|
概要：Boléro（博莱罗舞曲）是商业上最为成功的古典音乐之一，世界上每15分钟就有管弦乐队演奏一次。本文讲述了Boléro的创作过程和引发的版权问题。这首歌你一定听过：  “Boléro” is among the most lucrative works of classical music It is also at the forefront of
a new film and copyright dispute May 02th 2024
MAURICE RAVEL’S“Boléro” is a strange
piece of music, consisting of two melodies repeated nine times each. Originally
the score to a ballet, it is catchy and keeps running in the
listener’s head long after it ends. “Boléro”, a new French biopic about Ravel’s struggle to compose the work in 1928, also
employs repetition. Anne Fontaine, the director and co-writer, returns to
Ravel’s tortured sexuality, fascination with mechanical noise and slow mental
deterioration. He died in 1937 of a brain disease; neurologists think it may
have been frontotemporal dementia, which is
associated with obsessiverepetition. 莫里斯·拉威尔的Boléro是一首奇怪的乐曲，由两个旋律组成，每个旋律重复九次。它原本是芭蕾舞剧的配乐，优美动听，让人听后余音绕梁，三日不绝。一部新的法国传记电影《Boléro》讲述了1928年拉威尔努力创作这首作品的过程，电影采用了类似Boléro音乐的重复手法。导演兼联合编剧Anne Fontaine重现了拉威尔饱受性欲折磨、迷恋机械噪音和缓慢的精神衰退。1937年，他死于脑部疾病；神经科医生认为可能是额颞叶痴呆，与强迫性重复有关。 “Boléro” is among the most famous tunes
in classical music. The royalties it
has generated from live performances, recordings and film soundtracks are
estimated at more than $100m. The question of who got all that money is
complicated. Ravel had no descendants. On his death the copyright passed to Ravel’s
brother, who married his caretaker after a car accident. She then left the
rights to her first husband, who married his manicurist. Ultimately the copyright wound up belonging to that
manicurist’s daughter from a previous marriage, Evelyne Pen de Castel. Boléro是古典音乐中最著名的曲调之一。据估计，该首歌曲从现场表演、录音和电影配乐中获得的版税超过1亿美元。谁得到了这1亿美元这个问题很复杂。拉威尔没有后代。在拉威尔死后，版权传给了他的哥哥，他哥哥在一次车祸后与他的看护人结婚。然后他妻子又把版权留给了她的第一任丈夫，这位前夫又娶了自己的美甲师。最终，版权归属于这位美甲师与其前妻所生的女儿Evelyne Pen de Castel。 Under French law the piece entered the
public domain in 2016. But much like the music, the copyright battle over
“Boléro” just keeps going. In 2018 the heirs of Alexandre Benois, the original
ballet’s set designer, suedSACEM, France’s
copyright agency; Ms Pen de Castel also got behind the lawsuit. They argue that
the ballet was a collaborative work, and that because Bronislava Nijinska, the choreographer, did not die until 1972,
they are entitled to receive royalties until 2051. In June a French court will
decide whether they are right. 根据法国法律，Boléro的版权于2016年到期，进入公共版权领域。但就像这首音乐本身一样，围绕Boléro的版权之争仍在继续。2018年，芭蕾舞剧原布景设计师Alexandre Benois的继承人起诉法国版权机构SACEM，Pen de Castel女士也支持这场诉讼。他们辩称，这部芭蕾舞剧是一部合作作品，而且由于编舞师Bronislava
Nijinska直到1972年才去世，版权到期时间应该是2051年。6月，法国法庭将对该案进行裁决。 Ms Fontaine’s film is not about money; it
is about the man and his music. In 1928 Ida Rubinstein, a Russian dancer in
Paris, commissioned Ravel to write a ballet. But he puts it off, obsessed by an unconsummated emotional
affair. He flees to the seaside, attends parties and visits brothels (where
instead of sex, he asks a girl to put on gloves so he can listen to the sound).
In flashbacks viewers learn of his struggle to be accepted by France’s stuffy musical academy and of his
rivalry with Claude Debussy, another French
composer. Fontaine女士的电影与金钱争夺无关，讲述的是拉威尔和他的音乐。1928年，在巴黎的俄罗斯舞蹈家Ida Rubinstein委托拉威尔创作一部芭蕾舞剧。但他推迟了，当时他正困扰于一段未结束的感情。他逃到海边，参加派对，逛窑子(他不是去寻欢，而是让女孩戴上手套，听这一过程的声音)。在电影的回忆中，观众了解到他曾为了被法国古板的音乐学院接受做过艰辛的努力，并曾与另一位法国作曲家克劳德·德彪西一争高下。 With Rubinstein’s deadline approaching,
Ravel plinks hopelessly at the piano.
A vaguely Spanish pop song his housekeeper sings feeds in to his melody. Some
films might have treated this as a eureka moment, but Ms Fontaine suggests
various sources of inspiration. In another scene Ravel takes Rubinstein to a
factory to listen to the machines: the ballet, he says, should be an ode to mechanical modernity. 随着Rubinstein的截止日期临近，拉威尔绝望地在钢琴上敲着。他管家唱的一首模糊的西班牙流行歌曲进入了他的脑海。有些电影可能会把这一幕称作灵光一现，但Fontaine女士认为灵感的来源多种多样。在另一个电影场景中，拉威尔带Rubinstein去工厂听机器的轰隆声。他说，芭蕾应该是一首现代机械的颂歌。 The success of “Boléro” was immediate and
enduring.Leonard Bernstein, the celebrated
American conductor and composer, loved it. The credits of Ms Fontaine’s film
claim it is played by an orchestra somewhere in the world every 15 minutes. It
is hardly surprising that Ms Pen de Castel wishes those performances were still
earning her money. Benois designed the ballet’s sets and costumes but never
claimed to have had a hand in the music, says David El Sayegh, the deputy chief
executive of SACEM, which deems the
lawsuit nonsense. Though unlikely,
if this lawsuit by long-distant heirs were to be successful, it could embolden
others to sue over expiring copyrights. Boléro的成功立竿见影，经久不衰。美国著名指挥家和作曲家Leonard Bernstein很喜欢它。Fontaine女士的电影演职员声称，世界上每15分钟就有管弦乐队演奏一次Boléro。毫不奇怪，Pen de Castel女士希望还能靠Boléro赚钱。SACEM副总裁David El Sayegh说，Benois设计了芭蕾舞剧的布景和服装，但从未声称自己参与了Boléro制作。SACEM认为这起诉讼是无稽之谈。虽然不太可能，但如果这场版权继承人的诉讼取胜，其他人可能会也会就过期版权提起诉讼。 Ravel was ambivalent about “Boléro”,
according to a protégé. He
considered it his masterpiece but also said that “unfortunately there is no
music in it.” Yet Ravel might find it fitting that its story goes on and on. In
the film, he asks a friend: “Don’t you think there is something terribly
insistent about this melody?”■ 据一位门生透露，拉威尔对Boléro持矛盾态度。他认为这是他的杰作，但也说“这首曲子里面没有什么音乐成分。”然而，拉威尔可能也认为这首歌曲的旋律一直重复并没有什么不合适的。在电影中，他问一个朋友：“你不觉得这个旋律有一种固执的坚持吗?” |
|
|
