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.

【红霞译文】

        北宾夕法尼亚高中礼堂超大，里面的红椅子犹如水中涟漪彰显舞台魅力；放眼望去，楼上巨型观众席宛若腾空升起的波浪滚滚向前，冲我而来。这回我可不是来看表演的，而是作为北宾夕法尼亚小学管乐团一员向观众现场献艺。

        你也许还不十分清楚北宾夕法尼亚高中礼堂大得离谱，其坐席足以装下我所在的那间小学体育馆及学生食堂，灯光照到眼前，恨不得要烧焦脸庞烤糊皮肤。我初登舞台，身边都是来自北宾夕法尼亚学区四所小学选送的五、六年级管乐乐手。作为中音萨克斯管演奏成员之一，我特别喜欢自己演奏的部分。其实各首曲目都有萨克斯管独奏部分，每每这个时候，萨克斯管主导表演的节奏：我们吹的快，乐团的节奏就快；一旦我们减缓速度，整个曲子的旋律也跟着放慢下来，第一首 “磐梯山的火焰”凸显上述特点。这是一首快节奏的乐曲，打击乐着力渲染昏暗不幸的气氛，这时，观众听到的只有萨克斯管响亮而乐观的旋律，借以烘托不可一世的熊熊烈火。其它乐器一起配合萨克斯管演奏，我们为表现火山熔岩流的戏剧性和可怕性不停地吸气呼气，使出了浑身解数。

        接下来“晨雾”与上面的演奏方式不同，这是一首慢节奏的乐曲，以至于开始时，我们绝大多数人都吹得偏快。其引子表现刚刚落下的一场浓雾，曲调迷人，充满希望和幻想，但这绝不是我本人的风格。萨克斯管自始自终勇挑大梁，尽管一直保持中等弱度。曲中有不少半音，害得我们抽风憋气，累翻了嘴部肌肉。等吹完这首曲子，所有乐团成员赶紧放松嘴唇，为压轴节目调整好状态。

        我为什么称下面的曲子为压轴节目，就是因为第三首即最后一首，名叫“许珀里翁卫队进行曲”，感觉确实很棒，犹如骑马迎战豺狼猛兽的勇士步伐矫健，钪锵有力。曲子中间部分由萨克斯管奏出主旋律，随后节奏稍微减慢，如同正在形成的波浪，由高至低上下起伏，末了再重新转回快速节奏，终场干净利落地休止在响亮的双音符上！

        剧场收获与你个人所处的位置紧密相关，当观众固然惬意，但登台献艺会让你乐趣无穷。