Titleless Effect

By Zi Zhongyun

In the domain of classical music, it seems that nameless music is always favored over those bearing a name partly because “words make it cheesy” and music should be“beyond words.”

In the case of the famousMoonlight Sonata, I am still fascinated by the beautiful story of Beethoven meeting a blind girl playing the piano under the moonlight that I read about while I was in elementary school.Since then, the melody has been closely associated with the calm atmosphere of a moonlit night in my mind, and, in particular, I am deeply impressed by the first movement, which is smooth and fathomless against the blue sky,echoing the same tone as one Chinese poem’s: “A bright moon rises over the sea, from far away you share the moment with me.”

Then one day, a Soviet war film namedChapaev, which was released in China in the early 1950s, shattered my previous image of the sonata. In one scene,the little brother of a veteran orderly in the White Army violated the military code and was sentenced to death by the commanding officer. The docile orderly had always been loyal to the officer, but his brother’s death sentence had given birth to a desire for revenge. In that moment, the officer was playing the first movement ofMoonlight Sonata. The orderly, standing behind the officer, stepped in time with the music. With a dagger in his hand, he hesitated for a moment, and then the black rage rose in his heart and fell with the piano’s melody. As his murderous intent reached its climax, the orchestral music and the instrumental ensemble in the film together created a horrific atmosphere, as the music cycled through its crescendo like waves crashing on the shore. I was stunned, and the music had done its job.

I have never thought that the first movement ofMoonlight Sonatacould be harmoniously employed to create a scene of murder. Perhaps it was a kind of ironic effect, and I marveled about the talented Soviet artist that had come up with such an idea. This, in turn, best indicates that our understanding of music is an entirely subjective matter,and it is impossible to curb our imagination according to its name. This film scene has left a deep impression on my mind,and it has forever changed how I interpret a musical piece.

(FromThere Is a Piano, Beijing Publishing House. Translation:Zhu Yaguang)

一說便俗

文/資中筠

根據古典音樂傳統，有標題音樂比無標題音樂似乎低一等，大約是“一說便俗”，音樂應該是“忘言”的。

以被冠以《月光》之名的奏鳴曲為例，那個貝多芬夜遇盲女在月光下彈琴的美麗故事流傳甚廣，我在小學課本里就讀到過，自然深受影響。從此，這首樂曲在我心目中總擺脫不了月夜的氛圍。特別是第一樂章舒緩、開闊，翹首云天，與“海上生明月，天涯共此時”的意境非常吻合。

直到有一次，一部蘇聯電影打破了我這想當然的聯想。那是20世紀50年代初，在我國很出名的蘇聯電影《夏伯陽》中的一個場景：一名白軍老勤務兵的在同一軍中服役的弟弟犯軍紀，被長官下令處死。老勤務兵一向極為馴服，此事喚起了他的仇恨，使他起了殺機。銀幕上，那位軍官在彈鋼琴，彈的就是《月光》第一樂章，老兵在他身后用腳摩擦地板，跟著音樂節奏而動作。他手握匕首，猶豫不決，琴聲就成為他心潮起伏的伴奏。當他的殺心達于最高潮時，電影里響起了管弦樂，配合鋼琴，用一浪高一浪的漸強音奏出同樣的旋律，取得驚心動魄的效果。這使我大開眼界。

我從來沒有想到過《月光》奏鳴曲第一樂章可以和殺機聯系起來，而且照樣合拍。可能這是一種反諷手法，能有這樣創意的蘇聯藝術家必定才氣過人。這反過來也說明，從音樂中得到的體驗有很大的主觀性，很難用標題來限定人的想象。這一幕電影橋段令我銘刻于心，終生難忘。