时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2012年(十月)


英语课

 



Once Muffled 1, Scottish Fiddling 2 Thrives in US


The Valley of the Moon Scottish fiddle 3 camp is nestled amidst towering redwood trees in the Santa Cruz mountains. In that bucolic 4 setting, more than 200 students spend a week camping, swimming, hiking and playing their fiddles 5 day and night.


Express yourself


Fraser started the music camp 29 years ago, shortly after he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area from his native Scotland.


His desire to share his music grew out of childhood memories from the 1950s and 60s, when traditional music was suppressed in Scottland's schools and universities. Fraser felt pressured to conform to British culture. People were afraid to speak with a Scottish accent.


"That hurt me to realize that, because what I want is justice, for the human soul to be allowed to flourish and for people to be able to express themselves," he says. "And so shy, introverted little me, with a fiddle in my hand,I feel compelled to ask questions that I wouldn't normally…saying 'Why are we not playing these tunes 7?'"


Shared passion


In the 1980s, Fraser found only a handful of people who knew Scottish fiddling, with its distinctive 8 driving, syncopated rhythms, double-stops and use of staccato. He hoped Valley of the Moon would introduce Americans to Scottish music and get them to share his passion.


"The idea is to release the personal voice we have within us and to enable people to find fluency 9 in their own expression, their own soul," he says. "You can create an environment where people feel safe to try, to open up and to know that they're valued. And once people begin to realize that, they'll begin to speak."


Mariel van der Steel found her voice when she attended Valley of the Moon for the first time in 2000, at age 14. She’d been playing classical violin since she was a child, but found it too restrictive and was on the verge 10 of quitting.


"My mom happened to see a San Francisco Scottish fiddlers-Alasdair Fraser poster for a concert near my house at the grocery store and she thought 'Maybe I'll bring Mariel to that," Mariel says. "She did and it was a magical experience and I just saw all these musicians, these fiddle players on stage playing music all together with huge smiles on their faces and that's what made me know I needed to come to Valley of the Moon, so I signed up for San Francisco Scottish fiddlers after the show."


'Educating the ear'


Valley of the Moon offers workshops and classes for fiddle, cello 11, percussion 12, guitar, and keyboards. The instructors 13 teach students to play by ear, the traditional way that the old tunes were learned and passed on centuries ago in Scotland. Written music and tune 6 books are not allowed at the camp. Fraser says the goal is to educate the ear.


The Valley of the Moon is so popular that its once-a-year summer camp now fills up quickly. To meet demand, Fraser opened a second California fiddle camp in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, a four-hour drive east of San Francisco. He's also started camps in Scotland's Isle 14 of Skye and most recently at the Crisol de Cuerda - the Crucible 15 of Strings 16 - in the Valle de Tena in northern Spain. 


The camps are open to musicians of all ages and abilities. The idea, he says, is to create a supportive and inclusive environment.


"I love hearing someone who is really good at what they do. But I also like saying to someone who is very good at what they do 'hey, could you take a minute and help that little girl who's having trouble with her bow arm right now?' And people want to do that-they want to share what they've learned. I think everyone just relaxes when they know the competitive edge is not there and really it's just family taking care of each other."


The ‘family’ wraps up the week-long camp with a concert at the Santa Cruz Civic 17 auditorium 18, featuring all 232 fiddlers and musicians performing on stage, helping 19 Alasdair Fraser keep traditional Scottish music alive and well in the 21st century.




1 muffled
adj.(声音)被隔的;听不太清的;(衣服)裹严的;蒙住的v.压抑,捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 );用厚厚的衣帽包着(自己)
  • muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
  • There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 fiddling
微小的
  • He was fiddling with his keys while he talked to me. 和我谈话时他不停地摆弄钥匙。
  • All you're going to see is a lot of fiddling around. 你今天要看到的只是大量的胡摆乱弄。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦
3 fiddle
n.小提琴;vi.拉提琴;不停拨弄,乱动
  • She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
  • Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。
4 bucolic
adj.乡村的;牧羊的
  • It is a bucolic refuge in the midst of a great bustling city.它是处在繁华的大城市之中的世外桃源。
  • She turns into a sweet country girl surrounded by family,chickens and a bucolic landscape.她变成了被家人、鸡与乡村景象所围绕的甜美乡村姑娘。
5 fiddles
n.小提琴( fiddle的名词复数 );欺诈;(需要运用手指功夫的)细巧活动;当第二把手v.伪造( fiddle的第三人称单数 );篡改;骗取;修理或稍作改动
  • He fiddles with his papers on the table. 他抚弄着桌子上那些报纸。 来自辞典例句
  • The annual Smithsonian Festival of American Folk Life celebrates hands-hands plucking guitars and playing fiddles. 一年一度的美国民间的“史密斯索尼安节”是赞美人的双手的节日--弹拔吉他的手,演奏小提琴的手。 来自辞典例句
6 tune
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
7 tunes
n.曲调,曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 );调整;(给收音机、电视等)调谐;使协调
  • a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
  • When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时,她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 distinctive
adj.特别的,有特色的,与众不同的
  • She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
  • This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。
9 fluency
n.流畅,雄辩,善辩
  • More practice will make you speak with greater fluency.多练习就可以使你的口语更流利。
  • Some young children achieve great fluency in their reading.一些孩子小小年纪阅读已经非常流畅。
10 verge
n.边,边缘;v.接近,濒临
  • The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
  • She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。
11 cello
n.大提琴
  • The cello is a member of the violin family.大提琴是提琴家族的一员。
  • She plays a melodious cello.她拉着一手悦耳的大提琴。
12 percussion
n.打击乐器;冲突,撞击;震动,音响
  • In an orchestra,people who play percussion instruments sit at the back.在管弦乐队中,演奏打击乐器的人会坐在后面。
  • Percussion of the abdomen is often omitted.腹部叩诊常被省略。
13 instructors
指导者,教师( instructor的名词复数 )
  • The instructors were slacking on the job. 教员们对工作松松垮垮。
  • He was invited to sit on the rostrum as a representative of extramural instructors. 他以校外辅导员身份,被邀请到主席台上。
14 isle
n.小岛,岛
  • He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
  • The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。
15 crucible
n.坩锅,严酷的考验
  • The alliance had been forged in the crucible of war.这个联盟经受了战争的严峻考验。
  • Put the required amount of metal into the crucible.把适量的金属放入坩埚。
16 strings
n.弦
  • He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上,随意地拨着吉他的弦。
  • She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
17 civic
adj.城市的,都市的,市民的,公民的
  • I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
  • The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。
18 auditorium
n.观众席,听众席;会堂,礼堂
  • The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
  • The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出,伸入观众席。
19 helping
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
标签: VOA标准英语 US
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Abeele
ablative coatings
absorption conductor cathode
acoustic grating
albedo particles
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angiocardiograms
apex pin
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audio track circuit
avalanche injection diode
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count me in
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