|
|
|
Leonard Bernstein and His West Side Story Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Leonard Bernstein was playing in a jazz band at 13, entered Harvard at 17, and studied conducting at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Appointed assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic in 1943 — an unheard-of achievement for a twenty-five-year-old — he got his big break just six weeks later. He made a sensation on national radio when he substituted at short notice for an ailing older conductor, and from then on his path was assured. This dramatic career launching was typical of Bernstein. His podium manner was dramatic, too: gesticulations, gyrations, crouches, and sometimes the famous "Lenny leap." Orchestra musicians paid no heed to this, but audiences loved it, and it obviously helped Bernstein convey his sense of the music. Recognized early on as America's finest conductor, by the end of his life he was probably the most sought-after conductor in the entire world. As a composer, Bernstein was greatly influenced by Aaron Copland, and resolved to go even further than his mentor in bridging classical and popular music styles. In his twenties and thirties, he wrote serious symphonies and chamber music; he also wrote ballets for Broadway, and five musicals, of which West Side Story was the best. By turns funny, smart, enormously dynamic, and tender, West Side Story gave us song classics such as "Maria" and "Tonight" . A man of multiple talents, Bernstein also composed movie music, wrote books on music, and ran stunning TV programs on music in the early days of video. He won Grammys, Emmys, and a Tony. It is not clear why he gave up writing musicals, but in fact as his conducting career flourished, he composed less music of any kind. Many of his compositions have religious associations. Old Testament themes inspired his Jeremiah and Kaddish Symphonies (the Kaddish is a Hebrew prayer for the dead); his Chichester Psalms were written for the Anglican cathedral at Chichester, England; and he wrote a rock Mass/theater piece for the inauguration of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Leonard Bernstein ran his life as recklessly
as he conducted—always in the fast lane, and often in the gossip columns.
"The great thing about conducting," he once said, "is that you don"t
smoke and you breathe in great gobs of oxygen." When Bernstein died
of emphysema in 1990, he was mourned as the most brilliant, expansive,
and versatile American musician of his generation or, indeed, of any
other. Often called Leonard Bernstein's best work, the Broadway musical West Side Story is acknowledged as a landmark in the genre. It boasts three exceptional features—its moving story, its sophisticated score, and its superb dances, created by the great American choreographer Jerome Robbins. An excellent movie that was made of the show is now available on videodisc. The extensive dance component explains why Bernstein was able to make a successful orchestral suite out of this musical. Fashioning orchestral pieces out of dances from operas or ballets began in the Baroque period; later examples include Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and Copland's Appalachian Spring, both arranged from ballets. The West Side Story suite is performed more often than the actual show, which is seldom revived because the dances are so difficult and lengthy. Background Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare,
tells of young lovers thwarted and driven to their deaths by an implacable,
meaningless feud between their families, the Montagues and the Capulets
of Verona. West Side Story transplants this plot to a turf war between
teenage gangs on the West Side of Manhattan. In Shakespeare, the feud
is a legacy from the older generation, but in West Side Story the bitter
enmity is the kids� own, though it has ethnic overtones. The Jets are
whites, the Sharks Puerto Ricans. Some of the transpositions into the modern world are ingenious. For example, Shakespeare's famous soliloquy "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" shows the love-struck Juliet fondly repeating her lover's name; Tony babbles "Maria" over and over again in his famous song of that title. (An opera aria is, in fact, equivalent to a soliloquy in a play.) And whereas Shakespeare's young lovers fall in love at Capulet masked ball, which Romeo has crashed, Bernstein's are smitten at a gym dance organized by a fat-headed teacher who hopes to make peace between the gangs. Cha-Cha This is the music danced to by the Puerto Rican girls—the Sharks� girlfriends—at the gym where Tony first sees Maria. The cha-cha, a Cuban dance, was quite new to the United States when West Side Story was written. The charm of the fragile cha-cha melody owes something to Bernstein's skillful accompaniment. Melody and accompaniment seem nervously aware of each other, but they keep slipping out of synchronization. 伯恩斯坦和《西区故事》 Leonard Bernstein （列奥纳多·伯恩斯坦）是美国20世纪著名的指挥家。他17岁进入哈佛大学，之后不久进入费城著名的Curtis
Institute of Music（柯蒂斯音乐学院）。这所学院人才济济，任教的多是在音乐会上演出的艺术人才。1943年，年仅25岁的伯恩斯坦担任了纽约交响乐队的副指挥，任该职后不久因替补一位因病未能出任指挥的老指挥家而一举成名。由于他在音乐事业上的卓越成就，谢世后被授予桂冠指挥家(Laureate
Conductor)的荣誉称号。 语言学习，无所不包，接触的领域越广、词汇越多，联想及反应也就越快，从而使思想更灵活，知识更丰富。和外国友人聊天、听音乐，倘若不知道百老汇音乐剧怎么说、不晓得伯恩斯坦，很有可能陷入尴尬的境地。 第1段有两句属同一句型。它们是Born in Lawrence,...及Appointed assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic in 1943...两句均以一个过去分词开始，一是表示出生年月，一是表示被任职务。这两句可以说是传记体式文章中常见的句型，值得模仿。而使用插入语...an unheard-of achievement for a twenty-five-year-old这样简洁的说法以及用法是我们大多数人不会用、也想不到的。其后的when he substituted at short notice for...也大有可学之处。可以想一想如果遇到这样的情况中文怎么说、我们又可能怎么译，我们是否也能用6、7个字表达这个意思呢？ 第2段中用了与第1段中同样的句型，它就是：Recognized early on as America's finest conductor,... he was probably the most sought-after conductor in the entire world. 也就是说，短短的两段中，已是第三次出现以过去分词短语开始的句子了。你是不是在写类似的传记文章时也可以试着用这样的句型呢？ 从词的角度来看，或许这段第2、3两行已经连续出现了5、6个你不一定见过或熟悉的字。这些字不必查，结合上下文应该能揣摩出它们各自的意思，都与伯恩斯坦指挥时的动作姿势有关。至于the most sought-after conductor当然是赞美之词，为“被邀请出任指挥的，邀请他为……乐队执棒的”；the most当然是指来邀请者络绎不断，特别受欢迎等等。由此推断，我们可以说the most sought-after director，the most sought-after actor等等。 第3段中所提到的Aaron Copland（艾伦·卡普兰），其生卒年代为1900-1990。他的作品“阿巴拉契亚的春天”是在中国乐坛上多次演奏的作品，描写了阿巴拉契亚地区清晨静谧的景色和夜晚农舍里欢乐的婚礼庆典。它是一个改编自舞曲音乐的组曲。 同一段中，...in bridging classical and popular music画龙点睛地总结了伯恩斯坦的贡献和突破在于将古典与通俗的民间音乐融为一体。当然，伯恩斯坦始终没有放弃传统的室内乐、交响乐，在这方面他也留下了许多宝贵的录像。 第4段中提到了Jeremiah与Kaddish，前者的汉译为耶利米（公元前6、7世纪时希伯莱的大预言家），后者的汉译为迦底什（做礼拜时或为死者祈祷时的赞美诗）。它们是伯恩斯坦两部交响乐作品的题目，1944年1月18日伯恩斯坦亲自指挥匹兹堡交响乐团演出了《耶利米》，并成功地获得了纽约音乐奖。这一段中的Chichester是英国地名，rock mass表示有摇滚音乐成分的弥撒曲。而下一段中 in the fast lane的意思是以最快的速度，词义来自公路交通。 选段第二部分讲的是伯恩斯坦最成功的百老汇音乐剧《西区故事》。在此剧中伯恩斯坦巧妙地将古代以两个世仇结冤的家族纷争为背景的一对年青恋人罗密欧与朱丽叶为中心的爱情悲剧移植到现代美国纽约曼哈顿地区。那里以Jet（气流）和一个以Shark（鲨鱼）为名的结帮少年陷入纷争，从中演绎出了一场发生在纽约西区的现代爱情悲剧。 在文章中用 meaningless feud 两个字概括了家族及帮派之间的纷争。feud一词的英语释义(The Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English)为bitter quarrel between two persons, families or groups, over a long period of time, 用法是at feud with。 选段中出现的babble一词在《朗文当代辞典》中的释义为：to speak quickly in a way that is difficult to understand or sounds silly, 它非常符合讲话人缺乏文化修养、粗俗的身份，与流芳百世的朱丽叶那充满温情的语言风格迥然不同。 第2段中的suite发音应是[swi:t]，词义为组曲。fashion一词从常见的名词用法，变成了动词，请看下面几句有动词fashion的短语： 另外值得注意的是源自法语的genre一词的发音[#3=9r2]，其意思是“文艺作品中的类型、风格、流派、体裁”。同一段出现的arrange一词应该是“改编”。下面是两个包含arrange的短语，供参考： 在本文结束以前再补充一点，那就是，伯恩斯坦为了普及音乐留下了上至《马太受难曲》下至《现代爵士乐》等100多篇讲演稿，都是不可多得的优秀作品。■ |