2015-02-05

【Aiden in English】

        The auditorium at North Penn High School is enormous. The red seats in the audience spread out words of the stage like ripples in water. Look up, and you’ll see a giant balcony that is a looming towering wave, just waiting to crash down and swallow me. This was because I was not in the audience. I was a part of the North Penn Elementary Wind Ensemble Band that the audience looked upon. 

        If you don’t know yet, the NPHS auditorium is massive. The seats would probably fill my school’s gym and cafeteria. The lights were also shining in my face, burning my cheeks. It looked as if they wanted to vaporize my skin. I was on stage, surrounded by a large wind ensemble made up of the selected fifth and sixth graders in four elementary schools. I was selected as an alto saxophone player, and the saxophone parts were awesome. In every song, we had the sole melody for some time. At those times, we controlled the band with driving rhythm. If we went fast, the band would need to catch up. If we slowed down, the band would need to slow down. That became really obvious in the first song Fires on Bandai. It’s a quick tempo piece with the saxophones playing along with the dark and ominous melodies by the percussion. At the moment, all audience heard was a huge and upbeat tune by the saxophones like a raging wildfire with no control. Every other instrument made way for the saxophones. We buffed and puffed every inch of our energy in order to capture the drama and fury of a lava flow. 

        The next piece Morning Mist was quite different. The pace turned slow, so slow that the start was played too fast by almost everyone. The beginning sounded like a curtain of mist settling down. The tunes were magical with the hope and dream, but not my style. The saxophones got the main part toward the end. Until then, the saxophones were limited to mezzo piano. The song also contained many half notes, which worn down air power and lip muscles. When it’s over, the whole band would start rubbing their mouths, resting them for our grand finale. 

        The reason I called it grand finale was because it was! It’s called March of the Hyperion Guards, which was absolutely amazing. The pace was fast and fierce like a knight on a horse charging at a beast. In the middle, the saxophones played the main melody, and the song slowed down a little. We played like a rising wave from crescendo to diminuendo. Up and down. Then out of nowhere, the quickness returned, suddenly ending the song with two loud notes!

        The difference was huge depending on where you sat in the auditorium. The audience was cool. On stage, however, you felt energy to play music and to have fun.

【紅霞譯文】

        北賓夕法尼亞高中禮堂超大，裡面的紅椅子猶如水中漣漪彰顯舞台魅力；放眼望去，樓上巨型觀眾席宛若騰空升起的波浪滾滾向前，沖我而來。這回我可不是來看表演的，而是作為北賓夕法尼亞小學管樂團一員向觀眾現場獻藝。

        你也許還不十分清楚北賓夕法尼亞高中禮堂大得離譜，其坐席足以裝下我所在的那間小學體育館及學生食堂，燈光照到眼前，恨不得要燒焦臉龐烤糊皮膚。我初登舞台，身邊都是來自北賓夕法尼亞學區四所小學選送的五、六年級管樂樂手。作為中音薩克斯管演奏成員之一，我特別喜歡自己演奏的部分。其實各首曲目都有薩克斯管獨奏部分，每每這個時候，薩克斯管主導表演的節奏：我們吹的快，樂團的節奏就快；一旦我們減緩速度，整個曲子的旋律也跟着放慢下來，第一首 “磐梯山的火焰”凸顯上述特點。這是一首快節奏的樂曲，打擊樂着力渲染昏暗不幸的氣氛，這時，觀眾聽到的只有薩克斯管響亮而樂觀的旋律，藉以烘托不可一世的熊熊烈火。其它樂器一起配合薩克斯管演奏，我們為表現火山熔岩流的戲劇性和可怕性不停地吸氣呼氣，使出了渾身解數。

        接下來“晨霧”與上面的演奏方式不同，這是一首慢節奏的樂曲，以至於開始時，我們絕大多數人都吹得偏快。其引子表現剛剛落下的一場濃霧，曲調迷人，充滿希望和幻想，但這絕不是我本人的風格。薩克斯管自始自終勇挑大梁，儘管一直保持中等弱度。曲中有不少半音，害得我們抽風憋氣，累翻了嘴部肌肉。等吹完這首曲子，所有樂團成員趕緊放鬆嘴唇，為壓軸節目調整好狀態。

        我為什麼稱下面的曲子為壓軸節目，就是因為第三首即最後一首，名叫“許珀里翁衛隊進行曲”，感覺確實很棒，猶如騎馬迎戰豺狼猛獸的勇士步伐矯健，鈧鏘有力。曲子中間部分由薩克斯管奏出主旋律，隨後節奏稍微減慢，如同正在形成的波浪，由高至低上下起伏，末了再重新轉回快速節奏，終場乾淨利落地休止在響亮的雙音符上！

        劇場收穫與你個人所處的位置緊密相關，當觀眾固然愜意，但登台獻藝會讓你樂趣無窮。