雙語散文:The Language of Music(音樂的語言)大綱

【英文原文】

The Language of Music

A painter hangs his or her finished Picture 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 and to and fro with the right arm – two entirely different movements. Singers and instrumentalists

have to be able to get every not 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 strings have to be coaxed not to sound like percussion, and each overlapping tone

has to sound clear. 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 sounds 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.

【中文譯文】

音樂的語言

畫家將已完成的作品掛在牆上，每個人都可以觀賞到。作曲家寫完了一部作品，得由演奏者將其演奏出來，其他人才能得

以欣賞。因爲作曲家是如此完全地依賴於職業歌手和職業演奏者，所以職業歌手和職業演奏者肩上的擔子可謂不輕。一名

學音樂的學生要想成爲一名演奏者，需要經受長期的嚴格的訓練，就象一名醫科的學生要成爲一名醫生一樣。絕大多數的

訓練是技巧性的。音樂家們控制肌肉的熟練程度，必須達到與運動員或巴蕾舞演員相當的水平。歌手們每天都練習吊嗓

子，因爲如果不能有效地控制肌肉的話，他們的聲帶將不能滿足演唱的要求。絃樂器的演奏者練習的則是在左手的手指上

下滑動的同時，用右手前後拉動琴弓—兩個截然不同的動作。歌手和樂器演奏者必須使所有的音符完全相同協調。鋼琴家

們則不用操這份心，因爲每個音符都已在那裏等待着他們了。給鋼琴調音是調音師的職責。但調音師們也有他們的難處：

他們必須耐心地調理敲擊琴絃的音錘，不能讓音錘發出的聲音象是打擊樂器，而且每個交疊的音都必須要清晰。如何得到

樂章清晰的紋理是學生指揮們所面臨的難題：他們必須學會了解音樂中的每一個音及其發音之道。他們還必須致力於以熱

忱而又客觀的權威去控制這些音符。除非是和音樂方面的知識和悟性結合起來，單純的技巧沒有任何用處。藝術家之所以

偉大在於他們對音樂語言駕輕就熟，以致於可以滿懷喜悅地演出寫於任何時代的作品。