小提琴的历史与发展

The Historyand Development of the Violin

小提琴的历史与发展

图释：维埃尔琴，小提琴的前身 （图片来源：美国《国家地理》杂志）

作者：Jeff Wu（吴韵喆）

译者&配图：Richard Jun Wu（吴骏）

2,300 words

3,500字

著作权声明

作者和译者保留所有相关权利，未经书面许可不得使用

版权法律顾问：广东海派律师事务所

The desire to improve and evolve is part of human nature, and it applies to all aspects of our lives and everything we do, no less in music-making. A basic and yet fundamental part of our efforts inmusic lies in the developments of musical instruments throughout the ages. With brass and woodwind instruments and the piano, generally a newer instrument is of better quality – pianos made by Steinway and Fazioli being notorious examples. However, with the violin especially and also the cello to a significant extent, old Italian instruments are universally considered to be the best instruments there exists today. Does this mean that violin-making had already been perfected 300 years ago? Exactly how did the instrument come to be what it is, and how has it survived the passage of time so well?

克里特里拉琴今天仍是希腊民间音乐的重要乐器

对改善和发展的渴望是人性的一部分，它适用于我们生活的方方面面和我们所做的每件事情，在制作音乐(music-making)中同样如此。我们音乐努力的一个基本也根本(basicand yet fundamental)的部分是各个时代乐器的发展。就铜管乐器、木管乐器以及钢琴而言，通常新乐器的质量更高，施坦威和法齐奥利钢琴就是人尽皆知的例子。但是，对于小提琴特别是大提琴，在很大程度上，古老的意大利乐器被普遍认为是当今之最佳。这是否意味着小提琴制作在300年前就已经完善？这种乐器究竟如何成了现在的样子，又是如何安然度过了时间的流逝？

Going all the way back in time, there isn’t a comprehensive record left today of the very early ancestors of the violin, but what we know starts from the middle ages with the lyra – described to be apear-shaped string instrument played with a bow, which originated in modern day Istanbul as part of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire, and spread to Europe through trade routes. We know no details of the characteristics of the instrument aside from a handful of depictions and some references in early texts, but it is common speculation that the Byzantine lyra evolved into the vielle of the medieval period[a].The vielle spread throughout Europe quickly and aided in the musical tradition of Troubadours and Jongleurs – the poets and minstrels – some of whom were of noble origin[b].

追溯到过去，今天还没有关于小提琴始祖的完整记录，但我们知道它源自中世纪的里拉琴——一种梨形的弦乐器，用弓演奏，起源于拜占庭（东罗马）帝国的伊斯坦布尔，并通过贸易路线传播到欧洲。除了早期文献中的少量文字描述和一些提及之外，我们不知道该乐器的特征的细节，但人们普遍猜测拜占庭的里拉琴演变成了中世纪的维埃尔琴(Vielle)。维埃尔琴在整个欧洲迅速传播，给抒情诗人和吟游诗人——其中一些人有贵族血统——的音乐传统带来了助力。（Troubadours，11-13世纪法国南部及意大利北部等地的抒情诗人，宫廷爱情是作品的主题之一；jongleur，中世纪法国和英国的游吟诗人，也会演唱troubadours的诗歌。——译注）

11-13世纪的法国抒情诗人/Troubadour

Perhaps the most significant change to the instrument’s physical form occurred from the lyra to the vielle. The shape of the body changed from pear shape to the defining shape of a figure 8, just like the modern violin, granted the proportions of the vielle are still much wider. The hourglass shape curving in at the waist of the instrument allows the bow more freedom of movement across all the strings, while the curving out at either end maximizes the volume of the body to create better resonance. Later on in its history, the top half of the instrument would become narrower than the lower half to allow the hand more space as it moves higher up the fingerboard –but not yet at this stage.

也许物理形式最重要的变化发生在从里拉琴变成维埃尔琴的过程中。琴身从梨形变成了数字8的形状，就像现代小提琴一样，但维埃尔琴的比例要宽得多。在乐器的腰部有沙漏形的弯曲，使弓弦在所有琴弦上都有更大的移动自由，而乐器两端的弯曲则使琴体的音量最大化，从而产生更好的共鸣。晚些时候，乐器的上半部会变得比下半部更窄，这样，手在指板上移动时可以留出更多空间——但这个阶段还没有出现。

A slightly later and closely related iteration of the instrument was the Italian lira, with two variations, lira da braccioand lira da gamba, respectively translating to “lira for the arm” and “lira for the leg”.  The lira da braccio came to be considered as noble and elegant instruments and were often depicted in paintings to be played by the Greek god Apollo[c]. However,the bigger lira da gamba, which was a predecessor to the cello, soon became a more prominent member of ensembles because vocal music was in the spotlight at this time – homophonic and polyphonic choral music and songs, madrigals andmotets. Instruments were more often than not playing an accompanying role to voices, hence the elevated importance of bass instruments, as is the case withthe members of the lira family. In light of all this, even though the lira dabraccio was a lot quieter than their modern evolutions, it was sufficient for its purpose at the time.

较晚且非常类似的提琴版本是意大利里拉琴，它有两个变体：“臂上里拉”和“膝间里拉”。臂上里拉（Lirada Braccio）被认为是高贵典雅的乐器，经常出现在绘画中，由希腊神阿波罗(Apollo)演奏。而更大的膝间里拉(lira dagamba)——大提琴的前身——很快成为乐团中更重要的成员，因为当时声乐（包括单调和复调合唱，牧歌和赞美诗）是人们关注的焦点，而乐器通常不给人声伴奏，所以低音乐器的重要性越来越高，里拉琴家族的成员就是这样。考虑到这些，虽然臂上里拉比他们的现代版本要安静得多，但足以满足当时的目的。

《帕尔纳索斯山》，文艺复兴画家拉斐尔·桑西绘于1509-1511年，点击可放大

However, with its setup of 6 (sometimes 7) strings,the lira da braccio was a jack of all trades and master of none. Two of the strings were tuned in low pitched octaves and were solely for playing drones[d], but for everything in the lower register, it could never compete with the lira dagamba. The top, higher pitched strings were not so much used to play melodies as they were to play accompaniments to vocal parts, but because the instrument occupies much of the same pitch range as higher voices, other instruments offered more clarity of texture in the accompaniment role. Hence the lira da braccio was always considered the lesser member of the lira family, and began to gradually decline in use during the renaissance period.

 lira da braccio/臂上里拉，阿波罗的乐器

但是，由于设置了6条（有时7条）琴弦，所以臂上里拉无所不能，又一无所精。其中两个弦是低八度，仅用于演奏持续的低音，但在更低的音调中，它又比不过膝间里拉。顶部音调较高的弦并没有用来演奏旋律，而是用来演奏人声的伴奏，但是由于该乐器的音高范围与高音声部相同，所以在伴奏中提供更清晰的质感的是其他乐器。因此，臂上里拉一直被认为是里拉家族的次要成员，从文艺复兴时期开始其使用逐渐减少。

The baroque period saw the final transition of the instrument into what we know today as the violin. Unlike the lira dabraccio, the violin has four strings, is generally larger in size, and consequently has more projection. Craftsmanship of the instrument had also improved, and they were made to more accurate measurements than the lira dabraccio, so that the tone quality was better and more focused. The violin proved to be incredibly popular both musically and as a piece of collectable art, finding itself a home as a staple in baroque ensembles of all sizes, butalso, the well-known violin maker Andrea Amati, who was very active in this period, was ordered by King Charles IX of France to craft 38 beautifully decorated string instruments including 24 violins for his personal collection[e].One of these violins still survives today and is on display at the AshmoleanMuseum of the University of Oxford. Dated c.1564 and considered to be one of, if the not the oldest violin to exist, the violin has been preserved in pristine condition and appears remarkably almost identical to any modern violin.

牛津大学阿什莫林博物馆的阿玛蒂小提琴

巴洛克时期见证了该乐器的最终过渡，成为今天我们所称的小提琴。与臂上里拉不同，小提琴有四根琴弦，尺寸通常较大，因此有更多的突出部分。乐器的工艺也得到了改善，并且它们的测量比臂上里拉更精确，因此音质更好，更集中。事实证明，小提琴在音乐和收藏艺术上都非常受欢迎，在各种规模的巴洛克合奏中都可以找到一席之地。在此期间，著名的小提琴制造商安德里亚·阿玛蒂（Andrea Amati）非常活跃。他接受法国国王查理九世的命令，制造了38部装饰精美的弦乐器，它们为国王所有，包括24把小提琴。其中一把小提琴至今仍可使用，陈列在牛津大学的阿什莫林博物馆。这把琴标注的日期是1564年，就算不是最古老的小提琴，也是其中之一，它竟然保留着原来的状态，看起来和任何一把现代小提琴没有区别。

But this is by no means the end of the instrument’s history of developments. The 18^th century saw a few minor changes in the violin's set-up. The fingerboard was lengthened to offer the instrument an even higher pitch range, and the angle between the fingerboard and the body was adjusted, so that the extension of the board above the body would now point slightly up and away from it, resulting in slightly higher tension in the strings, and therefore giving the instrument more power to project. To the same end, the bass bar – a strip of wood inside, which runs along the length of the instrument directly under the D and G string on the fingerboard – was strengthened and made thicker to support the added tension and increase the instrument's resonance[f].These changes may be almost invisible to the eye, but actually reflect on an important ongoing development in the role of the instrument around this time. Even at the end of the baroque period, the idea that one instrument would take the spotlight as the main solo voice was starting to set in, an example of which being the important collection of the polyphonic solo works J.S.Bach wrote for the violin and the cello, which push the instruments to the limits of their musical and technical capabilities. Now in the classical period withstring quartets, symphonies, and concertos most of all, the violin was very much established as a solo instrument, hence the renewed emphasis on its volume of sound, and an extended range above other instruments, in order to cut through the texture.

但这绝不是该乐器的发展史的终结。在18世纪，小提琴的设置有了一些小变化。指板被延长，使其得到更高的音高范围，指板与琴身之间的角度也被调节，使指板在琴身上方的延伸略微指向上方并远离琴身，这样弦上的张力更大，乐器有了更大的投射力。为了达到同样的目的，低音梁（内部一条木板，沿着乐器的纵方向，在指板的D和G弦的正下方延伸）得到了加强，并变厚以支撑增加的张力，这增加了乐器的共鸣。这些变化肉眼几乎都看不见，但实际上反映出这段时间里该乐器的作用有了持续和重要的发展。甚至在巴洛克晚期，“乐器可以充当主要声部”的想法开始被接受，其中一个例子就是J.S.巴赫为小提琴和大提琴谱写的一系列隐藏有多声部的独奏作品，这些作品将乐器推向了音乐和技术能力的极限。此时，在古典时期，借助弦乐四重奏，交响曲和协奏曲，小提琴已被确立为独奏乐器，因此人们重新强调了音量并且把音程扩大到其他乐器之外，以穿透织体(texture)——乐团的声音。

Easy enough to implement both onto new instruments made around this time, and also onto older instruments (as no partof the main body needed to be changed, only its set-up), these adjustments were universally accepted as improvements to the violin, allowing musicians to push the violin to new heights. One such virtuoso at the end of the 18^th century was Niccolo Paganini, whose 24 Caprices for the violin redefined its technical standards. As well as its established lyrical qualities and beautiful tone, and its polyphonic capabilities, players and composers alike are now aware of theinstrument's agility, virtuosity and flare, when played at its peak capacity.The chin-rest was an accessory to help with this newfound agility. By supporting more of the violin's weight between one's chin and shoulder, holding it steadily in place, the left-hand enjoys more freedom and allows the violinist to achieve faster and more accurate shifts across the fingerboard.

既容易应用于此时制造的新乐器，又可应用于较旧的乐器（因为无需更改主体的任何部分，只需更改其设置），这些对小提琴的调整改进得到了普遍的接受，因此音乐人将小提琴推向了新的高度。帕格尼尼（NiccoloPaganini）是18世纪末的一位大师，他的24首随想曲重新定义了小提琴的技术标准。除了著名的抒情品质和优美音色以及其复音的能力，演奏者和作曲家现在都已经意识到，把乐器演奏到顶峰状态的时候，它是多么的敏捷和炫技。腮托是帮助这种新发现的敏捷性的附件。通过在下巴和肩膀之间更多地支撑小提琴的重量，并将其固定到位，左手享有更大的自由度，使小提琴手可以更快和更准确地在指板上移动。

19世纪的一种腮托

The next development in the instrument's history was in fact more recent than many would think, and although seemingly trivial, and in its context almost natural, it was a huge point of contention and debate between many musicians and established violinists at the time. This was the addition of metal and metal-wound strings in the early 20^thCentury[g]. Previously, the E, A and D strings were made from pure processed gut of sheep or cat, and the G string, from around the 18^th century onwards, was made from gut wound by a thin wire of silver or copper for extra support. The change of all the strings being more or less made from metal occurred gradually over the first 20 years of the 20^th Century. At first, the D string also began to be wound by aluminium or silver, much like what was already common, accepted practice for the G string. The real point of controversy happened a little later, and surrounded the switch from a gut E string to apure steel E. There were different reasons for the change: Post-war, quite a few soloists switched to the steel E during their tours to the USA, where the best Italian gut strings were no longer available. Additionally, because the gut E, being the thinnest and most tense, was the easiest string to snap and therefore the most frequently replaced, other players switched to the metal alternative to avoid perspiration wearing the string down so quickly[h].

乐器史上的下一个发展其实比许多人想象的距离现在更近，尽管看似微不足道，而且在当时的背景下是自然而然发生的，但成为当时许多音乐家与著名小提琴家之间争论和辩论的重点。这就是20世纪初金属和金属缠绕弦的添加。以前，E，A和D弦使用提纯加工的绵羊肠或猫肠制作，而G弦，从18世纪前后开始，用细银线或铜线缠绕的肠线制作，以提供额外的支撑。在20世纪的前20年中，所有的琴弦都逐渐开始由金属制作。一开始，是D弦被铝或银缠绕，这类似已经普遍接受的G弦的制作方法。稍后围绕着从肠E弦到钢E弦的变化发生了真正的争议。变化的原因有很多：第一次世界大战后，许多独奏者到美国巡回演出时改用了钢E弦，因为那里没有最好的意大利肠弦。并且，由于肠E弦最细，最紧，最容易断，更换的频率最高，因此演奏者们纷纷改用金属弦，以避免汗液对弦过快的侵蚀。

有人提出：“猫肠弦”未必由猫肠制作，而是泛指羊肠和牛肠制作的弦

The steel E was tougher to break and provided more tuning stability as well as a more powerful sound, but many established players at the time had strong opinions about the difference in tone colour between the gut E and the steel E. But just how significant was this difference in tone colour? Today, almost every violin comes fitted with synthetic core, metal wound strings, along with a pure metal E string, and these are indeed the professional standard – so this development in the violin’s history has definitely endured the test of time. But actually, the difference the gut strings make to the sound of the violin is remarkably noticeable, so much so that it sounds almost entirely like a different instrument – very surprising when one considers just how idiosyncratic the sound of the violin is to our ears today, musicians and non-musicians alike. An indicative example of this is a beautiful recording of Eugene Ysaye playing a transcription of the Preisleid from Wagner’s Die Meistersinger on all gut strings [Columbia Record 36513, Feb.1^st 1912], in which the sweetness and purity of his sound is truly incredible. What is especially impressive about this recording is that, even to a trained ear, the melodies on the E string sound no different in timbre to anyother tessitura on the violin, whereas violinists today know and accept as agranted fact that the E string always produces a more metallic sound due to its pure metal composition, unlike the other strings. Of course, the masters of the 20^th century like David Oistrakh and Jascha Heifetz, as well as a handful of players alive today, who came after Ysaye and were educated in an era where metal strings had been accepted, can also produce extraordinarily beautiful music capable of touching the deepest parts of a listener’s soul, but one hasto recognise that in terms of quality of tone alone, the steel E strings are no match for the old gut strings by any measure. Nonetheless, as concert halls got bigger, and as more and musicians in the orchestra began switching to metal strings, soloists had no choice but to trade the sweet colours of gut strings for the superior power and clarity of metal strings – what’s more, the new strings are more responsive to the motions of the bow and the left hand, so that it is much easier to produce a focused sound when playing lots of notes in quick succession. Over time, players weren’t the only musicians who adapted to the new sound of metal strings. Composers, too, started writing with the new technical capabilities of the violin in mind. Almost everything that was written for not just the solo violin, but also the orchestra in the second half of the 20^thcentury – Shostakovich, Britten, Bartok, Bernstein, to name a few composers –were written for a violin sound with metal and not gut strings.

伊萨伊1912年演奏录音，曲目改编自瓦格纳的歌剧《名歌手》

钢E弦不容易断，提供了更好的音调稳定性以及更强大的声音，但当时许多著名演奏家对肠E弦和钢E弦之间的音色差异各持己见。但音色差异到底有多大？如今，几乎所有小提琴都配备了合成芯外包金属的弦以及纯金属E弦，这些已经是行业标准——因此，小提琴史上的这一发展无疑已经经受了时间的考验。但肠弦给小提琴带来很不同的音色，这非常明显，以至于听起来几乎像是另一种乐器——这非常令人惊讶，如果人们（无论是音乐人还是非音乐人）考虑到现在的小提琴的声音在我们听起来是多么的独特。一个典型的例子是尤金·伊萨伊演奏的改编自瓦格纳的《纽伦堡名歌手》，名为《Preisleid》的唱片中的优美录音，用的都是肠弦[哥伦比亚唱片公司，编号36513，1912年2月1日]，声音的甜美和纯净令人难以置信。这份录音尤其令人印象深刻的是，即使在经过训练的耳朵听起来，E弦上的旋律在音色上也与小提琴上的任何其他音域一样，而今天的小提琴家都知道并接受了E弦总是与其他琴弦不同，因为它由纯金属组成，其声音更具金属感。当然，像大卫·奥伊斯特拉赫和雅沙·海菲茨这样的20世纪音乐大师，以及今天还在世的少数演奏者，他们生于伊萨伊之后，并且是在已经接受了金属琴弦也可以产生超凡脱俗的音乐，也能触及听者灵魂最深处的部分的时代中接受教育的，但我们必须认识到，仅就音调质量而言，钢E弦无论如何都无法与旧的肠弦相提并论。但是，随着音乐厅的扩大以及乐团中越来越多的乐手改用金属弦，独奏者别无选择，只能放弃肠弦的甜美色彩，代之以金属弦的超强力量和清晰度——而且，新的琴弦对弓和左手的运动更加敏感，因此在快速演奏一连串音符的时候更容易产生集中的声音(focusedsound)。随着时间的流逝，不只是演奏者适应了新的金属弦的音色，作曲家写作的时候也考虑了小提琴的新的技术能力。几乎所有为小提琴独奏而写的作品，以及为20世纪后半叶的乐团写的所有作品——肖塔科维奇，布里顿，巴托克，伯恩斯坦，仅例举几位作曲家的——都是为金属弦而非肠弦小提琴创作的。

各品牌小提琴弦张力，来源：violinstringreview.com，点击可放大

Today, the violin stands tall as one of themost versatile and one of the most difficult to master of all instruments. While the most valuable violins that are being played today were certainly produced 300 years ago, the instrument has undergone many significant changes that one wouldn’t necessarily notice simply by comparing the physical form of a modern violin to that of a violin from its early days of conception. When it comes to changes and development, the role of the instrument in a larger musical context has been as important a part in its history as the evolution of the process in which wooden boxes are carefully crafted and nurtured into musical instruments. And in regards to the latter, so much effort and craftsmanship have gone into violin-making that it has become an art form in itself – and so, just like howone looks at a 300-year-old painting with nothing but admiration and awe, the words “old” and “obsolete” would not cross anyone’s mind in the presence of a 300-year-old violin. There is so much beauty in something that has weathered the test of time almost unscathed, and sometimes, what it takes for anything to keep up with changing times is not a complete overhaul, but rather small continuous adjustments almost invisible to the naked eye. A change of strings, perhaps.

如今，小提琴屹立于乐器之林，是其中功能最丰富，最难掌握的。虽然现在被演奏的最有价值的小提琴肯定产于300年前，但该乐器已经经历了许多重大变化，如果人们只是把现代小提琴的外观与孕育期当中的小提琴进行比较的话，就不一定会注意到这些变化。当涉及到变化和发展时，乐器在更大的音乐语境中的角色一直是其历史的重要组成部分，这与手工制作木箱并培育成乐器的过程的演变一样重要。就后者而言，大量的精力和技巧被投入小提琴制作，以至于它本身已成为一种艺术形式——因此，就像人们看着一幅300年前的油画只有赞美和敬畏之情，面对一把300年历史的小提琴的时候，“老旧”和“过时”这两个字眼绝对不会从头脑中冒出。在经受了时间的考验而毫发无损的事物当中有太多的美，有时，一个事物要跟上一个个不停变化的时代，所需要的并不是彻底的大修，而是肉眼几乎看不到的小小的连续调整。也许，换一下弦就好了。

---

[a] “…a forerunner of the violin, emerged in 10th-century Europe, possibly deriving  from the lira, a Byzantine version of the rabāb, an Arabbowed instrument.” – Entry on vielle, Encyclopædia Britannica.

[b] Aubrey, Elizabeth. The Music of the Troubadours. Indiana University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-253-21389-4. Page 18.

[c] The Parnassus by Raphael(Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino) in the Palace of the Vatican. Apollo is pictured in the centre playing the lira da braccio.

[d] Review of The History of Violin Playing from Its Origins to 1761 by David D. Boyden. The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 20 (Mar., 1967), pp. 118-120

[e] The Surviving Instruments of Andrea Amati. Laurence C. Witten II.Early Music Vol. 10, No. 4 (Oct., 1982), pp. 487-494. Oxford University Press.

[f] The Second Revolution in the History of the Violin: A Twentieth-Century Phenomenon. Elias Dann, College Music Symposium Vol. 17, No.2 (Fall, 1977), pp. 65

[g] The Second Revolution… Elias Dann, College Music Symposium Vol. 17,No. 2 (Fall, 1977), pp. 65

[h] Carl Flesch, The Art of Violin Playing, revised edition (New York,1939), Vol. 1, fn., p. 11.