- 期刊
高音木琴與死亡意象－從霍爾班與聖桑斯的《死亡之舞》談起
Xylophone and Death Imagery: from Holbein's and Saint-Saëns's The Dance of the Death
摘要
本文藉由高音木琴的相關歷史文獻與樂器形制演變過程的整理，探討高音木琴於管絃樂作品中的運用與其音樂語義。這樣樂器在16世紀左右傳入歐洲，直到19世紀才被寫入管絃樂團編制之中，並且與死亡的意象做出連結。聖桑斯的交響詩《死亡之舞》是其最著名的作品之一，以高音木琴獨特的音色象徵骷髏骨頭搖曳撞擊的聲響，對高音木琴的運用影響甚鉅。這個意象並非作曲家隨機的選擇。死亡之舞的傳說在歐洲大陸流傳了幾世紀之久，證據顯示聖桑斯許有受到霍爾班的同名木刻版畫作品影響。自此以後，高音木琴在20世紀的管絃樂作品中佔有一席之地，更從死亡意象衍伸出多種不同的語義象徵與運用，豐富了管絃樂曲的聲響外，亦帶動了旋律擊樂器的發展。
並列摘要
This article explores the semantic and acoustic use in orchestration of xylophone. This ancient instrument travel into Europe around sixteenth century, but not until nineteenth century it finally become a part of an orchestra band, and connected with the Death imagery. As one of the composer's most famous works, Saint-Saëns's Danse macabre show the unique sound of the xylophone, symbolizes the rattle sound of bone, and make great influence to the orchestration of xylophone. It isn't just the random choice of composer. The legend of Danse macabre (Dance of the Death) hand down in the continent for centuries, evidence shows that Saint-Saëns got the idea in Hans Holbein's woodcuts ＂The Dance of Death＂. However, xylophone has become an important percussion instrument in the orchestral acoustics, and taken place in the orchestral works in the twentieth century. Since then, various semantic symbols and usage have been derived from the meaning of death, enriching the sound of orchestral work and driving the development of percussion instruments.