室樂新音

（刊登於《美樂集》12月號）

紐約林肯中心室樂協會主辦的室內音樂會，除了為聽眾帶來經典的室內樂作品，也會演奏當代的作品，讓聽眾感受新音樂的獨特聲音。

在十二月的節目中，聽眾能欣賞到亞美尼亞作曲家Babajanian的《升F小調鋼琴三重奏》。Babajanian生於蘇聯時代，於史大林死前一年創作此曲，是他的代表作之一。樂曲以傳統「快—慢—快」三樂章的結構寫成，除了帶有浪漫時期晚期的風格，Babajanian更加入亞美尼亞民族音樂元素，構成獨特的聲音。

意大利作曲家Berio最為人熟悉的作品，大概是續寫新版本的《杜蘭朵》。是次音樂會系列將演奏三首他的小提琴二重奏。Berio之所以創作小提琴二重奏，是因為一位朋友跟他說「除巴托的作品，我們欠缺小提琴二重奏」，於是他一共寫了34首，每首樂曲都不長，而且全以Berio的朋友、同事或所敬佩的作曲家的名字命名，例如第一首的名字正是「貝拉（巴托）」。

來自澳洲的迪恩的《為女高音與弦樂而作的第二號四重奏》，靈感是莎士比亞筆下的奧菲莉亞。透過五個連續的短樂章，迪恩展現出奧菲莉亞如何與不同的力量角力，甚至被打倒。

New Sound of Chamber Music

The indoor concerts organized by the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Association in New York, in addition to bringing classic chamber music to the audience, will also perform contemporary works, allowing the audience to feel the unique sound of this genre.

In December, the audience can enjoy the Armenian composer Arno Babajanian’s Trio in F-sharp minor. Babajanian was born in the Soviet era. He finished this work one year before the death of Stalin. The Trio is considered one of his most important works. It is written in the structure of the traditional three ‘fast-slow-fast’ movements. Babajanian threaded Armenian folk music element with late-Romantic style to form a unique voice.

The most recognized work by the Italian composer Luciano Berio is probably his own version of the last act of Turandot. In this concert series, the violinists will play three selected pieces from his collection of Duets for Two Violins. Berio composed the violin duets because a friend told him ‘there are not enough violin duets today other than those of Bartók’. So he wrote a total of 34 violin duets, each of which was not long, and all of them were named after a friend, colleague, or composer whom Berio admired. For instance, the first duet is called “BELA (Bartók)”.

Australian composer Brett Dean’s Quartet No. 2 for Strings and Soprano was inspired by the famous character Ophelia from the Hamlet by Shakespeare. It is a piece with five movements without any break. In the music, Dean reshape a new image for Ophelia. Through the string quartet and the voice of soprano, Dean tried to explore the combat of Ophelia with the forces surrounding her, or at times how the forces accompany her and even defeat her.