Yo-Yo Ma, A Life Led With Bach

馬友友：隨著“小溪”奔尋“大?！钡娜兆?/strong>

By Mary Louise Kelly

Yo-Yo Ma opened his recent Tiny Desk concert with the gently rolling 'Prelude' fromJ. S. Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1. It's music Ma has lived with nearly all of his life.

馬友友以巴赫的無伴奏大提琴組曲第一號中的序曲為他最近的一場“小桌子音樂會”（譯者注：隸屬于美國國家公共電臺的一檔音樂節(jié)目）溫柔地拉開了序幕,。這首曲子幾乎伴隨了馬友友的一生,。

'Believe it or not, this was the very first piece of music I started on the cello when I was four years old,' he told the crowd, tightly squeezed between the office furniture on NPR's fourth floor.

“說來你們可能不信，這是我四歲接觸大提琴時(shí)學(xué)習(xí)的第一首曲子”,，他向他的觀眾們說道,。今天來的人很多，使得這間位于美國國家公共電臺四樓的演播室都略顯狹小,。

Ma and Bach's six Cello Suites have remained constant companions. The music — two-and-a-half hours of sounds that map humanity in all its triumphs, joys and sorrows — has become a lodestar for the celebrated cellist. Ma's first recording of the complete set won him a Grammy in 1984. He released another set in 1997, the result of collaborations with architects, ice skaters and Kabuki artists. And now, a third cycle of the suites has arrived, an album Ma calls Six Evolutions – Bach: Cello Suites.

巴赫的六首大提琴組曲一直以來都陪伴著馬友友,。這些統(tǒng)共長達(dá)兩個(gè)半小時(shí)的作品傳達(dá)了人類所有的勝利、喜悅與憂愁,，這些個(gè)作品也成為了著名大提琴家們的鐘愛之選,。馬友友的第一張巴赫大提琴組曲全系列專輯為他在1984年贏取了一座格萊美獎，1997年,，他發(fā)行了另一套與建筑師,、溜冰員及歌舞伎合作的專輯。現(xiàn)在,，巴赫大提琴組曲的第三次錄音已經(jīng)開始發(fā)行,，馬友友將這次的專輯命名為：《六次進(jìn)化——巴赫大提琴組曲》。

Six Evolutions – Bach: Cello Suites

What could Ma be looking for in Bach's Suites now that he's reached his 60s?'You go for content,' Ma tells NPR's Mary Louise Kelly in an interview held in front of Tiny Desk attendees immediately following his performance. 'You try and transcend technique to get to what you think is there. Instead of saying, 'Here are these notes and this is difficult and I'm going to try and nail it,' you try to express it.'

年過花甲的馬友友究竟在巴赫的大提琴組曲中尋覓著什么呢,？“尋求一種滿足”,，“小桌子音樂會”開始之前，馬友友在接受美國國家公共電臺記者瑪麗·路易絲·凱利的采訪中說到,，“我嘗試超越技術(shù)的桎梏去尋找更多我所追求的東西,，而不是僅僅說‘你看吶，這些音符有多么難以演奏,，但我還是要努力去搞定它們’,。我們應(yīng)該要去表達(dá)音樂隱藏的內(nèi)涵?！?/p>

The most expressive music Ma played during his all-Bach Tiny Desk was the 'Sarabande' from the Suite No. 6. It's music that both soothes and celebrates, and Ma says he's played it in wildly divergent settings. 'I've played this piece at both friends' weddings and, unfortunately, also at their memorial services.'

在所有馬友友“小桌子音樂會”的演奏曲目中,，第六組曲里的《薩拉班德舞曲》最令人動容，這首曲子既能撫慰人心,，又能讓人歡慶,。馬友友說,，他在許多不同的場合演奏過這首曲子——“在朋友們的婚禮上，還有,，很不幸,，在他們的追思儀式上也演奏過?！?/p>

Ma, always curious, says that in returning to Bach he's also after perspective. 'If you look at a statue from a different angle you'll see a different view,' he explains. 'I feel that's exactly what a musician, or a scientist — and I think of Bach as a scientist-musician — and what a news organization could do to bring all of the different perspectives of a globe together so we can actually make better decisions.'

馬友友一直以來都保有一顆好奇心,，他說當(dāng)他再次回歸到巴赫的作品時(shí)，他收獲了新的觀念：“如果你以不同的角度去欣賞一座雕塑你會看到不同的東西,，我想這就是音樂家,、科學(xué)家。當(dāng)然我認(rèn)為巴赫是一名音樂科學(xué)家以及新聞社所該做的事——將全球不同的觀念匯集在一起,，以便我們可以做出更好的決定,。”

One decision Ma has made, in conjunction with his new album, is to take the Suites on a two-year, worldwide tour, offering himself yet another set of adventures with the music that seems to soundtrack his life. 'We go through these different evolutions,' Ma says. 'Each time you go through an evolution you're using all of what you learned from a previous evolution and applying it to your present state. So it's an additive thing, and I think that's what culture does.'

為配合新專輯的發(fā)行，馬友友策劃了一個(gè)為期兩年的世界巡演計(jì)劃,，他希望這個(gè)計(jì)劃能帶給他以及這部就像追蹤了他生命軌跡一般的作品一次嶄新的冒險(xiǎn),。“我們一起經(jīng)歷這些不同的‘進(jìn)化’,。當(dāng)我每走進(jìn)一次進(jìn)化的歷程,，我都會在這次的經(jīng)歷中運(yùn)用從上一次進(jìn)化里所學(xué)到的一切，所以這就是加法,，我們的文明所給我們做的加法,。”

Bach's suites have undoubtedly played an important role in Ma's own evolutions. 'Music,' he said, 'actually was invented, as all of culture was invented — by us — to help all of us figure out who we are.'

在馬友友個(gè)人的“進(jìn)化”中,，巴赫的大提琴組曲無疑有著至關(guān)重要的影響,。馬友友說：“音樂是被發(fā)明的，就像所有的文明都是被發(fā)明的那樣,。音樂是被我們發(fā)明出來的,，以此來幫助我們尋找這樣一個(gè)答案——我們是誰。”