美国国家公共电台 NPR--From Daft Punk to ballet: Thomas Bangalter makes full swing to classical

From Daft Punk to ballet: Thomas Bangalter makes full swing to classical

Transcript¹

When a leading contemporary choreographer² approached Thomas Bangalter to score a ballet using a symphonic orchestra, the former Daft Punk co-creator leapt at the chance.

"I was very attracted by the idea of writing for the orchestra, and orchestrating myself," a soft-spoken Bangalter told NPR's A Martínez. This was his first major solo endeavor since Daft Punk disbanded in February 2021, though the project actually took root long before, in 2019.

Mythologies³ had its premiere in Bordeaux in July 2022, featuring 10 dancers each from the Ballet Preljocaj and the Opéra national de Bordeaux.

Angelin Preljocaj choreographed⁴ this commission by the Opéra National de Bordeaux. Composing the accompanying music allowed Bangalter to return to the dance of his youth in Paris, where his mother was a ballet dancer and his father a songwriter and producer. The first performance took place in July 2022.

On Friday, French classical label Erato released the 23-track instrumental score for Mythologies, composed for symphony orchestra. The inspirations are drawn⁵ from Baroque compositions (à la Jean-Philippe Rameau) and American minimalism (such as Steve Reich or Philip Glass), rather than the broad rock, house and jazz influences — and samples — behind Daft Punk.

Not Daft Punk anymore

While the music makes a definite break from the dynamic, thumping⁶ sheen of the electronic duo, it is still dance music, with its own idiosyncrasies. And there are subtle echoes of a now bygone era in the way Bangalter uses the orchestra.

His approach to melding different melodies and sections is akin⁷ to sampling — reusing and modifying pieces of existing music, which Daft Punk used heavily. There is little counterpoint, with the melodic⁸ lines mostly distinct rather than combined. Most of the tracks resemble a patchwork⁹ — albeit¹⁰ a unified¹¹ one — of various, often short, components¹² artistically¹³ sewn together.

These vignettes of sorts also match the broad narrative¹⁴ arc of the project, featuring fragments of various foundational myths. There are references to the Gemini (Castor and Pollux), Zeus, Danae, the Minotaur, the naiads, Aphrodite and Icarus. "It allowed a certain freedom and creativity that would take away the fear of the process maybe for me," Bangalter explained.

But whether mixing electronics or writing for an orchestra, Bangalter says he's working "with the same love of contrasts and oppositions¹⁵, in very sweet things and very violent things, going from one thing to another."

The seeds for Mythologies were sown years earlier, when Daft Punk mixed electronics with a symphony orchestra for 2010's sci-fi action film Tron: Legacy¹⁶. But Joseph Trapanese, not Bangalter, arranged and orchestrated that score.

After three decades of working with synthesizers, drum machines, guitar pedals and computers, Bangalter says he found the constraints¹⁷ of classical music to be liberating¹⁸. "There's somehow a fixed¹⁹ palette with the orchestral music, but there is still an infinity²⁰ of things you can do with that fixed palette," he said. "In electronic music, there's some kind of infinity of sounds available to you. And somehow that infinity of sounds becomes a little bit troubling and disconcerting, and you don't even know anymore where to start in some sense."

Ultimately, Bangalter says, writing music for dozens of individual musicians brings him "closer to human heartbeats."

'Climbing a mountain'

The task was a daunting²¹ one. And a lengthy²² one too, involving some 220 pages of notes to create just 90 minutes of music. "It was like climbing a mountain... The first thing when you start with a blank paper is, 'How am I going to get there?'" he said.

Bangalter studied piano as a child and later took up bass²³ guitar after meeting Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo — with whom he later formed Daft Punk — while attending the Lycée Carnot school in Paris. They launched the rock band Darlin' at the time with Laurent Brancowitz, who himself later joined the pop rock group Phoenix²⁴. A negative review dismissed Darlin' as "daft punky thrash," which ultimately inspired the name for the groundbreaking duo Bangalter and de Homem-Christo subsequently formed.

With little formal musical training, Bangalter took a crash course in classical composition to prepare for what became Mythologies. He pored over orchestration and music theory treatises²⁵, including a seminal²⁶ 19th century one by Hector Berlioz. "At each page and each bar, I was trying to keep a fresh ear and a fresh eye about things to experiment and rules to follow and rules to break," Bangalter said.

He also developed a "fruitful relationship" with the conductor of the orchestra with whom he recorded the album, Romain Dumas of the Orchestre national Bordeaux Aquitaine, who also happens to be a composer. And Bangalter avoided writing at the keyboard, as he once had for Daft Punk.

Composing can be a rather "solitary²⁷ process," Bangalter remarked, but that changed entirely²⁸ come rehearsal²⁹ time, with 20 dancers, a 55-piece unamplified orchestra and numerous technicians in Bordeaux's 18th-century opera house.

Daft Punk may now be "a thing of the past," but Bangalter says he's still keeping his drum kits³⁰ and synthesizers. "We're very happy and very proud and in peace with how fortunate we were to express ourselves so freely and how we were able to express what we wanted to express together," he said.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 choreographer   

n.编舞者

参考例句：

• She is a leading professional belly dancer, choreographer, and teacher. 她既是杰出的专业肚皮舞演员，也是舞蹈设计者和老师。 来自辞典例句
• It'stands aside, my choreographer of grace, and blesses each finger and toe. 它站在一旁，我优雅的舞蹈指导，并祝福每个指尖与脚尖。 来自互联网

3 mythologies   

神话学( mythology的名词复数 )； 神话（总称）； 虚构的事实； 错误的观点

参考例句：

• a study of the religions and mythologies of ancient Rome 关于古罗马的宗教和神话的研究
• This realization is enshrined in "Mythologies." 这一看法见诸于他的《神话集》一书。

4 choreographed   

v.设计舞蹈动作( choreograph的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• There was some carefully choreographed flag-waving as the President drove by. 总统的车经过时，人们按精心编排的动作挥舞着旗帜。
• Achim had choreographed the dance in Act II himself. 阿希姆自己设计了第2幕的舞蹈动作。 来自辞典例句

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 thumping   

adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持

参考例句：

• Her heart was thumping with emotion. 她激动得心怦怦直跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was thumping the keys of the piano. 他用力弹钢琴。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

8 melodic   

adj.有旋律的，调子美妙的

参考例句：

• His voice had a rich melodic quality.他的音色浑厚而优美。
• He spoke with a soft husky voice in a melodic accent.他微微沙哑的声音带着一种悠扬的口音。

9 patchwork   

n.混杂物；拼缝物

参考例句：

• That proposal is nothing else other than a patchwork.那个建议只是一个大杂烩而已。
• She patched new cloth to the old coat,so It'seemed mere patchwork. 她把新布初到那件旧上衣上，所以那件衣服看上去就象拼凑起来的东西。

10 albeit   

conj.即使；纵使；虽然

参考例句：

• Albeit fictional,she seemed to have resolved the problem.虽然是虚构的，但是在她看来好象是解决了问题。
• Albeit he has failed twice,he is not discouraged.虽然失败了两次，但他并没有气馁。

11 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

12 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

13 artistically   

adv.艺术性地

参考例句：

• The book is beautifully printed and artistically bound. 这本书印刷精美，装帧高雅。
• The room is artistically decorated. 房间布置得很美观。

14 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

15 oppositions   

（强烈的）反对( opposition的名词复数 )； 反对党； （事业、竞赛、游戏等的）对手； 对比

参考例句：

• That's fine because all perihelic oppositions of Mars are spectacular. 但它和最近的几次区别不大，因为火星所有的近日对冲都很壮观。
• He tried his best to bear down all of his oppositions. 他尽全力击败一切反对意见。

16 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

17 constraints   

强制( constraint的名词复数 )； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

18 liberating   

解放，释放( liberate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Revolution means liberating the productive forces. 革命就是为了解放生产力。
• They had already taken on their shoulders the burden of reforming society and liberating mankind. 甚至在这些集会聚谈中，他们就已经夸大地把改革社会、解放人群的责任放在自己的肩头了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

19 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

20 infinity   

n.无限，无穷，大量

参考例句：

• It is impossible to count up to infinity.不可能数到无穷大。
• Theoretically,a line can extend into infinity.从理论上来说直线可以无限地延伸。

21 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

22 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

23 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

24 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

25 treatises   

n.专题著作，专题论文，专著( treatise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many treatises in different languages have been published on pigeons. 关于鸽类的著作，用各种文字写的很多。 来自辞典例句
• Many other treatises incorporated the new rigor. 许多其它的专题论文体现了新的严密性。 来自辞典例句

26 seminal   

adj.影响深远的；种子的

参考例句：

• The reforms have been a seminal event in the history of the NHS.这些改革已成为英国国民保健制度史上影响深远的一件大事。
• The emperor's importance as a seminal figure of history won't be diminished.做为一个开创性历史人物的重要性是不会减弱的。

27 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

28 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

29 rehearsal   

n.排练，排演；练习

参考例句：

• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
• You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。

30 kits   

衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件

参考例句：

• Keep your kits closed and locked when not in use. 不用的话把你的装备都锁好放好。
• Gifts Articles, Toy and Games, Wooden Toys, Puzzles, Craft Kits. 采购产品礼品，玩具和游戏，木制的玩具，智力玩具，手艺装备。