柴可夫斯基——終生憂鬱的音樂天才
文字難度：認識柴可夫斯基How is one to put into words those indeterminate feelings that engulf one during the composition of an instrumental work? It is a purely lyrical proces
the outpourings of a soul marked by the 1)vicissitudes of life but destined by its very nature to express itself in music.」 Tchaikovsky wrote that in 1878, after the completion of his fourth 2)symphony, in a letter to his benefactres
Nadezhda Von Meck, the widow of an industrialist. Her generosity enabled him to devote himself entirely to composition. In the letter, Tchaikovsky has more to say about the vicissitudes of life, 「This is fate, that 3)inexorable force; it is inescapable and invincible. There is no other course but to submit and to 4)lament in vain.」當一個人在譜寫一篇樂章的時候，他該如何用語言去描述那些令他深深陶醉於其中卻又模糊不定的感覺呢？這純粹是一種宣洩情感的過程，是刻滿人世滄桑的靈魂的流露，卻註定了要用音樂來表達其真實的天性。」柴可夫斯基於1878年完成了他的第四交響曲後，在一封給娜婕達·馮·梅克夫人的信中寫下了這段話。馮·梅克夫人是一位工業家的遺孀，正是因為她的慷慨援助才讓柴可夫斯基能夠全身心地投入到音樂創作中去。在信中，柴可夫斯基更多地談到了生命的變化無常：「這就是命運，是那無情的力量——既無可逃避也無法戰勝。沒有別的方法，只能屈服並徒勞地傷悲。」He was convinced that this idea of fate or 5)providence was crucial and that it was beyond the powers of mere mortals to do anything about it. This conviction is reflected in his music, notably in his symphonic works. For Tchaikovsky, music was not just the arrangement of notes on the page; it was the language of emotion, the mirror of his own feelings.他深信命運或天意是具有決定意義的，並遠遠超出了純粹人力之所能及。這種信念也反映在了他的音樂中，特別是在他的交響樂中。對於柴可夫斯基來說，音樂不僅僅是在紙上書寫的一串串音符，還是情感的語言，是他自身感覺的反映。
Eleven years later Tchaikovsky composed his fifth symphony. By then he was Russia』s most prominent composer at home and abroad. Again, the idea of fate ran through the whole work. He noted, 「Introduction: complete surrender to fate or—and this is the same thing—to the 6)inscrutable decrees of providence.」11年後，柴可夫斯基譜出了他的第五交響曲，當時他已經是俄羅斯遠近馳名的作曲家，而關於命運的想法再一次貫穿了他的整篇曲譜。他記錄道：「開篇：完全屈服於命運，或者——這是一樣的——屈服於不可預知的天意。」Tchaikovsky was highly sensitive. Outwardly, the impression he made was balanced and self-controlled, but in reality he was very insecure; an unstable, tormented personality. He was prey to 7)dire visions and nightmares and his diary is full of astonishing and distressing disclosures about the psychological 8)agonies he went through. He wrote to Nadezhda Von Meck expressing his fear that he was 「written out」, but he completed the fifth symphony within the space of three months. Tchaikovsky conducted the first performance himself on the fifth of November, 1888, in St. Petersburg. His brother, Modeste, was present.柴可夫斯基的性格極其敏感。表面看來，他給人的印象是平穩而自製的，但實際上他非常缺乏安全感，性格不穩定且苦悶。他經常遭受可怕的幻象和夢魘的折磨，而他的日記中則大量暴露了他所遭受的驚人的心理痛苦。他在寫給娜婕達·馮·梅克的信中說，他擔心自己已經「才思枯竭」，可是他依然在三個月內完成了第五交響曲。柴可夫斯基於1888年11月5日在聖彼得堡親自指揮了交響曲的首演。他的弟弟馬戴斯特到場觀看了演出。After the symphony Pyotr Ilyich received a rapturous applause. The orchestra played three 9)flourishes for him and he was presented with flowers. But despite its great success with the audience, many critics found fault with the new symphony. But by no means all of them. After the first German performance five months later, the Hamburg reviewer Josef Zitaud, wrote, 「The E-minor symphony can rightly be hailed as one of the most significant symphonic works of the age.」 Today, Tchaikovsky』s 「Fifth」 is among the most famous symphonies ever written.演出結束後，彼得·伊里奇獲得了熱烈的掌聲。樂隊三度吹奏對他表示感謝，還有人向他獻花。然而雖然演出大受觀眾歡迎，取得了極大的成功，許多批評家還是對這篇新交響曲吹毛求疵。但並不是所有批評家都不喜歡它。五個月後在德國首演之後，漢堡的評論家約瑟夫·齊達德寫到：「準確說來，這篇E小調交響曲可以被擁為是本時代最重要的交響曲之一。」今天，柴可夫斯基的第五交響曲已經被看作是有史以來最著名的交響曲之一。Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born on the 7th of May, 1840, in a small mining town west of the 10)Urals called Votkinsk. His mother, Alexandra Andreyevna, played the piano and introduced her son to the world of music. The highly sensitive boy responded with passionate interest. Though his musical gifts were encouraged by his parent
the lowly social standing of professional musicians meant they never seriously 11)contemplated a musical career for him. At the age of ten he was sent to the School of 12)Jurisprudence in St. Petersburg, which he left nine years later to take up a junior post in the Ministry of Justice. He described himself as 「a poor civil servant」.彼得·伊里奇·柴可夫斯基於1840年5月7日出生於烏拉爾河西岸一個名叫沃特金斯克的礦業小鎮上。他的母親亞歷山德拉·安德列葉夫娜會彈鋼琴，並將兒子領進了音樂的世界，這個性格極其敏感的男孩對此顯露出了極大的興趣。雖然他的音樂天賦得到了父母親的鼓勵和支持，然而由於當時職業音樂家的社會地位低下，這也就意味著他們並沒有真的打算將來讓他以此為職業。在10歲的時候，他被送往聖彼得堡的法學院學習，9年後他離開了那裡在司法行政部謀得了一份小差事。他形容自己是一個「可憐的小文員」。Finally, in 1862, he enrolled at the new St. Petersburg 13)Conservatory of Music established by 14)Anton Rubenstein. Rubenstein persuaded him to devote himself entirely to music. In a letter to his sister, Tchaikovsky say
「This is my vocation and I must follow it. Whether I become a great composer or a poor music teacher is immaterial. 15)At all events my conscience will be clear and I shall no longer have any cause to complain about my 16)lot.」最後，在1862年，他被聖彼得堡的音樂學院錄取了，該學院是由安東·魯賓斯坦剛建立起來的。魯賓斯坦勸說他全身心地投入到音樂創作中去。在一封寫給他妹妹的信中，柴可夫斯基說道：「這就是我的天職，我必須服從它。不管我是會成為一位偉大的作曲家，還是一名貧窮的音樂教師，這都不重要。無論如何，我的意識很清醒，而且我也不再有任何理由去抱怨我的命運。」After successfully completing his studies in St. Petersburg, Tchaikovsky spent twelve years teaching music theory at the new conservatory in Moscow. His first four symphonies and many other works date from this period, so it was productive for him as a composer, but it was also a time of distress and unrest. Tchaikovsky was homosexual and that was a social 17)stigma. To avoid the inevitable 18)ostracism associated with it, he resolved to marry Antonina Miliukova, a woman he hardly knew. The marriage was a disaster. Tchaikovsky suffered a complete nervous breakdown and tried to kill himself. After separating from his wife in 1878, Tchaikovsky continued as an extremely successful 19)freelance composer. The vicissitudes he had been through strengthened his firm belief in the force of destiny.在順利完成了他在聖彼得堡的學業後，柴可夫斯基花了12年時間在莫斯科的一間新音樂學校教授樂理。他的前四部交響曲和許多其他樂章都是在這一時期完成的，所以作為一位作曲家，他算是很高產的，然而這段時期對於他來說也充滿了憂傷與不安。柴可夫斯基是名同性戀者，而這在當時被看作是社會的恥辱。為了避免因此而受到社會的排斥，他決定娶安東妮雅·米露可娃，一個他幾乎完全不了解的女子為妻。這場婚姻完全是場災難，柴可夫斯基的精神完全崩潰了，還企圖自殺。在1878年與妻子分居後，柴可夫斯基成為了一位極其成功的自由作曲家。他所經歷的坎坷生活更堅定了他對命運之力的信仰。The mysterious circumstances surrounding his early death at the age of 53 have 20)given rise to a great deal of speculation. We know that he drank a glass of unboiled water in a restaurant in St. Petersburg when 21)cholera was raging in the city. Some believe that he did this intentionally.而他在53歲時神秘的英年早逝更是引起了各種猜測。我們知道的原因是在霍亂肆虐的時候，他在聖彼得堡的一家餐館飲用了一杯未經煮沸的生水。有些人認為他是故意這麼做的。22)Igor Stravinsky, a great admirer of Tchaikovsky, said this about his countryman, 「Tchaikovsky had a powerful sense of melody. It is the 23)centre of gravity in all his symphonie
operas and ballets. There is no doubt that he was an inspired creator of melody and that is a rare and precious gift.」作為柴可夫斯基的熱心崇拜者，伊戈爾·斯特拉文斯基對他這位同胞的評價是：「柴可夫斯基對旋律有著強大的感知力。這種感知力是他所有交響曲、歌劇和芭蕾舞曲的重心。毫無疑問，他是一位對旋律極有靈感的創作者，這是一種罕見而珍貴的天賦。」對第二樂章的樂評The beginning of the second movement takes us into an entirely different world. With quiet piano-24)pianissimo chords in the lower string
it』s a very gentle introduction. Then comes a 25)cantilena on the horn; this is the main theme. The movement is marked 「26)Andante 27)Cantabile 28)con alcuna licenza」, a songful andante with a degree of license. This is an allusion to the licenza of operatic aria
allowing the singer to modify the 29)tempo at his or her discretion.第二樂章的開篇就將我們帶入了一個完全不同的世界。隨著輕柔的鋼琴聲和低音域和弦，這是一篇溫柔的序曲。接著是圓號吹奏的抒情曲，這是主題旋律。這一樂章屬於「稍自由的如歌的行板」，即旋律優美的行板但又帶有少許的自由，像是在引用歌劇的唱腔，讓歌手可以自行調節速度。The horn cantilena is followed by an 30)oboe theme that Tchaikovsky refers to in his sketches as 「a ray of light」. Both these themes 31)culminate in passionate climaxe
which, however, subside again almost as soon as they appear.圓號之後緊接著是一段雙簧主題，柴可夫斯基在草稿中將其稱之為「光線」。這兩個主題旋律都達到了高潮，不過幾乎轉瞬即逝。If you think of the symphony in terms of a novel, I would say that this is an 32)idyllic episode. In fact, I think you could even call it a love scene. It opens as a dialogue between the horn melody and the oboe theme. In the central section you have constant give and take between different instruments or groups of instruments. Then there』s the indication 「33)Con desiderio e passione」, which is very unusual.如果你用小說來比喻交響樂，我想說這首猶如一篇田園詩。實際上，我認為你甚至可以將它稱之為愛情詩篇。它以圓號曲調和雙簧管主題的對話為開篇，在中段你可以經常聽到其他單個或群體樂器此起彼伏。然後出現了激情片段，這是很少見的。The central section introduces a new theme that builds to a 34)forte-fortissimo climax. At this point the full orchestra hammers out the 「fate」 theme. After a general pause, the 35)recapitulation sets in. Again, the two main themes are developed into a passionate climax. The 「fate」 theme intrudes once more before the coda brings the movement to a melancholy close built around the second theme.中段出現了一篇新的主題，進入了新的高潮。此時整個樂團帶出了「命運」這一主題。稍作停頓之後，進入反覆部分。兩個主題旋律再次營造出激情的高潮，接著在結尾處由第二旋律帶出悲傷的曲調，再次出現命運的主題。
柴可夫斯基與馮·梅克夫人
作為一位偉大的音樂家，柴可夫斯基的性格卻是憂傷而內向的，只有一個人跟他有著親密的關係，那就是娜婕達·馮·梅克夫人，但這也僅限於通信來往。馮·梅克夫人是一位富翁的遺孀，當她聽過了他的《暴風雨》序曲的鋼琴改編曲後，就被他的音樂所感動，從此開始資助他的生活，使他能夠專心投入到音樂創作中去。然而在長達13年的時間裡，他們恪守著彼此的承諾永不見面，只用書信連接著兩個人的新，即使曾經只相隔一片草地的距離。可是正當柴可夫斯基的事業如日中天的時候，卻接到了馮·梅克夫人的一封信，說她已經處於破產的邊緣再也無法供給他任何款項，而且他們之間的關係必須結束了。之後，滿懷悲痛的柴可夫斯基寫出了著名的《輩愴交響曲》。這是柴可夫斯基最後的作品，在這裡面他留贈給世界的是他天才的光輝和悲痛的異彩。《悲愴交響曲》MV卡拉揚版
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