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Bernstein on Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony

This is perhaps the best comment I ever seen on the greatest music ever written. I might make mistakes when taking the notes.

Original link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZJ1Tgf4JL8

Well, for the better part of three months now, I’ve been
living in terms of Beethoven, thinking about his life, visiting his houses,
reading his letters, but most of all, living with his music. I’ve studied it
and restudied it, rehearsed and performed it over and over again and I may
report that I’ve never been tired of it for a single moment. The music remained
endlessly satisfying, interesting and moving, and has remained so for all two
centuries and to all kinds of people. In other words, this music is not only
infinitely durable, but perhaps the closest music has ever come to
universality. That dubious cliché about music being the universal language
almost comes true with Beethoven. No composers ever lived, who speak so
directly to so many people, to young and old, educated and ignorant, amateur
and professional, sophisticated and naïve. To all these people of all classes,
nationalities and racial backgrounds, this music speaks a universality of
thought of human brotherhood, freedom and love. In this ninth symphony, for
example, where Beethoven set Schiller’s Ode to Joy in the finale, the music
goes so far beyond the poem. It gives far greater dimension and vital energy
and artistic sparks to these quaint old lines of Schiller. Alle Menschen werden Brüder. All men become brothers. Seid umschlungen, Millionen! Millions
embracing! Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?
The world you sense your creator? In other words, this music succeeds even for
those people for who organized religion fails, because it conveys a spirit of
godhead and sublimity in the freest and least doctrinaire way that was typical
of Beethoven. It has a purity and directness of communication, which never
becomes but now. It’s accessible without being ordinary. This is the magic that
no amount of talk can explain.

Perhaps there was in Beethoven the man, a child
inside that never grew up, that to the end of his life remained a creature of
grace and innocence and trust, even in his moments of greatest despair. And
that innocent spirit speaks to us of hope and future and immortality and it’s
for that reason, that we love his music now more than ever before. In this time
of world agony and hopelessness and helplessness, we love his music and we need
it. As despairing as we may be, we cannot listen to this ninth symphony without
emerging from it, changed, enriched, encouraged. And to the man who could give
the world so precious a gift as this, no honor can be too great and no
celebration joyful enough. It’s almost like celebrating the birthday of music
itself.

-Leonard Bernstein

在多伦多的最后几个小时

8月31日

4:45am 起床

5:00am 送刘蕊出门。

5:15am 充气床放气完毕。我已经没有床用了。

5:39am 在公寓的阳台看看睡梦中的Finch车站和灯火通明的Yonge街。

5:40am 东西都收的差不多了，再检查一遍吧…………

 

5:58am 洗了个澡，困意没了大半。

 

6:32am 出门走走。太阳出来了。

 

6:52am 从shoppers买了一盒儿Meatball Spaghetti。再享受一次步行距离内能买到食物的便利。

 

7:12am 收拾桌面，外接硬盘收起来。

 

7:28am 行李箱立在门口，屋子里空荡荡的了。

 

8:03am 再来到阳台上看看醒来的Finch车站和熙攘的人流。

 

8:08am 回头看看这个我曾经呆了四个月的地方已经恢复了我搬进来之前的样子，一点儿我曾经在的痕迹都没有了。

 

8:50am 要收电脑走人了。再见，多伦多！

耐心…………耐心…………

这两天心情很奇怪…………就像多伦多的天气，一会儿晴一会儿雨的。

MLC侥幸过关，下次不能再复习的这么虚了…………

过关了是好事儿，但是因为exam fee reimbursement跟公司管人力资源的老大妈闹的不开心。老子不就是找你要钱了吗？当时你们不是说给老子钱了吗？为啥说好的事情却那么不情愿？估计老大妈更年期到了…………

Speed up project基本上做完了，今天做了个测试了一下，可能把计算提速了一倍吧…………看起来还好。

我承认我是不是有时候太没耐心了，很多东西如果等等结果就会很不一样。所以我决定努力不来的东西，碰运气的东西，就只好真的去碰运气了…………守株待兔吧，只是希望自己在兔子来了的时候别睡着了。

完了，听瓦格纳挺多了，意识流了…………

最近的一些有意思的事情

一

我昨晚去Scarborough Town Centre看了“Up”，被感动的稀里哗啦的。这片子其实完全是部成人片，电影宣传的时候应该注明“18岁以下不宜”。倒不是说这片子多黄多暴力，而是片子讲述了一个很温情的故事，小屁孩儿们是不明白的。放映厅里面的小娃娃们看了10分钟就呆不下去了。

这片子带MM去看是很合适的。

从去年的“Wall – E ” 到今年的“Up”，动画片变得愈发的温情了。

二

上周某一天在公司的走廊里撞见精算开发团队的总工Ivan。于是两个人端着杯子开始了这样一段对话

Ivan : So, how’s your “speed – up” project going?

Jones : Not bad. I’ve got the cache set up and the calculation results are matching the previous version. But still I think it can run faster.

Ivan : (Impressed) Wow, that’s good. How fast is it running now?

Jones : Twice faster.

Ivan : (Not satisfied) I think it can run way faster.

Jones : (sure……..)………

Ivan : If you think about the present value calculation……（此处略去1000字）

Jones : en……en….

Ivan : (Walking away and talking to himself) At least we’ve made some progress….

Jones : …

三

这两天突然迷上瓦格纳的东西了。估计上周五晚上把各种版本的Tannhauser 序曲听了七八遍。 我以前偏好勃拉姆斯的交响乐，然后瓦格纳跟勃拉姆斯又是死对头，于是我就很政治的不听瓦格纳的作品。前几天网络断了，我就在翻电脑里的音乐，发现有几首瓦格纳的管弦乐作品，有 Lohengrin 第三幕的前奏曲，有Tannhauser 序曲，由于是在无聊，我就听了听，然后就一发不可收拾了。

远离家园

我这两天在校内上闲逛，发现很多的小学同学依然还在东北老家生活。二十多年了，他们未曾远离家园。我也活了二十多年，但是这二十年却是动荡颠沛，不走则以，一走便是千里。

陈丹青说，他们那代是失根的一代。我母亲就是在动荡风雨中成长起来的。海拉尔，哈尔滨，山西，河北，因为姥爷是搞铁路的，我妈跟着他跑了大半个中国。父母们在自然灾害中诞生，在文革风浪中成长。天灾人祸让他们远离了安稳暖和的家，走进了无线迷惘看不见未来的远方。

但这何尝又是他们的错呢？二十世纪的主题就是——远离家园。

Simon Rattle说，从"Tristan and Isolde”开始，音乐就远离了家园。不和谐和弦的对题并没有像古典和浪漫时期那样被对应的和谐的答题解决，而是被推向了更加的不和谐。音乐又何尝不是反映了特定时代的特定精神？二十世纪来了，交通发达了，通信发达了，于是人们就远行，远离出生的地方，来的新大陆，开创新世界。 巴赫在林茨呆了大半辈子，一生没离开过德国；托斯卡尼尼生在帕尔马，却在大洋彼岸的纽约撒手人寰。

远离家园，为什么呢？

也许是探险精神，也许是好奇驱使，我们不惧艰险走向远方。也许是被逼无奈，也许是山穷水尽，我们不得不远离家园。我们面对的难题也许正是勋伯格当年遇到的——“他想写传统的音乐，但是时代逼得他没有退路。”不往前走，能往哪里去呢？二十世纪移民的浪潮推动着人潮似海潮样的绕着地球转。人流带着文化，带着民俗，带着乡土的杂质，带着劣根，融合到世界各地。等到回头再看的时候，发现人潮像极了已经加入咖啡中的牛奶，早都融化的无踪无际，但是空气中却飘着牛奶的香味儿。

别无选择的远离家园，但是那又怎样呢？

回国头去审视自己，我发现我很奇怪。说着一口不地道的英语，也说着一口不地道的汉语。论礼仪比不了生在西方长在西方的白人孩子，抢座位又不如个中国初中生。一边坐在Red Lobster吃龙虾，一边嘴里骂着“国足傻逼”。一边听着勃拉姆斯的小提琴协奏曲，一边哼着“张老三，我问你”。我远离了家园，我尝试着融入新大陆，但是家园确是我心中深深的烙印，没办法消灭掉的。

我到底离家园远么？

陈丹青也说，他女儿那代（也就是我们这代），生在失根的时代，但是是寻根的一代。在我飘洋过海之前，我母亲跟我说：“你到哪里，哪里就是家。”这话也许是她老人家用大半辈子的经历得到的对家园的充满哲学意义的解读。家园不是什么看得见摸得着的东西，她只存在于我们的心里。我上一次回国，觉得深圳是那样的熟悉却又陌生。很多东西已经不是我记忆中的家园。于是我发现家园是个很抽象而流动的概念，不似那山，那人，那狗，却似一江春水向东流，流向心的归宿。家园，近在咫尺，又远在天边。

家园的对我的意义已经超越了地理，完全是亲情和哲学范畴的了。有人爱，有可以去爱的人，家园就在；否则，即便永远留在出生的地方，也是个失根的可怜虫。

我爱我家，我爱我爸妈！哈哈哈！

A Beautiful Little Piece by Benjamin Franklin

Tony sent me this little article by Benjamin Franklin today. He said no one, in now days, write this way. I really like this article, both the language and the content. By the way, I do not know if Richards reason of marrying an elder lady comes from here, but his action seems to be well justified by this article.

Benjamin Franklin, Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress (1745).

June 25, 1745

My dear Friend,

I know of no Medicine fit to diminish the violent natural Inclinations you mention; and if I did, I think I should not communicate it to you. Marriage is the proper Remedy. It is the most natural State of Man, and therefore the State in which you are most likely to find solid Happiness. Your Reasons against entering into it at present, appear to me not well-founded. The circumstantial Advantages you have in View by postponing it, are not only uncertain, but they are small in comparison with that of the Thing itself, the being married and settled. It is the Man and Woman united that make the complete human Being. Separate, she wants his Force of Body and Strength of Reason; he, her Softness, Sensibility and acute Discernment. Together they are more likely to succeed in the World. A single Man has not nearly the Value he would have in that State of Union. He is an incomplete Animal. He resembles the odd Half of a Pair of Scissors. If you get a prudent healthy Wife, your Industry in your Profession, with her good Economy, will be a Fortune sufficient.

But if you will not take this Counsel, and persist in thinking a Commerce with the Sex inevitable, then I repeat my former Advice, that in all your Amours you should prefer old Women to young ones. You call this a Paradox, and demand my Reasons. They are these:

1. Because as they have more Knowledge of the World and their Minds are better stored with Observations, their Conversation is more improving and more lastingly agreeable.

2. Because when Women cease to be handsome, they study to be good. To maintain their Influence over Men, they supply the Diminution of Beauty by an Augmentation of Utility. They learn to do a 1000 Services small and great, and are the most tender and useful of all Friends when you are sick. Thus they continue amiable. And hence there is hardly such a thing to be found as an old Woman who is not a good Woman.

3. Because there is no hazard of Children, which irregularly produced may be attended with much Inconvenience.

4. Because through more Experience, they are more prudent and discreet in conducting an Intrigue to prevent Suspicion. The Commerce with them is therefore safer with regard to your Reputation. And with regard to theirs, if the Affair should happen to be known, considerate People might be rather inclined to excuse an old Woman who would kindly take care of a young Man, form his Manners by her good Counsels, and prevent his ruining his Health and Fortune among mercenary Prostitutes.

5. Because in every Animal that walks upright, the Deficiency of the Fluids that fill the Muscles appears first in the highest Part: The Face first grows lank and wrinkled; then the Neck; then the Breast and Arms; the lower Parts continuing to the last as plump as ever: So that covering all above with a Basket, and regarding2 only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know an old from a young one. And as in the dark all Cats are grey, the Pleasure of corporal Enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal, and frequently superior, every Knack being by Practice capable of Improvement.

6. Because the Sin is less. The debauching a Virgin may be her Ruin, and make her for Life unhappy.

7. Because the Compunction is less. The having made a young Girl miserable may give you frequent bitter Reflections; none of which can attend the making an old Woman happy.

8thly and Lastly They are so grateful!!

Thus much for my Paradox. But still I advise you to marry directly; being sincerely Your affectionate Friend.

Link to the original page: http://siddman.wordpress.com/2007/10/25/benjamin-franklin-advice-to-a-young-man-on-the-choice-of-a-mistress-1745/