Different Types of Composers

I can see three different types of composers in musical history, each of whom creates music in a somewhat different fashion.

The type that has fired public imagination most is that of the spontaneously inspired composer - the Franz Schubert type, in other words. All composers are inspired, of course, but this type is more spontaneously inspired. Music simply wells out of him. He can't get it down on paper fast enough. You can almost tell this type of composer by his fruitful output. In certain months, Schubert wrote a song a day. Hugo Wolf did the same.

In a sense, men of this kind begin not so much with a musical theme as with a completed composition. They invariably work best in the shorter forms. It is much easier to improvise a song than it is to improvise a symphony. It isn't easy to be inspired in that spontaneous way for long periods at a stretch. Even Schubert was more successful in handling the shorter forms of music. The spontaneously inspired man is only one type of composer, with this own limitations.

Beethoven belongs to the second type - the constructive type, one might call it. This type serves as an example of my theory of the creative process in music better than any other, because in this case the composer really does begin with a musical theme. In Beethoven's case there is no doubt about it, for we have the notebooks in which he put the themes down. We can see from his notebooks how he worked over his themes - how he would not let them be until they were as perfect as he could make them. Beethoven was not a spontaneously inspired composer in the Schubert sense at all. He was the type that begins with a theme; makes it a preliminary idea; and upon that composes a musical work, day after day, in painstaking fashion. Most composers since Beethoven's day belong to this second type.

The third type of composer I can only call, for lack of a better name, the traditionalist type. Men like Palestrina and Bach belong in this category. They both are characteristic of the kind of composer who is born in a particular period of musical history, when a certain musical style is about to reach its fullest development. It is a question at such a time of creating music in a well-known and accepted style and doing it in a way that is better than anyone has done it before you.

The traditionalist type of composer begins with a pattern rather than with a theme. The creative act with Palestrina is not the thematic conception so much as the personal treatment of a well-established pattern. And even Bach, who composed forty-eight of the most various and inspired themes in his Well Tempered Clavichord, knew in advance the general formal mold that they were to fill. It goes without saying that we are not living in a traditionalist period nowadays.

One might add, for the sake of completeness, a fourth type of composer - the pioneer type: men like Gesualdo in the seventeenth century, Moussorgsky and Berlioz in the nineteenth, Debussy and Edgar Varese in the twentieth. It is difficult to summarize the composing methods of so diversified a group. One can safely say that their approach to composition is the opposite of the traditionalist type. They clearly oppose conventional solutions of musical problems. In many ways, their attitude is experimental - they seek to add new harmonies, new sonorities, new formal principles. The pioneer type was the characteristic one at the turn of the seventeenth century and also at the beginning of the twentieth century, but it is much less evident today.

译文：

不同类型的音乐家

我发现音乐史上有三种不同类型的作曲家，他们各自创作的方式有不同。

最能激发公众想象力的是自发式灵感型即弗朗兹·舒伯特型。当然所有的作曲家都需要灵感，但这一类型的更具自发的灵感，音乐简直就是喷涌而出，多得来不及记录，通过他们多产的作品你几乎可以一下就认出他们。有几个月舒伯特几乎谱成一曲，伍尔夫·雨果也是如此。

从一定意义上说，这类作曲家不是从一个主题开始而是从一部完整的作品一气呵成。他们总是擅长短形式的作品。即兴创作一支歌曲比即兴创作一部交响曲要简单得多。要长时间连续不断的获得自发的灵感不容易，就是舒伯特也是短形式的音乐方面更为成功。自发式灵感型人只是作曲家的一种，他有他自己的局限。

贝多芬属于第二类--可以称之为建设型。和其他类型相比，这类作曲家更适合我的音乐创作过程理论的例证，因为对这类作曲家来说，他们的确是从音乐主题开始创作的。以贝多芬为例这一点毋庸质疑，因为我们有他记下音乐主题的笔记本。我们可以从他的笔记本看出他是如何在主题上下功夫的--曲不完美誓不休。从舒伯特的意义上说，贝多芬绝对不是灵感自发型的作曲家。他是那类从主题开始、形成初步的构思再日复一日辛勤地创作一部作品的作曲家。从贝多芬开始，许多的作曲家都属于这第二类。

由于找不到更合适的称呼，第三类作曲家姑且称他们为传统类。帕勒斯提那的创作活动与其说是主题概念不如说是对既定模式的个性化处理。即使创作了48首主题各异充满灵感的《平均律钢琴曲集》的巴赫也知道他们将遵循的一般模式。不用说今天我们不是生活在一个传统时期。

为完整起见也许还应加上第四种作曲家--先锋型，诸如17世纪的杰苏尔多、19世纪的穆索尔斯基和柏辽兹，以及20世纪的德彪西和瓦雷兹。这样一类作曲家如此多样化的创作手法难以概括，但可以肯定的一点是他们的作曲方法与传统型针锋相对。他们鲜明地反对音乐问题的通行解决办法。许多方面他们的态度是试验的--寻求添加新的融合、新的音效、新的创作形式。先锋型在17世纪末和20世纪初期很具代表性，但是如今其特征已不太明显。

课文讲解：

一、单词解释

1．Sense意思。意义： He was using the word in a different sense.

短语： in a /some sense在某个意义上： I think he may be right in a sense.

In no sense一点也不，怎么说也不： The election was in no sense fair.

Make sense讲的通、有意义、能被理解： The picture doesn’t make sense.

There is no/ a lot of sense in doing sth. 做某事没道理/很有道理： There is no sense in beating about the bush 说话拐弯抹角没什么道理 There is a lot of sense in what he said 他说的很有道理。

2．Lack缺乏，没有

Lack+of＋名词： The plants died for lack of water.

Lack+名词： We lack the strength to walk any further.

短语： be lacking:欠缺、缺： Money was lacking to complete the building.

Be lacking in缺乏（某种品质、特点等）,不够： He is not lacking in intelligence.

Lack for 缺（多用于否定句） She does not lack for friends.

3．Approach

1) 方式、方法、路（可数）、接近、走进、快到（不可数）： The approach to the house was a narrow path.

2) 走进、接近、对待、处理： A boy of eighteen is approaching manhood

4．Oppose

1) 反对： Her sisters opposed it bitterly他的姐姐们坚决反对这件事。

2) 反对、不赞成、不合、违反、相反： Evil is opposed to good.

二、课文解释：

1．I can see three different types of composers in musical history, each of whom creates music in a somewhat different fashion.我认为音乐史上有三类作曲家，每一类作曲家的创作风格都有所不同。

1） Each of whom 引导非限制性定语从句，whom指代主句中的types of composers,

2） Somewhat是副词，表示“有一点、有些”： The news somewhat surprised me.

2． Even Schubert was more successful in handling the shorter forms of music.既便是舒伯特本人也是在驾驭短篇音乐作品方面更有把握。

Be successful in doing sth. 与manage to do sth.同意：Were you successful in finding a new house? We managed to talk him into changing his mind

3． In Beethoven’s case there is no doubt about it, for we have the notebooks in which he put the themes down. 以贝多芬为例，他当年记录音乐主题的笔记本完全可以说明这一点。

1） in one’s case/ in the case of 表示“对。。。来说、在。。。一例中”,例如： It doesn’t hold in my case

2） There is no doubt about sth/ that从句 是固定句式，表示“毫无疑问”，例如：There is no doubt about his ability.

3） put down 是一个多意词组，其主要意思有：放下、制止、平定、取缔、记下、登记、免除、降级、削减等： The bus stopped to put down to passengers,公共汽车停下来，让两位乘客下车 The police put down the strike 警察镇压了罢工。 Put down what we have said. 请把我们说的记下来

4． We can see from his notebooks howhe worked over his themes—how he would not let them be until they were as perfect as he could make them. 从他的笔记本中，我们可以了解他当时是如何不断修改音乐主题的――除非这些主题已经尽善尽美无可挑剔，否则他不会罢休。

1）work与不同介词搭配： work at :致力于（学习研究等） work on :从事某项具体工作，或对。。。产生作用。 Work over：强调“充分研究，彻底检查，彻底改变” 例如：He has worked at computer science for years Many doctors are working on the mystery of cancer. The medicine will work on your cold. They worked over the old furniture.

2)Let sb./sth. Be 与leave sb./sth. Alone同意，表示“不干涉、听任”例如： Let him be. Leave that box alone.

5． The third type of composer I can only call, for lack of a better name, the traditionalist type. 第三类作曲家，因为没有更好的名称，我权且称之为传统型作曲家。

本句为简单句，为了强调将宾语提到句首。

6． Men like palestrina and Bach belong in this category,帕莱斯特里纳和巴赫即属此类。

Belong to是我们比较熟悉的词组，石很多场合下也用belong in .前者有两个用法1）属于、2）是。。。的成员。 而belong in 则根据belong的不同用法表示不同的含义。例如：As a writer, she really belongs to the 18th century. 作为一个作家，她其实是属于18世纪的。

What party do you belong to ?你是哪个党的成员？

This chair belongs(应该放在) in the dining room

A telephone belongs(合适) in every office.

She belongs (应归于) in the center of the circle 她是那个圈子的中心人物。

Hunting dogs belong(适应环境) in the country, not the city.

7． They both are characteristic of the kind of composer who is born in a particular period of musical history, when a certain musical style is about to reach its fullest development. 他们代表这样一类作曲家：他们生逢音乐史上某一种风格的音乐即将达到顶峰的时期。

1) be characteristic of 表示“是。。。的特色，代表着’ 例如： The ability to live for a long time without water is characteristic of this animal. 这类动物的特点是不喝水也能活很长时间。

2) be about to do sth. 表示“即将。。。 正要。。。“例如： We were about to leave when it started to rain cats and dogs. 我们正要离开，突然下起倾盆大雨。

8． One can safely say that their approach to composition is the opposite of the traditionalist type. 完全可以这样说：他们的创作方法与传统型相反。

1） can/may safely say…这样说错不了： We may safely say so.

2） An approach to 是固定搭配，表示“接近。。。通往。。。“例如： I’m not good at making approaches to strangers,我不善于接近陌生人。

We have found a new approach to the study of English 我们找到了英语学习的新方法。