经济学人302:羽管键琴家——古斯塔夫·莱昂哈特

 　　A CONCERT by Gustav Leonhardt was not like any other. He approached his harpsichord¹ with the air of a mortician, slightly flexing² his long, delicate hands. As he played he sat bolt upright, gaunt and aquiline³, unsmiling in his crisp, perfect suit, with his elbows held close to his sides. No unnecessary gesture, no hint of emotion: senza baldanza, as a composer might have marked it. He did not have the look of a man on a mission. But he was.

　　古斯塔夫?莱昂哈特的演奏会与众不同。他带着一种殡仪师的气质慢慢走近他的羽管键琴，轻轻地扭动一下他那纤细修长的双手。在演奏时他的背挺得笔直，瘦削且轮廓分明，穿着一身干净得体的西装而表情严肃，手肘紧靠在身体两侧。没有花俏的手势，没有透露出一点情绪，作曲家可能会把这叫做“缺乏自信”。他看上去不像一个肩负使命的人，但他是的。

　　Mr Leonhardt’s life-work was to persuade the world how beautiful the harpsichord was, and how the harpsichord repertoire⁴ should be played. When he first fell in love with it, in the shape of the fairly bad instrument his parents bought for their house at Graveland in the Netherlands, he recognised it as the king of keyboards. Organs were noble characters, and he played church organ for years. Virginals were pleasing; he wrote a book on Flemish examples. But fortepianos were awful, the sound muffling⁵ all over the place when the hammer hit the keys, which put him off playing his beloved Mozart; and modern grands were unspeakable. None had that direct pluck of plectrum on string for which he loved the harpsichord—though that mechanism⁶ was also fearsomely exacting⁷, even “diabolical”, and that was why he did not smile as he played.

　　莱昂哈特先生的毕生心血都花在让世界了解羽管键琴是多么美好的一种乐器，以及应该怎样弹奏羽管键琴曲目上面。当初，他父母替位于荷兰格雷弗兰村的房子买了一台音质很差的羽管键琴，从那时起他就爱上了这种乐器，认识到它是键盘乐器之王。风琴具有高贵的特色，他曾在教堂弹奏多年的风琴。小键琴则悦耳动听，他曾著过一本讨论弗兰芒小键琴的书。但是古典钢琴糟透了，当琴槌敲出音调时到处都是压抑的声音，让他在弹奏他钟爱的莫扎特时大受打击，至于现代钢琴，简直糟得无法形容。所有这些乐器都没有琴拨在琴弦上的直接拨动，而这正是他热爱羽管键琴的原因。不过同时要掌握这种发声机制也费劲得令人害怕，简直有如“恶魔”一般，这也是为什么他在演奏时从不微笑的原因。

　　It would also have been vulgar. Mr Leonhardt was ever on the watch for that, whether in the form of electric lighting⁸, or showy articulation⁹, or hotel breakfast buffets¹⁰, or Beethoven’s Ninth. (“That ‘Ode to Joy’, talk about vulgarity! And the text! Completely puerile¹¹!”) His own manners were exquisitely¹² courteous¹³; he seemed to have stepped from the past, and even a shockingly fast drive in his Alfa Romeo might end with Mr Leonhardt, lost, finding his way home not by sat-nav but the stars.

　　而且羽管键琴的演奏也容易流于低俗。不管是电灯照明，或是浮华的发音，抑或旅馆的自助早餐，还是贝多芬的第九交响乐里（“那首《欢乐颂》，简直是低俗的代表！再看看歌词！幼稚极了！”），莱昂哈特一直小心翼翼，让自己远离低俗。他自己的行为举止都带有一种高雅的礼貌，就好像他来自于过去的时代，给人感觉莱昂哈特就算开他自己的那辆快得让人乍舌的阿尔法?罗密欧去兜风，最后可能也会落得迷路下场，而且他会借助星星而不是导航器的指引找到家。

　　When he began to study harpsichord seriously, at Basel in 1950, the instrument had been neglected, or overlaid with Romantic sweetness, for decades. He intended to restore it to the simple, original sound, “salt rather than sugar”, that Johann Sebastian Bach had written for. If people found that sound too thin for modern halls, and the pitch disturbingly low, too bad; their ears would just have to get used to it. And after a while, they did.

　　1950年他开始在巴塞尔正式学习羽管键琴，当时这种乐器要么被人忽略，要么就是用来表现浪漫风格的甜蜜感，这种情况已经有几十年了。他决定要让羽管键琴重拾它原本那种简单的声音，那种“是盐，而不是糖”的声音，约翰?塞巴斯蒂安?巴赫当初就是为这种声音作曲的。如果人们觉得这种声音对于现代音乐厅来说太过于稀薄了，或是调子低得令人不安，太糟了，让他们去习惯这种声音吧。实际上，经过一段时间，人们真得习惯了。

　　It meant hard work for him. He began by tirelessly hand-copying hundreds of original scores in the Vienna Library, when he was meant to be studying conducting (but he scorned conducting, thinking it “the easiest way out” in music, with never a wrong note to worry about). He continued by making a definitive¹⁴ recording¹⁵ in 1953 of Bach’s “Art of Fugue”, and publishing an impassioned argument that the piece had been written for solo harpsichord rather than ensemble¹⁶. That stirred up interest in pre-Romantic music, though still not enough to fill a room when his little consort¹⁷ played Biber’s unpublished “Fidicinium sacro-profanum”, or other treasures he had unearthed¹⁸. He thought of those as his catacomb days. Fairly quickly, however, listeners warmed to Byrd and Frescobaldi, Rameau and Ritter; his own recordings¹⁹, especially with Nikolaus Harnoncourt of all Bach’s Cantatas²⁰, fanned the flame; and the early-music movement has flourished ever since.

　　这对他来说可不是轻松的工作。就在他本应学习指挥的时间里，他孜孜不倦地从维也纳图书馆手抄了数百份原谱（他本来就很轻视指挥，认为这是音乐中“最轻松的一条路”，从不需要担心弹错音）。他继续努力，在1953年录制了一张巴赫《赋格的艺术》的权威唱片，同时出版了一篇热情洋溢的论文，提出这首曲子并不是为了合奏，而是为了羽管键琴独奏而写的观点。这激起了人们对前浪漫主义音乐的兴趣，虽然在他的小乐队演奏比贝尔的《宗教世俗弦乐集》以及其它他挖掘出来的宝藏时，这种兴趣还没有大到可以让听众填满一个房间。他后来回忆时说那是一段暗无天日的时期。不过，很快的，听众对伯德，弗雷斯科巴尔迪，拉莫，斯瑞特的曲子反应热烈，他自己的一些唱片，尤其是和尼古劳斯?哈农库特合作录制的巴赫康塔塔全集进一步提高了他的声望，从那之后早期音乐运动就如火如荼地展开了。

1 harpsichord   

n.键琴（钢琴前身）

参考例句：

• I can tune the harpsichord as well as play it.我会弹奏大键琴，同样地，我也会给大键琴调音。
• Harpsichord music is readily playable.古钢琴音乐可以随时演奏。

2 flexing   

n.挠曲，可挠性v.屈曲( flex的现在分词 )；弯曲；（为准备大干而）显示实力；摩拳擦掌

参考例句：

• Flexing particular muscles allows snakes to move in several ways. 可弯曲的特殊的肌肉使蛇可以用几种方式移动。 来自电影对白
• China has become an economic superpower and is flexing its muscles. 中国已经成为了一个经济巨人而且在展示他的肌肉。 来自互联网

3 aquiline   

adj.钩状的，鹰的

参考例句：

• He had a thin aquiline nose and deep-set brown eyes.他长着窄长的鹰钩鼻和深陷的褐色眼睛。
• The man has a strong and aquiline nose.该名男子有强大和鹰鼻子。

4 repertoire   

n.(准备好演出的)节目，保留剧目；(计算机的)指令表，指令系统， <美>(某个人的)全部技能；清单，指令表

参考例句：

• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。
• He has added considerably to his piano repertoire.他的钢琴演奏曲目大大增加了。

5 muffling   

v.压抑，捂住( muffle的现在分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• Muffler is the conventional muffling device in the noise control of compressor. 消声器是压缩机噪声控制中常用的消声装置。 来自互联网
• A ferocious face and a jet black muzzle, a muffling muzzle of long pistol. 一张狰狞的脸和他手中的乌黑枪口，那是长长的手枪销音器枪口。 来自互联网

6 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

7 exacting   

adj.苛求的，要求严格的

参考例句：

• He must remember the letters and symbols with exacting precision.他必须以严格的精度记住每个字母和符号。
• The public has been more exacting in its demands as time has passed.随着时间的推移，公众的要求更趋严格。

8 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

9 articulation   

n.（清楚的）发音；清晰度，咬合

参考例句：

• His articulation is poor.他发音不清楚。
• She spoke with a lazy articulation.她说话慢吞吞的。

10 buffets   

（火车站的）饮食柜台( buffet的名词复数 )； （火车的）餐车； 自助餐

参考例句：

• All life's buffets should be met with dignity and good sense. 所有人生之打击都应以尊严和理智对付之。
• In addition to buffets, American families enjoy picnics and barbeques. 除自助餐外，美国家庭还喜欢野餐和户外烧烤餐。

11 puerile   

adj.幼稚的，儿童的

参考例句：

• The story is simple,even puerile.故事很简单，甚至有些幼稚。
• Concert organisers branded the group's actions as puerile.音乐会的组织者指称该乐队的行为愚蠢幼稚。

12 exquisitely   

adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地

参考例句：

• He found her exquisitely beautiful. 他觉得她异常美丽。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He wore an exquisitely tailored gray silk and accessories to match. 他穿的是做工非常考究的灰色绸缎衣服，还有各种配得很协调的装饰。 来自教父部分

13 courteous   

adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的

参考例句：

• Although she often disagreed with me,she was always courteous.尽管她常常和我意见不一，但她总是很谦恭有礼。
• He was a kind and courteous man.他为人友善，而且彬彬有礼。

14 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。

15 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

16 ensemble   

n.合奏(唱)组；全套服装；整体，总效果

参考例句：

• We should consider the buildings as an ensemble.我们应把那些建筑物视作一个整体。
• It is ensemble music for up to about ten players,with one player to a part.它是最多十人演奏的合奏音乐，每人担任一部分。

17 consort   

v.相伴；结交

参考例句：

• They went in consort two or three together.他们三三两两结伴前往。
• The nurses are instructed not to consort with their patients.护士得到指示不得与病人交往。

18 unearthed   

出土的（考古）

参考例句：

• Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

19 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

20 cantatas   

n.大合唱( cantata的名词复数 )；清唱剧

参考例句：

• It has been said that Bach's cantatas represent the fifth Gospel. 从前有人称巴哈的大合唱为第五福音书。 来自互联网
• Cantatas, The Flowering and Fading of Love: VI. Ahi qual cruccio, qual pena, La gelosia. 六首康塔塔，“爱情之花的盛开与凋谢”：第六首：哎呀，多么悲伤，多么痛苦，“嫉妒” 来自互联网