——摘自《音乐启蒙书：音乐中的希望和力量》            

                 （中央编译出版社2007年4月版，李波译）

亚历山大·葛里切亚尼罗夫Alexander Gretchaninoff(1864～1956) 著名俄国作曲家。

    这是一次短暂而简单的相逢，但却给亚历山大·葛里切亚尼罗夫留下了深刻的印象，在他1952年出版的自传《我的生活》中，葛里切亚尼罗夫追溯60年前他初遇音乐偶像的情形。

    在19世纪80年代，当葛里切亚尼罗夫还是莫斯科音乐学院的一名学生时，当时最著名的作曲家是彼得·柴可夫斯基。他的每一首新交响乐作品都被收录入“俄罗斯帝国音乐社团”。只要他的作品一出版，乐迷们便会抢购一空。作为一个孩子，葛里切亚尼罗夫很幸运地参加了柴可夫斯基的歌剧《奥涅金》和《黑桃女王》的首演。

    为了莫斯科交响乐音乐会，乐团经常会和音乐学院的学生一起磨合、改进。如果节目中有一些不重要的地方，便常常选派理论系的学生们去演奏敲打乐器。当葛里切亚尼罗夫被安排去演奏柴可夫斯基管弦乐组曲《莫扎特之声》的钟琴部分时，他非常兴奋和紧张。后来的情况都更激动人心，因为指挥不是别人，正是柴可夫斯基自己。

    尽管葛里切亚尼罗夫有些紧张，训练进行得还算顺利。在最后一次排练的幕间休息时，葛里切亚尼罗夫和一个朋友正说着话，柴可夫斯基向他走来。这个朋友给他们做了介绍。柴可夫斯基握着葛里切亚尼罗夫的手，评论道：“这些部分应该永远让年轻乐师来演奏，那些大专家们从来不会像这些年轻人那样尽职尽职地演奏。”

    从偶像那里得到夸奖后的很长一段时间，葛里切亚尼罗夫都得意洋洋。他的朋友们都取笑他，说整整一个星期，亚历山大·葛里切亚尼罗夫都不洗那只和柴可夫斯基握过的手。

【注释】snap up 争购beef up 改进draft 选派 percussion 敲打乐器  glockenspiel 钟琴  suite 组曲all the more 更加none other than 不是别人正是…… intermission 幕间休息 conscientiously认真地，负责尽职地  walk on air  高兴，得意

April 23rd

 The Handshake 

   It was a brief and simple encounter but it made a big impression. In his 1952 autobiography My Life, Alexander Gretchaninoff looked back more than sixty years to his first meeting with his musical idol.

      In the 1880's, when Gretchaninoff was a student at the Moscow Conservatory, the celebrated composer of the day was Peter Tchaikovsky. Each new Tchaikovsky symphony was included in the concerts of the Russian Imperial Musical Society. As soon as his songs were published, music lovers snapped them up. As a boy, Gretchaninoff was lucky enough to attend the first performances of Tchaikovsky's operas Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades.

     For the Moscow symphony concerts, the orchestra was usually beefed up with conservatory students. Theory students were sometimes drafted to play the percussion instruments if the parts weren't too prominent. Gretchaninoff was excited and nervous when he was assigned the glockenspiel part in a performance of Tchaikovsky's orchestral suite Mozartiana. The prospect was all the more thrilling because the conductor was to be none other than Tchaikovsky himself.

     Despite Gretchaninoff's nervousness, the practices went well. During the intermission in the last rehearsal Gretchaninoff was talking to a friend when he saw Tchaikovsky coming toward him. The friend introduced them. Tchaikovsky shook hands with Gretchaninoff and commented, "These parts should always be given to young musicians. Professionals never play them as conscientiously as these young performers do."

   Long after receiving the compliment from his idol, Gretchaninoff was walking on air. His friends made fun of him by saying that for an entire week Alexander Gretchaninoff had not washed the hand that had touched Tchaikovsky.