灑滿音符的聖彼得堡英語閱讀大綱

灑滿音符的聖彼得堡

St. Petersburg: It Always Has Music

它沒有“音樂之都”的美譽，作為首都的歷史也不長。然而，從這裡走出來的作曲家，卻仿如天邊一顆顆熠熠閃爍的明星，頗讓世人心生戀慕，舉首敬仰。

St. Petersburg is the cultural treasure trove of Russia. In its relatively short history, it’s produced a wealth of ballet, theatre and opera companies. Singers, writers, dancers, orchestras; there are over 500 palaces here.

Russia’s first conservatory was opened in St. Petersburg in 1862 under the direction of pianist, composer and conductor Anton Rubinstein.

In1871, this great man behinde me, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, joined the staff as professor and remained there for 20 years. But before that, he attended the Naval Academy in St. Petersburg. He wrote his first aymphony while on a three-year naval cruise. When he joined the staff here, Nikolai realized that he knew almost no music theory, despite the fact that he’d already completed two symphonies and numerous other works. So he taught himself in secret and became one of the world’s great music theorists, particularly in music harmony. Several of Rimsky-Korsakov’s students achieved musical greatness, including Sergei Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky, and his influence has been quite profound.

You hear this best in Rimsky’s symphonic suite, Sheherezade. Based on stories from The Arabian Nights, as told by Madame Sheherezade herself, her new husband, the sultan Haroon Allah al Rashid, has executed all his former wives on their wedding night. To avoid their fate, she tells him cliff-hanging tales throughout the night. In the score, Rimsky shows both Haroon al Rashid’s implacable character and Sheherezade’s seductive skills. He is charmed; she lives.

Sheherezade must be a fantasy, sound worlds of the ancient Middle East. It’s a most glamorous sound too; something entirely new in the music of the late 19th century, one obviously bent a few years in Hollywood 50 years later. All those studio pictures about Aladdin and flying carpets; they sound suspiciously like Rimsky-Korsakov. His carpets, though, are of a much finer weave. Oh, yes. He also wrote that piece about a bumble bee. In 1944, on the centenary of his birth, the conseratory was renamed the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory in his honour.

Well, we hope you’ve enjoyed this little smapshort of St. Petersburg. As you can see, it’s a city rich in culture and the arts.

譯文：

聖彼得堡是俄羅斯的文化寶藏，就它相對不長的歷史而言，這裡誕生了大量的芭蕾、戲劇及歌劇院團，還有歌手、作家、舞者、管弦樂團。這裡的宮殿多達五百座以上。

俄羅斯第一間音樂學院於1862年在聖彼得堡成立，由鋼琴家、作曲家及指揮家安東魯賓斯坦任院長。

1871年，我身後的偉人尼古拉里姆斯基-柯薩柯夫擔任音樂學院教授一職，並執教20年。但在此之前，他進入了聖彼得堡海軍軍官學校。他在航海的三年裡完成了第一部交響樂作品。當他到音樂學院任教時，自知對音樂理論幾乎一竅不通——儘管他自己已完成了兩部交響樂和不少其他作品。於是他祕密自學，終於成為世界上最傑出的音樂理論家之一，尤其在音樂和聲學方面。他的幾位學生也取得了偉大的成就，其中包括謝爾蓋普羅科菲耶夫和伊戈爾斯特拉文斯基，他的影戲那個堪稱深遠。

裡姆斯基對音樂創作的影響在他的交響樂組曲《天方夜譚》裡得到最佳的`體現。這部作品根據山魯佐德夫人講述的一千零一夜的故事而作。山魯佐德的新婚丈夫是一位名叫哈倫阿爾-拉希德的國王，他的所有前妻都會在婚禮當晚被他處死。為了與自己的命運抗爭，山魯佐德整晚給他講扣人心絃的故事。樂曲裡，裡姆斯基既刻畫了國王的無情性格，又展現了山魯佐德頗具誘惑性的技巧。他被迷住了，她活了下來。

《天方夜譚》展現的無疑是關於古代中東的奇幻音樂世界，也是無比華美的樂曲，而對於19世紀後期的音樂而言，它更是全然一新的，以致於50年之後的好萊塢音樂創作在許多年裡仍明顯受他的影響。電影公司在拍攝阿拉丁神燈、飛毯等故事時，其音樂風格讓人無法不聯想到裡姆斯基的音樂。當然，裡姆斯基的音樂毯子（此其音樂作品）編制得更加完美……哦，對了，他還寫了首關於大黃蜂的樂曲。1944年是他的百年壽辰。那年，音樂學院改名為裡姆斯基-柯薩柯夫國家音樂學院以紀念他。

希望你喜歡對聖彼得堡的簡介。你可看到，這座城市充滿了文化和藝術的氣息。