(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Barbara Klein. And I'm Steve Ember with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we tell about the life and music of one of America's greatest composers, George Gershwin. That was the opening of "Rhapsody in Blue," composed by George Gershwin. Gershwin lived only thirty-nine years. Yet, in that short time, he wrote hundreds of unforgettable popular songs. He wrote some concert works, such as "Rhapsody in Blue," that are still performed today. And he wrote what many consider to be the most beautiful American opera, "Porgy and Bess. "
George Gershwin was born in New York City in eighteen ninety-eight. His parents were Russian Jews who had immigrated to the United States. George and his two brothers and sister had a close, happy family life. George liked playing games on the streets of New York. He liked exploring the city. He did not like school or studying. While exploring the city, George heard jazz and blues music spilling out of public drinking places. However, he did not become seriously interested in music until he heard another boy playing the violin in a concert at his school. George began to take piano lessons. His teacher was a fine classical musician. He immediately recognized George's unusual ability. The teacher wrote about him to a friend: "I have a student who will make his mark in music, if anybody will. The boy is a genius, without doubt. "
George studied classical piano. But his strongest interest continued to be jazz and popular music. At the age of fifteen, he left school and went to work in the music business. The New York City street where most music publishers had their offices was called "Tin Pan Alley." The phonograph and radio had been invented in the late eighteen hundreds. But it would be many years before there were musical recordings or regular radio broadcasts. Tin Pan Alley publishers needed another way to sell new songs. So, they employed people to play the piano to do this. The piano players played the songs all day long to interested singers and other performers. George Gershwin was one of the youngest piano players in Tin Pan Alley. Soon, he was considered one of the finest there. He was already writing his own songs. He succeeded in getting one published when he was only eighteen years old. It had a long title: "When You Want 'Em, You Can't Get 'Em, When You've Got 'Em, You Don't Want 'Em."
George Gershwin was now a real composer. The rest of his life was an unbroken record of success. He wrote song after song. His ideas were so endless that he was not even troubled when he once lost some music he had been writing. "There is plenty more where that came from," he said. George Gershwin had his first big hit in nineteen nineteen, when he was twenty-one years old. It was a song called "Swanee." A popular entertainer, Al Jolson, sang the song. "Swanee" was made into one of the first musical recordings. George Gershwin was suddenly famous. Here is Al Jolson singing what became his trademark song, "Swanee." Music critics note that "Swanee" is not like most of George Gershwin's music. Later, he wrote true love songs. Some were light and funny. Some were full of intense feeling. Many of these songs were written for the popular musical theater. One of his most emotional love songs never became part of a musical play, however. It is called "The Man I Love." Here is a modern recording by Maureen McGovern.
George Gershwin's older brother, Ira, wrote the words to that song. As George became famous, Ira wrote the words to more and more of his songs. The two brothers were very different. Ira, the writer, was quiet and serious. George, the musician, was outgoing -- the life of any party. But George wrote better songs with Ira than with anyone else. It is impossible to imagine many of George's songs without Ira's perfectly chosen, often surprising words. One of many examples is the song "They Can't Take That Away From Me." The Gershwins wrote the song for dancer and actor Fred Astaire for the film "Shall We Dance." That was George and Ira Gershwin's first movie musical. Here is Fred Astaire, followed by a later version sung by Ella Fitzgerald.
重点解析
1.unforgettable 难忘的
A visit to the museum is an unforgettable experience.
对该博物馆的参观是一次难忘的经历。
2.explore 探索， 探究
They explored the land to the south of the Murray river.
他们勘查了墨累河以南的地区。
3.recognize 承认;识别;认出
They recognized the need to take the problem seriously.
他们认识到需要严肃对待这个问题。
4.continue 继续
I hope they continue to fight for equal justice after I'm gone.
我希望我走后他们继续为司法公正而奋斗。
5.invent 发明；创造
He invented the first electric clock.
他发明了第一个电动钟。
6.intense 强烈的；紧张的
The President is under intense pressure to resign.
总统承受着沉重的辞职压力。
参考译文
我是芭芭拉·克莱恩。我是史蒂夫·恩贝尔。这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天我们将讲述美国最伟大的作曲家之一乔治·格什温的生平和他的音乐。这是《蓝色狂想曲》的开始部分，由乔治·格什温作曲。格什温去世时只有39岁。但是在这么短的年华中，他创作了上百首让人难忘的流行音乐。他写过一些音乐会作品，比如《蓝色狂想曲》，至今仍在演奏。他还创作了《波吉与贝丝》，很多人认为这是最优美的美国歌剧。
1898年，乔治·格什温在纽约出生。他的父母是俄国犹太人，移民到了美国。乔治和哥哥姐姐的生活很快乐。乔治喜欢在纽约的大街上做游戏，喜欢探索这座城市，但他不喜欢学校和学习。探索这座城市的时候，乔治听到了酒吧里传出来的爵士和布鲁斯音乐。但他并没有真正对音乐产生兴趣，直到他在学校的音乐会上听到另一个男孩演奏小提琴。乔治开始学习钢琴。他的老师是个不错的古典音乐家。他立即发现了乔治不同寻常的能力。这位老师给他的一个朋友写信：“我有一位学生将在音乐方面有所作为。毫无疑问，这个男孩是个天才。”乔治研究古典钢琴，但是他对爵士和流行乐有着强烈的兴趣。
15岁的时候，他离开学校，进入音乐行业工作。纽约大部分音乐出版公司都把公司开在锡盘巷。19世纪晚期，照片和收音机已经被发明出来了。但是多年后才有音乐唱片或无线电广播。锡盘巷的出版商需要推销新歌曲的另一种方式，因此，他们雇人弹奏这些音乐。钢琴家们整天为感兴趣的歌手和其他表演者演奏钢琴。乔治·格什温就是锡盘巷最年轻的钢琴演奏者之一。很快，他便被认为是其中最好的钢琴演奏者之一。他已经开始自己写曲子了。在只有18岁的时候，他就成功出版了一首曲子。这首曲子名字很长：《When You Want 'Em, You Can't Get 'Em, When You've Got 'Em, You Don't Want 'Em》。
乔治·格什温那时成为了一名真正的作曲家。他的余生就是未被击败的成功记录。他一首接着一首的创作。他有着取之不尽的想法，即便一些他的创作丢失了，他也不会担心。他说，“后续还会有更多”。乔治·格什温在1919年首次发布热门曲子，当时他21岁。这首曲子叫做《斯万尼》。一位著名艺人艾尔·乔森演唱了这首曲子。《斯万尼》是首批音乐唱片歌曲之一。
乔治·格什温突然出名了。以下是艾尔·乔森演唱他的标志性歌曲《斯万尼》。很多评论人注意到这首曲子和乔治·格什温大部分音乐都不同。之后，他写真正情歌，一些很轻快有趣。一些则充满强烈的感情。其中很多都是为流行音乐戏剧创作的。但是其中最让人感动的情歌未被选入音乐剧。这首歌叫做《The Man I Love》。以下是莫琳·麦克高文的演唱。乔治·格什温的哥哥艾拉为这首歌写词。随着乔治的出名，艾拉也给他的很多曲子写词。两兄弟非常不同。艾拉是一位很安静严肃的作家。乔治是外向的音乐家。但是乔治和艾拉的曲子，无人可比。很难想象，乔治的曲子没了艾拉完美地让人惊喜的词会是怎样。他们的作品之一就是《They Can't Take That Away From Me》。格什温两兄弟为电影《Shall We Dance》及舞者兼演员弗雷德·阿斯泰尔写歌。 以下是乔治和艾拉·格什温的首部电影音乐剧。这是弗雷德·阿斯泰尔演唱，接下来是艾拉·费兹杰拉的新版本。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
