2020年经济学人 电影配乐大师莫里康内(4)

Cinema-goers sensed how he melded thinking and feeling, that he played with sounds that spoke¹ to his romantic nature and was able to conjure² up, in music, heroic figures who resonated with audiences around the world, however different they might be. It was the music he wrote for “A Fistful of Dollars” that turned the unknown Clint Eastwood from a faux-western cowboy into a hero worthy³ of Homer— honourable⁴, fearless and with a kind hidden heart—and the opening chords of Johann Sebastian Bach’s first song of St Matthew’s Passion, “Come, ye daughters, share my mourning” just before the rat-a-tat-tat drumbeat of French soldiers pouring out of their trucks, that helped transform Gillo Pontecorvo’s “Battle of Algiers” from a story about a nasty colonial spat⁵ into a tragic⁶ historical epic⁷.

电影观众感受到了他是如何将思想和情感结合起来的，他演奏的曲调与他的浪漫天性息息相通，也感受到他能在音乐里营造出引发全世界观众共鸣的英雄人物，无论各地的观众有多么不同。正是他为《荒野大镖客》创作的音乐，让默默无闻的克林特·伊斯特伍德从一个冒牌西部牛仔变成了如《荷马史诗》里的人物般的英雄-光荣、无畏、内心善良——而约翰·塞巴斯蒂安·巴赫《马太受难曲》第一首歌的开场和弦，“来吧，女儿们，分享我的哀痛吧。”后面紧接的就是法国士兵从卡车里涌出时搭配的咚咚鼓声，这帮助吉洛·庞特科洛的《阿尔及尔之战》，从一个关于肮脏的殖民纷争故事，转变为一个悲剧性的历史史诗。

As with the ghostly harmonica in “Once Upon a Time in the West” and the soaring theme the Jesuit Father Gabriel plays on the oboe as he tries to bring God to the Amazon in Roland Joffé’s “The Mission”, many of his compositions outlived the films they were written for. Visiting journalists sometimes failed to realise he was having them on when he gently insisted that people go to the cinema to watch films, not to hear them. Deep down he knew that music could make a film unforgettable.

就像《西部往事》中幽灵般的口琴，以及罗兰·约非执导的《教会》中耶稣会神父加百利试图将上帝带到亚马逊时用双簧管演奏的激荡人心的主题曲一样，他的许多配乐作品比电影本身更经久不衰。来访的记者有时没有意识到，当他温柔地坚持人们去电影院是为了看电影，而不是听电影时，他是在捉弄他们。他内心深处知道，音乐可以使一部电影令人难忘。

That was why Sergio Leone so often had him compose the music before shooting started, rather than the reverse, which is the way films are usually made, or even insisted the actors listen to the soundtrack to get them into character. He had just one piece of advice when approached by John Zorn, then a budding cinema composer: “Forget the film. Think of the record.” Millions would agree.

这就是为什么塞吉奥·里昂总是让他在开拍前作曲，甚至坚持让演员听电影原声，让他们进入角色。而通常情况都是先拍电影再配乐。当约翰·佐恩找到他时，他只有一条建议：“忘记这部电影。专注于乐曲。数百万人都会同意这一点。

1 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。

2 conjure   

v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法

参考例句：

• I conjure you not to betray me.我恳求你不要背弃我。
• I can't simply conjure up the money out of thin air.我是不能像变魔术似的把钱变来。

3 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

4 honourable   

adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的

参考例句：

• I don't think I am worthy of such an honourable title.这样的光荣称号，我可担当不起。
• I hope to find an honourable way of settling difficulties.我希望设法找到一个体面的办法以摆脱困境。

5 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。

6 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

7 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。