The Supreme Spy - Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Can You Play The Ten Hardest Composition ?

The vocal room was empty, and only Professor Zhang Ming was sitting in front of the piano. His fingers were moving along the keyboard, and he was playing a light and lively tune.

When Zhang Ming heard the footsteps and turned sideways, he saw Qin Yang who had just walked in. He smiled at him, but his fingers did not stop.

About two minutes later, Zhang Ming finished his performance. Then, he put down his hand and looked at Qin Yang with a smile.

“Qin Yang, what do you think of my performance?”

Qin Yang slightly smiled and politely said, “You’ve played really well, but my level of expertise in music is limited so I can’t comment… You are Professor Zhang?”

Zhang Ming looked at Qin Yang and suddenly smiled. “Are young people nowadays as humble as you?”

Qin Yang smiled and said, “I was not being humble; just telling the truth. Though I can play the piano, I am well aware that I am nowhere near your standards, Professor Zhang.”

Zhang Ming looked at Qin Yang with growing interest. Qin Yang spoke very politely and was smiling the entire time, but the sophisticated Zhang Ming could still clearly feel that Qin Yang was neither overbearing nor servile.

Zhang Ming pointed to the stool next to him and smiled. “Sit down, don’t be restrained.”

Qin Yang sat down, smiled, and asked, “Professor Zhang, you came all the way here for me?”

Zhang Ming said with a smile, “I heard your piano repertoire that day and was really impressed so I wanted to meet you in person.”

Qin Yang smiled and said, “I’m flattered, Professor Zhang. My classmate was supposed to be the one performing, but she became ill right before the show and I had to step in. I was just a stopgap.”

Zhang Ming curiously asked, “Who did you learn your piano from?”

Qin Yang smiled and replied, “From my master.”

“Master?”

Zhang Ming froze for a moment. “As in a teacher?”

“Uh,” Qin Yang answered, “Almost, but he is not a teacher at the school. I became his apprentice as a child, and he has taught me from a young age. He has taught me a lot of things, not just music…”

“Oh,” Zhang Ming uttered with disappointment. He had originally considered accepting Qin Yang as a disciple, but now he was being told that Qin Yang already has a master. If Qin Yang was this good at playing the piano, then he could imagine that his master must be better than him.

“Your master must be very good at music. What’s his name? Is he in the music industry as well?”

Qin Yang shook his head and said, “My master isn’t in the music industry. He just likes to play with music.”

Play with music?

Well indeed, there are many music geeks in this world. They were not keen on fame or fortune and just enjoyed playing with music and only music itself.

Zhang Ming reluctantly asked, “How long have you been studying music?”

Qin Yang replied, “Intermittently, four or five years. There are lots of things that I have to learn, so I didn’t spend a lot of time on music. That’s why I can only play a little, nothing more than that.”

Four or five years!

Zhang Ming was taken aback. He had thought that Qin Yang had been practicing piano since a young which would explain why he was able to play at this level now. How did he get to this level in just a mere four or five years?

Besides, according to Qin Yang’s words, he had not been fully committed to studying music; he had been learning something else at the same time!

Zhang Ming’s eyes lit up. He was an expert in the music industry, so he obviously knew how much effort an ordinary person had to put in just to achieve the level that Qin Yang was currently at. Getting to that level was definitely not possible in four or five years.

However, Qin Yang had done it. There’s only one explanation for this – Qin Yang is extremely talented in music!

Zhang Ming was even more convinced that Qin Yang, who was sitting right in front of him, was a piece of rare jade. Once he was polished, Qin Yang would definitely be the next rising star!

“What is the most difficult piece that you can play now?”

Qin Yang thought about it. “As long as I have the music sheets, I can play all of them. However, for those pieces that are extremely difficult, the musicality and feelings will be relatively bad.”

Zhang Ming’s eyes widened and suspiciously stared at Qin Yang. “Really?”

Looking at Zhang Ming who was still interested in him, Qin Yang was wondering if Zhang Ming really wanted to take him in as his disciple. He had already mentioned that he had a master, hadn’t he?

Qin Yang thought about it for a while and replied affirmatively, “Sure.”

If he acted a little tougher and showed that he already had a master, then Professor Zhang would no longer consider taking him as a disciple, right?

“Can you play the ten hardest compositions in the world?”

‘Are you kidding me?’

‘You’re asking me to play the top ten hardest compositions in the world?’

Qin Yang hesitated but nodded. “I can try, but I can’t guarantee it will sound good.”

Zhang Ming’s eyes widened. When he heard Qin Yang say that he could play anything, he hadn’t believed him, so he had casually asked about the world’s top most difficult piano pieces in the world to prove that Qin Yang was just exaggerating. Who could have expected for Qin Yang to actually say that he could try to play them?!

These were the most difficult piano compositions in the world!

There aren’t many pianists who can play them. And Qin Yang actually said he could?

Are you sure?

“Can you play ‘Feux Follets’ by Franz Liszt?”

Qin Yang’s eyes slightly widened. ‘Seriously? You’re going to start with the hardest?’

The “12 Etudes d’Execution Transcendante” by Liszt were the most daunting piano etudes throughout the history of the piano. This “Feux Follets” had a bizarre and difficult dual-tone skill and was known as the most difficult etude. Not only was the technique tricky, but it also required the performer to play it with a light and brisk feeling.

Why had Zhang Ming asked him to play “Feux Follets”?

Qin Yang didn’t want to play it because it was so tiring. Both of his hands would be in a claw position for a very long time, and playing it at such a high speed is obviously going to be tiring.

Although “Feux Follets” was not as difficult as the “Piano Concerto No. 3”, it was not much better. Some pianists commented that playing the “Piano Concerto No. 3” was like shoveling ten tons of coal. One could imagine how exhausting it is.

Qin Yang hesitated and nodded. “If I have the music score, then I can play it.”

He was the one who had said it just now. If he were to say that he couldn’t, he would just be embarrassing himself.

Since there was no one else here, he might as well give it a try. It wouldn’t matter if he played badly because he only had one audience: Professor Zhang Ming.

Zhang Ming stood up and let Qin Yang sit in front of the piano. He fierily stared at Qin Yang. “I can give you the score from my phone, can you play it for me?”

Since he had already put it this way, Qin Yang could no longer refuse him. He nodded and said, “Ok, but please don’t mind if it sounds really awful.”

“No, not at all. Please play. I’ll help you with the pages!”

Zhang Ming said this with a smile, and his eyes were filled with encouragement. At the same time, he took out his phone and quickly found the music sheets for “Feux Follets”. He slightly enlarged it and placed it in front of Qin Yang. He stood beside him, ready to help Qin turn the pages at any time.

Qin Yang walked over and sat in front of the piano. He adjusted his posture, then raised his hands and took a deep breath. His eyes fell on the music sheet that was in front of him, and his hands moved quickly across the keyboard.