Futile Frown* Cao Xueqin (~1715-1763) 枉凝眉
Trans. by YK Chan 陈耀国
一个是阆苑仙葩，One is a fairyland fresh flower;
一个是美玉无瑕。the other, a flawless jadestone empower’d.
若说没奇缘， If not for mysterious destiny,
今生偏又遇着他；how in this life we again meet each other;
若说有奇缘， If destiny really acts mysteriously,
如何心事终虚化？How’s that our wishes come to naught ever?
一个枉自嗟呀， One sighs in futility;
一个空劳牵挂。 one uselessly harbors anxiety.
一个是水中月， One is a moon mirrored in water,
一个是镜中花。 one is a flower seen in the mirror.
想眼中能有多少泪珠儿，How many pearly tears from the eye
still seep,
怎经得秋流到冬尽， throughout autumn till winter’s end,
春流到夏！ or throughout spring till summer’s
encounter’d?
Music composed by Wang Liping 王立平 (1941- ) for a Chinese TV series of Dream of Red Mansions
Originally sung by Chen Li 陈力 (soprano):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpzhz0UVdDQ
Guzheng arrangement古筝曲: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvupUuXW5cY
__________________________
* As the lyrics of one of the songs narrated in Chapter 5 of Cao’s Dream of Red Mansions. The songs set the fate of the twelve belles as narrated in the following chapters of the novel. (Ref: http://baike.baidu.com/view/50556.htm)
Song of the Red Bean* Cao Xueqin (1715 — 1763/1724 — 1764)
Translated by YK Chan (December 2009); revised June 2013
HongDou CI
My bleeding heart and tears of desperation drip endlessly like red beans dropping;
Yet, forever blooming spring willows and flowers are in full view at this picturesque dwelling.
Tossing and turning after dusk for that storm strikes at the lace-screen window,
I forget not at all recent and past sorrow.
Swallowing not delicious rice and fine wine, they choke down my throat;
Looking into infinity the ornate mirror reflects only my meagerness and despair.
My frown can’t be unlocked; I endure the long dark night not.
Ah! It’s just like a green mountain that’s only vaguely veiled in fog,
Or a meandering emerald stream that can’t be block’d!
——————————
*The ‘red bean’, 红豆 hongdou, here really is the jequirity bean, which is produced by the leguminous jequirity plant (Abrus precatorius, cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrus_precatorius) and used often in Chinese poetry as a love token—相思豆 xiangsi dou, the love bean, e.g. 王维 (701-761) Wang Wei’s poem 相思 Xiangsi.
Xiangsi 相思 denotes a special yearning for a loved one, from whom the lover is separated. Cao’s 红豆詞 HongDou Ci (Song of the Red Bean) is from his famed Dream of Red Mansions. It was written as a poem for the protagonist, 贾宝玉 Jia Baoyu, to sing after he was separated from his lover, 林黛玉 Lin Daiyu. It appears in Chapter 28 of this classic novel.
Music composed by Liu XueAn 刘雪庵 (1905-1985)
Guzheng solo:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NuRGlo2_L-4
José Carreras (tenor) performance:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSs1ciW_lUA&feature=related
Is tarantella the dance music for avoiding death from tarantism caused by a tarantula bite?
Lycosa tarantula
A myth goes like this: When you are bitten by the tarantula wolf spider (Lycosa tarantula) you will succumb to the hysterical condition of tarantism, and need to dance to the tarantella―a type of agitated, manic and fast-rhythm (usually at 6/8 time) music―to counter the poison by sweating and avoid death.
Here is how it looks like, traditionally, enacted from the bite to the dance with some innuendo of youthful sexual flirtation:
Another depiction of a barefoot dancer can be viewed in the first part of this clip:
Tarantella in ballet form
http://www.youtube.com/v/481A2k4IgUo&hl=it&fs=1
Both the spider and the music are attributed to the Italian region of Taranto, at the heel of the “Italian boot” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Taranto), although the dance form is Greek in origin. The spider bite may be painful but it usually is not fatal to humans. If not for curative purpose, tarantella music may be graceful instead of frantic for dancing couples, as seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvlP4KrIzls
Tarantella couple dance
I prefer to associate tarantella with frenzy and excitement as it conveys a sense of passion and not reason. Human emotion could be an outlet for relieving the fatigued reasoning faculty, thus refreshing it.
Although I enjoy watching a graceful or energetic dance that enhances the accompanying music, the music itself is the inducing factor of emotion. The human voice is also an instrument, which can be tuned and trained for expressive vocalization. You would appreciate what it means to compare voice with instrument when you listen to this tongue-twisting and exciting song of Rossini’s La Danza (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Danza) in tarantella napoletana time. Here, the tenor Rolando Villazón sings this song flawlessly with the strong pulsating and arousing rhythm. Listening to it, you may feel being swept off your feet and carried away by a whirlwind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuaHlOt3SgE
Kreutzer Sonata
The last movement (Presto) of Beethoven’s Kreutzer violin sonata
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Sonata_No._9_%28Beethoven%29)
also comes to mind since it is in rondo form as a 6/8-tarantella. The virtuosi Gidon Kremer and Martha Argerich perform it engagingly thus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOIVF4ICcnA&feature=related
Tolstoy’s novella, The Kreutzer Sonata (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kreutzer_Sonata), is said to have been inspired by Beethoven’s sonata. Its story in turn inspired the 1901 painting by René François Xavier Prinet and Leoš Janáček‘s first string quartet (1923), both entitled or subtitled Kreutzer Sonata. But, that is another story, another piece of art and music
A lied set to this poem of Franz von Schober by Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828) , “An die Musik“, op. 88
no. 4, D. 547 (1817), published 1827.
As a hymn to the art of music, it is one of the best-known songs by Schubert. Its greatness and popularity are generally attributed to its harmonic simplicity, sweeping melody, and a strong bass line that effectively underpins the vocal line.
Ref. – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_die_Musik
The original score
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm_AKMV0ME0
Fritz Wunderlich (tenor): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70_2p4OIZ7E
Kathleen Ferrier (contralto): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58VEGr2bwmg
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TP9xXomDfk&feature=related
Erich Kunz (base-baritone): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiqzDyUScL8
Franz Schubert
Du holde Kunst, in wieviel grauen Stunden,
Wo mich des Lebens wilder Kreis umstrickt,
Hast du mein Herz zu warmer Lieb entzunden,
Hast mich in eine beßre Welt entrückt!
Oft hat ein Seufzer, deiner Harf’ entflossen,
Ein süßer, heiliger Akkord von dir
Den Himmel beßrer Zeiten mir erschlossen,
Du holde Kunst, ich danke dir dafür!
Tr. Walter Meyer
Oh sacred art, how oft in hours blighted,
While into life’s untamed cycle hurled,
Hast thou my heart to warm love reignited
To transport me into a better world!
So often has a sigh from thy harp drifted,
A chord from thee, holy and full of bliss,
A glimpse of better times from heaven lifted.
Thou sacred art, my thanks to thee for this.
Lakmé is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille, based on the 1880 novel Rarahu ou Le Mariage de Loti by Pierre Loti [Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakm%C3%A9]
Natalie Dessay’s Bell Song
The bazaar scene
Setup for the aria: In the Act II bazaar scene, Nilakantha (bass, a Brahmin priest) forces his daughter Lakmé (soprano) to sing (Bell Song/Air des Clochettes) in order to lure their home trespasser into identifying himself.
Watch the amazing performances by Maria Callas:
Où va la jeune Indoue,
那個印度少女上那兒去，
Filles des Parias,
那賤民的女兒，
Quand la lune se joue,
当月亮出现，
Dans le grand mimosas?
在高大的红絲樹中？
Elle court sur la mousse
她跑到苔藓上
Et ne se souvient pas
又忘记了
Que partout on repousse
她到处被人避开
L’enfant des parias;
就因为她是賤民的孩子；
Le long des lauriers roses,
走过红月桂树，
Revant de douce choses, Ah!
夢想着甜蜜的东西，啊！
Elle passe sans bruit
她无声的走过
Et riant a la nuit.
对黑夜欢笑着。
Labas dans la foret plus sombre,
在那边更黑暗的树林裡，
Quel est ce voyageur perdu?
誰是那個迷途旅客？
Autour de lui
他的周圍
Des yeux brillent dans l’ombre,
的黑影中有目光闪烁着，
Il marche encore au hasard, e perdu!
他在迷惑中流蕩迷路了！
Les fauves rugissent de joie,
猛兽欢乐地狂哮，
Ils vont se jeter sur leur proie,
牠们要仆上受害者，
Le jeune fille accourt
那少女奔上
Et brave leur fureurs:
勇抗牠们的狂怒
Elle a dans sa main la baguette
她手握魔棒
ou tinte la clochette des charmeurs!
拷响魔术師的铃子！
L’etranger la regarde,
那陌生人瞧着她，
Elle reste eblouie.
她茫然站着。
Il est plus beau que les Rajahs!
他比所有的印度王子俊美！
Il rougira, s’il sait qu’il doit
他会臉紅，假若他曉得他欠了
La vie a la fille des Parias.
那賤民女兒救她一命。
Mais lui, l’endormant dans un reve,
但是，他哄着她进睡夢中，
Jusque dans le ciel il l’enleve,
把她送上天堂般，
En lui disant: ‘ta place et la!’
又跟他说：”你的位置就在那兒！”
C’etait Vishnu, fils de Brahma!
他是维濕奴，婆罗门的兒子！
Depuis ce jour au fond de bois,
从那天起在树林深处，
Le voyageur entend parfois
那亇旅客有时候聽到
Le bruit leger de la baguette
魔棒的輕动声
Ou tinte la clochette des charmeurs! 拷响魔术師的铃子！
Rosa Ponselle Sings Stephen Foster’s Old Folks At Home (or Swanee River):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgpJM17KVZw&feature=player_embedded