shadow of britain

Chapter 170 Paganini Etude

In the ballroom, the guests exchanged glasses and chatted enthusiastically about various topics of interest.

The ladies looked at the musicians of the London Philharmonic Association who were adjusting their instruments, and couldn't help but admire Mrs. Codrington beside them.

"I didn't expect that you even invited Mr. Moselles here today. I don't know which piece he plans to play today? Is it "Alexander Variations" or "Homage to Handel" composed by himself? Or Mr. Bach? Those pieces, or Mr. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony?"

Mrs. Codrington couldn't help being proud, but she only said modestly on the face: "This depends on Mr. Mocheles's own arrangement. I have never advocated interfering with musicians' creativity."

But, having said that, Mrs. Codrington was as curious as any of the other ladies about what Mocheles was playing tonight.

Suddenly, she saw that Moscheles actually gave up the position beside the piano to Arthur, but he took out the white gloves in his pocket and put them on again.

Mrs. Codrington, who knows music quite well, frowned at this turn of events. She hurriedly nodded her goodbyes to her friends, then walked forward quickly with her skirt in hand, and asked Mocheles.

"Mr. Mocheles, what are you doing? Are you feeling unwell?"

Mocheles looked at Mrs. Codrington, and said with an apologetic face, "I'm sorry, madam, I'm fine physically, but I do feel a little uncomfortable emotionally. As for the specific reason, you can ask later Ask Mr. Hastings. But for now, please return to the stage and enjoy his performance of "La Campanella."

"La Campanella?" Mrs. Codrington couldn't help being surprised when she heard the name.

Of course she knew whose tune it was, because she herself was a new and enthusiastic fan of the original composer Paganini.

Paganini's 27 concerts in London this year can be said to have set off a wave of Paganini frenzy in Britain.

Although Paganini's concert fee is twice that of other concerts, and the front row tickets for the concert are four or five times as high on the black market, but even so, it can't stop his fans from pouring in The Royal Theater can accommodate 3300 people in the concert hall.

And not only music lovers, but even businessmen who know little about music have smelled business opportunities from Paganini, and they have launched many walking sticks, jewelry boxes, and umbrellas with Paganini's head and name printed on them. and other derivative products.

And the restaurants near the Royal Theater have the cheek to add Paganini pie, Paganini coffee and other confusing dish names to their recipes.

Although this approach is quite nonsensical, gentlemen and ladies are willing to pay for this kind of thing, as long as the name of Paganini is added, it means that it is a best seller.

As a self-proclaimed 'Paganini loyal fan', Mrs. Codrington bought quite a few of these things. She even wore a silver necklace with Paganini's name engraved on it when she attended the banquet tonight. Bracelet.

Not only that, she also bought her husband a hat with Paganini's name embroidered on it.

But General Codrington was very resistant to wearing this hat. He would rather go out with the original Mediterranean style than let Paganini's name be written on his head.

Mrs. Codrington looked at Arthur who was sitting in front of the piano and adjusting his breathing, and asked in surprise, "Can Mr. Hastings really play the song "La Campanella"?"

"It's not playing, it's playing." Mocheles couldn't express his current mood, and he didn't know whether he thought it was funny or angry: "Mr. Hastings told me that he adapted this piece into a piano piece. .Of course, most importantly, he told me that he was just getting into the piano."

"My God!" Mrs. Codrington held her forehead slightly: "Aren't you joking with me? Why don't you persuade him?"

Mocheles shrugged and said: "Ma'am, of course I persuaded, but Mr. Hastings refused to listen. Not only that, he also told me that his nickname is 'Paganini of Scotland Yard'. In that case , I think you should sit down and listen with peace of mind. If he is really 'Paganini of Scotland Yard', then I think this piece should not be a problem for him.

Because Mr. Paganini told me that he has never practiced the violin since he was 11 years old, but this does not affect him in the slightest to become the greatest violinist in history.There is always a shortage of geniuses in the music world, and maybe Mr. Hastings is also such a genius. "

After finishing speaking, Mocheles stopped talking with Mrs. Codrington. He pulled out the baton from his waist and lowered his hands slightly.

When the accompaniment musicians saw his movements, they fell into a sudden silence. They knew that Mr. Mochelles was going to make a real move.

And Arthur also felt the changes in the atmosphere around him, he took a deep breath, and slightly hung his hands over the keys of the piano.

He understood that when he played the first note, he was giving orders to all members of the orchestra.

Suddenly, the sound of breathing in the air stopped suddenly, and Arthur's fingertips struck the keys.

As the light and beautiful melody sounded, the voices of the guests in the hall gradually became quieter.

After the first brief piano solo, Moscheles's powerful arms opened suddenly, and the accompanying musicians soon followed the baton raised in his hand and sang in harmony with the sound of the piano.

As the performance entered the high-pitched area, some Paganini fans in the audience noticed something was wrong.

"La Campanella?"

"Piano piece?"

"It seems that Mr. Moselles and the London Philharmonic Society did not accompany Paganini in vain. They still learned a lot from the concert."

"Mocheles? It's Hastings!"

"Ah? Are you reading that right?"

"Shh! Be quiet."

The lights gradually dimmed, and amidst the whispers, all the eyes of the guests focused on Arthur's hands that were beating rapidly on the keys as if they had grown wings.

Perhaps not all the ladies present here know science, but what is certain is that every one of them knows the piano.

Arthur's hands jumped between the long-distance sixteenth notes with agility, and what was even more unbelievable was that even though the playing method was in front of them, they still couldn't understand how Arthur did it with only A left hand completed a series of continuous trills without disturbing the melody at the same time.

That pair of butterfly-like fingertips and the arms bouncing back and forth on the keys constituted an incredible picture scroll. Wisps of red light wafted from the black eyes and fell on Arthur's knuckles, making it Diffusely grew steel wires and red threads like those that would appear on a marionette.It makes people look at it and feel that they seem to have an illusion of stepping into a dream.

In the eyes of the guests, it seems that what is sitting on the stage is not an outstanding young scientist, nor an upright Scotland Yard superintendent who enforces the law, but a man with bat wings and a mouth full of love for the world. Malicious devil.

As the piano piece came to an end, a woman was sweating on her forehead. From her perspective, she seemed to see the horns growing slowly on the top of Arthur's head.

As soon as the sound of the piano stopped, the lady suddenly pointed at Arthur and shouted in a delirious voice: "The devil!"

Immediately afterwards, her body went limp, and she fell to the ground like a floating veil.

In the hall, there was silence. Arthur flicked the back of his tuxedo and stood up slowly.

The scattered hair on his forehead was also covered with beads of sweat, and under a slightly tired expression, he reluctantly showed a smile.

"An etude "Bell" adapted from Mr. Paganini, dedicated to all the ladies and gentlemen who are visiting today."

After a brief silence, the guests in the ballroom woke up like a dream, and the sparse applause quickly merged into a burst of flames, which exploded in the ballroom.

While the guests were busy helping the lady who fell to the ground due to her weakness, they also yelled loudly, "Devil!!!"

"Paganini is the devil, and Hastings is the devil!"

"One is the violin devil of Apennines, the other is the piano devil of Britain."

Amid warm applause and cheers, Mocheles put down his baton and walked in front of Arthur.

At this moment, there was no trace of distrust on his face, replaced by an unstoppable smile.

"Mr. Hastings, you really gave me a big surprise! I really didn't expect that you are not only proficient in science, but also proficient in piano. Are you really a beginner who can play this piece to this level? ? My God! I don't know how much you keep from the big guys!"

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled and pointed to the baton that Mocheles had placed beside him: "Mr. Mocheles, to be honest, I actually know how to play with a stick."

"You still know how to conduct?" Mocheles said pleasantly: "I knew it, you are definitely not a guy who is new to playing an instrument, you are an old hand, am I right?"

Arthur waved his hands again and again: "No, no, you misunderstood. I don't know how to conduct a band. I used to direct traffic with a stick. You may not know that I am a Scotland Yard policeman."

"Police?!" Mocheles held Arthur's hands in shock: "Oh! Mr. Hastings, God gave you such a pair of perfect, 14-degree hands, and you actually told me , do you usually touch knives and guns with these hands?"

Arthur said embarrassedly: "Mr. Mochelles, it's not a big deal. I've even touched something more unsightly than a knife and gun with it."

As soon as Arthur said this, the ladies and ladies all blushed, and Elder, who was sitting not far from the stage eating, couldn't help shaking his hands, and ended up choking on the food, Fitz Roy hurriedly handed him a glass of wine, which prevented his untimely death.

Elder cursed repeatedly: "Arthur, can you stop saying such things while I'm eating, I'm almost fucking sent to God by you."

When Arthur heard this, he just glanced at him: "Elder, I'm talking about the goats and fish on the Beagle, what do you think it is?"

As soon as he finished speaking, several gentlemen from the Royal Navy couldn't hold back anymore.

Only General Kirkland pretended to be serious and said: "Mr. Hastings, you are right, the small animals are indeed not very clean. But there is no way, in order to ensure sufficient fresh supplies, we must Gotta keep those things on board. If the sailors had a choice, we'd like to keep them clean."

Arthur also nodded apologetically and agreed, "That's right, General Kirkland, I didn't think about that."

On the other side, Mocheles also hurriedly asked, "Mr. Hastings, if you don't mind, can you give me a copy of the sheet music of this piece later?"

"Of course there is no problem." Arthur said with a smile: "I believe that with your talent, you will definitely be able to master this piece in a short time. It is not as difficult as you imagined. Even if you don't play the piano , and it can also be presented.”

As soon as Arthur finished speaking, Mocheles, who had just developed a good impression of Arthur, frowned again.

"What do you mean by that?"

Arthur didn't answer either, he just smiled and took out the phonograph that had been prepared a long time ago from the back of the piano stand.

He put the stylus on the turntable, and then, as he twisted the mechanical clockwork of the phonograph, the familiar melody sounded in the corner of the dance hall soon.

Although the voice was not as crisp and melodious as Arthur's, and even mixed with some unnecessary noises, the melodious and highly similar music still allowed everyone to recognize its name.

Mocheles looked at the strange machine assembled from a copper horn and a square box in front of him, and froze on the spot dumbfounded.

"What... what is this?"

(End of this chapter)