Stephen's Secure Blog #315
These stories about Stephen began was when he was 10 years old, and
moving to a new part of the country to attend a special school for
gifted students, in the 1950's. This was from a time before computers
would fit on a desk, and when people communicated with friends in other
countries by actual letters sent through the postal service. He wrote
225 of them to a friend. He stopped writing to his penpal, but found he
still wanted to record his life, in case he lost his memory again, and
wrote 30 entries in his first logbook. Then he wrote to an artificial
intelligence called Geenee, in the master computer in his school for
gifted students, which he started attending in 2016. Now it's after
2018, and he's continuing to save his memories in a secure blog.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
The stories may not be posted in chronological order.
Stephen is 17 in this story, in Summer of year 7 of his special school.
Stephen's Secure Blog #315 "Second Vienna Concert"
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Back in the Vienna music hall after supper, the flute player said to
me, "I've had some offers." I grinned and said, "No big surprise!" He
was embarrassed. I said "Care to tell me about them?" He did. Most were
to play in an orchestra, not in front of them. I said "Made any
decisions?" He said "I haven't. Any advice?" I said "I shouldn't do
that. It's your life, not mine." He looked very disappointed. I said
laughed. I said "Let me tell you how I got THIS job here." He was
amazed and very happy to hear all that. Then I said, "Just remember,
that is NOT advice! Oh, would you like to have a camera I think highly
of?" He laughed, and said he did. I showed him how to operate it, which
he would show his father, who would be recording his auditions. I said
"I like this one for its audio qualities. Here is a folding
rechargeable battery operated speaker set, which also has very good
audio quality." He thanked me a lot. I said "If you don't want to cary
all that around right now, I could port it to where I took your flute
from." He asked for that, so I did. Then he said, "Could you tell me
why you are doing this for me? You don't even know me."
I said "Turn this way. I'm keeping my voice away from the reporters.
Please don't repeat this to anybody who might tell them. I was in a car
crash when I was two years old. My mother died, and I was dying. My
father, who had been driving, and was responsible, deserted me. I was
left to die. Two of my great grandfathers, Chad being one of them.
Arranged for better care for me. I improved. I was in a coma until I
was ten years old. I was tutored in a Buddhist Temple until I was able
to attend a special school for geniuses with special abilities. Years
later, while I was doing volunteer work in a museum, my father came to
me, and was so obnoxious, I had to make him leave. I then learned he is
a very bad person, and worse, almost totally incompetent, even in
crime. I fixed his problems with other criminals, and arranged for an
income for him, which was all he actually wanted from me, on the
condition he would never come near me again. I have lived in foster
homes, and have been adopted into different tribes and societies, and
been welcomed into the homes of my friends' families, but I have not in
this life had a real family of my own. You have a good father who loves
you. Something I have not. I MUST support that, and you both, because I
know how it is without it. And because I like and admire you both. And
I love. Love is who I am. You know that." He had tears. So did I. We
hugged with love.
I went to the piano, and played "The Baby Elephant Walk." I said to
the flutist, "The creator of that played the flute." He grinned, and
said, "I know, and know it." I said "Want to play it?" He grinned some
more. He had been carrying his flute case, and opened it an assembled
the instrument. I gave him an intro, and he played it, with some
additions from me. I said "Now imagine that elephant is infested with
hungry ants in embarrassing places. Play it like he feels." He looked
surprised, but tried it, and then really got into it, doing things in a
jazz way he had never thought of before. I helped it along. When we
finished, there was a lot of applause. I said "I think he would have
loved that. Tell me, did you?" He said "I didn't think I would, but
yes, I did!" I said "I know. So did they. Sometimes the audience likes
that love, a little more than technique. Engage the audience, and they
will demand more from you, which those who employ you will see more
money come from it." He said "Wow!"
I said "Actually, yes. Wow them. How do you find an audience? Go
where they are. Play FOR them, not to them, even if there is no money
in it. The more you build your fan base, the more others see dollar
signs, and want a part of that, and will help you play more, so they
can get it. I had no sponsor. No teacher to help me get started in
music. I started small, filling in for an absent player in a small
hotel dance band, as a volunteer. Things got bigger over time. It might
not happen to everybody the same way, but most who have made it big,
started just as small. Be somebody who people like, and show your
talent with love, and I think someday, you will realize that you are
helping others to become all who they can be, because they look up to
you, as somebody who has succeeded. You WILL help them, because love,
in the great circle of life, demands it, even if you don't see it that
way now, or then."
The loud applause that earned, startled both of us. I said "There is
NO privacy around here!" They laughed. I said to the flutist, "Play
something you like, and I'll kick its butt along." He laughed, and we
did just that. After a while, we stopped, and had a lot of applause,
and from his father too, who had just arrived. Then I said, "I'm going
to play some different styles, and you poke around in them. Just have
fun. Let your personality rule." I started with some boogie woogie, and
then did most styles. He was great. We had a lot of applause after
that. I said "Did you know you could do that?" He said "Absolutely
not!" I grinned and wiggled my eyebrows at him, and said, "I did!" He
laughed. I said "You know you can knock the sox off of your audience.
These people here are NOT the easiest to please, and they are NOT just
being polite. When you do interviews and auditions, let them see you
know you can do this. Be confident in who you are and what you can do,
and that might cause them to feel the same for you. They want somebody
they know can deliver. You can, and you know it. SHOW it!" He looked
amazed and empowered. I said "Our conversations, and your playing here,
and last week, are on a card in the camera. Here it is. I suggest you
go play them for your father." He bowed his thanks to me, with tears,
and went to his father.
said "Then don't. Anybody who does things just to be appreciated, has
serious problems you can't fix. I do what I do because I think I
should. Some of that, such as today, I LOVE to do. You know that some
of the things I have done, and do, and might do in the future, will
affect millions, such as in Tibet and China, and some people in
negative ways, which can't be helped. For my own well being, I need to
balance that with the good I can do for individuals I like a lot. I am
love. I have to share that." He said "And you receive love in return."
I said "That's what love does. The more you give, the more you get
back. The only gift you give, which the more you give, the more you
have to give." He bowed with love.
I knew it was time to finish setting up for the concert, so I kept
out of the way, wandering around, fiddling with the violin. When it was
almost time for the doors to open, I said to the director, "Do you
think I could play some low volume Bach things on the organ, while
people are entering the hall? Silence is SO empty." He grinned, and
said, "I know how you feel. For any other featured artist, I would tell
them to save it for their performance, but I know what you do later
won't be, couldn't possibly be, diminished. Please do it." I said "I
like diminished. Great chords." He laughed. Rose and Hawk circulated
around our guests, explaining what I would be doing, saying they could
tell newcomers who had questions. If they knew German. They did that,
and word passed quickly, that what they were hearing was just
background music, and that the concert had not started early. I kept
the volume low enough so they could talk, which meant I had to use the
speakers in the console, which were very good in their own right. I
heard some comments from the regulars, about the pipes, which made me
grin and nod to them. Some noticed that, and were surprised I could
hear them. I motioned the director to me. While I kept playing, I said,
"The after show party. Any from the audience you would like to invite,
or think should attend, please ask them, if you agree to that." He said
"I wondered. Thank you, I will." I gave him a big smile.
Then the audience lights dimmed, and I shut down the organ, and went
offstage. When it was time, I walked back on stage, and they applauded.
I said "Thank you, but we are just about to start. I didn't know I
walked that well, for such good applause." They laughed. I said "Thank
you for helping to support the newly independent country of Tibet. We
tried to advertise what we planned to do today, but things change. The
program notes you received at the door should be the must current plan,
but that could change, too. For those of you who I haven't met, I am
Stephen. To start this concert, I'm going to sing a little something."
I introduced the music director, and the orchestra. They played, and I
sang, and it was very well received. Then I said, "Thank you. Now I
will do something a little different. Mozart was known to have had
something of a sense of humor. I see that to some of you, that was a
serious understatement." Some chuckles. I said "In the next selections,
which are his 'Turkish March', and the Strauss 'Radetzky March' and
'Tritsch-Tratsch Polka', I will try to show some of that." I looked
I played the Turkish March with accentuated body movements, grinning
and nodding at the audience at times. When I finished, I looked
surprised that my fingers wouldn't stop moving in the air, drawing some
applause and laughter. Then I played Strauss's Radetzky March, really
accenting the beat, and with pauses, in a dramatic comedy style, with
all kinds of funny expressions and bouncing around, to go with the
changes. There was a lot of laughter, and a whole lot of applause when
I finished. Then I held up a finger, imperiously, to get their
attention, and then played my arrangement of the Strauss II
Tritsch-Tratsch Polka, which was very fast and complicated. After I
finished, I kept my fingers moving in the air, and shook them to make
them stop, and looked hard at them to check if they really had stopped.
One finger was still moving, and I put that hand under my other arm and
pointedly ignored it. Then I stood and bowed, and the whole room
erupted in laughter and applause. I said "Thank you. I wasn't sure if
you would like it." I pulled my hand out from under my arm, to check if
that finger had stopped moving, and it was still going strong. I hid it
again. I said "Er, well, I think I should go onto the next selection."
More laughter. I said "Now, after I get there, my own transposition and
arrangement of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, on the harp." I
received a standing ovation for that.
I said "Something interesting happened today. The result of that is I
was asked to perform the Bach Toccata and Fugue in D Minor on the
organ. I couldn't say no. Literally. Well, I like it." Some chuckles.
"Very much!" More chuckles. I went to the organ console, and changed
the settings to use the pipes. I turned to the audience, and said,
"This isn't going to sound like what you heard before here today. It's
going to sound BIG! That's what all those pips are for. If you jump out
of your seats when I start, please, if you have trouble returning to
them, only try for the seats of people you know very well." Some
laughter. I said "Or plan to." A lot of laughter. I started, and a lot
of them did jump. Didn't change seats, though. That received a very
long standing ovation. Then the director came to me. I said "Oh no!"
Many of the audience knew what that meant, and laughed.
The director said, "Stephen said that something interesting happened
today. I think some of you have guessed what that is. He made the organ
and the pipes in as little time as it took to describe them to those of
us who watched them in astonishment as they appeared. He made and
installed them so that the acoustics in the room are not made worse,
but are actually improved. I hope the managers of this building will
allow us to keep Stephen's great gift to us, because we didn't have
time to ask for permission for the installation." I said "If they don't
like what I did, I might be requested to not come back." The director
said "How many here think that is even a faint possibility?" Silence. I
said "Maybe they lost their voices." Laughter. I bowed.
The director said, "Now Stephen will conduct Wagner's 'Festmarsch'
from the opera 'Tannhouser'." We bowed some more. I went to the podium,
and raised my wand. They showed they were in tune. I nodded my
appreciation. Then we started. It was glorious! We received a standing
ovation. I made the orchestra bow twice. Then I said, "Next, we will be
performing the Brahms Violin Concerto, which is the last scheduled
selection for the evening." We did that, and it went very well, and
earned another standing ovation. We went through the usual ending of
the concert, and then I came back with the zither. They settled down
right away. I said "We decided to offer this, if there was time. My own
arrangement of 'Tales of the Vienna Woods'." I did it, slow and fast,
and very complicated, and at the highest virtuoso level as I could make
it. More and better than what I had done before. The audience was
stunned, and then gave a wildly enthusiastic standing ovation. I bowed,
and then walked off the stage. I came back with my violin, and they
quieted. I did my usual ending and love blessing, and ported to the
food room.
Some of the selected audience members started drifting in, saw the
food, and went hungrily at it. There were tables and chairs where they
could sit if they wanted to. Some did. The press were there, too. My
counseled one said to me, "I saw the director's expression when you
played the Woods. It wasn't what he expected." I grinned and said, "I
know." He laughed. I said "I improved on what I had done last week." He
said "Will you do something on the zither next week?" I said "I don't
know if I should tell you." He said "You want it to be a secret?" I
said "That's what I don't know. I think there will be something, but it
might not be considered possible. I really don't like being
disbelieved." He said "I will believe it, but you may be correct that
my readers might not. Just telling them that, might make it more
interesting." I said brightly, "I knew that!" We laughed together.
He said "Your humor is unusual in these kinds of performances." I
said "May I share my response with another?" He nodded. I motioned the
flute player over, and he and his father did that. I looked at the
reporter, who repeated his statement. I said "Musical performers are
entertainers. They come to us, and pay good money, to be entertained.
They shouldn't have to work for that. WE should. They can do very well
without us. We can't do much at all without them. It is not their
responsibility to learn to like what we do. It's our responsibility to
help them want to learn. If they like us and what we do, they will come
back, and those of us who need to, can earn a living. IF THEY LIKE US!
It's not enough for them to like just our music."
I said "There are many very good starving musicians, who care only
about their art, and not about people. They may have success, after
they leave this life. For our success while we live, we need to help
people to like us. How do we do that? By liking THEM. And showing it to
them. For me, that's easy. I love them. I love everybody. I treat all
people like I want to be treated. All are equal in love. My humor is
part of me and my love, which I like to share. When you share yourself
with people, and treat them as friends, well, how can they not like
you? Do they really come only to hear music? Or do they come to
experience YOU? It's you they want, even if they might not realize it.
Don't disappoint them. Give them who you are, and everybody wins. Look
into yourself and find who you are, and give them the best of you, with
your maximum effort, and you will receive the best of them in return."
He said "What if they don't like what you want them to like?" I said
"Then you give them what they DO like, which is more than you might
think, if presented well. Be a professional FIRST, and artist second,
if you want to succeed. Many never make themselves do that. But when
they come to respect you for entertaining them like they want, you can
then slowly introduce what you want them to like, with the things they
already do, and they might eventually come to love it. That's how the
public's preferences are changed. Always remember, music is not a
necessity of life to most people, no matter how much it might be to
you. Entertain them well, love and respect them, and YOUR necessities
will come to you. There are many things which are infectious. Some of
them are deadly, but enthusiasm is a very contagious infection which is
very good for all. Show that, and they will catch it from you, and for
you. Have I said anything now which is untrue for most successful
musicians? Have I proved my words with my deeds?"
He said very seriously, "Yes you have. But I am not like you." I said
with a loving smile, "You are, more than you know. Perhaps not in
degree, but surly in kind. Never doubt that inside you, you have what
you need for success. Find it and use it. Nothing really good in life
is easy. It takes work. Hard work. And time. All that happens
overnight, is just that it becomes a new day. I didn't become who I am
in so short of a time in this life, without such hard work that only
one in a billion could survive. It will take you longer. But you can. I
know you can. I see ALL who you are and can be, even if you are not
able to. I cannot lie. You won't be me, or anybody else. You will
always be you, and that is VERY good." He streamed tears, and so did
his father. They both bowed to me in emotional silence, which I
returned. They stumbled away in a daze.
There was a lot of applause. I said "Oh. Sometimes I get a little
intense. Sorry about that." The reporter said, with a lot of
admiration, "Please don't be sorry for being er, you." I grinned, and
said, "Besides wow, I hear that a lot, too." He had to laugh, and so
did some others. I said to the director, who was in silent awe of me,
"Please make sure they come to our next concert, and early." He nodded.
The reporter said, "You have more to teach him?" I said "Yes." He said
"You won't say what that is?" I said "I might, when I think of it. I
don't need to now. I will know when I should know." He made a silent
wow. I said "When you know who you are, you can trust yourself in
full." He said "Oh. I'll have to think about that." I said "Yes." He
said "Always The Master Teacher!" I said "Always. Hungry, too." We
grinned at each other, and went to eat.
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Grant
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