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歐洲大陸的“浪漫之都”,單單巴黎這個名字就足以讓人產生無數美好的遐想和期盼。埃菲爾鐵塔、香榭麗舍大街、凱旋門……這些風景雖美卻不及巴黎圣母院的故事蕩氣回腸。雨果筆下的故事,為這座哥特式建筑風格的杰作蒙上了一層神秘而幽美的面紗。迎來了850歲的生日,這位歷史繁華中的靜穆者要迎來新鮮的氣息與活力。
She stands in effortless command of the small island where medieval Paris was re-founded. Centuries of history have flowed past Notre Dame with the grey waters of the River Seine. The mighty cathedral is neither the tallest, oldest nor biggest in the world, but it can rightly claim to be the best-known. For centuries it has witnessed the greatest events in French history: 80 kings, two emperors, five republics——and two world wars. Its famous gargoyles , there to guard against the evil spirits, have faced both glory and tragedy over the centuries. The cathedral, with its original 13th-Century rose window, was pillaged and nearly demolished in revolutionary France. She survived, and 2013 sees a year of special events celebrating the landmark 850th anniversary of "Our Lady of Paris". Holy Wars The first stone was laid in 1163. It took them 180 years to complete it. Yet as the magnificent structure took form, history was already playing out in its shadows. Crusaders prayed beneath the world's first flying buttresses as they set off on holy wars. Within the walls, in 1431, a sickly boy of ten, King Henry VI of England, was crowned King of France. And in 1804, to the sound of the 8,000 pipes of the cathedral's Grand Organ, Napoleon was crowned emperor. Music is integral to the life of the cathedral; in the archive , the medieval manuscripts reveal it always has been. Fittingly, then, the great sounds of Notre Dame will be at the heart of the anniversary celebrations. Throughout this year, three choirs will bring to life some of the earliest sounds of Christianity. Choir director Sylvain Dieudonne told me that, “in 1163, when they started building the cathedral, Paris became a centre of great intellectual, spiritual and musical development.” Quasimodo's bells “The musical school was hugely influential,” he said. “We know from the manuscripts we have recovered that it influenced music across Europe - in Spain, Italy, Germany and in England.” Why Notre Dame is getting new bells. But there is another sound for which the cathedral is well known. The bells and "the grand peal" that so enthralled the hunchback, Quasimodo. The biggest of them all is Emmanuel, installed in the south tower in 1685. It tolls to mark the hours of the day, as it tolled to mark the liberation of the city in 1944. But this year, the smaller bells from the north tower were recast; they are not the originals. Those were melted for cannon balls by the revolutionaries. Their 19th-Century replacements were “discordant”. Eight of the new bells were made in Normandy, using ancient Egyptian methods; the moulds were fashioned from horsehair and manure. “It gives the bell a perfect skin, far better than if you made it with sand and cement,” said Paul Bergamo, the foundry president. The ninth new bell– a "bourdon," or Great Bell, named Marie – was cast in the Netherlands and then sent to Normandy to join the others. “Best bells in France” “But we are also using a lot of computerised techniques to hone the sound of the bell. “We will use a spectral analyser to check the final tone. They will all be tuned to the great bourdon bell Emmanuel. It's really a mixture of the best technology - and the best of traditions. And I am confident that when we have finished this will be the best set of bells in France” The year-long festival would not be complete without a celebration of the architecture. And to mark 850 years they will be improving the lighting. The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave, but after the construction began, the thinner walls grew ever higher and stress fractures began to appear as the walls pushed outward. In response, the cathedral's architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern. Today the cathedral stands as a gothic masterpiece. In his book The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo encapsulated that power. “When a man understands the art of seeing,” he wrote, “he can trace the spirit of an age, and the features of a king, even in the knocker on a door.”
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在中世紀巴黎重建的這座小島上,巴黎圣母院傲然挺立,自成威嚴。 幾個世紀的歷史,伴著塞納河青灰色的流水,匆匆劃過。 這座雄偉的大教堂并非世界上最高的,也不是最古老的或是最大的教堂,但她卻名副其實地是最著名的教堂。 幾個世紀以來,巴黎圣母院見證了法國歷史上最重大的事件:80位國王,兩個皇帝,五個共和國和兩次世界大戰。 巴黎圣母院(哥特式建筑)上著名的怪獸雕像,是用來防衛抵擋邪靈的,他們同樣見證了幾個世紀的榮耀和悲劇。 巴黎圣母院裝飾有13世紀的玫瑰色玻璃,整個建筑在法國革命時期遭到搶掠,差點被毀壞。 然而,她還是度過劫難,2013年巴黎圣母院850歲了,(巴黎)全年都有慶祝活動來紀念這一具有歷史意義的時刻。 神圣戰爭 巴黎圣母院的建造始于1163年,歷經180年完工。然而,當這一宏偉建筑成型時,歷史的陰影已經隱隱顯現。十字軍圣戰出征之前,將士們在世界上最早的飛扶壁下禱告。 在高墻之內,1431年,一個年僅十歲,體弱多病的男孩,也就是英格蘭的國王亨利六世被冊封為法國皇帝。 1804年,伴著圣母院內大管風琴8000個管子的彈奏聲,拿破侖加冕成為法國皇帝。 如今,音樂是構成巴黎圣母院的一部分,據記載,中世紀的手稿顯示,音樂歷來是圣母院不可或缺的有機元素。 因此,把圣母院的偉大樂音作為周年慶典的核心部分再合適不過了。 今年一整年,三個唱詩班會精彩演繹基督教最早期的音樂作品。 唱詩班的指揮沙利文?迪厄多內告訴我:“1163年,他們開始建造巴黎圣母院之時,巴黎成了偉大學術、精神和音樂發展的中心。” 卡西莫多的鐘 “音樂學校有巨大的影響力,”他說道,“我們從恢復的手稿中得知,這里音樂的影響力遠及整個歐洲——西班牙、意大利、德國和英國。” 為什么圣母院要換新鐘呢? 巴黎圣母院的另一個著名聲音就是小鐘和“大鐘”的聲音,也就是駝背敲鐘人卡西莫多所著迷的聲音。 圣母院里最大的鐘當屬1685年安放在南塔樓的大鐘“埃馬紐埃爾”。平時敲響這口鐘提醒一天中的整點時間,而1944年這口鐘的鐘聲被作為巴黎解放的標志。 但是今年,北塔樓內的小鐘會被重鑄,現今擺放的這些鐘也并非初建時的陳設。當年的那些鐘已經被革命者融化掉用來制作炮彈了。 19世紀替換的這些鐘的聲音并不和諧。 八個新鐘正在諾曼底進行制作,制作過程運用古埃及的工藝,磨具由馬鬃和糞肥制成。 “這種工藝制成的鐘外表很完美,比沙子和水泥制成的好很多。”鑄造廠的廠長保羅?貝加莫說道。 第九座新鐘,也稱作“低音鐘”或大鐘,被命名為“瑪麗”,是在荷蘭制造的,后被運到諾曼底與其它八座鐘相聚。 全法最好的鐘 “同時,我們還運用了大量的計算機技術來調試鐘的聲音。” “我們運用一種光譜分析儀來核對最終的音調。他們都會被調整,與大低音中埃馬紐埃爾相一致。這真是最先進的技術和最優秀的傳統的結合。我有信心,這項工作完成之后,這批鐘會成為全法國最棒的。” 長達一年的慶祝活動自然少不了建筑這一項。為了慶祝圣母院850歲生日,工作人員會對燈光進行改善。 最初設計時,高壇和中殿周圍并沒有飛扶壁,但是開始建造之后,較薄的墻越建越高,突出的墻體開始出現斷裂。 為了應對這種情況,圣母院的建筑師在外部墻體建造支撐物,之后的建筑部分也延續了這種做法。 如今,巴黎圣母院被奉為哥特式建筑風格的杰作。 維克多?雨果在他的作品《巴黎圣母院》中概括了這種力量。 “如果一個人懂得觀察的藝術,”雨果寫道,“他甚至可以在一扇門的門環上洞悉出一個時代的精神和一個君王的特點。” (來源:《英語學習雜志》? 編輯:Julie)
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Vocabulary: 1. gargoyle: (伸出的)怪獸飾,怪獸狀滴水嘴。 2. landmark: 里程碑,具有劃時代意義的重大事件;Our Lady of Paris: 專指巴黎圣母院。 3. buttress: 扶壁,扶垛。 4. archive: 檔案。 5. Quasimodo: 卡西莫多,雨果名著《巴黎圣母院》中的駝背的敲鐘人。 6. fashion: 制作,把……塑造成。 7. hone: 磨練,訓練。 8. bourdon: 鐘琴的最低音。 9. choir: (教堂內的)高壇(即唱詩班或教士席位的所在部分)。 10. encapsulate: 概括,壓縮。 11. The Hunchback of Notre Dame: 《巴黎圣母院》,雨果著名的長篇小說,以巴黎圣母院為主要故事場景。Victor Hugo: 維克多?雨果,法國浪漫主義作家,著有《悲慘世界》、《巴黎圣母院》、《九三年》等。 |
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