讀點好英文:Frederic Francois Chopin 鋼琴詩人—肖邦

Frederic Francois Chopin 鋼琴詩人—肖邦

·Derek·

Frederic Francois Chopin, Polish-born composer and renowned pianist, was the creator of 55 mazurkas，13 polonaises，24 preludes，27 etudes，19 nocturnes，4 ballads, and 4 scherzos.

Frederic Chopin was born in Zelazowa Wola, Poland, on February 22，1810，to a French father and Polish mother. His father, Nicholas Chopin, was a French tutor to many aristocratic Polish families, later accepting a position as a French teacher at the Warsaw Lyceum.

Although Chopin later attended the Lyceum where his father taught, his early training began at home. This included receiving piano lessons from his mother.By the age of six, Chopin was creating original pieces, showing innate prodigious musical ability.His parents arranged for the young Chopin to take piano instruction from Wojciech Zywny.

When Chopin was sixteen, he attended the Warsaw Conservatory of Music, directed by composer Joseph Elsner. Elsner, like Zywny, insisted on the traditional training associated with Classical music but allowed his students to investigate the more original imaginations of the Romantic style as well.

As often happened with the young musicians of both the Classical and Romantic Periods, Chopin was sent to Vienna, the unquestioned center of music for that day. He gave piano concerts and then arranged to have his pieces published by a Viennese publishing house there.While Chopin was in Austria, Poland and Russia faced off in the apparent beginnings of war.He returned to Warsaw to get his things in preparation of a more permanent move.While there, his friends gave him a silver goblet filled with Polish soil.He kept it always, as he was never able to return to his beloved Poland.

French by heritage, and desirous of finding musical acceptance from a less traditional audience than that of Vienna, Chopin ventured to Paris. Interestingly, other young musicians had assembled in the city of fashion with the very same hope.Chopin joined Franz Liszt, Hector Berlioz, Felix Mendelssohn, Vincenzo Bellini, and Auguste Franchomme, all proponents of the“new”Romantic style.

Although Chopin did play in the large concert halls on occasion, he felt most at home in private settings, enjoying the social milieu that accompanied concerts for the wealthy. He also enjoyed teaching, as this caused him less stress than performing.Chopin did not feel that his delicate technique and intricate melodies were as suited to the grandiose hall as they were to smaller environments and audiences.

News of the war in Poland inspired Chopin to write many sad musical pieces expressing his grief for“his”Poland. Among these was the famous Revolutionary Etude.PIagued by poor health as well as his homesickness, Chopin found solace in summer visits to the country.Here, his most complex yet harmonic creations found their way to the brilliant composer's hand.The Fantasia in F Minor, the Barcarolle, the Polonaise Fantasia, Ballade in A Flat Major, Ballade in F Minor, and Sonata in B Minor were all products of the relaxed time Chopin enjoyed in the country.

As the war continued in Warsaw and then reached Paris, Chopin retired to Scotland with friends. Although he was far beyond the reach of the revolution, his melancholy attitude did not improve and he sank deeper into a depression.Likewise, his health did not rejuvenate either.A window in the fighting made it possible for Chopin to return to Paris as his health deteriorated further.Surrounded by those that he loved, Frederic Francois Chopin died at the age of 39.He was buried in Paris.

Chopin's last request was that the Polish soil in the silver goblet be sprinkled over his grave.

德里克

肖邦，波蘭籍作曲家，也是著名的鋼琴家。他一生創(chuàng)作了五十五部馬祖卡舞曲，十三部波羅涅茲，二十四首序曲，二十七首練習曲，十九首夜曲，四首敘事曲，以及四部詼諧曲。

1810年2月12日，肖邦出生于波蘭華沙郊區(qū)的熱拉佐瓦沃拉。他的父親尼古拉斯是法國人，而母親卻是一位地道的波蘭人。尼古拉斯原本是波蘭貴族家庭的一名法語教師，后來到華沙的一所中學(xué)教授法語。

盡管肖邦后來到父親所教授的學(xué)校學(xué)習，但他最初的音樂訓(xùn)練來自家庭。六歲那年，肖邦創(chuàng)作出了人生的第一部作品，充分展現(xiàn)了他與生俱來的非凡的音樂天賦。不久后，他進入了父親所在的學(xué)校學(xué)習，并在父母的安排下，跟隨捷克音樂家W.日夫尼學(xué)習鋼琴。

十六歲時，肖邦進入華沙音樂學(xué)院學(xué)習，師從音樂家約瑟夫·埃爾斯納。與日尼夫相同的是，埃爾斯納在堅持古典派推崇的傳統(tǒng)練習外，鼓勵學(xué)生們從浪漫派中吸取靈感。

像許多兼古典和浪漫于一身的年輕音樂家一樣，肖邦在離開華沙音樂學(xué)院后，來到了當時的音樂圣地——維也納。在那里，肖邦不僅舉行了多場音樂會，也發(fā)表了不少音樂作品。在波蘭民族運動走向高潮，與沙俄的戰(zhàn)爭一觸即發(fā)的時候，肖邦身在奧地利。不久，他回到華沙為出國做準備。臨行前，華沙音樂學(xué)院的師生們?yōu)樗托?，并贈以盛滿祖國泥土的銀杯。盡管從此肖邦再也沒有回到他深愛著的祖國，他一直保存著這捧祖國的泥土。

為了得到更多浪漫派聽眾的認可，加上自己擁有一半的法國血統(tǒng)，肖邦來到了法國巴黎。有趣的是，許多抱有同樣想法的年輕音樂家們也都聚集到了這座流行之都。在這里，肖邦結(jié)識了西歐文藝界許多重要人物，包括匈牙利藝術(shù)家李斯特，柏遼茲，門德爾松，意大利音樂家貝利尼，奧古斯特·弗朗肖姆等新浪漫主義的擁護者。

盡管肖邦有時也在大型音樂廳演出，但他更喜歡在家或是一些私人的場合，享受更融洽的氛圍。他也更喜歡教學(xué)時放松的心情。肖邦認為他細致優(yōu)美的演奏技巧和紛繁的旋律更適合小環(huán)境演奏，而不適合宏偉的音樂廳。

波蘭陷入戰(zhàn)火的消息促使他寫了許多充滿悲傷的作品，以表達對祖國波蘭的哀傷與思念，其中包括名曲《革命練習曲》。肖邦的健康狀況一直不佳，加上思鄉(xiāng)心切，一度患上肺病，曾在法國南部療養(yǎng)。期間寫過不少成名的珍品?！禙小調(diào)幻想曲》《威尼斯船歌》《幻想波羅涅茲舞曲》《降A(chǔ)大調(diào)敘事曲》《F小調(diào)敘事曲》《B小調(diào)奏鳴曲》等都是在南部療養(yǎng)時創(chuàng)作的。

戰(zhàn)事從華沙蔓延到了巴黎，肖邦不得不和朋友們躲避至蘇格蘭。雖然肖邦遠離了波蘭的戰(zhàn)火，但他憂郁的情緒絲毫沒有改善，反而陷入了更深的沮喪之中。同樣地，他的健康狀況也沒有恢復(fù)?；匕屠韬?，肖邦的健康狀況急劇下降，最終在友人們的陪伴下逝世于巴黎的寓所中，結(jié)束了短短39年的生命。他的遺體被安葬在巴黎。

肖邦最后的遺愿是將銀杯中的祖國波蘭的泥土撒在他的墳?zāi)股稀?/p>

核心單詞

tutor['tju：t?]n.家庭教師，私人教師

innate['ineit]adj.與生俱來的；天生的；固有的

prodigious[pr?'did??s]adj.巨大的；龐大的

attend[?'tend]v.出席，參加

directed[di'rektid]adj.經(jīng)指導(dǎo)的；應(yīng)用的

apparent[?'p?r?nt]adj.表面的，外觀的；未必真實的

heritage['heritid?]n.遺產(chǎn)，繼承物；遺留物

intricate['intrikit]adj.錯綜復(fù)雜的；復(fù)雜精細的

pIague[pleig]n.天災(zāi)，災(zāi)難，禍患

實用句型

AIthough Chopin Iater attended the Lyceum where his father taught, his earIy training began at home.

盡管肖邦后來到父親所教授的學(xué)校學(xué)習，但他最初的音樂訓(xùn)練來自家庭。

①這里是although引導(dǎo)的讓步狀語從句。

②attend出席，參加，類似的表達還有join in, take part in, participate in 等固定搭配。

翻譯練習

1.他出生在中國。（be born in）

2.計劃我已安排好了。（arrange for）

3.中國是煤炭生產(chǎn)大國，同時其他的礦藏也非常豐富。（as well）