美国国家公共电台 NPR At This Summer Camp, Horn Players Of All Ages Find Community

 

(SOUNDBITE OF CRICKETS)

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

It's summer. You can pack the car, slather on some sunscreen and head to camp. And this summer, we're visiting a few of the most unusual camps around the country. There is a retreat in New Hampshire where horn players meet up to master their instruments in the mountain air. And another thing - it's not just a camp for children. Maine Public Radio's Patty Wight reports on the musicians of all ages who meet up at Kendall Betts Horn Camp.

PATTY WIGHT, BYLINE¹: If you're not a horn player, you may know this instrument as the French horn. But that's actually a misnomer². It's just the horn. Though you may not recognize it by name, you likely recognize its sound. It's helped to create some of the most epic³ classical songs and movie themes.

(SOUNDBITE OF RICHARD WAGNER'S "RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES")

WIGHT: Horns have been featured in orchestras for hundreds of years. And now, every summer, dozens of horn players go to the woods in the White Mountains to return to their instruments' primitive⁴ roots.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Playing horns).

WIGHT: The Kendall Betts Horn Camp attracts players of all abilities, including aspiring⁵ professionals like 22-year-old Torrin Hallett of Wisconsin. When he first came four years ago, it sealed his fate.

TORRIN HALLETT: It was just incredible. I'd never before been in a place where everybody just spoke⁷ horn all the time.

BERNHARD SCULLY: Today, the hope is to do the kind of last big combination of articulation⁸. And that is the slur⁹, legato, staccato.

WIGHT: The language of the horn emanates¹⁰ from wood cabins from morning until night as teachers like Bernhard Scully, a horn professor from the University of Illinois, guide study groups divided by age and ability. He says in one week, participants absorb about a semester's worth of training. And they also find kindred spirits.

SCULLY: And it's sort of a bonding. It's sort of a family, you know for all of us. Wherever we are in the world, whatever we're doing, this is a place where we can come and convene¹¹, sit together, eat together, just commune together about all things related to the French horn, all in a positive, noncompetitive environment.

WIGHT: The bonds form quickly when one player reminds their group they're about to play a song for the last time together. They lament¹².

(SOUNDBITE OF HORN)

WIGHT: But the camp has a lasting¹³ impact. It's propelled many of its alumni into careers. Sixteen-year-old Colin Lundy of Illinois came to camp for the first time this summer, and he now wants to go pro⁶.

COLIN LUNDY: 'Cause as a high schooler, like, it's so different. And it's kind of, like, a taste of what it's like to be in the professional music world.

WIGHT: It's a world that's not entered lightly. Instructor¹⁴ Lowell Greer is a retired¹⁵ professional soloist¹⁶. He says the horn is a difficult instrument.

LOWELL GREER: When we play concert here, we have the most sympathetic crowd in the world. They all know the difficulties. They all know the hurdles¹⁷ we have to get over. And they're cheering, each for the other.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Playing horns).

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: That's so much fun.

WIGHT: Fun that draws many of these horn players back every summer. For NPR News, I'm Patty Wight.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Playing horns).

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 misnomer   

n.误称

参考例句：

• Herbal"tea"is something of a misnomer because these drinks contain no tea at all.花草“茶”是一个误称，因为这类饮料里面根本不含茶。
• Actually," Underground "is a misnomer,because more than half the shops are above ground.实际上，“ 地下 ” 这个名称用之不当，因为半数以上的店铺是在地面上的。

3 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

4 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

5 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

6 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 articulation   

n.（清楚的）发音；清晰度，咬合

参考例句：

• His articulation is poor.他发音不清楚。
• She spoke with a lazy articulation.她说话慢吞吞的。

9 slur   

v.含糊地说；诋毁；连唱；n.诋毁；含糊的发音

参考例句：

• He took the remarks as a slur on his reputation.他把这些话当作是对他的名誉的中伤。
• The drug made her speak with a slur.药物使她口齿不清。

10 emanates   

v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的第三人称单数 )；产生，表现，显示

参考例句：

• He emanates power and confidence. 他表现出力量和信心。
• He emanates sympathy. 他流露出同情。 来自辞典例句

11 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。

12 lament   

n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹

参考例句：

• Her face showed lament.她的脸上露出悲伤的样子。
• We lament the dead.我们哀悼死者。

13 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

14 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

15 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

16 soloist   

n.独奏者，独唱者

参考例句：

• The soloist brought the house down with encore for his impressive voice.这位独唱家以他那感人的歌声博得全场喝彩。
• The soloist had never performed in London before.那位独唱者过去从未在伦敦演出过。

17 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句