1.Probably a lot of you know the story of the two salesmen who went down to Africa in the 1900s.
相信很多人都听过两个推销员的故事, 他们在20世纪去往非洲
2.They were sent down to find if there was any opportunity for selling shoes.
调研当地是否有 卖鞋的商机。
3.And they wrote telegrams back to Manchester.
不久,电报就派回了曼切斯特
4.And one of them wrote: “Situation hopeless. Stop.
其中一人写道:“情况堪忧,中止计划。
5.They don’t wear shoes.”
非洲人不穿鞋。”
6.And the other one wrote: “Glorious opportunity.
另一个人写道:“天赐良机!
7.They don’t have any shoes yet.”
他们都还没有鞋呢!”
8.(Laughter) Now, there’s a similar situation in the classical music world, because there are some people who think that classical music is dying.
(笑声) 其实,古典音乐的殿堂正面临相同的处境。 有人觉得 古典音乐正在消亡。
9.And there are some of us who think you ain’t seen nothing yet.
而另一群人觉得这不过是刚刚开始。
10.And rather than go into statistics and trends and tell you about all the orchestras that are closing, and the record companies that are folding,
我不准备给你们看什么统计数据和趋势, 也不打算说那些业已解散的管弦乐队的故事、 或歇业的唱片公司。
11.I thought we should do an experiment tonight — an experiment.
今晚,我想做个实验, 一个实验。
12.Actually, it’s not really an experiment because I know the outcome.
其实我已经知道结果,所以这并不算是个实验。
13.But it’s like an experiment. Now, before we — (Laughter) — before we start I need to do two things.
但它毕竟是个实验。好,在– (笑声) –在开始前,我想先做两件事。
14.One, is I want to remind you of what a seven-year-old child sounds like when he plays the piano.
第一,我想你想象一下,一个7岁的小孩子 弹出的琴声。
15.Maybe you have this child at home.
你家里可能就有这么一个小孩。
16.He sounds something like this.
他听起来像这样。
17.(Piano) I see some of you recognize this child.
(钢琴声) 我知道有些人认识这个小孩。
18.Now, if he practices for a year and takes lessons, he’s now eight and he sounds like this.
好,如果他练习一年,上些课,他八岁了, 他听起来像这样。
19.(Piano) Then he practices for another year and takes lessons; now he’s nine.
(钢琴声) 他再练上一年,上些课;现在他九岁了。
20.(Piano) Then he practices for another and takes lessons; now he’s ten.
(钢琴声) 然后他再练习,上课,他十岁了。
21.(Piano) At that point they usually give up.
(钢琴声) 这时候他们一般就放弃了。
22.(Laughter) (Applause) Now, if you’d waited, if you’d waited for one more year, you would have heard this: (Piano) Now, what happened was not maybe what you thought,
(笑声) (掌声) 其实,如果你在等等,再等上一年, 你会听到这个: (钢琴声) 其实,发生的情况和人想像的并不一样,
23.which is, he suddenly became passionate, engaged, involved, got a new teacher, he hit puberty, or whatever it is.
那个孩子并没有突然变得很热爱,投入, 找了新老师,或者突然开窍。
24.What actually happened was the impulses were reduced.
其实是当中的停顿减少了。
25.You see, the first time he was playing with an impulse on every note.
看,第一次他弹的时候 每弹一个音符就要停顿一次。
26.(Piano) And the second with an impulse every other note.
(钢琴声) 现在是两个音符停顿一次。
27.(Piano) You can see it by looking at my head.
(钢琴声) 看我的头你就能看出来。
28.(Laughter) The nine-year-old, the nine-year-old put an impulse on every four notes.
(笑声) 现在是9岁的小孩,9岁 4个音符。
29.(Piano) And the ten-year-old on every eight notes.
(钢琴声) 十岁的时候,8个。
30.(Piano) And the 11-year-old, one impulse on the whole phrase.
(钢琴声)。 到了11岁,整个段落只有一处停顿。
31.(Piano) I know — I don’t know how we got into this position.
(钢琴声) 我不知道我的姿势怎么突然成了这样,
32.(Laughter) I didn’t say I’m going to move my shoulder over, move my body.
(笑声) 我脑子里没有想过要把肩膀移到这里,身体移到那里。
33.No, the music pushed me over, which is why I call it one-buttock playing.
没有,是音乐在推动我, 我管这叫做半个屁股的演奏。
34.(Piano) It can be the other buttock.
(钢琴声) 也可能是另外半个屁股。
35.(Piano) You know, a gentleman was once watching a presentation I was doing when I was working with a young pianist.
(钢琴声) 一位男士曾经观看我 与一个青年钢琴家合作。
36.He was the president of a corporation in Ohio.
他是俄亥俄州一间公司的老板。
37.And I was working with this young pianist and I said, “The trouble with you is you’re a two-buttock player.
我和那个青年钢琴家说, “你的问题在于,你只会‘整个屁股的演奏’。
38.You should be a one-buttock player.”
你应该坐半个屁股来演奏。”
39.And I moved his body like that while he was playing.
当他演奏的时候我就这样移动了他的身体。
40.And suddenly the music took off. It took flight.
然后突然之间音乐就像乘着翅膀飞了起来。
41.There was a gasp in the audience when they heard the difference.
观众听到这个改变都吃了一大惊。
42.And then I got a letter from this gentleman.
后来我收到了这个公司老板的一封信。
43.He said, “I was so moved.
他说,“我当时感触很深,
44.I went back and I transformed my entire company into a one-buttock company.”
于是我回去后,把我整间公司 都变成了‘半个屁股公司’。”
45.(Laughter) Now the other thing I wanted to do is to tell you about you.
(笑声) 好,另外一件我想告诉你们的事是,
46.There are 1,600 people, I believe.
这里大概有1600人。
47.My estimation is that probably 45 of you are absolutely passionate about classical music.
我猜其中大概有45个人左右 是深深热爱古典音乐的。
48.You adore classical music. Your FM is always on that classical dial.
你痴迷于古典音乐。收音机永远都调在古典音乐的频道上。
49.And you have CDs in your car, and you go to the symphony.
车里放的是古典音乐的CD, 听交响音乐会。
50.And your children are playing instruments.
孩子们也会弹些乐器。
51.You can’t imagine your life without classical music.
你不能想象没有古典音乐的生活是怎么样的。
52.That’s the first group; it’s quite a small group.
这是第一种人,为数不多。
53.Then there’s another group, bigger group.
另一种人,大多数的,
54.These are the people who don’t mind classical music.
是不讨厌古典音乐的人。
55.(Laughter) You know, you’ve come home from a long day and you take a glass of wine and you put your feet up.
(笑声) 你结束了一天的辛苦工作回到家里, 为自己倒了杯红酒,坐下把脚翘起来。
56.A little Vivaldi in the background doesn’t do any harm.
来一点威尔第的音乐。真好。
57.(Laughter) That’s the second group.
(笑声) 这是第二种人。
58.Now comes the third group.
第三种人,
59.These are the people who never listen to classical music.
他们从不接触古典音乐。
60.It’s just simply not part of your life.
古典音乐根本就不是他们生活的一部分。
61.You might hear it like second-hand smoke at the airport, but — (Laughter) — and maybe a little bit of a march from Aida when you come into the hall. But otherwise you never hear it.
你听它,就像在机场里吸二手烟一样稀松平常。 (笑声) 或者当你走进某大楼时,耳边刮到一点《阿依达》的进行曲 除此之外与古典乐再没有交集。
62.That’s probably the largest group of all.
这大概就是为数最多的一群人。
63.And then there’s a very small group.
最后,还有为数不多的一群人。
64.These are the people who think they’re tone deaf.
这些人认为自己是音盲。
65.Amazing number of people think they’re tone deaf.
真神奇,很多人都认为自己是音盲。
66.Actually, I hear a lot, “My husband is tone deaf.”
事实上我听到过很多,“我老公是个音盲。”
67.(Laughter) Actually, you cannot be tone deaf. Nobody is tone deaf.
(笑声) 你不可能是音盲。没有人是音盲。
68.If you were tone deaf, you couldn’t change the gears on your car, in a stick-shift car.
如果你音盲,你根本无法给汽车换档, 如果你开的是手档车话。
69.You couldn’t tell the difference between somebody from Texas and somebody from Rome.
你听不出来 德克萨斯州和罗马来的两个人讲话有什么区别。
70.And the telephone. The telephone. If your mother calls on the miserable telephone, she calls and says “Hello,”
还有电话。如果你妈妈打电话给你, 她用悲伤的语调说,“你好,”
71.you not only know who it is, you know what mood she’s in.
你不仅知道她是谁,还知道她心情的好坏。
72.You have a fantastic ear. Everybody has a fantastic ear.
你有双神奇的耳朵。每个人都有双神奇的耳朵。
73.So nobody is tone deaf.
所以没有人是音盲。
74.But I tell you what. It doesn’t work for me to go on with this thing with such a wide gulf between those who understand, love and passionate about classical music,
但是,让我来告诉你,如果我要继续我的事业,这些种种将对我不起作用 人们对古典音乐的认知存在巨大差异。 有人痴迷,
75.and those who have no relationship to it at all.
有人无视。
76.The tone deaf people, they’re no longer here.
即便“音盲”是不存在的,
77.But even between those three categories, it’s too wide a gulf.
但是剩下三组人的差距还是很大。
78.So I’m not going to go on until every single person in this room, downstairs and in Aspen, and everybody else looking, will come to love and understand classical music.
所以,我不会继续下去,直到这屋子里的每个人, 楼上楼下,每个人 都来试图理解和热爱古典音乐。
79.So that’s what we’re going to do.
这就是我们今天要做的事情。
80.Now, you notice that there is not the slightest doubt in my mind that this is going to work if you look at my face, right?
你有没有发现,我对我的想法没有一丝的怀疑。 你看我的脸,就知道我认为这一定能成功,是不是?
81.It’s one of the characteristics of a leader that he not doubt for one moment the capacity of the people he’s leading to realize whatever he’s dreaming.
这是一个坚定不移的领导者的特质, 他让他所领导的人民深信他的能力, 逐步实现梦想。
82.Imagine if Martin Luther King had said, “I have a dream.
想想看,如果马丁路德金说,“我有一个梦想!
83.Of course, I’m not sure they’ll be up to it.”
但是,我不确定你们是不是乐意追跟我。”
84.(Laughter) All right. So I’m going to take a piece of Chopin.
(笑声) 好,我要弹一首肖邦。
85.This is a beautiful prelude by Chopin. Some of you will know it.
这是一首优美的序曲。有人应该听过。
86.(Music) Do you know what I think probably happened in this room?
(钢琴声) 你猜我觉得刚刚屋里发生了什么?
87.When I started, you thought, “How beautiful that sounds.”
我开始的时候,你脑子里在想,”多优美的曲子啊。“
88.(Music) “I don’t think we should go to the same place for our summer holidays next year.”
(钢琴声) “明年夏天 再也不要去同一个地方度假了。“
89.(Laughter) It’s funny, isn’t it? It’s funny how those thoughts kind of waft into your head.
(笑声) 有趣吧?这些想法 不知怎么的就飘到你脑海中去了。
90.And of course — (Applause) — and of course, if the piece is long and you’ve had a long day, you might actually drift off.
当然– (掌声) 当然,如果这首曲子很长,而且你很累, 你可能会不知不觉睡着了。
91.Then your companion will dig you in the ribs and say, “Wake up! It’s culture!” And then you feel even worse.
你旁边的同伴就会戳戳你, 说,”醒醒!这是文化!“你会感到更郁闷。
92.But has it ever occurred to you that the reason you feel sleepy in classical music is not because of you, but because of us?
但是你有没有想过,你之所以在听古典音乐的时候会觉得困, 不是因为你,而是因为我们?
93.Did anybody think while I was playing, “Why is he using so many impulses?”
在我演奏的时候,有没有人想: “为什么他用了这么多的停顿?”
94.If I’d done this with my head you certainly would have thought it.
如果我动了我的脑袋的话,你肯定想的到。
95.(Music) And for the rest of your life, every time you hear classical music you’ll always be able to know if you hear those impulses.
(钢琴声) 在你未来的人生中,每当你听到古典音乐 你都会意识到自己是否听到了这些停顿。
96.So let’s see what’s really going on here.
好,让我们来看看这到底是怎么回事。
97.We have a B. This is a B. The next note is a C.
这是个B, 它旁边的这个是C.
98.And the job of the C is to make the B sad. And it does, doesn’t it?
C的任务就是让B听起来很哀伤。它做到了,是不是?
99.(Laughter) Composers know that. If they want sad music they just play those two notes.
(笑声) 作曲家知道这个秘诀,所以如果他们想要创作悲伤的音乐, 他们就不停的用这两个音符。
100.(Music) But basically it’s just a B, with four sads.
(钢琴声) 其实就是一个B,和4个悲伤而已。
101.(Laughter) Now, it goes down to A. Now to G, and then to F.
(笑声) 现在,我们下降到A,到G,最后到F。
102.So we have B, A, G, F. And if we have B, A, G, F, what do we expect next? Oh, that might have been a fluke.
好,我们有,B A G F,如果我们有 B A G F, 接下来你将期待什么? 哦,好像事有凑巧。
103.Let’s try it again. Ooh, the TED choir.
再试一次。 哈, TED合唱团。
104.(Laughter) And you notice nobody is tone deaf, right? Nobody is.
(笑声) 你有没有发现,没有人是音盲,对不对?没有人。
105.You know, every village in Bangladesh and every hamlet in China. Everybody knows: da, da, da, da — da. Everybody knows who’s expecting that E.
每一个孟加拉国的小镇, 每一个中国的村庄,每个人,都知道: 嗒,嗒,嗒,嗒 – 嗒。每个人都知道下一个是E。
106.Now, Chopin didn’t want to reach the E there, because what will have happened? It will be over, like Hamlet.
不过,Chopin还不想到E。 不然会怎么样? 曲子就结束了,就像《哈姆雷特》。
107.Do you remember Hamlet? Act 1, Scene 3: he finds out that his uncle killed his father.
记不记得《哈姆雷特》?第一幕,第三场: 他发现他的叔叔杀了他的父亲。
108.You remember he keeps on going up to his uncle and almost killing him. And then he backs away and he goes up to him again and almost kills him.
你记不记得他靠近他的叔叔 差点杀了他。但是他又走开了。 他又靠过去,差点杀了他。
109.And the critics, all of whom are sitting in the back row there, they have to have an opinion, so they say, “Hamlet is a procrastinator.”
所有的评论家都坐在后排那里, 他们必须要批评点什么,于是他们说,“哈姆雷特优柔寡断,拖泥带水。”
110.(Laughter) Or they say, “Hamlet has an Oedipus complex.”
(笑声) 或者,“哈姆雷特有恋母情结。”
111.No, otherwise the play would be over, stupid.
不是的,不然这演出就结束了,傻瓜。
112.That’s why Shakespeare puts all that stuff in Hamlet.
所以莎士比亚才把这些东西放进去。
113.You know, Ophelia going mad and the play within the play, and Yorick’s skull, and the grave diggers.
Ophelia在戏中发疯, Yorick的头盖骨,还有盗墓人。
114.That’s in order to delay — until Act 5 he can kill him.
这一切都是为了推迟——直到在第五幕他杀掉他叔叔。
115.It’s the same with the Chopin. He’s just about to reach the E, and he says, “Oops, better go back up and do it again.”
Chopin也是一样的。他马上就要到E了, 他说,“不行,反复一遍会更好。”
116.So he does it again.
于是他又来一遍。
117.Now he gets excited — that’s excitement, you don’t have to worry about it.
这里他变的很激昂,这部分 你不用管。
118.Now he gets to F sharp and finally he goes down to E, but it’s the wrong chord. Because the chord he’s looking for is this one, and instead he does …
这他到了升半音的的F, 终于到了E。 但是这是不对的和铉。他想要的和铉 是这个,但是他用了。
119.now, we call that a deceptive cadence because it deceives us.
我们管这个叫假旋律,因为它是为了欺骗我们用的。
120.I always tell my students, “If you have a deceptive cadence be sure to raise your eyebrows then everybody will know.”
我总是告诉学生,“如果你要弹到假旋律, 把你的眉毛抬起来大家就知道了。”
121.(Laughter) (Applause) Right. So he gets to E, but it’s the wrong chord.
(笑声) (掌声) 好,他到了E,但是是错的和铉。
122.Now, he tries E again. That chord doesn’t work.
他再次试E, 这个和铉也不好。
123.Now, he tries the E again. That chord doesn’t work.
他再试,这个也不行。
124.Now, he tries E again, and that doesn’t work.
他再试,还是不行。
125.And then finally ….
终于。。
126.There was a gentleman in the front row who went, “Mmm.”
坐在第一排的这位男士刚刚,“啊。。”放松了。
127.It’s the same gesture he makes when he comes home after a long day, turns off the key in his car and says, “Aah, I’m home.” Because we all know where home is.
这与他回到家的时候做的是同样的姿势。 经过一天辛苦的工作,他拧钥匙熄灭了他的车,说, “啊,我到家了。”因为我们都知道家是哪。
128.So this is a piece which goes from away to home.
所以,这就是从远方回家的曲子。
129.And I’m going to play it all the way through and you’re going to follow. B, C, B, C, B, C, B — down to A, down to G, down to F.
我这就来把它从头到尾的演奏一遍。 你会跟随这琴声,B, C, B, C, B, C, B– 到A,到G,到F
130.Almost goes to E, but otherwise the play would be over.
马上就要到E了,可是曲子那样会结束。
131.He goes back up to B. He gets very excited. Goes to F sharp. Goes to E.
于是他回到B,这里变的很激动,到F声调,到E。
132.It’s the wrong chord. It’s the wrong chord. It’s the wrong chord.
可是是错的和铉,错的和铉,错的和铉。
133.And finally goes to E, and it’s home.
终于它弹到了E,那里是家。
134.And what you’re going to see is-one buttock playing.
而且你马上要看到的是“半个屁股演奏法”。
135.(Laughter) Because for me, to join the B to the E, I have to stop thinking about every single note along the way and start thinking about the long, long line from B to E.
(笑声) 因为,如果我想要把B和E链接起来的话, 我要停止去想中间的每一个音符, 而是开始想这从B到E流下来的一条线。
136.You know, we were just in South Africa, and you can’t go to South Africa without thinking of Mandela in jail for 27 years.
我们刚刚说到南非, 如果你不去想曼德拉在铁窗中的27年,你是不能理解南非的。
137.What was he thinking about? Lunch?
他当时在想些什么?午饭么?
138.No, he was thinking about the vision for South Africa and for human beings. That’s what kept — this is about vision; this is about the long line.
不是,他在想南非的将来, 人类的将来。 这是关于将来的一曲,关于这条长长的线。
139.Like the bird who flies over the field and doesn’t care about the fences underneath, all right?
就好象鸟儿从天空中飞过田地, 不会去管地上的栅栏一样,不是吗?
140.So now you’re going to follow the line all the way from B to E.
所以,请你跟随我从B到E,连成一线。
141.And I’ve one last request before I play this piece all the way through.
在我开始演奏之前,我还有一个请求。
142.Would you think of somebody who you adore, who’s no longer there?
请你想起一个你爱的人,但是他/她已经不在了。
143.A beloved grandmother, a lover, somebody in your life who you love with all your heart, but that person is no longer with you.
比如关爱你的奶奶,或者以前的爱人。 一个在你生命中,让你用尽全心去爱的人, 但是他/她已经不在了。
144.Bring that person into your mind, and at the same time follow the line all the way from B to E, and you’ll hear everything that Chopin had to say.
把他/她放在你的脑海中,同时, 跟随着我,从B到E。 你会听到一切肖邦想说的话语。
145.(Music) (Applause) Now, you may be wondering, you may be wondering why I’m clapping.
(钢琴声) (掌声) 你可能在想, 你可能在想为什么我在鼓掌。
146.Well, I did this at a school in Boston with about 70 seventh-graders — 12-year-olds.
因为,我在波士顿作这个演奏 受众是七十个7年纪的学生们,12岁。
147.And I did exactly what I did with you, and I told them and explained them and the whole thing.
我做了同样的事情, 我告诉他们,给他们解释了一切。
148.And at the end they went crazy, clapping. They were clapping.
曲子结束的时候,他们都狂呼了起来,鼓掌。他们在鼓掌,
149.I was clapping. They were clapping.
我也在鼓掌。他们在鼓掌。
150.Finally, I said, “Why am I clapping?”
我问,“为什么我也在鼓掌?”