美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Let's Turkey Trot': Festive Music About Fowl

 

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BALLADE DES GROS DINDONS")

UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing in French).

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

That's an excerpt² from a piece that in English translates to "Ballad¹ Of The Fat Turkeys." It's by the French composer Emmanuel Chabrier. And it is the perfect music to continue a longstanding Thanksgiving tradition - a conversation with classical music commentator³ Miles Hoffman. Now, in the past, Miles has talked with us about such important Thanksgiving musical subjects as plucking, drumsticks and leftovers⁴. This morning, though, we're going to get right to the center of the feast.

Good morning, Miles.

MILES HOFFMAN: Good morning, Rachel.

MARTIN: All right. I assume those are French turkeys in the Chabrier song.

HOFFMAN: They are. But, more importantly, they're very bourgeois⁵ turkeys.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

HOFFMAN: They only care about walking around looking important and respectable, sticking their bellies⁶ out. It's actually a very funny song. And the text is by Edmond Rostand, the same man who wrote "Cyrano De Bergerac."

MARTIN: So some French turkeys - a little odd to start off our conversation about an American holiday - Thanksgiving. So what do you have for us that features American turkeys?

HOFFMAN: Let's go to 1909, Rachel - either in San Francisco or Chicago, depending on which sources you consult. The turkey trot⁷ was invented.

MARTIN: Oh.

HOFFMAN: It was danced to ragtime⁸ music. And the dance was considered so risque, so downright depraved, that the Vatican denounced it, which, of course, helped make it very, very popular.

MARTIN: This is all very fascinating because I always thought the turkey trot was just is the name of the 5K that my family runs on Thanksgiving morning.

HOFFMAN: (Laughter).

MARTIN: So despite concerns about moral corruption⁹, I think we should probably hear a turkey trot, right?

HOFFMAN: Well, yeah. Let's find out what happens. But we'll skip from 1909 all the way to 1980 and to a turkey trot by none other than Leonard Bernstein. This is the turkey trot movement from Bernstein's "Divertimento For Orchestra."

(SOUNDBITE OF LEONARD BERNSTEIN'S "DIVERTIMENTO FOR ORCHESTRA")

HOFFMAN: A slice of the turkey trot from Leonard Bernstein's "Divertimento For Orchestra."

MARTIN: That didn't feel depraved to me at all. It felt very sweet.

HOFFMAN: You don't feel corrupted¹⁰.

MARTIN: (Laughter) Not really. OK. So all corruption aside, what do we do about people who don't really dig turkey?

HOFFMAN: Well, I was thinking we could listen to something from Maurice Ravel's "Mother Goose" suite¹¹. Actually, we'd be cheating if we did that because Mother Goose herself doesn't even make an appearance in the music. She's the imaginary author of the "Mother Goose" tales, not a character in them.

MARTIN: OK. Any other musical geese come to mind?

HOFFMAN: Well, no, I'm afraid (laughter). But I've got a chicken. This is "The Hut On Fowl¹²'s Legs" from Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition."

(SOUNDBITE OF MODEST MUSSORGSKY'S "THE HUT ON FOWL'S LEGS")

HOFFMAN: That's "The Hut On Chicken Legs" (ph) - or fowl legs. The hut was the home of Baba Yaga, an evil witch in Russian folk tales. So the chicken legs are really just a kind of architectural accent.

MARTIN: Architectural accent, all right. So pick something that we can play to wrap up this fowl conversation. And don't take that personally.

HOFFMAN: I have one more turkey trot from none other than Little Eva - "Let's Turkey Trot."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LET'S TURKEY TROT")

LITTLE EVA: (Singing) Come on, let's turkey trot. Let's get it while it's hot.

MARTIN: Oh, I love it.

HOFFMAN: Immortal¹³ poetry, I think.

MARTIN: Right, immortal poetry. Miles Hoffman is the violist of the American Chamber¹⁴ Players and the Distinguished¹⁵ Visiting Professor of Chamber Music at the Schwob School of Music in Columbus, Ga. Hey, Miles. Happy Thanksgiving.

HOFFMAN: You too. Have a wonderful holiday, Rachel.

1 ballad   

n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲

参考例句：

• This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
• This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。

2 excerpt   

n.摘录，选录，节录

参考例句：

• This is an excerpt from a novel.这是一部小说的摘录。
• Can you excerpt something from the newspaper? 你能从报纸上选录些东西吗？

3 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

4 leftovers   

n.剩余物，残留物，剩菜

参考例句：

• He can do miracles with a few kitchen leftovers.他能用厨房里几样剩饭做出一顿美餐。
• She made supper from leftovers she had thrown together.她用吃剩的食物拼凑成一顿晚饭。

5 bourgeois   

adj./n.追求物质享受的(人)；中产阶级分子

参考例句：

• He's accusing them of having a bourgeois and limited vision.他指责他们像中产阶级一样目光狭隘。
• The French Revolution was inspired by the bourgeois.法国革命受到中产阶级的鼓励。

6 bellies   

n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的

参考例句：

• They crawled along on their bellies. 他们匍匐前进。
• starving children with huge distended bellies 鼓着浮肿肚子的挨饿儿童

7 trot   

n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧

参考例句：

• They passed me at a trot.他们从我身边快步走过。
• The horse broke into a brisk trot.马突然快步小跑起来。

8 ragtime   

n.拉格泰姆音乐

参考例句：

• The most popular music back then was called ragtime.那时最流行的音乐叫拉格泰姆音乐。
• African-American piano player Scott Joplin wrote many ragtime songs.非裔美国钢琴家ScottJoplin写了许多拉格泰姆歌曲。

9 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

10 corrupted   

（使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• The body corrupted quite quickly. 尸体很快腐烂了。
• The text was corrupted by careless copyists. 原文因抄写员粗心而有讹误。

11 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

12 fowl   

n.家禽，鸡，禽肉

参考例句：

• Fowl is not part of a traditional brunch.禽肉不是传统的早午餐的一部分。
• Since my heart attack,I've eaten more fish and fowl and less red meat.自从我患了心脏病后，我就多吃鱼肉和禽肉，少吃红色肉类。

13 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

14 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

15 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。