Euterpe, the muse of music

Inspiration: Re-discovering the awesomeness of Fantasia by Disney. Not the 2000 one but the original 1970s one. I have to say, this chapter is one of my favourites because I can relate to this one well. The Euterpe and Melpomene are the two chapters I relate to the most.

Seigaku: Kawamura is the type of person who would be intense on an instrument. All that pent up aggression and passion that only finds its way out when he's playing tennis. Imagine that with an instrument. O.O Wow.

Note: I've included the names of a lot of pieces in this fic. I'm not going to pressure any of you but if you get a chance, try to listen to a few of them as they are some truly beautiful pieces of music.

The cacophony of noise radiating from the music room was loud, deafening and, in Kawamura Takashi's eyes, could not be considered music. He was by no means an expert but, after his karate school closed down, he had decided to learn music. His father thought it was a phase that he would get over soon. His mother was delighted and wanted him to choose an instrument that was in the forefront all the time, like the violin, but he had wanted to learn the double bass. It wasn't a flashy instrument and it wasn't in the spotlight, but it was strong and sturdy, like him, and it provided a vital rhythm to an orchestra that appealed to him.

He had thought that after fourteen years (1) living in the same house as his parents that they would know him better by now. They would know that he didn't want the spotlight and that he was happy in the background.

His father had found him a teacher, Gen-sensei (2) and he began to have lessons in the double bass. It was only after about six weeks of lessons that he was allowed to draw the bow across his instrument, having been taught how to read music and learning about his instrument dearly. Gen-sensei always said to him "Unless you know it, you can't play it" and he always held true to that.

After learning to play the double bass for a few years with Gen-sensei, he had suggested he join a little orchestra. By no means was he suggesting a full orchestra, but a string one would be good enough. Gen-sensei said that the only way to truly appreciate an instrument was to hear it as it was meant to be: surrounded by other instruments, each contributing to something beautiful.

So he had looked around and found that the youth centre close to his school had a beginner string orchestra on certain evenings that he could join. It was this building which Kawamura was currently stood outside, listening to the noise emanating through the walls.

He took a deep breath and entered.

"Kawamura-kun," the conductor began after keeping Kawamura behind after the session had finished, "you've been coming here for a few weeks now and there's something I need to tell you."

Kawamura felt a bit of dread enter him. He enjoyed being a part of the orchestra but he often found himself struggling to fit in with the group. He hoped he wouldn't be asked to leave because of it.

"I don't think you belong here."

Kawamura's heart sank. He'd begun to really love his instrument and the orchestra was one of the best nights of the week. He didn't get to do much after school with the other students, so orchestra night was one of the few days he spent with people his own age outside of school. He liked it; at school, people were reticent to approach him as he was a little taller and a bit more imposing than his classmates so orchestra had become very dear to him.

The conductor sighed. "You're just a bit too advanced for my orchestra. I think you'd do better in the advanced string orchestra. They meet on a different night. I could give you the information if you'd like?"

Kawamura mutely nodded and left.

So, there he was, about to breech another music room and meet an entirely new group of people to play with. He pushed open the soundproofed doors and what greeted his ears was much more pleasing than the beginners group. However, it came to an abrupt end when the musicians noticed that the door had opened. Kawamura then noticed that he and his large case were the fixation point of eighteen eyes. He gulped nervously and bowed.

"Hello, I'm Kawamura. I was directed here from the beginners group." He knew his voice was as squeaky as a prepubescent boy but he couldn't help it. He heard a distinctly feminine chuckle and looked up to see the conductor smiling down at him from behind the music stand. She was a middle aged woman dressed in a pink tracksuit with her hair pulled back into a severe ponytail. Kawamura vaguely recognised her from his school; he seemed to think she was the tennis coach.

"Hello Kawamura, I'm Ryuuzaki-sensei, the conductor for the advanced group. You go to Seigaku right? I think I've seen you around." At Kawamura's nod, she continued. "All the other members of the advanced orchestra are from Seigaku as well." And she began to introduce them.

"On cello we have Kaidoh and Momoshirou, both second years and Oishi, third year. On viola there's Inui and Fuji, both third years. On violin there's Kikumaru and our first violin is Tezuka, again, both third years. Behind the piano is Echizen, first year (3)."

She looked at his case. "Double bass? Brilliant. We've been needing someone to play since Yamada left last year."

She directed him to a tall stool at the back of the neatly arranged chairs where there was a wooden block fixed to one of the legs. It was a holder used by double bassists and cellists to hold their instruments in the correct place when playing. He dragged his precious instrument over to the stool. Even though it was rented and not bought, he still thought of it as his own.

He perched on the stool and set up his double bass. Once it was out, he lovingly touched it's strings and, making sure his bow was full of rosin, he was about to begin tuning his instrument. Normally at home, he had a little device to help him but it wasn't with him today so he was a little lost.

Then, he heard the piano begin to play. He heard Echizen play an A to help him tune. Then, the rest of the strings joined in, despite him knowing that their instruments must have been tuned. Soon, Kawamura had tuned his double bass and was grateful to the others for helping him.

He jostled his double bass in his hold and glanced at the sheets of music on the stand in front of him; Ryuuzaki-sensei must have put them there whilst he was tuning. It took a brief look for him to recognise the steady beat for his instrument within the inky lines of black. He looked up at Ryuuzaki-sensei and nodded his readiness.

"Alright everyone," she said, tapping her stand with her baton, "from the beginning." And after setting the beat, Kawamura and everyone else began to create beauty together.

Kawamura began to lust for Monday evenings. After that first session where he became a part of something magical, he craved more, like a drug. His own personal addiction.

He was even more surprised at what happened following his first few sessions. He had grown up as a lonely child, avoided and somewhat shunned because of his perpetually larger size, so he was shocked when something amazing happened.

It was just a simple action, one Wednesday. He had made it through another morning of class, speaking little and socialising even less, counting down the days until he could be at Monday's orchestra again. He had remained at his desk, unwilling to eat in the canteen and subject himself to sitting and eating alone. He reached and got his lunch and had just unwrapped it when he noticed two people taking up his neighbour's empty chairs and pulling them so they also sat at his table. He looked up and saw the smiling faces of Eiji and Fuji, two of the members of his new orchestra.

"Hi Kawamura-kun!" Eiji chirped, grinning manically. His expression was matched by a slightly more sedate smirk from Fuji. Kawamura was surprised. No one, in the history of this school, had ever joined him for lunch.

"I know we're not in your class," Fuji began, "but we were walking past yesterday and we saw you in here. So we came to have lunch with you today. I hope you don't mind."

Mind? Why on earth would he mind? Kawamura was flabbergasted and touched. Not only were people here, sharing lunch with him, but they sought him out to be with him. He was moved. Fuji and Eiji began to eat their lunches and Kawamura started to unwrap his. His father and he made his lunch every day, a traditional Japanese bentou. His mother did it once but they quickly realised that his father was the best cook in the household.

He opened it, aware that they hadn't made anything special today, just some sushi left over from last night at the restaurant. He had slept in this morning and his father was too busy to make him anything so he'd packed that up for lunch. He didn't think it was anything impressive.

His new lunch partners thought otherwise.

"Uwah!" Eiji moaned, salivating at the sight of the sushi, "That looks really good. Can I have some, Taka?"

"Taka?" Kawamura said, confused. Eiji carried on as though he hadn't heard him, drooling over his lunch. Kawamura pushed the box towards him, smiling as the red head literally pounced on the sushi as if he were a cat.

"He does it to all his friends," Fuji's amused voice echoed from beside him. "Give them nicknames, not eat their lunch. It does look very nice though. May I have some as well?"

Kawamura nodded, dazed. They counted him as their friend? He was about to swell with happiness.

He had friends.

Since that moment, Kawamura took to bringing a larger bentou box with him to school, just in case one of his new friends wanted some of his lunch. His father noticed this and that his son seemed happier on a daily basis. He smiled knowingly and left Kawamura to his own devices.

Usually, it was Eiji and Fuji who joined him for lunch in his classroom, considering Tezuka and Oishi both had student council duties to attend to during lunch hour and Inui liked to use the empty science laboratories during lunch. However, when the weather was good, they would all congregate on the roof top and eat up there. Momo, Kaidoh and Echizen would join them as well and their little string orchestra would talk about everything and nothing over sushi and bread. Frequently, Momo and Kaidoh would dissolve into a fight about something inane and inconsequential; getting Tezuka or Echizen to speak was a challenge and getting Eiji to pause to let someone else speak was equally difficult but it was exciting and fun.

Kawamura lived for these moments.

Three months since he started at the advanced orchestra, Ryuuzaki-sensei had an announcement for them. They had just finished tuning their instruments and Echizen had finished muttering about the cleanliness of the hands of the pianist before him, when Ryuuzaki-sensei entered, carrying many more papers than usual. She handed a small stack to Echizen at the piano as she passed and then circulated the rest around the semi-circles of string musicians.

"Alright everyone," she began with her usual brisk tone, "before we begin tonight, I have something to discuss with everyone. In three months, the under sixteen string orchestra concours begin. Before that, a group would have to pass the district competition to get to the regionals and then nationals. I want to know if you all want to participate." Kawamura could see from his vantage point at the back of the strings that the other members had turned to their seat partners, excited hushes whispering around the room. Ryuuzaki-sensei cleared her throat, waiting for everyone to quieten down. "Before we even submit anything, I want you to go home and talk it over with you family. It would mean we would be practicing four nights a week as opposed to once and I expect everyone to pull their weight."

Then, she tapped her stand with her baton and they all put their papers to one side, focussing on that night's practice.

Kawamura had left practice that night, his attention on the papers in his hands. He had done his best to read them through in the weak yellow light of the street lamps but was unable to see some of the smaller characters. He enjoyed the thought of the concours though; to be able to compete with his new friends was something Kawamura had only dreamed of in the past. He hadn't thought such a thing possible.

When he arrived home, he went to speak with his parents. Usually, his parents came to decisions quite democratically with him but his mother was out with her friends that night, leaving his father to talk to. Once he'd gotten in, he'd dropped his papers in his room, reverently placed his instrument as well and went downstairs to help his father in the restaurant. A simple "can I talk to you about something later, dad?" was whispered as he skinned and boned a salmon and he felt his father nod next to him.

For the next few hours, they worked in relative silence, letting the loud noise of the patrons wash over them until they closed. Kawamura began on the washing up as his father removed the curtain from outside. After they had fully finished in the shop, they went upstairs and Kawamura showed his father the papers. Kawamura senior was silent as he read them, his stern eyes skimming the pages.

"Takashi," his father began, "I'm only going to say this once." Kawamura looked at the floor, disappointment coursing through his veins. "As you know, we depend on you quite a bit in the shop and you are coming up to your high school entrance exams, so your mother and I don't want you distracted any more than necessary."

Kawamura nodded despondently, knowing this already. "But you are a Kawamura," his father continued, "and if you're not doing something you love and you could be, you'd be distracted." His father smiled a sad smile. "Your mother and I have seen you become happier than we've ever seen you over the past few months and we know you love the orchestra. So we will let you go to the concours if your orchestra decides to go."

Kawamura's hopes skyrocketed as he looked upon his father. He bloomed into a full smile and thanked his father profusely.

He couldn't wait for the competition to begin.

The next few weeks were a flurry of activity as they prepared for the district competition. Rehearsals were extended, practice nights were increased to Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and their lunches became extra time to practice together as they went up to the music room to rehearse then as well.

Their pieces were chosen by Ryuuzaki-sensei for the districts. The guidelines had stated classical so they were performing Danse Macabre and Toccata and Fugue in D minor (4). It had taken them a little while to get their heads around Toccata and Fugue as Ryuuzaki-sensei had declared that the sections normally taken on by the brass section were to be the double bass parts. Kawamura had been shocked.

"Is it alright for me to be taking on such a large role?" he had questioned only to be gently hit upside the head.

"Baka," Momo had said from his place in front of him.

"You're as good as the rest of us, so why not?" Kaidoh had hissed from next to Momo.

Their practice was intense but Kawamura never sickened of hearing everyone. Tezuka and Eiji were creating mournful music on their violins, in keeping with the deathly dance; Inui and Fuji weaving it with the needed dissonance. Oishi, Kaidoh and Momo were supporting it with soulful cellos and hearing Echizen on the piano performing Toccata was intense.

"I'll be playing the organ during the actual concours," the short boy had muttered and Kawamura was shocked. He sounded so brilliant on the piano, he couldn't imagine what the first year could do on an organ.

He didn't realise it but his double bass playing was astounding as well, doing the quick note changes demanded by the Toccata and the long supports for the Danse effortlessly. He was a backbone to their little orchestra.

The day before the district concours, they had a practice session in the auditiorium where they were to be held, so they could get the acoustics correct (5) and so Echizen could play on the organ for their second piece. When they finished, it was late and everyone was tired but they were all satisfied with their work.

Even if Echizen did look like a little Phantom of the Opera on the organ.

It was no surprise they won the district concours.

They went on to the regional competition, where the theme was films. This one posed a little more trouble as they had to carefully choose their film songs and they had to have a solo piece. Eventually, after watching many films, they chose the Chariots of Fire theme, the Forrest Gump theme and Schindler's List for their solo (6). They were pleased with their selection and were happy with how they were progressing until Tezuka damaged his wrist. It wasn't enough to prevent him from entering the contest with them, but it did stop him from performing many of the trills involved with his solo and Eiji didn't feel like he could play the song properly to do it justice.

So they had to choose another song. It was Fuji that offered a cello piece. He had heard a piano and cello piece from a film and as Oishi was the most experienced cellist in the group, it fell to him. That was how Oishi became the soloist for their regional competition.

During the show, they played their versions of Chariots of Fire and Forrest Gump and many were surprised when they offered In Dreams from Lord of the Rings (7) as their solo piece but they were pleased.

After all, Hyoutei had already had Atobe playing Schindler's List for them so something different was pleasant.

They won the regionals, barely as they nearly tied with Hyoutei. They had to play they're reserve piece to win but it was worth it. They were approaching nationals next.

The selection for nationals was by far they're hardest yet. The brief they had was for four pieces based on happiness, sorrow, and two different strength and weakness pieces. These could be strong, weak or weakness in strength or vice versa. That was it, no limitation as to century, style or artist. They were almost too free. And they were struggling.

The only way Ryuuzaki-sensei could see them doing this was to split the task. Tezuka was exempt as he had to go to physiotherapy for his wrist so she broke the task between the remaining eight. She would search but they were to do so as well. Fuji, Momo, Inui and Kaidoh had strength and weakness, Eiji and Oishi had happiness and Echizen and Kawamura were to search for sorrow.

The next day, Kawamura went around to Echizen's house to discuss the sorrow theme with him. He'd been looking on the internet last night for some pieces they could use but they were all a little cliché for him. They were sorrowful pieces certainly but he felt they weren't right. They were representations of someone else's sorrow, not theirs. Not his.

Echizen, he discovered, lived in a very nice house; a large two story house with traditional wooden floors and sliding interior paper doors. He'd knocked and was greeted by a very pretty young girl, who he later discovered was Echizen's cousin. He'd been given slippers and blushed when she handed him a mug of tea before he could sit down. He was led to a room that was obviously for Echizen's music. It was a large, slightly barren room with little else in it aside from the highly polished, jet black grand piano that looked as well used as it did loved.

He found Echizen sat in front of the piano, tinkling on the keys without rhyme or reason. He was dreaming up a random tune that had a slightly melancholic sound to it but it felt more distracted than purposeful. Kawamura cleared his throat to announce his presence and the playing stopped. Echizen turned on his stool, his burnished golden eyes focussing on Kawamura with feline intensity.

"Hello Kawamura-sempai," he said, "did you have any success last night?" Kawamura mutely shook his head and Echizen sighed softly.

"Me neither. However, my oyaji once said that the history of a people is found in its songs (8) and I think that's where we'll find our sorrow." He stood up from his stool and walked out of the room, motioning Kawamura to follow. The older teen did so, very aware of the fact that he was double Echizen's height.

They reached a room at the end of the corridor and the door was opened. Inside, Kawamura could see a hastily made bed and a desk with a music player and hundreds of CDs. Curled up in a fluffy ball on the blue bedspread was a Himalayan cat, its whiskers twitched slightly but that was the only acknowledgement the feline gave.

"Luckily for us, I was a very depressed child and my music selection reflects that. Grab a CD and start looking," the black haired boy ordered, himself picking a stack of CDs and seating himself on his bed to flick through them. Kawamura did likewise and sat himself at the desk.

They continued in silence, only breaking it to query a song choice with the other. Occassionally, Kawamura had to listen to a CD as Echizen had many classical pieces that he had never heard before. At the bottom of his pile was a CD that intrigued him. There was one song in particular that sounded promising and he popped the CD in the player to have a listen.

As soon as it started, Kawamura started to feel the emotions of the song. He began to envisage it in string format, the vocals replaced by Tezuka's violin, the guitars became the violas and cellos and the drums became his double bass. It was so sorrowful in his head that he turned to proclaim his choice to Echizen only to find him looking at the player, a soft smirk on his face.

"Well, that's one of them off the list."

The practiced furiously and eventually adapted their pieces for their orchestra. They replaced vocals with instruments and drums with either the double bass or the piano. They felt satisfied with their work and when they travelled to the concert hall for nationals, they were nervous but happy with their efforts. Tezuka had made a good recovery with his wrist and they were back to their best.

They sat themselves in the audience as they listened to the other contestants. They had to admit, the others were impressively good, hitting notes perfectly. Kawamura did note that many of the pieces he had disregarded for sorrow were in other orchestra's selections. Personally, Kawamura felt they had a better selection than many of the others and that they had a good chance of winning.

Until Rikkai Dai Orchestra went onto the stage. They immediately launched into Ode to Joy for their happiness and kept producing perfect notes and techniques. They also had an innovative take on Aerith's theme for their sorrow that had Kawamura's confidence drooping (9). The winner for the previous three years was excellent and it was obvious why they were winners.

After Rikkai Dai had finished their entry, it was time for the Seigaku Orchestra to go and prepare. Kawamura could see that he wasn't the only one to get a little dispirited after seeing how good their competition was. Even the ever optimistic Eiji was drooping a little. They all congregated in a little circle, silently waiting for someone else to break the uncomfortable silence.

Kawamura was shocked when he found it was himself.

"I don't mind if we win or lose today. I don't mind if we place. As long as we play our best, I'll be happy," he began, watching as all eyes turned to him, so reminiscent of his first night at the advanced orchestra. This time, he wasn't intimidated though. These were his friends.

"I'm very glad I came to orchestra and that I met you all. You are my dear friends now and I think friendship is like my double bass. The music it sounds may stop now and then but its strings are always there (10). Our music may win, our music may lose but as long as we can keep playing our music together, I'll be happy." He finished, feeling a lot more foolish than when he'd run the speech through in his head. He ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed for his outburst.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Tezuka stood there supporting him. A quick glance around showed the others in complete agreement. Ryuuzaki-sensei cleared her throat.

"Let's go out there and make our music."

It was a rare day for them, but the Kawamuras had closed their restaurant. They put the sign outside and drove in their delivery truck to the concert hall in Tokyo where their son was performing. It had taken months of waiting and a lot of savings to get two tickets to the national concours but they wouldn't miss this for the world. They were seated on plush chairs, a programme between them that stated their son's orchestra was the next on stage, their ancient video camera poised for its first video since their marriage.

They, like the rest of the crowd, descended into polite applause as the orchestra came on stage, dressed professionally in black suits, the conductor was in a modest black dress and jacket. She turned to speak to the judges and the audience.

"Ladies, gentlemen and esteemed judges, I thank you on behalf of Seigaku Orchestra for this opportunity. We shall begin our selection with our happiness piece, followed by our sorrow and then our two strength pieces. We have chosen to branch away from the traditional this year and choose pieces that represent us. So, I give you happiness: Fantasies Come True."

With that she turned and raised her baton. Kawamura poised his bow, ready for the beginning fall and they started. The whimsical nature of the song and the translation of the words into a musical conversation between Tezuka and Eiji was light and enjoyable. Kawamura couldn't see anyone in the audience but he imagined them smiling and he suddenly began to enjoy himself more.

All too quickly, happiness was finished, and they prepared themselves for sorrow. They began to stroke more roisin into their bows as Ryuuzaki-sensei introduced their next piece. "Please enjoy our next piece. Sorrow: My December."

The piece began with Echizen, playing the melancholic introduction and then the strings joined in, a slow, mournful tune that inspired the sadness in all who listened. Kawamura's father watched on, remembering somewhere that it was originally a song by a rock band. He knew his son was good but it was incredible music his orchestra was making.

"Thank you. Our last pieces are our strength/weakness and I shall introduce them both here. Firstly is Tsubasa and the second is Libera me from Hell (11)."

The delicate Tsubasa began, once more, Echizen was leading them in and Tezuka violin became Honda Minako's beautiful voice, his bow providing the thirty second long note as the rest of the instruments exploded with sound. When Fuji and Momo had come to them with such a song, they had wondered about it. It had seemed so fragile, until that note and that explosion. Such power and strength was displayed through the fragility that it was inevitable. They had to use it.

There was a brief pause as they launched into their final piece. It was so different from their previous one but still strong. This piece had a strong bass and structure, but the power of the piece came from the lone viola in the midst. Fuji's playing mimicked the operatic soloist the original song had and that was the power; the strong base leading to a fragile note made Fuji's viola stronger.

They finished their fourth and final piece and Kawamura felt elated at the feeling. There was a slight pause of silence until the auditorium exploded with applause. They looked on in amazement as they stood and bowed and Kawamura was astounded when he saw many members of the audience were also rising to their feet.

They had a standing ovation.

Kawamura and the others remained in the orchestra until they graduated. The third years all went on to the same high school and joined the orchestra there. They waited two years when they had their old orchestra back again and set off to conquer nationals together for a second time.

Their first trophy was still on Ryuuzaki-sensei's desk at middle school and most of the prize money went towards buying Kawamura a double bass of his own.

(1) I have this (?bad) habit of ageing the PoT characters but for this one, younger fits better. I began learning the violin when I was six and although I'm happy I did it, I now have a fixed flexion in my left arm from holding the instrument whilst my bones were growing. It's the same as "Little League Elbow" as I can no longer fully stretch my elbow.

(2) Gen is the sushi maker in ep 133 "The Best Sushi maker in Japan". Yes, I'm sad.

(3) When I played with my string orchestra, although it was strings, there was always piano accompaniment. My story, my rules.

(4) Danse Macabre is by Saint-Saëns and Toccata and Fugue is by Bach. I do not own them.

(5) "The room affects the sound" is something my teacher always told me and it's true; it's why everyone sounds good when they sing in the shower. The shape and size and even the material of the room affects the echoes of the sound and can make the pitch different. It's why the orchestra always tunes up before they play, because although they tuned before they entered the stage, the room can make an A sound flat or natural or sharp, so they need to check.

(6) Chariots of Fire is the property of Warner Bros, Fox and Vangelis. Forrest Gump is the property of Paramount and Silvestri. Schindler's List is the property of Universal Studios and Williams. I do not own them.

(7) In Dreams and Lord of the Rings are the property of New Line and Shore. I don't own them.

(8) Quote from George Jellinek

(9) Ode to Joy belongs to Beethoven and Aerith's theme belongs to Square Enix and Uematsu. I do not own.

(10) Adapted from: "Love is like a violin. The music may stop now and then, but the strings remain forever." June Masters Bacher.

(11) Fantasies Come True is from Avenue Q and was written by Marx and Lopez. My December is by Linkin Park and Tsubasa is by Minako Honda. Libera me from Hell is the property of Iwasaki and is under the ownership of the Gurren Lagann companies and writers. I do not own them.

Up next: Melpomene's Tragedy

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