美国国家公共电台 NPR After The Flames, Notre Dame's Centuries-Old Organ May Never Be The Same Again

 

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

You're listening to the last professional recording¹ of the organ at the Notre Dame² Cathedral in Paris before Monday's catastrophic fire. Olivier Latry, one of the chief organists at the cathedral, recorded his album "Bach To The Future" over the course of several late nights in January, while the church was free of tourists and worshippers. The organ is the largest in France and dates back centuries. Miraculously³, it was spared the flames but will still require extensive⁴ renovation⁵. Monsieur Latry joins me now.

Welcome to the program.

OLIVIER LATRY: Thank you.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: First, I'm so sorry. This must be a terrible moment.

LATRY: Yeah. It's a terrible moment, of course. And I would say that it's quite something to hear this chorale that you choose for that because, in fact, I recorded that on my last CD last January. But I also played that last Sunday during the offertory of the last mass, which is one of the last piece which was played on the organ.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You have been one of the chief organists at Notre Dame since 1985, when you were just 23 years old.

LATRY: Right.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: What was your reaction when you heard about the fire?

LATRY: Of course, I thought it was a - not a joke, but it was not true. I received a SMS from a friend, saying Notre Dame is burning. I said, well, it's not - it's a joke - with a picture and then five minutes later, another picture. And then the fire was extending⁶. And I thought, well, of course, with that kind of roof, it can go very, very fast. So we were just terrified - absolutely terrified.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Describe the organ for us. What makes it special?

LATRY: Yeah. This is the - probably the most famous organ of the world. The organ was built by Cavaille-Coll especially on the 19th century. Now, Cavaille-Coll kept a lot of material from - previous organ builders worked on this instrument. And all the organ builders worked on this instrument always kept what was the best of the previous instruments.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah, so there's been an organ there since 1402. And what you're saying is...

LATRY: Right.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: ...That the current organ was just sort of - taken previous organs, and they sort of built this instrument over time from all these other organs.

LATRY: Yes, right.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I want to play some more music that you recorded on the instrument. Let's listen.

(SOUNDBITE OF OLIVIER LATRY PERFORMANCE OF BACH'S "FUGE G-MOLL, BWV 578")

GARCIA-NAVARRO: This is, of course, very famous music by Bach. And I heard that it's actually unusual to hear Bach on this instrument because of the sound of the cathedral. Why is that?

LATRY: The sound of the cathedral because of the reverberation⁷, especially because we have seven seconds of reverberation that you can clearly hear in this piece especially, especially the music by Bach, which is polyphonic. We need to hear all the voices, and...

GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's very intricate⁸.

LATRY: I had to choose the right pieces to play at Notre Dame for that because not all of the music by Bach can be played and heard downstairs really clearly. So I chose pieces which work perfectly⁹ with the organ.

(SOUNDBITE OF OLIVIER LATRY PERFORMANCE OF BACH'S "PASSACAILLE UND FUGE C-MOLL, BWV 582")

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Have you heard what's next in the renovation process? - because this organ has some 8,000 pipes.

LATRY: Exactly, but the pipes can be removed. It's not the main problem. It's just probably what we call the windchest. You see the box where the air - provide the air on the pipes. So we have to take all of those things, and also, of course, the electric system because the organ has an electronic system which was installed¹¹ on the last restoration. And as you know, electricity and water doesn't work together. And the firemen just use the water to try to avoid the fire.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Once they're able to access the organ, just to remove all those pipes and take it out must be an incredible¹² process.

LATRY: Yes. And the problem is that we have to install¹⁰ special equipment if we have to remove, for example, the organ - some parts of the organ, usually when we do that, we have a system which is hang to the roof of the cathedral to carry all the big elements of the organ.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So you have to use, like, a pulley attached to the roof. And, of course, the roof is gone.

LATRY: Yes, exactly. So how we will do - we don't know yet.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Today is Easter Sunday. Do you have a message for Parisians mourning after this heartbreaking fire?

LATRY: Well, it is said in the gospel that if the temple will be destroyed, then Jesus will rebuild it in three days. So the cathedral is destroyed on some ways. It will take more than three days, but we have to hope that it won't last too long.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Olivier Latry, one of the chief organists at Notre Dame Cathedral, thank you very much.

LATRY: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF OLIVIER LATRY PERFORMANCE OF BACH'S "CHORAL HERZLICH TUT MICH VERLANGEN, BWV 727")

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

3 miraculously   

ad.奇迹般地

参考例句：

• He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。
• A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。

4 extensive   

adj.广泛的，广阔的，广大的

参考例句：

• The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
• The museum offers extensive facilities for study.这个博物馆提供了许多供研究的设备。

5 renovation   

n.革新，整修

参考例句：

• The cinema will reopen next week after the renovation.电影院修缮后，将于下星期开业。
• The building has undergone major renovation.这座大楼已进行大整修。

6 extending   

v.（空间、时间等）延伸，延续( extend的现在分词 )；伸展；给予；延长

参考例句：

• We are extending the radio network. 我们正在扩大广播网。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A romance extending over several years was culminated. 一场数年之久的恋爱就此圆满告终。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 reverberation   

反响； 回响； 反射； 反射物

参考例句：

• It was green as an emerald, and the reverberation was stunning. 它就象翠玉一样碧绿，回响震耳欲聋。
• Just before dawn he was assisted in waking by the abnormal reverberation of familiar music. 在天将破晓的时候，他被一阵熟悉的，然而却又是反常的回声惊醒了。

8 intricate   

adj.错综复杂的，复杂精细的

参考例句：

• We were able to thread but slowly through the intricate reports.我们能弄懂这些复杂的报告，只是很慢。
• The plot of the novel is intricate and fascinating.这部小说的情节错综复杂，引人入胜。

9 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

10 install   

vt.安装，设置，安置；使就职，任命

参考例句：

• They will install a heating and lighting system in our house. 他们将在我们家装上供热供电系统。
• He's going to install an air - conditioner in the house. 他要在这屋子里装空调机。

11 installed   

安装( install的过去式和过去分词 )； 安顿； 安置； 使…正式就职

参考例句：

• He's getting a phone installed tomorrow. 他明天要装电话。
• A professionally installed alarm will cost from about ￡500. 请专业人员安装的警报器要花费至少500 英镑。

12 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。