repeated tales how special Uncle Park Kangjun was to them.
A rock festival to honor him.
"Funeral March."
"Huh?"
"I'll make a song for Uncle Park Kangjun."
"A song for Kangjun... a funeral march?"
"Yeah."
Yeonwoo nodded.
"I'll contact you once the song's done."
"Got it."
Yeonwoo sent Invincible off and sat straight in the studio chair.
Funeral march.
A song sung or played at the moment of parting with the dead.
To capture that feel, Yeonwoo searched YouTube for funeral marches.
East or West, funeral marches were heavy, solemn, and grand.
Was it expressing that death is never light?
Yeonwoo dove in and started composing.
But work didn't end there.
A single request came from Yuri & Annosuke, thriving in Japan.
With their momentum waning slightly, the strategy was to keep activities going without a special break.
Yeonwoo accepted this too.
Work didn't end there.
He also took on music director for the Racing Force theatrical film [Racing Force: Dash in the Darkness].
It didn't end there!
Yeonwoo also met Kim Beomsin.
"Finally... finally you're meeting me!!"
Kim Beomsin rushed to Yeonwoo, dropping to his knees to meet his eyes.
"Seriously, I missed you so much. Yuin."
Yeonwoo bowed his navel greeting as always.
"Hello, this is Yuin. My real name is Yeonwoo."
"Yeah, yeah. We've met before, right?"
"Yes, back then I got inspired by you and made a song for you."
"From hearing my voice then? Wow, that's touching? Seeing you now, no new inspiration popping up?"
"Um... none."
"Oh, none?"
"Actually, there was, but I thought you'd hate it."
Is this kid playing hard to get?
Laying bait to make people curious?
"Me? I don't hate anything. I'm confident in trot too."
"Then how about country?"
"C-Country?"
Yeonwoo thought Kim Beomsin's voice and singing power could work worldwide.
The song he'd conceived before meeting him targeted the world—specifically America.
Unsure if it'd hit, but Yeonwoo was knocking on the door of music's center, America, with Kim Beomsin as the vanguard.
"Don't know country?"
"No, I know of it."
"Then trust me and wait!!"
Kim Beomsin paused, staring at the bold Yeonwoo.
Truthfully, country music in Korea was so obscure that asking about its popularity was rude.
To what extent? When the world's top female singer dominated Melboard and the globe with country, only a handful in Korea went wild; no one else knew her.
Her fame rose in Korea only after branching into other genres.
Country was that alien in Korea.
Kim Beomsin had vaguely imagined white cowboys with acoustic guitars.
Of course, prejudice.
In America, country's popularity hadn't faded.
Regardless of age or gender.
Even in 2024, "A Bar Song" held Melboard Hot 100 #1 for 19 weeks, tying the all-time longest #1 record.
The other record-holder was country hip-hop, rooted in country.
Its popularity and status were rock-solid.
Yet bizarrely, no popularity in Korea.
Kim Beomsin had reason to worry, but Yeonwoo was confident.
Why?
The song was already made long ago. One spewing yellow fairies, reeking of money.