Michael Tilson Thomas: Music and emotion through time

Translator: Timothy Covell Reviewer: Morton Bast

翻译人员: Peng Shao 校对人员: Dennis Guo

Well when I was asked to do this TEDTalk, I was really chuckled,

当我接到邀请来给TED做这个演讲的时候，我真的笑了。

because, you see, my father's name was Ted,

因为，你知道，我父亲的名字就叫Ted，

and much of my life, especially my musical life,

而且我生命的大部分，特别是我的音乐生涯，

is really a talk that I'm still having with him,

也只是一次和他进行的，现在还在继续的谈话，

or the part of me that he continues to be.

或者一部分的我，还在继续。

Now Ted was a New Yorker, an all-around theater guy,

现在，Ted住在纽约，奔波于不同的剧场，

and he was a self-taught illustrator and musician.

他是一个自学成才的指挥家和音乐家。

He didn't read a note,

他不识乐谱，

and he was profoundly hearing impaired.

并且他有很严重的弱听。

Yet, he was my greatest teacher.

他还是我最好的老师。

Because even through the squeaks of his hearing aids,

即使他不得不借助助听器，

his understanding of music was profound.

他对于音乐的理解非常深刻。

And for him, it wasn't so much the way the music goes

而且对于他来说，重要的不只是音乐的形式，

as about what it witnesses and where it can take you.

而是它带来的感受，和它把你带到哪里。

And he did a painting of this experience,

他曾经用绘画描绘过这种感受，

which he called "In the Realm of Music."

他把它命名为，在“音乐的世界”。

Now Ted entered this realm every day by improvising

Ted每天都通过即兴表演沉浸在这个世界里

in a sort of Tin Pan Alley style like this.

有点像在叮砰巷听到的音乐的风格（叮砰巷：美国纽约市第28街为中心的音乐出版商和作曲家聚集地）。

(Music)

（音乐）

But he was tough when it came to music.

但是对于音乐本身，他是异常严肃认真的。

He said, "There are only two things that matter in music:

他说：“音乐里，只有两件事情最重要：”

what and how.

“内容（什么），和表达形式（如何）。”

And the thing about classical music,

”对于古典音乐来说，

that what and how, it's inexhaustible."

内容和表现形式，永无止境。

That was his passion for the music.

这就是他对于音乐的激情。

Both my parents really loved it.

我的父母亲都非常热爱音乐。

They didn't know all that much about it,

他们并不是无所不知，

but they gave me the opportunity to discover it

但是他们给了我一个机会，去发现音乐，

together with them.

——和他们一起。

And I think inspired by that memory,

我认为正是那些受那些记忆的启发，

it's been my desire to try and bring it

我一直以来都非常热衷于尝试，并把音乐

to as many other people as I can,

带给尽可能多的人，

sort of pass it on through whatever means.

千方百计的用各种渠道传播给更多人。

And how people get this music, how it comes into their lives,

而且人们从哪里接触到某种音乐，它如何融入他们的生活，

really fascinates me.

非常让我着迷。

One day in New York, I was on the street

有一天，我在纽约的街头

and I saw some kids playing baseball between stoops and cars and fire hydrants.

我看到一些小孩子在门廊，汽车和消防栓之间打棒球。

And a tough, slouchy kid got up to bat,

一个强壮的，无精打采的孩子准备击球，

and he took a swing and really connected.

他甩开球棒，真的击到了球。

And he watched the ball fly for a second,

然后他看着球飞了一会儿，

and then he went, "Dah dadaratatatah.

然后就唱起来，”达 达达……（音乐旋律）。“

Brah dada dadadadah."

”巴 达达 达……“

And he ran around the bases.

然后他绕着球场跑起来。

And I thought, go figure.

我就想，试着猜猜看吧。

How did this piece of 18th century Austrian aristocratic entertainment

这首18世纪奥地利的贵族音乐

turn into the victory crow of this New York kid?

是怎么样变成这个纽约孩子的胜利的时候欢唱的旋律的？

How was that passed on? How did he get to hear Mozart?

这首曲子是怎么样流传下来的？那个孩子是怎么样听到莫扎特的曲子的？

Well when it comes to classical music,

当说到古典音乐的时候，

there's an awful lot to pass on,

有太多的东西被传承，

much more than Mozart, Beethoven or Tchiakovsky.

比莫扎特，贝多芬，或者柴可夫斯基多得多。

Because classical music

因为古典音乐

is an unbroken living tradition

是从未被间断的鲜活的传统

that goes back over 1,000 years.

已经有超过1000年的历史。

And every one of those years

这其中的每一年

has had something unique and powerful to say to us

都有一些独特的，强大的事情启发着我们

about what it's like to be alive.

去体验活着是什么样子。

Now the raw material of it, of course,

现在，那些原始的素材，当然，

is just the music of everyday life.

就是那些和日常生活有关的音乐。

It's all the anthems and dance crazes

那就是所有的赞美诗，流行的舞曲

and ballads and marches.

还有歌谣，还有进行曲。

But what classical music does

但是古典音乐所做的，

is to distill all of these musics down,

就是把所有的这些音乐进行提炼，

to condense them to their absolute essence,

把它们提炼成为绝对的精华。

and from that essence create a new language,

从这种精华里，创造了一种新的语言，

a language that speaks very lovingly and unflinchingly

这种语言深情地，原原本本地

about who we really are.

讲述着我们本来的面目。

It's a language that's still evolving.

这是一种还在不断进化的语言。

Now over the centuries it grew into the big pieces we always think of,

在数个世纪的时间里，它成为了我们平时所熟知的形式，

like concertos and symphonies,

比如协奏曲和交响乐，

but even the most ambitious masterpiece

但是即使是最充满雄心的经典乐曲

can have as its central mission

它最中心的价值

to bring you back to a fragile and personal moment --

是把你带到那个脆弱的私人空间

like this one from the Beethoven Violin Concerto.

就像是贝多芬的小提琴协奏曲。

(Music)

（音乐）

It's so simple, so evocative.

它如此简单，如此的能唤起人们的遐想。

So many emotions seem to be inside of it.

它里面看起来包含了如此多的情绪。

Yet, of course, like all music,

当然，就像所有的音乐，

it's essentially not about anything.

它本身并不是在阐述所有的事情。

It's just a design of pitches and silence and time.

它只是一连串设计出来的音调，静止和时间节拍。

And the pitches, the notes, as you know, are just vibrations.

这些音调，音符，你知道，其实只是机械的振动。

They're locations in the spectrum of sound.

它们是音域中的位置。

And whether we call them 440 per second, A,

不管是我们教它每秒（振动）440次， A，

or 3,729, B flat -- trust me, that's right --

还是3729，降B大调——相信我，都是对的——

they're just phenomena.

它们只是现象。

But the way we react to different combinations of these phenomena

但是我们对于这些现象的不同组合的反应

is complex and emotional and not totally understood.

很复杂，而且情绪化，并且不完全能被理解。

And the way we react to them has changed radically over the centuries,

而且我们对于他们的反应，在几个世纪的时间里发生着急剧的变化，

as have our preferences for them.

就像我们对于它们的喜好的变化。

So for example, in the 11th century,

例如，在11世纪，

people liked pieces that ended like this.

人们喜欢结尾是这样的曲子。

(Music)

（音乐）

And in the 17th century, it was more like this.

到了17世纪，就更倾向于这样的。

(Music)

（音乐）

And in the 21st century ...

在21世纪……

(Music)

（音乐）

Now your 21st century ears are quite happy with this last chord,

你们生活的21世纪非常喜欢像是刚才这个和弦，

even though a while back it would have puzzled or annoyed you

虽然在过去，这种调调也许让你感到困惑，或者你觉得很讨厌

or sent some of you running from the room.

或者能让你们中的一些人赶紧逃离这个房间。

And the reason you like it

你喜欢它的原因

is because you've inherited, whether you knew it or not,

是因为你继承了，不管你知道与否，

centuries-worth of changes

几个世纪以来的变化

in musical theory, practice and fashion.

在音乐理论，实践和流行趋势当中。

And in classical music we can follow these changes very, very accurately

在古典音乐中，我们可以非常准确的寻找这些变化的轨迹

because of the music's powerful silent partner,

这是音乐有一个默默无闻，但是很强大的伙伴，

the way it's been passed on: notation.

这就是音乐得以流传的方式：乐谱。

Now the impulse to notate,

把音乐用符号记录下来的冲动，

or, more exactly I should say, encode music

或者，用更确切地表达方式，我要说，给音乐编码

has been with us for a very long time.

已经伴随我们很长一段历史了。

In 200 B.C., a man named Sekulos

在公元前200年，一个叫做Sekulos的人，

wrote this song for his departed wife

为他过世了的妻子写了一首歌

and inscribed it on her gravestone

然后把它刻在了她的墓碑上

in the notational system of the Greeks.

用希腊的记谱系统。

(Music)

（音乐）

And a thousand years later,

一千年之后，

this impulse to notate took an entirely different form.

这种记录的方式采用了一种完全不同的方式。

And you can see how this happened

你可以看到这是怎么发生的

in these excerpts from the Christmas mass "Puer Natus est nobis,"

在那些圣诞弥撒曲"Puer Natus est nobis,"

"For Us is Born."

"为我们而生"

(Music)

（音乐）

In the 10th century, little squiggles were used

在10世纪，弯弯曲曲的小曲线被用来

just to indicate the general shape of the tune.

表示音符的几号。

And in the 12th century, a line was drawn, like a musical horizon line,

在12世纪，加了一条线，有点儿像是音乐的地平线，

to better pinpoint the pitch's location.

用来定位音高。

And then in the 13th century, more lines and new shapes of notes

到了13世纪，更多的线，和不同形状的符号

locked in the concept of the tune exactly,

被确定下来准确的表达音阶，

and that led to the kind of notation we have today.

这就发展成了我们今天的记谱方式。

Well notation not only passed the music on,

记谱并不仅仅把音乐传承了下来，

notating and encoding the music changed its priorities entirely,

记录和给音乐编码的作用也整个发生了改变，

because it enabled the musicians

因为它能让音乐家

to imagine music on a much vaster scale.

在更大的范围内，想象构思音乐。

Now inspired moves of improvisation

现在，在一时的灵感基础上的即兴创作

could be recorded, saved, considered, prioritized,

可以被记录，保存，考虑，重新区分优先次序，

made into intricate designs.

处理成复杂的设计。

And from this moment, classical music became

从这一刻起，古典音乐变成

what it most essentially is,

它本质上的意义所在，

a dialogue between the two powerful sides of our nature:

一种自然界两个强大的两极的对话：

instinct and intelligence.

本能和智慧。

And there began to be a real difference at this point

这就导致了真正的差别——

between the art of improvisation

在即兴创作的艺术，和

and the art of composition.

作曲的艺术之间。

Now an improviser senses and plays the next cool move,

一个即兴演奏着，感受，并且演奏（众多旋律的可能性中）很酷的一种方式，

but a composer is considering all possible moves,

但是一个严肃的作曲家考虑所有可能的方向，

testing them out, prioritizing them out,

试验它们，把它们排列顺序，

until he sees how they can form a powerful and coherent design

直到找到一种强大的，和谐的设计

of ultimate and enduring coolness.

这是一种最终的，有生命力的伟大延续。

Now some of the greatest composers, like Bach,

一些最伟大作曲家，比如巴赫，

were combinations of these two things.

是两种事物的结合。

Bach was like a great improviser with a mind of a chess master.

巴赫像是一个有着国际象棋大师一样头脑的即兴演奏家。

Mozart was the same way.

莫扎特也是一样。

But every musician strikes a different balance

但是每个音乐家在

between faith and reason, instinct and intelligence.

真实和推理，本能和智慧之间的平衡点不一样。

And every musical era had different priorities of these things,

每一个音乐时代，都有不同的突出特点，

different things to pass on, different 'whats' and 'hows'.

不同的事情传承，不同的“什么（内容）”和“怎么样（形式）”。

So in the first eight centuries or so of this tradition

所以在这个传统的前八个世纪

the big 'what' was to praise God.

这个大的“什么”是对神的颂扬。

And by the 1400s, music was being written

到了15世纪，音乐用来

that tried to mirror God's mind

被反应神的意志

as could be seen in the design of the night sky.

比如在夜空中可以看到他的显现。

The 'how' was a style called polyphony,

这里的“怎么样”是一种叫做复位音乐的形式，

music of many independently moving voices

一种很多种各自独立的，不同的声音

that suggested the way the planets seemed to move

被用来阐释行星看起来运动的方式

in Ptolemy's geocentric universe.

——在托勒密（古希腊天文学家、地理学家、数学家， 地心说的创立者)的地球为中心的宇宙中。

This was truly the music of the spheres.

这是真正的地球的音乐。

(Music)

（音乐）

This is the kind of music that Leonardo DaVinci would have known.

这是一种莱奥纳多 达芬奇应该知道的音乐。

And perhaps its tremendous intellectual perfection and serenity

也许它的高度的智慧的完美性和纯粹性

meant that something new had to happen --

预示着有些什么事情即将发生——

a radical new move, which in 1600 is what did happen.

一种激进的变化，真的在十七世纪发生了。

(Music) Singer: Ah, bitter blow!

（音乐）

Ah, wicked, cruel fate!

啊，邪恶的，残酷的命运！

Ah, baleful stars!

啊，凶兆星！

Ah, avaricious heaven!

啊，贪婪的天堂！

MTT: This, of course, was the birth of opera,

这，当然，就是歌剧的起源，

and its development put music on a radical new course.

它的发展，把音乐送上了快速发展的轨道。

The what now was not to mirror the mind of God,

这里的“什么”不是反应上帝的意志了，

but to follow the emotion turbulence of man.

而是表达人的情绪的变化。

And the how was harmony,

而这里的“如何”，就是和声，

stacking up the pitches to form chords.

也就是把音高叠加起来，组成和弦。

And the chords, it turned out,

而和弦，正好

were capable of representing incredible varieties of emotions.

可以代表令人吃惊的各种情绪。

And the basic chords were the ones we still have with us,

基本的和旋，就是现在我们还可以看到的，

the triads,

三和弦，

either the major one,

不管是大三和弦

which we think is happy,

我们认为它代表愉快，

or the minor one,

还是小三和弦

which we perceive as sad.

我们把它理解为忧伤。

But what's the actual difference between these two chords?

但是这两种和弦之间究竟是有什么差别？

It's just these two notes in the middle.

差别只是中间的两个音符。

It's either E natural,

它是E本位音，

and 659 vibrations per second,

或者是每秒659次振动，

or E flat, at 622.

或者是是降E大调，在622赫兹。

So the big difference between human happiness and sadness?

所以人类愉快和悲伤之间的巨大差异？

37 freakin' vibrations.

只是37个奇异的振动。

So you can see in a system like this

所以，你看在这个系统里，

there was enormous subtle potential

有巨大的微妙的潜力，来

of representing human emotions.

表达人类的情绪。

And in fact, as man began to understand more

事实上，随着人们越来越多的理解

his complex and ambivalent nature,

人的复杂和摇摆不定的天性，

harmony grew more complex to reflect it.

和声也变得越来越复杂。

Turns out it was capable of expressing emotions

它能表达语言不能描述

beyond the ability of words.

的情感。

Now with all this possibility,

有了这个可能性，

classical music really took off.

古典音乐开始真的腾飞了。

It's the time in which the big forms began to arise.

这是大的形式开始上升的时代。

And the effects of technology began to be felt also,

技术的进步也开始起作用，

because printing put music, the scores, the codebooks of music,

因为乐谱的印刷品

into the hands of performers everywhere.

可以被各地的演奏者得到了。

And new and improved instruments

新的，改进的乐器

made the age of the virtuoso possible.

使得这成为一个演绎精湛的人们的时代。

This is when those big forms arose --

这就是那些大的形式出现的时代——

the symphonies, the sonatas, the concertos.

交响乐，奏鸣曲，协奏曲

And in these big architectures of time,

在这些时间组成的框架中，

composers like Beethoven could share the insights of a lifetime.

像是贝多芬这样的作曲家分享他们对于一生的真知灼见。

A piece like Beethoven's Fifth

一首像贝多芬第五交响乐的曲子

basically witnessing how it was possible

基本上是记录了他是如何

for him to go from sorrow and anger,

从悲伤走向愤怒，

over the course of a half an hour,

在半个小时的时间里，

step by exacting step of his route,

一步一步严格地沿着他的路线，

to the moment when he could make it across to joy.

知道他简直的最后一刻，跨向了喜悦。

(Music)

（音乐）

And it turned out the symphony could be used for more complex issues,

碰巧这些交响乐可以用于更复杂的事物，

like gripping ones of culture,

比如文化中扣人心弦的那些事情，

such as nationalism or quest for freedom

例如民族主义，或者对于自由的追求

or the frontiers of sensuality.

或者感官享受的前沿。

But whatever direction the music took,

但是不管音乐朝这其中的那个方向走，

one thing until recently was always the same,

有一件事总是正确的，直到今天也是这样，

and that was when the musicians stopped playing,

那就是当音乐家停止演奏的时候，

the music stopped.

音乐就停止了。

Now this moment so fascinates me.

这个时刻让我觉得非常有意思。

I find it such a profound one.

我觉得它如此深刻。

What happens when the music stops?

当音乐停止，会怎么样？

Where does it go? What's left?

它去那儿了？留下了什么？

What sticks with people in the audience at the end of a performance?

在演出结束的时候，留给观众的是什么？

Is it a melody or a rhythm

是一个旋律还是一组节奏

or a mood or an attitude?

或者情绪还是态度？

And how might that change their lives?

那又是如何改变他们的生活的？

To me this is the intimate, personal side of music.

对我来说，这是音乐的私密，私人的一面。

It's the passing on part. It's the 'why' part of it.

这是传承的那部分，是“为什么”那部分。

And to me that's the most essential of all.

在我看来，这是所有的概念中最核心的部分。

Mostly it's been a person-to-person thing,

大多数时候，这是人于人之间的事情。

a teacher-student, performer-audience thing,

是介意老师——学生，表演者——听众之间的事，

and then around 1880 came this new technology

而到了1880年出现了一种新技术

that first mechanically then through analogs then digitally

开始是机械的，然后是模拟电路，然后是数字电路

created a new and miraculous way of passing things on,

开创了新的，奇迹般的方式，传承事物

albeit an impersonal one.

虽然不是在个人层面上。

People could now hear music all the time,

人们可以一直听音乐，

even though it wasn't necessary

for them to play an instrument, read music or even go to concerts.

即使他们不不一定

要演奏乐器，读乐谱或者甚至到音乐会去。

And technology democratized music by making everything available.

技术让一切都成为可能，让音乐更大众化。

It spearheaded a cultural revolution

它引导了一场文化上的革命

in which artists like Caruso and Bessie Smith were on the same footing.

在这场革命里，Caruso（1873 – 1921意大利男高音）和Bessie Smith （1894 – 1937最著名的蓝调音乐歌手）站在同一个起跑线上。

And technology pushed composers to tremendous extremes,

技术把作曲家推向了惊人的极致，

using computers and synthesizers

使用计算机和合成器

to create works of intellectually impenetrable complexity

创作出智力不能达到的复杂作品

beyond the means of performers and audiences.

超越了表演者和观众的所见到过的手法。

At the same time technology,

同时，技术

by taking over the role that notation had always played,

通过取代记谱一直以来所起的作用，

shifted the balance within music between instinct and intelligence

把本能和智慧之间的平衡倾斜到

way over to the instinctive side.

本能的那一面。

The culture in which we live now

我们现在所生活在其中的文化

is awash with music of improvisation

被即兴表演的音乐所淹没

that's been sliced, diced, layered

那些音乐被分成片，切割成小块，分出层次

and, God knows, distributed and sold.

并且，天知道，传播并且出售。

What's the long-term effect of this on us or on music?

这种情况长期下去对于我们，或者对于音乐的影响是什么？

Nobody knows.

没人知道。

The question remains: What happens when the music stops?

问题依然是：当音乐停止的时候，会怎么样？

What sticks with people?

依然留在人们身边的是什么？

Now that we have unlimited access to music, what does stick with us?

现在我们随时随地都可以听的音乐，它们带给我们的是什么？

Well let me show you a story of what I mean

我用一个小故事来解释我的意思

by "really sticking with us."

关于“到底留给我们的是什么。”

I was visiting a cousin of mine in an old age home,

我曾经去一栋老房子里看望我的表亲，

and I spied a very shaky old man

我看到一个颤抖的老人

making his way across the room on a walker.

在助步车的帮助下穿过房间。

He came over to a piano that was there,

他来到那里放着的一架钢琴跟前，

and he balanced himself and began playing something like this.

他调整好身子，然后开始弹类似于这样的曲子。

(Music)

（音乐）

And he said something like, "Me ... boy ... symphony ... Beethoven."

然后他说了类似于这样的话, "我……男孩……贝多芬。"

And I suddenly got it,

我马上意识到他的意思，

and I said, "Friend, by any chance are you trying to play this?"

然后我说，“朋友，你是不是偶尔会弹这个？”

(Music)

（音乐）

And he said, "Yes, yes. I was a little boy.

然后他说，“是的，是的，当时我还是个小孩子。

The symphony: Isaac Stern, the concerto, I heard it."

交响乐，Issac Stern， 协奏曲，我听到了。“

And I thought, my God,

然后我想，上帝啊，

how much must this music mean to this man

音乐对这个人到底意味着什么

that he would get himself out of his bed, across the room

能让这个人从床上起来，穿过房间

to recover the memory of this music

重新开启他关于这首曲子的记忆

that, after everything else in his life is sloughing away,

在他生命里其他所有的事情都离他远去之后，

still means so much to him?

依然对于他意味着这么多？

Well, that's why I take every performance so seriously,

这就是为什么我对待每次演出都如此的认真，

why it matters to me so much.

为什么它对我来说如此重要。

I never know who might be there, who might be absorbing it

我永远不知道谁会在那儿（听），谁会在如饥似渴的听这些音乐

and what will happen to it in their life.

在他们的生活里会发生什么。

But now I'm excited that there's more chance than ever before possible

但是现在，我非常兴奋的是，和以往任何时候相比，我们分享

of sharing this music.

音乐的机会都多得多。

That's what drives my interest in projects

这就是推动我的动力，让我对于

like the TV series "Keeping Score" with the San Francisco Symphony

像旧金山交响乐团的电视系列片”Keeping Score“这样感兴趣的原因。

that looks at the backstories of music,

讲述音乐背后的故事，

and working with the young musicians at the New World Symphony

并且和新世界交响乐团的年轻音乐家一起

on projects that explore the potential

尝试寻找潜在的

of the new performing arts centers

信表演场所

for both entertainment and education.

服务于娱乐界和教育。

And of course, the New World Symphony

当然，新世界交响乐团

led to the YouTube Symphony and projects on the internet

也导致了You Tube交响乐团的产生和互联网上的一些项目

that reach out to musicians and audiences all over the world.

影响到全世界各个角落的音乐家和观众。

And the exciting thing is all this is just a prototype.

令人兴奋的是，这些都只是个雏形。

There's just a role here for so many people --

它们为那么多人都提供了一个机会……

teachers, parents, performers --

教师，父母，演奏者……

to be explorers together.

一起探索。

Sure, the big events attract a lot of attention,

当然，这些活动吸引了大量的人们关注，

but what really matters is what goes on every single day.

但是真正重要的是每天都发生的事情。

We need your perspectives, your curiosity, your voices.

我们需要你们的眼光，你们的好奇心，你们的声音。

And it excites me now to meet people

现在和不同的人们见面，让我非常兴奋

who are hikers, chefs, code writers, taxi drivers,

比如步行者，厨师，程序员，出租车司机，

people I never would have guessed who loved the music

那些我从没有想过会喜欢音乐的人

and who are passing it on.

那些传承音乐的人。

You don't need to worry about knowing anything.

你不用担心自己知道的不多。

If you're curious, if you have a capacity for wonder, if you're alive,

如果你好奇，如果你充满了疑问，如果你活着，

you know all that you need to know.

你就知道你所需要知道的一切。

You can start anywhere. Ramble a bit.

你可以从任何地方开始。随处逛逛看。

Follow traces. Get lost. Be surprised, amused inspired.

沿着别人的路走。也许会迷路，然后让自己惊奇，收到启发。

All that 'what', all that 'how' is out there

关于”什么“，”如何“的所有信息，都在那儿

waiting for you to discover its 'why',

等着你去发现背后的”为什么“，

to dive in and pass it on.

让你深入其中，并且传承下去。

Thank you.

谢谢！

(Applause)

（鼓掌）