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　　美国大学继承了英国一个有几百年历史的合唱传统，那就是，喜欢合唱的学生聚集在一起，组成欢乐合唱团。如今，美国有几十所高校拥有欢乐合唱团俱乐部，只要能通过面试，学生们都可以参加这种无伴奏合唱团。

　　The Yale Glee Club is the nation’s third oldest collegiate chorus. What began as a group of friends serenading passersby³, has grown into a powerhouse vocal ensemble⁴. This year marks its 150th anniversary, and this month, decades' worth of Yale Glee Club alumni head to New Haven⁵, Connecticut for a reunion.

　　耶鲁大学欢乐合唱团是美国大学中第三老资格的合唱团。从最开始一群朋友组团为路人唱小夜曲，直到现在成为声名赫赫的大合唱团。今年，耶鲁大学欢乐合唱团迎来了建团150周年。2月12号，合唱团的新老团员聚集在耶鲁大学校园，展开庆祝活动。

　　Diverse group

　　Singing has always been a big part of life at Yale, no matter what you’re studying. Art major - later actor - Vincent Price and music major - later minister - William Sloane Coffin⁶ sang in the Glee Club. And so did Cole Porter, one of America’s most popular composers, who wrote a football song celebrating Yale’s mascot⁷, "Handsome Dan the Bulldog."

　　在耶鲁大学，不管学生学什么专业，唱歌都是校园生活的重要部分。耶鲁大学欢乐合唱团的团员包括：著名演员文森特·普莱斯、著名牧师威廉·斯隆·科芬，以及美国最有名的流行音乐作曲家科尔·波特。波特曾经为学校的吉祥物--斗牛犬帅气丹创作过一首歌曲。

　　Another alum is Richard Brookhiser, who’s now senior editor at the conservative magazine National Review. In college, he was already active in politics and recalls he enjoyed the wide cross section of people he met in the Glee Club.

　　另外一位老合唱团成员是美国保守杂志《国家评论》的资深编辑理查德·布鲁克海瑟。在耶鲁读书的时候，布鲁克海瑟就是个政治活跃分子。他非常喜欢在欢乐合唱团碰到的不同背景的人。

　　"These were people who weren’t into politics, or didn’t share my politics necessarily," says Brookhiser. "But when you were singing, that didn’t matter, because you were all focused on the music, and having a good time doing the music."

　　他回忆说：“那些人不热衷政治，也不一定赞同我的政治观点。但是当大家开始唱歌的时候，其它的一切都不重要了，你会全身心地唱歌，会过得很愉快。”

　　The Glee Club performs a mixture of folk songs, spirituals and classical music.

　　耶鲁大学欢乐合唱团演唱民歌、宗教歌曲以及严肃的古典歌曲。

　　"And that also showed someone who was maybe snobbish⁸ like I was, that all these different kinds of music have a value," says Brookhiser.

　　Rich tradition

　　The Yale Glee Club dates back to February 1861, and in all that time, there’ve only been seven conductors. Stowe Phelps, 93, sang under the fourth one, Marshall Bartholomew - known as Barty.

　　合唱团成立于1861年2月，在漫长的150年里，他们只换了7任指挥。93岁的施特韦·费尔普斯参加合唱团的时候，担任指挥的是第四任人称“巴迪”的马歇尔·巴塞洛缪。

　　"Barty was a wonderful, affable teacher and conductor," says Phelps. "He made us work hard and insisted upon perfection."

　　费尔普斯说：“巴迪是一个非常棒、非常和蔼可亲的老师和指挥。他教导我们要努力，要做到尽善尽美。”

　　Barty arranged dozens of folk songs and spirituals for what was then an all-male Glee Club. Jeffrey Douma, current conductor of the Glee Club, says it was no wonder that a music publisher snapped up those arrangements to sell to other groups.

　　巴迪为当时全部是男声的欢乐合唱团编排了几十首民间歌曲和宗教歌曲。对此，现任合唱团指挥杰弗里·道玛表示，这也难怪一家音乐出版社把那些歌曲出售给其他合唱团。

　　"From our vantage point in 2011, they seem very old fashioned, but they were very fresh, and very exciting," says Douma, "and that’s why his collection of Songs of Yale was the staple⁹ of male chorus repertoire¹⁰ for decades. Still is, actually."

　　他说：“从2011年的角度来看，那些歌曲似乎很老派，但是其实那些歌曲仍然非常有时代感，让人激动。这也就是为什么他为耶鲁收集的那些歌曲几十年来都是男声合唱团的保留曲目，今天仍然如此。”

　　Barty led the Glee Club for over three decades, and his successor, Fenno Heath, spent nearly four decades conducting and composing for the group. Yale went co-ed during his tenure¹¹ - in 1969 - and so did the Glee Club.

　　巴迪在欢乐合唱团担任指挥超过30年，他的继任芬诺·希思在合唱团工作了40多年。1969年，耶鲁开始男女同校，欢乐合唱团也开始有了女团员。

　　Phelps had mixed feelings about the change. "There is a passion, there is a vigor¹², there is a forcefulness, which is more thrilling," he says of an all-male Glee Club.

　　很多老团员对失去清一色的男声合唱团有复杂的心情。

　　Common language

　　But the Glee Club survived and thrived as a mixed chorus. Yale Students down through the years have found the Glee Club’s rehearsal¹³ room in Hendrie Hall a refuge from academic, and other pressures.

　　不过，欢乐合唱团最终克服了困难，成为一个男女混声合唱团。多年来，亨德里楼的排练厅是团员们暂时忘记学习和其它压力的避风港。

　　Roy Byrd, a Glee Club soloist¹⁴, was there in the 1960’s. "Being black at Yale was a big deal. Being black in the Glee Club was no bigger deal than Yale generally. And in fact, because we had something in common with one another in the Glee Club, it was a small deal."

　　罗伊·伯德1960年代时是合唱团团员。他说：“当时，作为一名黑人学生，能进耶鲁读书是一件了不得的事情，能参加合唱团也一样了不得。但事实上，由于团员们有共同点，这就没显得那么了不得了。”

　　Prochie Mukherji arrived at the Yale Law School in 1972. "There I was, a student from India, very far away from home. And the Yale Glee Club really was my door to making friends and to meeting people. It was a wonderful experience to have a common language in music."

　　普罗奇·玛克赫吉1972年进入耶鲁大学法学院。她说：“我是从印度来的，离家很远。欢乐合唱团为我打开大门，让我能够交朋友，认识人。在音乐中找到共同语言是一种很美妙的经历。”

　　For many, the people they met in the Glee Club are friends for life. Touring reinforced those friendships, with concerts across the country every winter, and tours abroad every other summer.

　　每个人都同意，在欢乐合唱团结交到的朋友都成了一辈子的朋友。合唱团每年冬季到全国各地演出，每隔一年的夏季会出国演出，团员们在旅途中加深了友谊。

　　Conductor Jeffrey Douma considers the social element key to his group. "When the personal connections are strong, we’re not only trying to serve the music and the composer, and we’re not only singing for the audience, but we’re also singing for each other. And we want to get it right for each other."

　　合唱团指挥道玛认为，社交因素至关重要。他说：“一旦个人之间的联系密切了，我们就不仅仅是为音乐而唱，为作曲家而唱，为观众而唱，我们是为彼此而唱。我们希望彼此都做好。”

　　Current Glee Club members are just beginning to appreciate the group's rich history.

　　"The continuity of Glee Club across time, for the last 150 years - that’s something I hadn’t thought about as much until my senior year," says Mari Oye, a senior studying political science. "I’m hoping we’ll still be kicking for the 200th reunion, and we’ll be able to come back to Hendrie and bawl¹⁵ our eyes out."

　　政治学专业的玛丽·欧雅今年就要毕业了。她说：“欢乐合唱团为什么能够走过150年的风风雨雨，我过去几年从来没有想过，直到快毕业了才真正在思考这个问题。我希望我们在建团200周年的时候还活着，这样我们就可以再次回到亨德里楼的排练厅，大唱特唱。”

　　Seventy-five years worth of Glee Club members were scheduled to take to the stage together at the reunion - from Stowe Phelps, class of 1939, through current Glee Club freshmen¹⁶, class of 2014.

　　在2月12号的庆祝演唱会上，时间跨度相差75年的合唱团成员同台献艺。他们中最老的是1939年毕业的施特韦·费尔普斯，而年纪最小的则是耶鲁大学一年级的新生们。

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