2006年11月19作业(改过)

 

 

The Language of Music

A painter hangs his or her finished pictures on a wall, and everyone can see it. A composer writes a work, but no one can hear it until it is performed. Professional singers and players have great responsibilities, for the composer is utterly dependent on them. A student of music needs as long and as arduous a training to become a performer as a medical student needs to become a doctor. Most training is concerned with technique, for musicians have to have the muscular proficiency of an athlete or a ballet dancer. Singers practice breathing every day, as their vocal chords would be inadequate without controlled muscular support. String players practice moving the fingers of the left hand up and down , while drawing the bow to and fro with the right arm-two entirely different movements.

一个画家将他完成的画挂到墙上，每个人都可以看到。一个作曲家写一篇作品，得由演奏者演奏出来，其他人才可以欣赏到。 职业歌手和演奏家有很大的责任 ，因为作家 完全地依赖于 他们。一个音乐学者需要很长时间的艰苦训练成为一个表演者，这就像一个医科学生需要成为一个医生所需要的训练。很多训练是和技术相关的。 因为音乐家不得不拥有像运动员或者芭蕾舞家那样的肌肉技巧，歌手每天练习呼吸 ，他们没有可控制的肌肉支持时，就不可以自如的控制发音。 弦乐器的演奏者练习的则是在左手的手指上下滑动的同时，用右手前后拉动琴弓——两个截然不同的动作。

Singers and instruments have to be able to get every note perfectly in tune. Pianists are spared this particular anxiety, for the notes are already there, waiting for them, and it is the piano tuner's responsibility to tune the instrument for them. But they have their own difficulties; the hammers that hit the string have to be coaxed not to sound like percussion, and each overlapping tone has to sound clear.

歌手和乐器必须要能够用准确的音调演奏每一个音符，钢琴家可以免于这种担心，因为音符已经在那里等着他们了。这些都是钢琴调谐者为他们调试乐器。但是他们有自己的难处，音锤发出的声音必须和打击乐器的发音不同，而每种音调重叠后发音应该清晰。

This problem of getting clear texture is one that confronts student conductors: they have to learn to know every note of the music and how it should sound, and they have to aim at controlling these sound with fanatical but selfless authority.

如何获得音调清晰的纹理，是学生指挥家所要面对的难题。他们必须知道音乐的每种音符和怎么样演奏出来。他们必须狂热而又客观的权威去控制这些发音。

Technique is of no use unless it is combined with musical knowledge and understanding. Great artists are those who are so thoroughly at home in the language of music that they can enjoy performing works written in any century.

单纯的技巧的作用不大，除非你将它们和音乐知识和对音乐的理解结合起来。伟大的艺术家都是彻底的研究音乐语言，所以他们才可以享受的写出不同时代的作品。