合唱經典：沃爾頓的大合唱《伯沙撒王的宴會》（Belshazzar\'s Feast，1931）

沃爾頓（William Turner Walton,  1902 – 1983）是二十世紀著名英國作曲家，指揮家。我們前麵介紹的埃爾加（Edward William Elgar,  1857 –  1934）也是英國作曲家，可以看出，沃爾頓比埃爾加晚將近半個世紀。如果說埃爾加的作品風格總體屬於浪漫派晚期，那麽沃爾頓的風格則已經開始離開浪漫派晚期，而受到二十世紀被統稱為“現代主義”（modernism）各種流派的影響。

沃爾頓《伯沙撒王的宴會》的體裁是大合唱（cantata），這是根據英文維基百科的介紹。這裏的“大合唱”是意大利語cantata 譯成中文的對應詞。 Cantata 大約從17世紀初開始指有器樂伴奏的較大型的合唱（包括獨唱/重唱）作品。其形式與“清唱劇”（oratorio）相近，但二者相比，“清唱劇”大多是表現和《聖經》有關的題材，而“大合唱”的題材則總體上更寬泛，包括世俗的內容；此外，“清唱劇”往往比“大合唱”具有更多“劇”的成分，包括具體的情節和劇中不同角色的分工演唱；而“大合唱”“劇”的成分相對弱一些，情節和角色往往都比較模糊。

有些中文媒體，如百度百科，新芭網，把沃爾頓的《伯沙撒王的宴會》說成是“清唱劇”，但沒有給出出處，隻得存疑，不排除是誤傳的可能。

大合唱《伯沙撒王的宴會》的歌詞是英國文學家奧斯伯特 西特韋爾（Osbert Sitwell，1892 – 1969）根據《聖經》的有關章節，特別是其中的《但以理書》（Book of Daniel）和《詩篇137》（Psalm 137）編寫，講述古代巴比倫王國由盛而衰的故事：猶太人流亡到巴比倫；巴比倫國王伯沙撒利用猶太人神聖的器皿讚美異教的神靈，來以此褻瀆神聖；但他卻奇跡般地被殺了，他的王國也由此衰落；而猶太人則重新獲得了自由，並讚美上帝。

全曲分為以下十段：

1. 以賽亞如是說（[Introduction] Thus spake Isaiah）；
2. 在巴比倫水邊/如果我忘了你啊耶路撒冷（By the waters of Babylon/If I forget thee O Jerusalem）；
3. 巴比倫是個偉大的城市（Babylon was a great city）；
4. 在巴比倫，伯沙撒王有一場宏偉的盛宴（In Babylon, Belshazzar the King made a great feast）；
5. 讚美諸神（Praise ye）；
6. 在強大的城市巴比倫（Thus in Babylon, the mighty city）；
7. 而在同一時刻（[Transition] And in that same hour）；
8. 高聲歌唱上帝，我們的力量（Then sing aloud to God our strength）；
9. 號手與吹笛者都沉默了（The trumpeters and pipers were silent）；
10. 高聲歌唱上帝，我們的力量（Then sing aloud to God our strength）。

分段之間多沒有休止，而是連續演唱演奏。全曲用時約33到36分鍾左右。

作品運用一位男中音獨唱，兩個混聲合唱團，一個大型管弦樂隊，與兩個額外的銅管樂隊，男中音演唱唯一的敘述者。

整部作品的音樂起伏變化很大，情緒狂熱，氣勢宏偉。其風格已突破後期浪漫派，而更多具有二十世紀“現代主義”音樂的特征，包括變化多端的節拍與節奏，頻繁的結構內的離調與轉調，大量不協和和弦的運用，等等。

作品更多的信息英文見維基百科：

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belshazzar%27s_Feast_(Walton)

中文見新芭網：

https://www.sin80.com/work/walton-belshazzars-feast

 

下麵是作品的第五段“讚美諸神”（Praise ye），表現巴比倫國王伯沙撒對金，銀，鐵，木，石，黃銅等異教諸神的讚頌，在作品中是一種“負麵的”形象。音樂是一段合唱，情緒粗獷熱情，帶有“異國風味”，調性富於變化。這段音像取自英國BBC國家管弦樂團（BBC National Orchestra），威爾士合唱團（Chorus of Wales），倫敦管樂團（London Brass）與BBC 交響合唱團（BBC Symphony Chorus）於2012年演出，尾高忠明（Tadaaki Otaka）指揮。

Walton: Belshazzar's Feast (Praise ye...) - BBC Proms 2012

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPWYAm_EguY&ab_channel=BBC

 

下麵是沃爾頓的大合唱《伯沙撒王的宴會》全曲的音像，由英國BBC國家管弦樂團（BBC National Orchestra），威爾士合唱團（Chorus of Wales），倫敦管樂團（London Brass）與BBC 交響合唱團（BBC Symphony Chorus）於2012年演出，尾高忠明（Tadaaki Otaka）指揮，喬納森 萊瑪路（Jonathan Lemalu）擔任獨唱：

Walton: Belshazzar's Feast - BBC Proms 2012 (Tadaaki Otaka )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S7By7pDjJ4&ab_channel=MartialVidz

 

下麵是全曲音像的另一個版本，由英國BBC交響樂團（BBC Symphony Orchestra），BBC交響合唱團（BBC Symphony Chorus）於2002年演出，安德魯 戴維斯（Andrew Davis）指揮，布萊恩 特菲爾（Bryn Terfel ）擔任獨唱：

Sir William Walton - Belshazzar's Feast (1994 - BBCSO / Sir Andrew Davis)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt3k3-EqnaU&ab_channel=glagolitic

 

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附錄：轉貼：沃爾頓的大合唱《伯沙撒王的宴會》英文原文歌詞：

（可惜沒有找到中文翻譯。很遺憾這部名作的歌詞還沒有被翻譯出來。）

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belshazzar%27s_Feast_(Walton)#List_of_movements

The full text is as follows:

Thus spake Isaiah –
Thy sons that thou shalt beget
They shall be taken away,
And be eunuchs
In the palace of the King of Babylon
Howl ye, howl ye, therefore:
For the day of the Lord is at hand!

By the waters of Babylon,
By the waters of Babylon
There we sat down: yea, we wept
And hanged our harps upon the willows.

For they that wasted us
Required of us mirth;
They that carried us away captive
Required of us a song.
Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing the Lord's song
In a strange land?

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget her cunning.
If I do not remember thee,
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.
Yea, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

By the waters of Babylon
There we sat down: yea, we wept.

O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed,
Happy shall he be that taketh thy children
And dasheth them against a stone,
For with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down
And shall be found no more at all.

Babylon was a great city,
Her merchandise was of gold and silver,
Of precious stones, of pearls, of fine linen,
Of purple, silk and scarlet,
All manner vessels of ivory,
All manner vessels of most precious wood,
Of brass, iron and marble,
Cinnamon, odours and ointments,
Of frankincense, wine and oil,
Fine flour, wheat and beasts,
Sheep, horses, chariots, slaves
And the souls of men.

In Babylon
Belshazzar the King
Made a great feast,
Made a feast to a thousand of his lords,
And drank wine before the thousand.

Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine,
Commanded us to bring the gold and silver vessels:
Yea! the golden vessels, which his father, Nebuchadnezzar,
Had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem.

He commanded us to bring the golden vessels
Of the temple of the house of God,
That the King, his Princes, his wives
And his concubines might drink therein.

Then the King commanded us:
Bring ye the cornet, flute, sackbut, psaltery
And all kinds of music: they drank wine again,
Yea, drank from the sacred vessels,
And then spake the King:

Praise ye
The God of Gold
Praise ye
The God of Silver
Praise ye
The God of Iron
Praise ye
The God of Wood
Praise ye
The God of Stone
Praise ye
The God of Brass
Praise ye the Gods!

Thus in Babylon, the mighty city,
Belshazzar the King made a great feast,
Made a feast to a thousand of his lords
And drank wine before the thousand.

Belshazzar whiles he tasted the wine
Commanded us to bring the gold and silver vessels
That his Princes, his wives and his concubines
Might rejoice and drink therein.

After they had praised their strange gods,
The idols and the devils,
False gods who can neither see nor hear,
Called they for the timbrel and the pleasant harp
To extol the glory of the King.
Then they pledged the King before the people,
Crying, Thou, O King, art King of Kings:
O King, live for ever...

And in that same hour, as they feasted
Came forth fingers of a man's hand
And the King saw
The part of the hand that wrote.

And this was the writing that was written:
'MENE, MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN'
'THOU ART WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE
AND FOUND WANTING'.
In that night was Belshazzar the King slain
And his Kingdom divided.

Then sing aloud to God our strength:
Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
Take a psalm, bring hither the timbrel,
Blow up the trumpet in the new moon,
Blow up the trumpet in Zion
For Babylon the Great is fallen, fallen.
Alleluia!

Then sing aloud to God our strength:
Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob,
While the Kings of the Earth lament
And the merchants of the Earth
Weep, wail and rend their raiment.
They cry, Alas, Alas, that great city,
In one hour is her judgement come.

The trumpeters and pipers are silent,
And the harpers have ceased to harp,
And the light of a candle shall shine no more.

Then sing aloud to God our strength.
Make a joyful noise to the God of Jacob.
For Babylon the Great is fallen.
Alleluia!