Eric Whitacre: Virtual Choir Live

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

翻译人员: Qianxi Xiao 校对人员: Bi Chen

In 1991 I had

1991年可能是我一生中

maybe the most profound and transformative

最重要也是改变我最大的

experience of my life.

一年。

I was in the third year of my seven-year undergraduate degree.

在我七年的本科里，我当时大三。

I took a couple victory laps in there.

我复读了好几届。

And I was on a college choir tour up in Northern California,

一天，我参加了大学合唱队的北加州演出之旅，

and we had stopped for the day after all day on the bus,

坐了一天的巴士后，我们终于停了下来，

and we were relaxing next to this beautiful

当时我们正在山里的一个美丽的湖泊旁

idyllic lake in the mountains.

休息。

And there were crickets and birds and frogs making noise,

蟋蟀、小鸟、蛙声一片，

and as we sat there, over the mountains coming in

我们坐在那儿，山的北边飘来大朵厚厚的

from the north were these Steven Spielbergian clouds

似史蒂芬斯·皮尔伯格电影里的云团

rolling toward us,

朝我们席卷过来，

and as the clouds got about halfway over the valley,

当云团飘到山谷一半时，

so help me God, every single animal in that place

不可思议的事情发生了----山谷里所有动物发出的声音

stopped making noise at the same time.

嘎然而止。

(Whoosh) This electric hush, as if they could sense what was about to happen.

（呼唏）万籁俱寂，好像它们感觉到要发生什么，

And then the clouds came over us, and then,

然后，云团飘到我们头顶，突然，

boom! This massive thunderclap, and sheets of rain.

嘣！霹雳雷震，大雨如织。

It was just extraordinary, and when I came back home

太震撼了！我回到家后

I found a poem by the Mexican poet Octavio Paz,

找到一首墨西哥诗人奥克塔维奥·帕斯（Octavio Paz）写的诗，

and decided to set it to music,

并决定把它谱成曲，

a piece for choir called "Cloudburst,"

一首合唱曲目，叫《暴雨》，

which is the piece that we'll perform for you in just a moment.

一会儿我们即将为各位演唱这首歌曲。

Now fast forward to just three years ago.

但现在，先让我们回到三年前，

(Music) And we released to YouTube this,

（音乐）我们在You tube上发布了这个，

the Virtual Choir Project,

网络虚拟合唱项目（Virtual Choir Project)，

185 singers from 12 different countries.

来自12国家的185为歌手同“台”献艺，

You can see my little video there conducting these people,

你可以看到我在小视频里指挥这些歌手，

alone in their dorm rooms

歌手们有的在自己的宿舍里，

or in their living rooms at home.

有的在家里的客厅献唱。

Two years ago, on this very stage, we premiered

两年前，同样在这个平台上，

Virtual Choir 2,

虚拟合唱团二举行首演，

2,052 singers from 58 different countries,

来自58个国家的2052位歌手参与其中，

this time performing a piece that I had written called "Sleep."

这次演唱的曲目是我写的《睡眠》。

And then just last spring we released Virtual Choir 3,

就在今年春天，我们发布了虚拟合唱团三，

"Water Night," another piece that I had written,

《水夜》，我写的另一首曲子，

this time nearly 4,000 singers from 73 different countries.

这次，来自73个国家的近4000名歌手献唱。

(Music)

（音乐）

And when I was speaking to Chris about the future

我和克里斯（Chris）谈到虚拟合唱团未来的时候，

of Virtual Choir and where we might be able to take this,

谈到我们的发展方向的时候，

he challenged me to push the technology as far as we possibly could.

他鼓励我把技术的运用推向极致，

Could we do this all in real time?

我们能进行实时表演吗？

Could we have people singing together in real time?

我们的歌手能进行实时演唱吗？

And with the help of Skype,

借助Skype软件，

that is what we are going to attempt today.

今天，我们就将尝试这一伟大创举。

Now, we'll perform "Cloudburst" for you.

下面，我们将为各位献上《暴雨》。

The first half will be performed by the live singers here on stage.

曲子的前半部分由台上的歌手们现场演唱，

I'm joined by singers from Cal State Long Beach,

他们是来自加州州立大学长滩分校的歌手，

Cal State Fullerton and Riverside Community College,

来自加州州立大学富尔顿分校以及来自里弗赛德社区学院的

some of the best amateur choirs in the country, and —

合唱团——他们是美国最优秀的业余合唱团，

(Applause) --

（掌声）

and in the second half of the piece,

曲子的后半部分，

the virtual choir will join us, 30 different singers

虚拟合唱团将加入我们，他们是来自30个国家的

from 30 different countries.

30名歌手。

Now, we've pushed the technology as far as it can go,

现在，我们已经把技术的运用推向了极致，

but there's still less than a second of latency,

但是仍然有不到一秒的延迟，

but in musical terms, that's a lifetime.

在音乐里，这是不允许的。

We deal in milliseconds.

我们要求同步到毫秒。

So what I've done is, I've adapted "Cloudburst"

所以，我把《暴雨》作了调整。

so that it embraces the latency

这样，曲子本身预留出延迟的时间

and the performers sing into the latency

表演者就能在延迟的时间内开口歌唱

instead of trying to be exactly together.

而不是全部同步。

So with deep humility, and for your approval,

下面，满怀谦卑与感激，

we present "Cloudburst."

让我们带来《暴雨》。

(Applause)

（掌声）

(Piano)

（钢琴）

[The rain ...]

【雨……】

[Eyes of shadow-water]

【影水之眼】

[eyes of well-water]

【井水之眼】

[eyes of dream-water.]

【梦水之眼。】

[Blue suns, green whirlwinds,]

【蓝色的太阳，绿色的旋风，】

[birdbeaks of light pecking open]

【鸟喙轻轻地叩开】

[pomegranate stars.]

【石榴星辰。】

[But tell me, burnt earth, is there no water?]

【但是，告诉我，烧焦的地球啊，难道没有水吗？】

[Only blood, only dust,]

【只有鲜血，只有尘土，】

[only naked footsteps on the thorns?]

【只有荆棘上赤裸的脚印？】

[The rain awakens...]

【雨醒了……】

[We must sleep with open eyes,]

【我们必须睁着眼睡去，】

[we must dream with our hands,]

【我们必须用双手追梦，】

[we must dream the dreams of a river seeking its course,]

【我们必须梦着河流的梦，追寻前行的路，】

[of the sun dreaming its worlds.]

【我们必须梦着太阳的梦，梦想着她的世界。】

[We must dream aloud,]

【我们必须高声地梦想，】

[we must sing till the song puts forth roots,]

【我们必须歌唱，直到歌曲生出根、】

[trunk, branches, birds, stars.]

【干、枝、鸟、星。】

[We must find the lost word,]

【我们必须找回遗失的字眼，】

[and remember what the blood,]

【并且记住鲜血、】

[the tides, the earth, and the body say,]

【浪潮、地球和尸体的话语，】

[and return to the point of departure...]

【我们必须回到分离的原点……】

(Music)

（音乐）

(Applause)

（掌声）

["Cloudburst" Octavio Paz][translation by Lysander Kemp, adapted by Eric Whitacre]

【《暴雨》奥克塔维奥·帕斯】【英译：莱赛德·肯普（Lysander Kemp），改编：埃里克·惠特克（Eric Whitacre）】

Eric Whitacre: Beth. Annabelle, where are you? Jacob.

埃里克·惠特克：贝斯（Beth），安娜贝勒（Annabelle），你们在哪儿？雅各布（Jacob）。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Thank you.

谢谢。