On the outskirts of Moscow at night in China.
Xinhuanet (2003-04-23 09: 16:22)
Editor's Note: Musician, linguist and translator Xue Fan devoted his life to the translation, introduction and research of foreign songs. He is disabled and has published nearly 2000 translated songs, but he is an ordinary Shanghai resident who doesn't receive state salary. He has an excellent aesthetic feeling for the lyrics, and grasps the singing nature of the words, so that the translated words become music. ...
Text/Xue Fan
Among the nearly 2,000 songs I have translated and introduced from all over the world in the past half century, the most famous and popular one is probably Night in the Outskirts of Moscow.
The birth of night outside Moscow
Night outside Moscow was published in 1956. Such a short and uncomplicated song has spread more and more widely all over the world in the past half century, which is also rare in the history of world music culture. Ma Dosov's poems describe the beauty of simplicity inherent in Russian nature. In the song, young people's sincere and excited voices, budding love and parting feelings before dawn are all in harmony with the beauty of nature. Solovyov-Sedoi's charming and clear melody supports and develops the image of poetry, as if it was born from Russian nature itself. In the composer's own words, this song "flows down from the pen tip along the letters".
1956 When recording this song at the beginning, the head of the music department of the film factory was very dissatisfied after hearing it, and said rudely to Solovyov-Sedoi, "Your new work is very mediocre. I never thought that a famous composer like you would write such a thing. " A pot of cold water made the composer feel dejected. However, after the film was released, the songs were welcomed by young people. The following year, he won the gold medal at the 6th World Youth and Students Festival. Young people from all over the world boarded the train singing "I hope you and I will never forget the night outside Moscow" and bid farewell to Moscow. From then on, this charming song flew out of the Soviet border and began its global travel.
Artistic charm of night outside Moscow
Solovyov-Sedoi used the change of mode flexibly-the first phrase is a natural minor, the second phrase is a natural major mode, the shadow of the melody minor of the third phrase flashes, and the fourth phrase returns to a natural minor. The turning point of the melody of the song is unexpected but natural and decent, with wide breath and exquisite structure, showing vivid interest in simplicity and elegance, which is really amazing. No wonder the Soviet music circle praised Solovyov-Sedoi's songs as "flexible and novel in genre, unique in technique, diverse in style and less in similarity."
Solovyov-Sedoi once said, "I always think it doesn't matter whether a song is complicated or simple. After all, that's not why people like it. Only when people find their life partners and their thoughts and emotions in songs will such songs become popular. " Night on the outskirts of Moscow is no longer a simple love song, nor is it just a singing of the night scene in the suburbs of Moscow. Incorporated into the Russian people's love for the motherland, relatives and friends, and all good things.
The night outside Moscow got a second life in China.
1July, 957, I spent two days translating Night Outside Moscow, but several versions were still unsatisfactory. That night, I went to the "Little Theater" to see the opera performance. After the rest, I pushed the cart on Huaihai West Road. It was raining in Mao Mao and the ground was still wet. The French phoenix tree on the roadside is still dripping with water. Suddenly, I don't know from which building came the sweet piano sound, so I couldn't help but stop and listen attentively. Oh, it's Chopin's serenade in B flat major (Op.9 No.2), which I practiced when I was a teenager. Somehow, I imagine that the performer must be a young girl, who will make up lessons for the piano teacher the next day and practice hard over and over again at night. The piano skill is not good, but on that quiet summer night, the street lamps shed a faint halo, the plane leaves whispered, and the night sky was filled with a damp and strange smell-the fluttering piano sound, which had its own mysterious and sweet meaning. I sat on the wheelbarrow, listening to the answer between the girl and Chopin, and let my thoughts wander in the ethereal dreamland ... until the piano finally became silent, I left disappointed. It was midnight when I got home, and I still didn't sleep. Picking up the unfinished manuscript of "A Night Outside Moscow" spread out on the table, I suddenly had a brainwave and translated the song into a clear copy in just one hour.
Chopin's piano music fascinated me a lot, but this unique "nocturne" left an indelible impression in my memory.