By Stephen Cleobury

　　国华树春译注

　　英国剑桥的一个标志性建筑是国王学院的教堂，这座教堂蜚声海内外，不仅因为其建筑风格秀丽而又大气，更重要的是，教堂里传出了学院唱诗班一代又一代悠扬动听的吟唱。学院每年的圣诞歌音乐会，BBC都要向世界实况转播。唱诗班的历任指挥，包括本文作者Stephen Cleobury，都是英国音乐界的名人。我们不妨听一听Cleobury对21世纪乐坛的展望。

　　The most valuable works of the past will always be recognised, but I have no doubt that in the decades to come the music of the second half of this century will get filtered<注1>. Some works will survive in repertoire<注2> and others will gather dust<注3> on the shelves. When it comes to<注4> liturgical music, a lot of very simple, homespun<注5> music has been produced in the past 30 years and I hope ephemera<注6> like that will be filtered out.<注7>

　　Within Oxbridge<注8>, nobody could pretend<注9> a choir was essential to the life of a college, but colleges would be very much the poorer<注10> without them. So one hopes that<注11> the new generation of clergy and college fellows<注12> will value liturgical tradition and, despite funding pressures<注13>, support choral excellence.<注14>

　　The speed of communication<注15> is bound to have an effect on composers—styles are now known and imitated so quickly that "crossover"<注16> may be the buzzword<注17> for music in the new century. People can download anything in their home, and you know tomorrow what someone on the other side of the world did yesterday. Barriers between classical music, jazz and other forms will continue to break down and audiences will derive equal pleasure from lots of different styles. I foresee a greater plurality of taste<注18>.

　　The great unknown<注19> is the effect new technology is going to have on the soundworld<注20> of music, as opposed to<注21> its forms and structures. In this century we've seen the potential of percussion in orchestral work develop out of all recognition<注22>, and have become accustomed to electronic music. So I anticipate developments around the corner<注23> that will produce huge changes in what we listen to.

　　I'm concerned about the place of music in schools and parish churches in the future, since choirs and orchestras can only operate<注24> with the raw material they're given. There's already a realisation in the big symphony orchestras<注25> that they must engage in<注26> educational projects for the sake of their own survival—to attract the audiences of the next generation.

　　As a teacher, my concern is that with<注27> technology allowing students to compose on computer, they may not learn the real fundamentals of musical language. Just as in a supermarket, where the person at the check-out<注28> no longer needs to engage in<注29> any mental arithmetic<注30>, so a composition student<注31> may not really know how you form a dominant seventh chord<注32> if all he has to do is hit a command key.

　　As a performer I know there's a very big difference between making a recording in a studio and performing live<注33> for 1,000 people, and I believe audiences will always crave<注34> that difference. So my instinct is<注35> that great musical institutions<注36> like the Proms<注37> and the King's Carol Concerts<注38> will still be with us in 2099.