英语听力：Beethoven 贝多芬 - 11

 The Fifth Symphony is really something absolutely new. The symphony starts with “da da da da…”that’s no music, it is political agitation¹, so it is like a manifestation² of ideas.

 

Er…it’s not good the way we live, it’s not good, and, then you, um…at one moment you can hear the horns playing very loud “bang bang bang bang…” They say “let’s throw the emperor down to earth.”

 

Napoleon had briefly³ occupied Vienna in 1805, and the Fifth Symphony became a symbol for struggle and triumph.

 

So, it may have been that people hearing the Fifth Symphony at that time could identify it with this national struggle against France. And of course, there is an irony⁴ in that, that in the Second World War of this century, it became a symbol for the French resistance against German oppression. I suppose that says something about the universality of the music.

 

It’s very fitting that the Voyager satellites should be carrying Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony as part of its message to aliens out there, because it’s a great portrait of human beings, we work hard, we try to build things, we get very angry and depressed⁵, we’re trying to find our ways to our happiness, and in spite of our best efforts we very often fail, and we kind of come to an impasse⁶ just as in the symphony, it kind of comes to this…what next, what are we to do now…and then suddenly a little glimpse of hope…you can scarcely believe it’s true and then sure enough. We’re there.

 

Many pieces had begun in minor⁷ and ended in major, but this piece was the first one to systematically⁸ trace the journey. It was a model which was picked up by practically every other romantic symphonist to follow Beethoven.

 

At the first public performance of Beethoven’s Fifth in December 1808, the weather in Vienna was freezing cold. The musicians were under-rehearsed, and the concert went on for 4 hours. Even one of Beethoven’s admirers remarked:" you can easily have too much of a good thing."

1 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

2 manifestation   

n.表现形式；表明；现象

参考例句：

• Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。
• What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。

3 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

4 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

5 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

6 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

7 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

8 systematically   

adv.有系统地

参考例句：

• This government has systematically run down public services since it took office.这一屆政府自上台以来系统地削减了公共服务。
• The rainforest is being systematically destroyed.雨林正被系统地毀灭。