About this story
A rehearsal leaves Beethoven ringing in you; a friend's warnings turn choosing between two teachers, Schwarz's severity and Bendel's flattery, into the day's real test. An Englishwoman, Madeleine Wade, rescues you from a waiter's dialect and tells you to petition Schwarz directly, by letter, before courage cools. By the time you sit down to write home, an answer has already arrived.
How it opens
Noon bells crossed Leipzig as the Gewandhaus released its crowd into spring light.
Music StudentYou stood through the whole rehearsal and applauded like a new arrival.
You watched violin cases stream across the square in the hands of future rivals.
DoveNew, certainly. Guest came off the night train and has not found lodgings.
Music StudentThen enthusiasm is still cheaper than rent and lessons.
DoveLeipzig rewards courage only after charging it rent and tuition.