Eric Whitacre: Virtual Choir Live

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

譯者: Ivan Che 審譯者: William Choi

In 1991 I had

在 1991 年，我經歷了

maybe the most profound and transformative

也許是一生中最深層

experience of my life.

且改變最大之經驗，

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

當時我正在大學七年學程中的第三年，

I took a couple victory laps in there.

在那裡我嘗過幾場勝利，

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

我當時在北加州參加了一個 大學合唱團的巡迴表演，

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

整天都待在巴士上， 有一天我們停下來，

and we were relaxing next to this beautiful

我們在休息，

idyllic lake in the mountains.

就在如詩如畫的湖光山色旁。

And there were crickets and birds and frogs making noise,

身旁充滿蟋蟀聲、鳥鳴、青蛙叫聲，

and as we sat there, over the mountains coming in

當我們一坐下，從北面的群山那邊，

from the north were these Steven Spielbergian clouds

突然飄來一群史蒂芬史匹柏 電影裡才會出現的烏雲，

rolling toward us,

向我們翻滾而來。

and as the clouds got about halfway over the valley,

當烏雲蓋住一半的村莊時，

so help me God, every single animal in that place

天啊，所有在場的動物，

stopped making noise at the same time.

同時都不再發聲，正是鴉雀無聲。

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

「咻~~」疾電般的寧靜， 牠們似乎能感到有事情要發生了。

And then the clouds came over us, and then,

雲層向我們飄過來，然後，

boom! This massive thunderclap, and sheets of rain.

「爆! 」超級大霹靂，瞬間下起傾盆大雨。

It was just extraordinary, and when I came back home

簡直不可思議，然後當我回到家時，

I found a poem by the Mexican poet Octavio Paz,

我找到了墨西哥詩人 奧克塔維奧•帕斯 (Octavio Paz) 的一首詩，

and decided to set it to music,

決定將它譜上音樂，

a piece for choir called "Cloudburst,"

這首合唱曲就叫做 「暴雨」，

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

也就是即將為你們表演的曲目。

Now fast forward to just three years ago.

現在，我們回到三年前。

(Music) And we released to YouTube this,

(音樂) 我們在YouTube上發表了這個，

the Virtual Choir Project,

「虛擬合唱團計畫」

185 singers from 12 different countries.

來自 12 個國家的 185 位歌手。

You can see my little video there conducting these people,

你可以看到這小小影片， 我正在指揮這些人，

alone in their dorm rooms

他們單獨地在宿舍，

or in their living rooms at home.

或在家的客廳裡。

Two years ago, on this very stage, we premiered

兩年前，在這非常舞台，我們首演了

Virtual Choir 2,

「虛擬合唱 2」。

2,052 singers from 58 different countries,

來自 58 個國家的 2052 位歌手，

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

那次表演了我的創作「沉睡」，

And then just last spring we released Virtual Choir 3,

而去年春天我們剛剛發表了「虛擬合唱 3」，

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

也是我創作的另一個作品「水之夜」，

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

這次約有 4000 位歌手，他們來自 73 個國家，

(Music)

(音樂)

And when I was speaking to Chris about the future

當我和克力斯討論 「虛擬合唱團」的未來，

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

而我們將可到達什麼境界的時候，

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

他提出我們要把科技盡可能運用到極致。

Could we do this all in real time?

我們可以做到即時嗎?

Could we have people singing together in real time?

我們可以使歌手即時地一起唱歌嗎?

And with the help of Skype,

而運用了Skype，

that is what we are going to attempt today.

這就是我們今天要做的事。

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

現在為你們演唱「暴雨」，

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

上半場將由台上的歌手現場演唱，

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

歌手們來自加州大學長灘分校、

Cal State Fullerton and Riverside Community College,

加州大學富爾頓分校、河濱社區學院，

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

他們是全國最優秀的業餘合唱團之一，

(Applause) --

（掌聲）

and in the second half of the piece,

在下半首作品中，

the virtual choir will join us, 30 different singers

虛擬合唱團會加入我們，有 30 位歌手

from 30 different countries.

他們來自 30 個國家。

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

現在，我們已將科技運用到極致，

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

但是仍有不到一秒鐘的延遲，

but in musical terms, that's a lifetime.

以音樂術語來說，這是一輩子那麼長，

We deal in milliseconds.

我們通常處理毫秒。

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

所以我可以做到的是，把「暴雨」改編，

so that it embraces the latency

那麼我們便運用了延遲，

and the performers sing into the latency

表演者的歌聲有所延遲，

instead of trying to be exactly together.

而不是把聲音湊在一起。

So with deep humility, and for your approval,

我們用最謙卑的心情，請你們見證 -

we present "Cloudburst."

我們的演出「暴雨」。

(Applause)

(掌聲）

(Piano)

(鋼琴)

[The rain ...]

[雨...]

[Eyes of shadow-water]

[水影之眼]

[eyes of well-water]

[井水之眼]

[eyes of dream-water.]

[夢水之眼]

[Blue suns, green whirlwinds,]

[藍色的太陽、綠色的旋風]

[birdbeaks of light pecking open]

[鳥喙輕啄]

[pomegranate stars.]

[石榴星]

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

[但是請告訴我，焦土中有沒有水?]

[Only blood, only dust,]

[只有血，只有塵]

[only naked footsteps on the thorns?]

[只有赤腳踏在荊棘?]

[The rain awakens...]

[這雨喚醒....]

[We must sleep with open eyes,]

[我們必須睜眼入睡]

[we must dream with our hands,]

[我們必須用雙手創造夢想]

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

[我們必須夢想河流溯源之夢]

[of the sun dreaming its worlds.]

[夢想太陽的世界]

[We must dream aloud,]

[我們必須盡情夢想]

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

[我們必須一直唱到根長出了]

[trunk, branches, birds, stars.]

[樹幹、樹枝、小鳥、星星]

[We must find the lost word,]

[我們必須找到失落的世界]

[and remember what the blood,]

[記住那血]

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

[浪潮、土地和身體說的話]

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

[回到出發的地點...]

(Music)

(音樂)

(Applause)

(掌聲）

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

["暴雨"奧克塔維奧·帕斯] [萊桑德‧肯普 翻譯，艾瑞克．惠特克 改編]

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

艾瑞克．惠特克：貝絲，安娜貝爾。你們在哪兒？ 雅各。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Thank you.

謝謝