VOA标准英语2010年-Premier US Orchestra Celebrates 125th

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the Boston Pops - the granddaddy of America's popular orchestras.

Since 1897, practically every Boston Pops concert has ended with John Phillip Sousa's immortal¹ march: "Stars and Stripes Forever".

It's part of the repertoire² of almost every local orchestra and school band around the country. The Boston Pops and its conductor for 50 years, Arthur Fiedler, had a lot to do with its popularity, according to John Williams, the Hollywood composer who followed in Fiedler's footsteps.

Courtesy Boston Pops
Conductor Arthur Fiedler, who led the Pops for 50 years, made light orchestral music more accessible to a wider audience.

"I think Stars and Stripes goes with the orchestra, goes with the hall and the entire spirit of what the Pops has brought to the American public, principally, but I think because of Fiedler's television and recordings³, to a public around the world, as well," Fiedler says.

Accessible orchestra music

But long before Fiedler picked up the baton⁴, the Boston Pops had carved out a niche⁵, bringing light orchestral music to wide audiences.

"As I like to say it, the Pops is the orchestra for people who don't know they like orchestras," says Keith Lockhart, who's been conducting the Boston Pops for the past 16 years. The orchestra was formed in 1885 by some of the Boston Symphony's early benefactors⁶, who were looking to expand the orchestra's appeal by playing popular music. Within a few years, these became known as pops concerts.

"Boston is the first city in the country to have had a public library," says Lockhart. "And, in many ways, I think these very civic-minded people thought, 'How do we make this institution really resonate with lots and lots of people?'"

One way was to make the concerts a festive⁷ social occasion. From the beginning, food and drink have been served during Boston Pops performances. In fact, when the city's Symphony Hall was built in 1900, one of its principal features was an elevator in the center of the auditorium⁸, so the seats could be removed and tables put in their place.

Courtesy Boston Pops
Keith Lockhart leads the Boston Pops in a tribute to Leonard Bernstein.

The idea, from the beginning, was to make the Boston Pops feel like a different way to experience music.

"You just know that in the slow movement of something that's very poignant⁹ and soft, somebody is gonna drop a wine glass," says Lockhart. "But that happens. That's part of the deal."

National icon¹⁰

Arthur Fiedler was a 35-year-old viola player in the Boston Symphony when he was hired to conduct the Pops in 1930. He soon turned the local phenomenon into a national icon.

Fiedler wanted the Pops to move beyond light European classics and present new American work. He hired a young bandmaster from Harvard, named Leroy Anderson, to do some arrangements for the Pops, then commissioned him to write some new pieces.

"He ended up being the American Johann Strauss, Jr., the ultimate American composer of light, perfectly¹¹ crafted orchestral music," says Lockhart. "And much of his repertoire, pieces like, oh, Syncopated Clock and Sleigh Ride and things like that we play to this day."

Fiedler used a winning formula for Pops concerts. He started with light orchestral works in the first part, a concerto¹² in the middle, and then let loose at the end, says double bass¹³ player Larry Wolfe.

"We let our hair down and rocked as much as we were able and swung as much as we were able," says Wolfe.

Fiedler's son, Peter, says his dad wasn't a snob¹⁴ when it came to programming, embracing rock music by groups like the Beatles.

"The fact that he took, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," and had that arranged for the Pops was just brilliant," says Peter Fiedler. "I mean it took off like a rocket."

Under Fiedler, the Pops truly became a national orchestra, touring the country and appearing on television. After his death, the baton passed to John Williams, best known for composing Academy-Award winning movie scores. He continued his predecessor's traditions, but brought some Hollywood flair¹⁵ to the podium.

Modern times

"Actually, I was very self-conscious about playing my own music in those concerts and rarely did it, in the '80s."

Bass player Larry Wolfe says it's always a kick to play John Williams' music.

"We're playing this stuff. The man who composed it is conducting us. And, the audience knows it. They sense that same kind of excitement and are just as engaged as we are."

Current conductor Lockhart says one of the most exciting - and well-attended - events of every Boston Pops season comes on the evening of July Fourth.

"The July Fourth concert is an amazing thing. It's more of a sociological phenomenon than it is a musical event, but we are at the center of it. In the course of one concert, we play for a larger live crowd than all but I think two or three orchestras in the entire country play for, over the entire year. This is 500,000 or 600,000 people. It's a huge, huge party."

And the party continues all summer.

The Boston Pops will be giving concerts in and around Boston and at Tanglewood in the Berkshires.
 

1 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

2 repertoire   

n.(准备好演出的)节目，保留剧目；(计算机的)指令表，指令系统， <美>(某个人的)全部技能；清单，指令表

参考例句：

• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。
• He has added considerably to his piano repertoire.他的钢琴演奏曲目大大增加了。

3 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

4 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

5 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

6 benefactors   

n.捐助者，施主( benefactor的名词复数 )；恩人

参考例句：

• I rate him among my benefactors. 我认为他是我的一个恩人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We showed high respect to benefactors. 我们对捐助者表达了崇高的敬意。 来自辞典例句

7 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

8 auditorium   

n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂

参考例句：

• The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
• The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出，伸入观众席。

9 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

10 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

11 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。

12 concerto   

n.协奏曲

参考例句：

• The piano concerto was well rendered.钢琴协奏曲演奏得很好。
• The concert ended with a Mozart violin concerto.音乐会在莫扎特的小提琴协奏曲中结束。

13 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

14 snob   

n.势利小人，自以为高雅、有学问的人

参考例句：

• Going to a private school had made her a snob.上私立学校后，她变得很势利。
• If you think that way, you are a snob already.如果你那样想的话，你已经是势利小人了。

15 flair   

n.天赋，本领，才华；洞察力

参考例句：

• His business skill complements her flair for design.他的经营技巧和她的设计才能相辅相成。
• He had a natural flair for business.他有做生意的天分。