[2018] Flight of the ButterKlavier
darthcourt10
Well worn.
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Yellowhammer
And now for something considerably funnier....
(No one said the course of True Love was without bumps)
Flight of the ButterKlavier
June 13th, 2018
Claire blushed and broke into a happy smile as Tony lowered his bow after a virtuoso solo performance of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. As she applauded enthusiastically she reflected on how much fun the past two months had become.
She enjoyed duets with Mother on her true body playing four-hand or Tokunotaki on her shakuhachi bamboo flute immensely, and Toku in particular was a fascinating partner who provided a unique synthesis with her subtle woodwind harmonics to Claire's backing range and depth of voice. As well, teaching Ehren, who was progressing most nicely as her pupil, was a joy for her and she was hopeful in a short year or four Ehren would be skilled enough to begin four-hand pieces with her big sister. She already had a selection picked out for her little sister to enjoy on her ivories.
But as enjoyable and satisfying as her family were to play with, they did not stretch and challenge her the way that playing with and for Tony did. The others did not have nearly the ear for nuance, timbre, and tone that her Stradivarius boyfriend did or were the challenge to impress with the quality of a performance.
After all, for her beloved family, they did not breathe, eat, and sleep music the way she and Tony did. Ehren perhaps came closet, but even Ehren's romantic heart was turned to the battlefield and not the concert hall.
Which had resulted in the last two months of no-holds-barred musical combat. Not surprising since she was the daughter of a Muramasa and Tony was a Potter - incapable of backing down from a challenge over something that the Potter desired as much as Tony desired her love. Each challenged the other to perform better than they ever had, matching Bach cantata with Mozart rondo, Chopin nocturne with Haydn sonata, Grieg with Gershwin, Beethoven with Brahms, Ravel with Rachmaninoff.
The battle had been fierce and unrelenting with no quarter offered or accepted in the current running points tally and Claire was happily aware that it would probably last for the rest of her long lifetime. She couldn't wait, honestly, and she knew deep down that Tony was of identical mind. Playing to impress someone as skilled and discerning as you were was a challenge and hard work - which made her understand Ehren's drive and work ethic a bit better, she idly reflected as she glanced at her little sister the chaperone.
She was even willing to admit - in private - that Tony had a clear advantage on her currently among the Italian composers, while she was ahead in the French school after impressing him with her Chopin chops. The German masters were still a hotly contested warzone week after week, unsurprising since Claire was Austrian by origin, and had expanded her repertoire among the great Germans for Ehren's sake (fortunately, as it turned out, what Tony could do with Beethoven sent her heartstrings fluttering - rrrowrrr). The Russians were currently equally contested among them and Claire had decided after some frantic arrangement the night before it was time to take a page from Hannibal and storm Italy over the Alps rather than continue to lose ground among the Russians.
She might be out-pianoed by his brilliance with Shostakovitch, but this piano was not going down easy without an assault on his rear areas!
With that, she looked over at him and grinned smugly - an expression learned from Mother - while cracking her knuckles as she prepared to play one of the most famous violin solo pieces in the classical corpus.
Showtime.
Spoiler: Claire Does Vivaldi
With that she began to make the soft sounds of icy breezes and falling snow as her fingers begin the rhythm of gradually increasing eighth notes leading into the solo violin's entrance. Tony's eyes widened in surprise and delight as he immediately recognized the piece that his Bösendorfer girlfriend was playing for him.
The Allegro non molto from Vivaldi's Concerto #4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, "Winter" (L'inverno)
-------------------------
Tony applauded happily as Claire finished her arrangement of Vivaldi with a flourish and a triumphant chord and bowed to her as she stood up from her bench and curtsied to him and the softly smiling Ehren.
Well done, Claire, well done.
He knew firsthand exactly how demanding the solo violin in the Allegro was for him to play. Albeit that solo was so enjoyable as he led the other strings and harpsichord through the arpeggios dancing up and down the upper end of his range. But she had played it magnificently as she used her superior range to mimic all the violins and even add some bass 'harpsichord' backing at times when she had a hand free to slide down to the left end of her keyboard.
A definite point to her, and he was already contemplating the possibilities of a duet arrangement of L'invernio with her.
Later.
He wasn't going down easily even with this setback in today's competition to impress her, but he needed something to show that he in turn could be worthy of her love.
But what...?
Aha!
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Act 3!
If she wanted to demonstrate her virtuosity with sixteenths in arpeggios, he would give virtuosity and arpeggios to her good and hard.
Spoiler: Tony Goes THERE
With that he placed his violin in readiness and closed his eyes as he began the staccato sounds of a insect in flight with his sautillé bowing up and down in a wild shower of notes.
The Flight of the Bumblebee.
---------------------------
Ehren's lips quirked upward in a well-controlled smile as Tony launched into a piece that she recognized from her research into music that she had undertaken in self-defense and to better connect with Big Sister Claire.
Well, she also admitted to herself, she did enjoy music in and of itself. As her growing iTunes library and music player demonstrated, even if both were not a patch on Claire's appetite for music and composers.
With that she glanced over to Claire, expecting to see her big sister enthralled as usual by the family guest violinist - who was going to be just family once Mother got with the program.
Ehren did not expect to see Claire's reaction to the piece.
Her sister was actually experiencing full body uncontrolled shivers as she bit her lip and whimpered, her fists clenching spasmodically. Her face had a nuclear blush on it and her eyes were locked on Tony with raw passion and desire filling them as he played. It was clear she was on the ragged edge of throwing Tony to the floor to have her way with him.
Ehren's own eyes widened in shock as she put two and two together and realized that Mother was just across the hall in her study while Claire was... was....
Scheiße!
As Tony approached the end of the piece, Ehren leaned close to her sister and hissed "I'll cover for you, run! Now!"
Claire gave a shaky nod and bolted for the door to the music room like a scalded cat.
Tony finished the piece and opened his eyes as the running footsteps faded down the hall. He gave Ehren a baffled "what did I do?!?" look as Claire's bedroom door slammed in the distance. Colombe opened her study door and leaned out to see what the commotion was about.
Ehren plastered her best controlled face on and spoke. "Impressive, Tony, I see that the Flight of the Bumblebee stung Claire with an idea for a new composition and she desires privacy to work on it before she can serenade the household with it."
Ehren's eyes found Tony and gave him a "back my story up or I'll kill you slowly" look as the confused Stradivarius made a sound of agreement.
Colombe looked at the two of them and shrugged. "Ahh, one of those days for her then."
"Ja." Butter wouldn't melt in Ehren's mouth and she exerted iron self control to prevent either laughing or grinning like a lunatic (or Aunt Jackie) as Colombe closed the door.
She then turned to Tony and spoke in a quiet undertone, keeping an eye on Colombe's door to insure that she was not overheard. Behind them the piano that was Claire's true form popped out of sight as her spirit Apparated it back to her room.
"I strongly recommend that you remove that piece from your repertoire temporarily. Until the wedding night. For your own safety. Mother would have... reacted poorly to seeing you putting Claire in that state before she is married. Well, seeing her anytime like that; Mother is... Mother. We dodged a bullet this once, let us not tempt fate again, ja?"
Tony nodded as the lightbulb visibly came on for him. "I... see. When I get around to my planned visit to the British Branch of my family, I will have to tell cousin Tsukiakari this; she will laugh herself sick."
Ehren shook her head. "I advise keeping this story to yourself. It might get back to Mother's ears and then..."
"Ahh.... I'll... head downstairs and see what inspiration strikes me looking at the trophies in... the billiard room perhaps?" Tony spoke slowly with the expression on his face of a man realizing that he is suddenly in a minefield.
"Do that. I'll handle Claire. I'll see you at dinner then." The Dagger gave a fractional smile. "No permanent harm done with your suit, I suspect. You didn't know. Then. Incidentally, well played Tony. I rather enjoyed that final piece, it was... amusing."
With that Ehren marched down the hall to her sister's room and leaned against the door. She cocked an ear, hearing the muffled sounds of frantic piano playing along with a wordless vocal accompaniment.
Ehren's own cheeks pinked slightly at the sounds from within and she kept an eye out for parental figures as she patiently waited for a quarter of an hour. Finally silence fell inside and she gave a ten-count before rapping on the door. "Claire, it's Ehren."
Ehren's lips curled up at the squeak of alarm from inside as her sister responded in a panicked voice. "E-ehren!! Don't come in! Please!!"
"I won't. I just thought that you should know that Mother knows that you ran in here to do some serious composing since the bumblebee," Ehren desperately fought to keep her smirk out of her voice, "bit you with inspiration for some composition. Tony is sorry for not realizing that... ahh... his playing can stir animal passions and won't do that again."
Ehren paused for effect and lowered her voice before continuing, "Before you two get married. My advice is just make sure to have the soundproofing wards up and pay the insurance on the furniture then. Also make sure that your door is locked."
Another squeak of panic and the lock on the door Ehren was leaning against clicked.
Ehren's smirk widened. "I'll leave you alone now. If you need me, I'll be in my room. I hope that the rest of your day is as enjoyable as mine has been recently. Auf Wiedersehn, Claire."
And now for something considerably funnier....
(No one said the course of True Love was without bumps)
Flight of the ButterKlavier
June 13th, 2018
Claire blushed and broke into a happy smile as Tony lowered his bow after a virtuoso solo performance of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. As she applauded enthusiastically she reflected on how much fun the past two months had become.
She enjoyed duets with Mother on her true body playing four-hand or Tokunotaki on her shakuhachi bamboo flute immensely, and Toku in particular was a fascinating partner who provided a unique synthesis with her subtle woodwind harmonics to Claire's backing range and depth of voice. As well, teaching Ehren, who was progressing most nicely as her pupil, was a joy for her and she was hopeful in a short year or four Ehren would be skilled enough to begin four-hand pieces with her big sister. She already had a selection picked out for her little sister to enjoy on her ivories.
But as enjoyable and satisfying as her family were to play with, they did not stretch and challenge her the way that playing with and for Tony did. The others did not have nearly the ear for nuance, timbre, and tone that her Stradivarius boyfriend did or were the challenge to impress with the quality of a performance.
After all, for her beloved family, they did not breathe, eat, and sleep music the way she and Tony did. Ehren perhaps came closet, but even Ehren's romantic heart was turned to the battlefield and not the concert hall.
Which had resulted in the last two months of no-holds-barred musical combat. Not surprising since she was the daughter of a Muramasa and Tony was a Potter - incapable of backing down from a challenge over something that the Potter desired as much as Tony desired her love. Each challenged the other to perform better than they ever had, matching Bach cantata with Mozart rondo, Chopin nocturne with Haydn sonata, Grieg with Gershwin, Beethoven with Brahms, Ravel with Rachmaninoff.
The battle had been fierce and unrelenting with no quarter offered or accepted in the current running points tally and Claire was happily aware that it would probably last for the rest of her long lifetime. She couldn't wait, honestly, and she knew deep down that Tony was of identical mind. Playing to impress someone as skilled and discerning as you were was a challenge and hard work - which made her understand Ehren's drive and work ethic a bit better, she idly reflected as she glanced at her little sister the chaperone.
She was even willing to admit - in private - that Tony had a clear advantage on her currently among the Italian composers, while she was ahead in the French school after impressing him with her Chopin chops. The German masters were still a hotly contested warzone week after week, unsurprising since Claire was Austrian by origin, and had expanded her repertoire among the great Germans for Ehren's sake (fortunately, as it turned out, what Tony could do with Beethoven sent her heartstrings fluttering - rrrowrrr). The Russians were currently equally contested among them and Claire had decided after some frantic arrangement the night before it was time to take a page from Hannibal and storm Italy over the Alps rather than continue to lose ground among the Russians.
She might be out-pianoed by his brilliance with Shostakovitch, but this piano was not going down easy without an assault on his rear areas!
With that, she looked over at him and grinned smugly - an expression learned from Mother - while cracking her knuckles as she prepared to play one of the most famous violin solo pieces in the classical corpus.
Showtime.
Spoiler: Claire Does Vivaldi
With that she began to make the soft sounds of icy breezes and falling snow as her fingers begin the rhythm of gradually increasing eighth notes leading into the solo violin's entrance. Tony's eyes widened in surprise and delight as he immediately recognized the piece that his Bösendorfer girlfriend was playing for him.
The Allegro non molto from Vivaldi's Concerto #4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, "Winter" (L'inverno)
-------------------------
Tony applauded happily as Claire finished her arrangement of Vivaldi with a flourish and a triumphant chord and bowed to her as she stood up from her bench and curtsied to him and the softly smiling Ehren.
Well done, Claire, well done.
He knew firsthand exactly how demanding the solo violin in the Allegro was for him to play. Albeit that solo was so enjoyable as he led the other strings and harpsichord through the arpeggios dancing up and down the upper end of his range. But she had played it magnificently as she used her superior range to mimic all the violins and even add some bass 'harpsichord' backing at times when she had a hand free to slide down to the left end of her keyboard.
A definite point to her, and he was already contemplating the possibilities of a duet arrangement of L'invernio with her.
Later.
He wasn't going down easily even with this setback in today's competition to impress her, but he needed something to show that he in turn could be worthy of her love.
But what...?
Aha!
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Act 3!
If she wanted to demonstrate her virtuosity with sixteenths in arpeggios, he would give virtuosity and arpeggios to her good and hard.
Spoiler: Tony Goes THERE
With that he placed his violin in readiness and closed his eyes as he began the staccato sounds of a insect in flight with his sautillé bowing up and down in a wild shower of notes.
The Flight of the Bumblebee.
---------------------------
Ehren's lips quirked upward in a well-controlled smile as Tony launched into a piece that she recognized from her research into music that she had undertaken in self-defense and to better connect with Big Sister Claire.
Well, she also admitted to herself, she did enjoy music in and of itself. As her growing iTunes library and music player demonstrated, even if both were not a patch on Claire's appetite for music and composers.
With that she glanced over to Claire, expecting to see her big sister enthralled as usual by the family guest violinist - who was going to be just family once Mother got with the program.
Ehren did not expect to see Claire's reaction to the piece.
Her sister was actually experiencing full body uncontrolled shivers as she bit her lip and whimpered, her fists clenching spasmodically. Her face had a nuclear blush on it and her eyes were locked on Tony with raw passion and desire filling them as he played. It was clear she was on the ragged edge of throwing Tony to the floor to have her way with him.
Ehren's own eyes widened in shock as she put two and two together and realized that Mother was just across the hall in her study while Claire was... was....
Scheiße!
As Tony approached the end of the piece, Ehren leaned close to her sister and hissed "I'll cover for you, run! Now!"
Claire gave a shaky nod and bolted for the door to the music room like a scalded cat.
Tony finished the piece and opened his eyes as the running footsteps faded down the hall. He gave Ehren a baffled "what did I do?!?" look as Claire's bedroom door slammed in the distance. Colombe opened her study door and leaned out to see what the commotion was about.
Ehren plastered her best controlled face on and spoke. "Impressive, Tony, I see that the Flight of the Bumblebee stung Claire with an idea for a new composition and she desires privacy to work on it before she can serenade the household with it."
Ehren's eyes found Tony and gave him a "back my story up or I'll kill you slowly" look as the confused Stradivarius made a sound of agreement.
Colombe looked at the two of them and shrugged. "Ahh, one of those days for her then."
"Ja." Butter wouldn't melt in Ehren's mouth and she exerted iron self control to prevent either laughing or grinning like a lunatic (or Aunt Jackie) as Colombe closed the door.
She then turned to Tony and spoke in a quiet undertone, keeping an eye on Colombe's door to insure that she was not overheard. Behind them the piano that was Claire's true form popped out of sight as her spirit Apparated it back to her room.
"I strongly recommend that you remove that piece from your repertoire temporarily. Until the wedding night. For your own safety. Mother would have... reacted poorly to seeing you putting Claire in that state before she is married. Well, seeing her anytime like that; Mother is... Mother. We dodged a bullet this once, let us not tempt fate again, ja?"
Tony nodded as the lightbulb visibly came on for him. "I... see. When I get around to my planned visit to the British Branch of my family, I will have to tell cousin Tsukiakari this; she will laugh herself sick."
Ehren shook her head. "I advise keeping this story to yourself. It might get back to Mother's ears and then..."
"Ahh.... I'll... head downstairs and see what inspiration strikes me looking at the trophies in... the billiard room perhaps?" Tony spoke slowly with the expression on his face of a man realizing that he is suddenly in a minefield.
"Do that. I'll handle Claire. I'll see you at dinner then." The Dagger gave a fractional smile. "No permanent harm done with your suit, I suspect. You didn't know. Then. Incidentally, well played Tony. I rather enjoyed that final piece, it was... amusing."
With that Ehren marched down the hall to her sister's room and leaned against the door. She cocked an ear, hearing the muffled sounds of frantic piano playing along with a wordless vocal accompaniment.
Ehren's own cheeks pinked slightly at the sounds from within and she kept an eye out for parental figures as she patiently waited for a quarter of an hour. Finally silence fell inside and she gave a ten-count before rapping on the door. "Claire, it's Ehren."
Ehren's lips curled up at the squeak of alarm from inside as her sister responded in a panicked voice. "E-ehren!! Don't come in! Please!!"
"I won't. I just thought that you should know that Mother knows that you ran in here to do some serious composing since the bumblebee," Ehren desperately fought to keep her smirk out of her voice, "bit you with inspiration for some composition. Tony is sorry for not realizing that... ahh... his playing can stir animal passions and won't do that again."
Ehren paused for effect and lowered her voice before continuing, "Before you two get married. My advice is just make sure to have the soundproofing wards up and pay the insurance on the furniture then. Also make sure that your door is locked."
Another squeak of panic and the lock on the door Ehren was leaning against clicked.
Ehren's smirk widened. "I'll leave you alone now. If you need me, I'll be in my room. I hope that the rest of your day is as enjoyable as mine has been recently. Auf Wiedersehn, Claire."