洒满音符的圣彼得堡英语阅读
洒满音符的圣彼得堡
St. Petersburg: It Always Has Music
它没有“音乐之都”的美誉，作为首都的历史也不长。然而，从这里走出来的作曲家，却仿如天边一颗颗熠熠闪烁的明星，颇让世人心生恋慕，举首敬仰。
St. Petersburg is the cultural treasure trove of Russia. In its relatively short history, it’s produced a wealth of ballet, theatre and opera companies. Singers, writers, dancers, orchestras; there are over 500 palaces here.
Russia’s first conservatory was opened in St. Petersburg in 1862 under the direction of pianist, composer and conductor Anton Rubinstein.
In1871, this great man behinde me, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, joined the staff as professor and remained there for 20 years. But before that, he attended the Naval Academy in St. Petersburg. He wrote his first aymphony while on a three-year naval cruise. When he joined the staff here, Nikolai realized that he knew almost no music theory, despite the fact that he’d already completed two symphonies and numerous other works. So he taught himself in secret and became one of the world’s great music theorists, particularly in music harmony. Several of Rimsky-Korsakov’s students achieved musical greatness, including Sergei Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky, and his influence has been quite profound.
You hear this best in Rimsky’s symphonic suite, Sheherezade. Based on stories from The Arabian Nights, as told by Madame Sheherezade herself, her new husband, the sultan Haroon Allah al Rashid, has executed all his former wives on their wedding night. To avoid their fate, she tells him cliff-hanging tales throughout the night. In the score, Rimsky shows both Haroon al Rashid’s implacable character and Sheherezade’s seductive skills. He is charmed; she lives.
Sheherezade must be a fantasy, sound worlds of the ancient Middle East. It’s a most glamorous sound too; something entirely new in the music of the late 19th century, one obviously bent a few years in Hollywood 50 years later. All those studio pictures about Aladdin and flying carpets; they sound suspiciously like Rimsky-Korsakov. His carpets, though, are of a much finer weave. Oh, yes. He also wrote that piece about a bumble bee. In 1944, on the centenary of his birth, the conseratory was renamed the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory in his honour.
Well, we hope you’ve enjoyed this little smapshort of St. Petersburg. As you can see, it’s a city rich in culture and the arts.
译文：
圣彼得堡是俄罗斯的文化宝藏，就它相对不长的历史而言，这里诞生了大量的芭蕾、戏剧及歌剧院团，还有歌手、作家、舞者、管弦乐团。这里的宫殿多达五百座以上。
俄罗斯第一间音乐学院于1862年在圣彼得堡成立，由钢琴家、作曲家及指挥家安东鲁宾斯坦任院长。
1871年，我身后的伟人尼古拉里姆斯基-柯萨柯夫担任音乐学院教授一职，并执教20年。但在此之前，他进入了圣彼得堡海军军官学校。他在航海的三年里完成了第一部交响乐作品。当他到音乐学院任教时，自知对音乐理论几乎一窍不通——尽管他自己已完成了两部交响乐和不少其他作品。于是他秘密自学，终于成为世界上最杰出的音乐理论家之一，尤其在音乐和声学方面。他的几位学生也取得了伟大的成就，其中包括谢尔盖普罗科菲耶夫和伊戈尔斯特拉文斯基，他的影戏那个堪称深远。
里姆斯基对音乐创作的影响在他的交响乐组曲《天方夜谭》里得到最佳的体现。这部作品根据山鲁佐德夫人讲述的一千零一夜的故事而作。山鲁佐德的新婚丈夫是一位名叫哈伦阿尔-拉希德的国王，他的所有前妻都会在婚礼当晚被他处死。为了与自己的命运抗争，山鲁佐德整晚给他讲扣人心弦的故事。乐曲里，里姆斯基既刻画了国王的无情性格，又展现了山鲁佐德颇具诱惑性的`技巧。他被迷住了，她活了下来。
《天方夜谭》展现的无疑是关于古代中东的奇幻音乐世界，也是无比华美的乐曲，而对于19世纪后期的音乐而言，它更是全然一新的，以致于50年之后的好莱坞音乐创作在许多年里仍明显受他的影响。电影公司在拍摄阿拉丁神灯、飞毯等故事时，其音乐风格让人无法不联想到里姆斯基的音乐。当然，里姆斯基的音乐毯子（此其音乐作品）编制得更加完美……哦，对了，他还写了首关于大黄蜂的乐曲。1944年是他的百年寿辰。那年，音乐学院改名为里姆斯基-柯萨柯夫国家音乐学院以纪念他。
希望你喜欢对圣彼得堡的简介。你可看到，这座城市充满了文化和艺术的气息。