VOA标准英语2010年-Miami Choir's Take on Old Masterpiece

Seraphic Fire made its debut¹ a little over seven years ago. Classical music critic Greg Stepanich says it's become an essential part of South Florida's music scene - performing works from the Renaissance² to the 21st Century.

"Every concert that they do is not just...'Well, we're gonna put some stuff on here that people will like,' say Stepanich. "It's all thought out, intellectually. And then when you go hear it, it's vocally³ brilliant."
 
Courtesy Seraphic Fire
Seraphic Fire founder⁴ and conductor Patrick Quigley decided⁵ to release the CD himself after several record labels turned him down.

The group's founder and conductor is Patrick Quigley. Under his leadership, Seraphic Fire has sung with the New World Symphony and a well-known pop star.

"We recorded with Shakira, on her album, "Oral Fixation 2," says Quigley, "and recorded a sort of Gregorian chant-esque track to open that disk."

Big project

A couple of years ago, Seraphic Fire received a $25,000 grant and decided to tackle a big project: recording⁶ Claudio Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610, one of the greatest choral works of all time.

They teamed up with the Western Michigan University Chorale and recorded it in a little stone chapel⁷ in Kalamazoo.

According to Quigley, the famous piece has a kind of utilitarian⁸ history. Around 1608, the middle-aged⁹ Monteverdi was unhappy in his position with the Gonzaga family at the court in Mantua. So, over the course of the next two years, he compiled a large book of compositions, which included the Vespers, and dedicated¹⁰ it to the Pope.

"The Vespers is, in essence, a job application," says Quigley. "Or at least the lore¹¹ tells us."

And it worked.

"Eventually, the position at St. Mark's in Venice came open - the basilica there - and he assumed the directorship there. And the rest is history."

Quigley says the piece is often performed in a grand manner - with brass¹² and strings¹³.

"Most of the recordings¹⁴ and most of the performances that one hears of this piece tend to be a large Baroque/Renaissance/in-the-middle-there orchestral accompaniment with double choir¹⁵ and soloists¹⁶."

Exercising options

But, in the score, Monteverdi suggests it can be done in a smaller way.

"When we take a step back and look at the words that Monteverdi himself wrote in the print, we see that the word optional is used a whole heck of a lot," says Quigley.

So, instead of a large orchestra, Quigley chose to use only three instrumentalists. The gathered forces spent a week together, rehearsing and recording the Vespers.

When it was finished, Quigley shopped the recording to several record labels. Even though the industry professionals liked it, they all turned him down, telling Quigley they couldn't afford to take a gamble on someone that they knew nothing about.
 
Courtesy Seraphic Fire
The social networking site, Facebook, helped make Seraphic Fire's rendition of an old choral masterpiece a modern-day hit on iTunes.

So Seraphic Fire released the CD themselves and placed it on iTunes. When it came out in mid-August, it was a featured selection. Quigley took a screen shot, put it on his Facebook page and tagged everyone who was on the recording.

Going viral

"And everyone started to share this with all of their friends on Facebook and saying, 'Look, you know, we got featured on iTunes,' says Quigley. "Well, by the end of the day, someone noticed that we had moved into the 18th best-selling classical album on iTunes."

Within 36 hours, it was number six. For Quigley, the viral explosion of interest in the piece has been gratifying for many reasons, most especially because so many of the people who downloaded it were unfamiliar¹⁷ with Claudio Monteverdi.

"Introducing a younger audience to this 400-year-old music, I mean, it was one of those fantastic things that happens only through the Internet."

1 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

2 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

3 vocally   

adv. 用声音, 用口头, 藉著声音

参考例句：

• She is not SCREAMER or MOANER - She is VOCALLY APPRECIATIVE. 她并不乱叫或发牢骚，只是用声音表示喜怒。
• The left has been vocally against. 左派力量一直竭力声讨。

4 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 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。

7 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

8 utilitarian   

adj.实用的，功利的

参考例句：

• On the utilitarian side American education has outstridden the rest of the world.在实用方面美国教育已超越世界各国。
• A good cloth coat is more utilitarian than a fur one.一件优质的布外衣要比一件毛皮外衣更有用。

9 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

10 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

11 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

12 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

13 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

14 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

15 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

16 soloists   

n.独唱者，独奏者，单飞者( soloist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The soloists were ably supported by the University Singers. 这些独唱歌手得到了大学歌手的大力支持。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Summer music festivals feature leading orchestras, soloists and opera companies. 在夏季举行的各音乐节，有著名的交响乐团、独唱和独奏者及歌剧团表演。 来自互联网

17 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。