Reading an Anthology of Chinese Poems of the Sung Dynasty, I Pause To Admire the Length and Clarity of Their Titles
(2008) | 6 minutes
Commissioned by Music in the Loft
Poem by Billy Collins
SCORING narrator, flute, viola, harp
PREMIERE Steve Robinson, narrator; Tim Munro, flute; Joel Link, viola; Nuiko Wadden, harp. 4 May 2008, Lyon & Healy Hall, Chicago, IL
Recording: CEDILLE (90000 115)
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Steve Robinson, narrator; Tim Munro, flute; Joel Link, viola; Nuiko Wadden, harp. ©All rights reserved.
Programme Note
Reading an Anthology of Chinese Poems of the Sung Dynasty, I Pause To Admire the Length and Clarity of Their Titles is a six-minute piece for narrator, flute, viola and harp based on the poem of the same title by American poet Billy Collins (the U.S. Poet Laureate 2001-03). As a composer, this piece is my musical reaction to the poem, which inspired me with its sparse, imagistic words and dry sense of humor. Like many other Collins’ poems, Reading an Anthology… also carries a great sense of delicacy and tenderness, and I cannot think of a better instrumentation than the combination of flute, viola and harp to present such qualities. The work was commissioned by Music in the Loft, Chicago’s chamber music series. It is part of The Billy Collins Suite.
—Zhou Tian
TEXT
Reading an Anthology of Chinese Poems of The Sung Dynasty, I Pause to Admire the Length and Clarity of Their Titles
Billy Collins
It seems these poets have nothing
up their ample sleeves
they turn over so many cards so early,
telling us before the first line
whether it is wet or dry,
night or day, the season the man is standing in,
even how much he has had to drink.
Maybe it is autumn and he is looking at a sparrow.
Maybe it is snowing on a town with a beautiful name.
“Viewing Peonies at the Temple of Good Fortune
on a Cloudy Afternoon” is one of Sun Tung Po’s.
“Dipping Water from the River and Simmering Tea”
is another one, or just
“On a Boat, Awake at Night.”
And Lu Yu takes the simple rice cake with
“In a Boat on a Summer Evening
I Heard the Cry of a Waterbird.
It Was Very Sad and Seemed To Be Saying
My Woman Is Cruel–Moved, I Wrote This Poem.”
There is no iron turnstile to push against here
as with headings like “Vortex on a String,”
“The Horn of Neurosis,” or whatever.
No confusingly inscribed welcome mat to puzzle over.
Instead, “I Walk Out on a Summer Morning
to the Sound of Birds and a Waterfall”
is a beaded curtain brushing over my shoulders.
And “Ten Days of Spring Rain Have Kept Me Indoors”
is a servant who shows me into the room
where a poet with a thin beard
is sitting on a mat with a jug of wine
whispering something about clouds and cold wind,
about sickness and the loss of friends.
How easy he has made it for me to enter here,
to sit down in a corner,
cross my legs like his, and listen.
周天 （1981—）
《柯林斯讀中國詩集…》（2008）
為敘述者、長笛、中提琴和豎琴而作
《柯林斯讀中國詩集…》2008年由芝加哥室內樂系列Music in the Loft、比利·柯林斯基金會、Cedille唱片公司委約，根據兩屆美國桂冠詩人比利·柯林斯的英文原著創作。
柯林斯用字遣詞親切簡潔，極具想像力和原創性，人稱“家居版的超現實主義”。他的作品中字裡行間常透出一種低調的幽默，然而細讀之後，卻又會發現其中含義頗深，甚至有一點黑暗深沉。在這篇《讀一部宋詩選集，歎賞其詩題長短參差清澈透明》中，柯林斯作為一個美國詩人，為東方古典詩詞的審美而入迷——相比許多西方詩人艱深拗口的文法，原來中國詩歌這麼直白，時間、地點、事件、甚至於詩人喝了多少酒都可以在詩詞中一目了然。周天則從一個旅美華裔作曲家的角度，用清新古樸的音樂和稍帶法國風味的樂器搭配來反映他對於現代美國詩人理解中國文化的新奇。
“這個作品精美絕倫。周天喚起了一種與原文完美銜接的空間感和永恆感。這是一種不同尋常但完全令人滿意的法國風味與美國人對中國詩歌的理解的融合。”
—《號角雜誌》樂評
____________________________________________________
《讀一部宋詩選集，歎賞其詩題長短參差清澈透明》
比利·柯林斯（翻譯：董伯韜）
看來這些詩人不以寬大的衣袖故弄玄虛，
他們早早亮出那些牌，
在寫下第一行之前就告訴我們
天氣的干濕，
是白晝還是夜晚，他身處哪個季節，
他已強飲下多少酒。
或許是秋天，他正看著一隻麻雀。
或許在下雪，在一個小鎮，小鎮的名字很美。
“午後輕陰吉祥寺賞牡丹，”
是蘇東坡的詩。
“汲江煎茶”
是另一詩題，還有一首就叫
“舟中夜起”
陸游則以“簡樸”勝出:
“夏夜舟中
聞水鳥聲甚哀
若曰姑惡
感而作詩”
這裡沒有旋轉的鐵門要你推
彷若推開“一根弦上的漩渦”
或“神經症的角”這類標題。
也沒有難懂的題詞作門墊把你困擾。
相反，“夏日晨起野步聞鳥聲流泉。”
若一卷珠簾拂過我肩。
“官舍阻雨十日不能出”（譯著：劉過）
則是一個僕人把我引入室內
詩人鬚髯疏淡
坐在蒲團上，伴著一壺酒
悄語著浮雲，冷風，
病疾，以及故去的友人。
他讓我覺得那麼自在，走進來
在一個角落坐下
像他那樣蹯起腿，傾聽。
Reviews
“The piece is absolutely beautiful. Zhou evokes a sense of space and timelessness that suits the text perfectly.”—Fanfare
“Zhou Tian’s Reading an Anthology of Chinese Poems mixes narration in and out of the instrumental fabric, which in this instance is the Debussian trio of flute, viola, and harp. It’s an unusual but utterly satisfying fusion of French flavors with an American view of a Chinese poem. The interplay is ingenious, at times suggesting a Chinese composer’s quotations of a French composer’s Asian-tinged melodies. The recording is a model of clarity and finely honed balances, and the performers are of a uniformly high level.”—Fanfare
“…a winning collection of vocal chamber works by Pierre Jalbert, Stacy Garrop, Vivian Fung, Lita Grier and Zhou Tian.” – CD of the Week.—Chicago Tribune
“Zhou Tian’s musical setting is the most delicate, lyrical, and beautiful of all the compositions in the Suite and provides a fitting conclusion to the proceedings.”—Classical Candor
“Rarely do I listen to a CD of new works and instantly feel that every work/set is not only masterfully crafted but a true masterpiece; these all unquestionably are.”—Classical Voice of New England
