2015-05-20

【Aiden in English】

        All things have a beginning, such as a person, book, even the universe. But not all beginnings are pretty and some hurt the ear quite a bit. I’m talking about hearing sounds I’ve never heard before. Yep, those are the 4th grade beginner band member for ya! 

        To set this straight, I’m not saying that I wasn’t a bad player in my first year. It’s just that the experience kind of makes listening to bad music sort of… feel weird. There is Montgomery Band Spring Concert that involves the beginners, and so all 6^th graders, especially kids in the Wind Ensemble, were able to play with their eyes close. Although I would’ve fallen asleep like that, you get the point. The evening performance was slightly more crowded because of the chorus performance after, and the only problem was the high temperature. Half an hour upon arriving, I started playing probably the easiest concert of my life. While the 4^th graders honked, squealed, and squeaked like animals, Rob, my friend, and I tried our best to stay on task. You know, some artificial animal noise can get very distracting. At the time two years ago, a honk sounded like angelic, musical for the first woodwind sound I made as a beginner and the sound of air being blown through my mouth. I even felt the tiniest sympathy to the 4^th graders, not exactly how you wanted to start your music career with a messed up performance.

        This performance had one special thing that was not an embarrassing one. We played a comedy, in which the band invited Mr. Theodore, the Physical Ed teacher. He held high an Olympic torch, wore a cape, and marched on stage while the band played the Olympic Fanfare and Theme. The piece was called “Concerto for Crash Cymbals” Mr. Theodore would pretend to be a guest soloist. Once the piece began, however, he messes up a lot. A little conversation between our band director, Mr. Marcopul and Mr. Theodore happened for the show. In the end, he was handed tiny cymbals that clinked together for a small ring, then the song ended on a final note. Through it all, I remarked a stone face, and didn’t really care. If everyone started laughing, at least someone would still be playing.

        For the beginners, they had an interesting start since this was the first ever comedy piece played by the Montgomery band. Soon, those 4^th graders will realize how hard they need to work on and probably criticize the beginners two years from now.

【紅霞譯文】

        世上任何事物都有起始，譬如人、書乃至宇宙，但不是所有良好的願望皆盡人意，個別的反倒有點摧殘聽力，這裡我專指前所未聞的聲音，沒錯，特別是由小學四年級管樂隊新秀所吹奏的曲子。

        打開天窗說亮話，我並非想誇耀當年自己首次登台演奏水平不賴，只是眼下每當聽到蹩腳的音樂心裡難免起急，春季音樂會將由這些睜大眼睛看不准樂譜的新秀聯手那些閉上眼睛吹不亂音調的初中一年級特別是來自管樂團精英組成的蒙哥馬利小學管樂隊隆重推出，我情緒萎靡，你該明白怎麼回事了嘛。因為有合唱隊加盟，晚場演出顯得稍微擁擠一點，所以室內溫度攀升便成了問題。我提前半個小時到校，開始為這場堪稱有生以來最為輕鬆的音樂會做好準備。四年級新秀像動物一樣時而吆喝，時而尖叫，時而亂喊，我和朋友羅比則儘量集中精力，要知道有的動物仿聲噪音十分叫人抓狂，極易分散注意力。兩年前，喇叭聲聽起來如同天籟之音，那是啟蒙木管吹奏初嘗氣流激振的音樂之聲；兩年後，面對四年級新秀，我心中不由得生起一絲同情，但不能把良好的願望和出色的表演之間劃成等號。

        這次演出還穿插一個特別節目，挺大方的。我們邀請體育老師西奧多先生出演喜劇小品“鐃鈸協奏曲”，當管樂隊伴奏《奧運主題曲》時，他高舉奧林匹克火炬身披斗篷昂首闊步走進會場，但他故意跟不上節奏，中間出現很多失誤。管樂隊指揮馬可波先生見狀跟他笑對幾句台詞，最後西奧多先生用微型鐃鈸敲擊小鐵圈隨旋律一起結束。我神情淡定，絲毫不受干擾，當人們笑作一團，總得有人繼續吹奏吧。

        對於初學者來說，首次登台演出十分有趣，尤其這回管樂隊又破天荒地加了一段喜劇小品，但不久四年級學生就會意識到必須努力練習才能提高表演水平。兩年後的今天，或許他們也會對新秀橫挑鼻子豎挑眼。