Throne of Magical Arcana
chapter-97

In this world, serenade was originally a music genre performed for expressing love or affection, which was considered a suitable kind of music piece for the evening. As there were many nobles who were fond of chasing different music trends, the style of serenade also changed over time, and was played more and more often over evening parties.

In Aalto, the City of Psalm, serenade was never really mainstream, instead, symphony and concerto were more popular as they were always regarded as "more solemn and elegant".

When they were talking about piano fingerings, Silvia smiled to her teacher and said, "I’ve seen Mr. Julian’s serenade in your office before, and indeed it’s very suitable for playing on evening parties."

Christopher immediately understood the intention of her words. He shook his head and smiled.

Several of the famous musicians present like Othello and Victor smiled with the president as well. What Silvia was actually saying was that Julian’s work was to some extent too shallow to be presented on formal occasions.

On the other hand, Baret and Clemen, the two musicians who were visiting Aalto for the first time, were not quite sure about the connotation of Silvia’s words.

Lucien did not realize the meaning of Silvia’s comment until he saw the other musicians’ meaningful smile. Maybe it was Lucien’s friendly attitude that won Silvia’s preference for him over Julian.

At that time, Julian picked up his violin and his playing started.

The beginning of his serenade surprised many of the traditional musicians present, including Christopher, Othello and Victor. Julian recomposed his music work and made it relatively solemn and serious.

An interested smile emerged on Natasha’s face. She has always loved surprises. Silvia, standing beside her, looked more confused than surprised.

Julian was indeed a genius. The combination of the pleasant features of serenade and the solemnity of orchestra in his music work impressed every musician present at the party.

During the second movement of Julian’s serenade, even the president Christopher smiled and praised, "This part is challenging but Julian handled it very well."

Clemen and Baret gave Julian an admiring glance, since a good comment from the president of the musicians’ association of Aalto meant a lot for a young musician.

The gentle and elegant lento was followed by a more cheerful allegro, designed for the evening party. The playing ended in a pleasant and high-spirited atmosphere.

Warm applause came to Julian. Felicia, as the host of the coming-of-age ceremony and the evening party, thanked Julian, "I appreciate your gift a lot, Mr. Julian. It’s very impressive as a piece of serenade."

"It’s my great pleasure playing for you, Miss Hayne." Julian kissed Felicia’s hand and bowed to her, "May your beauty and happiness always be with you."

Then he left the dancing floor and rejoined the musicians with a big smile on his face, knowing that the piece of serenade which took him more than five months to accomplish was acknowledged by the many musicians in Aalto.

Although the playing was not perfect because of the lack of practicing of the band, Julian still achieved success.

"Awesome, elegant, passionate! No one can compete with you in the field of serenade." While Mekanzi was complimenting Julian, his eyes were peeking at Lucien.

However, Lucien did not care. Lucien never regarded himself as a real musician.

Othello, as the director of the association, also extended his congratulation.

After Othello, Silvia expressed her different opinion with a gentle smile, "Impressive as it is, the pace of the serenade in general is a bit sluggish and the structure is not well-designed."

"Well…" Julian felt a bit embarrassed, "What you just said… The problems you just mentioned are relatively inevitable for a serenade, aren’t they?"

Christopher was a bit surprised that his student, who was always nice and gentle, was this aggressive and sharp tonight. Thus, he took a step forward and took over the conversation, "Anyway, this is a piece of serenade with outstanding quality."

"Thank you!" Julian’s big smile came back again. He could already see the prosperous future that awaited him as a very famous musician in Aalto.

Then suddenly he turned around and said to Lucien in an arrogant intonation, "Now, it’s your turn, Mr. Evans."

At this time, Felicia’s mother said to all the guests, "Thank you, Mr. Julian. Thank you for your passionate playing. In this beautiful evening, Mr. Lucien Evans, as my daughter’s music classmate, will also present us a piece of bagatelle as well!"

Lucien’s name caused a stir in the crowd.

"Yes, ‘the’ Mr. Lucien Evans. The young talented musician who composed Symphony of Fate!" Felicia’s mother introduced with pride.

Lucien tidied his clothes a bit and was about to walk to the center of the hall, when Mekanzi said to him in an ill-intentioned way, "Hope you don’t press the wrong key, Lucien."

Natasha took a glance at Mekanzi and lifted her eyebrows, and then looked at Lucien. She had confidence in Lucien since she had seen Lucien playing piano several times after he awoke his Blessing, and his playing skill had improved a lot.

"Don’t let Natasha down," Silvia said to Lucien in a low voice, "You're Natasha’s musician consultant."

Lucien was not bothered by Mekanzi. He nodded to Natasha, Silvia and his teacher Mr. Victor, and then walked toward the center of the hall where a piano was placed. Victor raised his glass toward his student as his encouragement.

Felicia was a bit nervous, since she was not sure whether playing a piece of bagatelle tonight was a good idea. Now in comparison to Julian’s serenade, any flaw in Lucien’s playing might be exaggerated.

The applause to welcome Lucien gradually stopped. Many musicians and nobles were waiting.

The first movement was an Allegro, pleasant, graceful and brief. And it captured everyone’s attention immediately with a very cheerful sonata-allegro form.

Julian’s smile froze on his face. As a musician, he instantly realized the gap existing between his serenade and Lucien’s work. Excellent as his work was, this young Aalto musician’s serenade could be called classical.

What Lucien was playing was Amadeus Mozart’s Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major.