It was for this reason that when I found an announcement in a local tabloid that summer about an Alpine trombone festival being held in Morlan on the same day, I wasted no time in getting there.
[Archaeological research has traced the history of the Alpine trombone back 2,000 years. In Europe, its documented history is also more than 500 years old. Originally it was a rudimentary instrument for shepherds, and beyond that it was a tool for carrying messages in mountain villages].
Located on the border between Switzerland and France, Morlan is a small, unassuming mountain village in the Alps. It has the **** same characteristics of almost all mountain villages in Switzerland: deep in the mountains but not isolated, simple and unadorned but not poor and backward. Chalets that have been in use for years are scattered in the small valley surrounded by mountains. Time had turned the pale yellow logs black and red, snow-white picket curtains hung from the windows, and bushels of pink flowers bloomed in pots made from hollowed-out wood on the windowsills.
There was a tall fir tree in the middle of the village's small square, and dozens of Alpine trombones, representing different regions, surrounded it, stretching out their slender bodies like a huge open flower, vying for attention from the crowd. This is a very unique musical instrument, generally with birch, spruce, poplar or cherry wood, the whole trunk of a split in half, digging the air cavity, and then glued together, the outside of the planing very detailed bark wrapped around, and then polished, lacquer dye. Horn length of 3 to 4 meters, the diameter of the horn from the end of the blowing gradually increased to the end of the trumpet when the ingenious, with the help of the original tree in the mountainside growth due to the natural formation of the mountain's root bending, and made a curved trumpet. Around the bell are depicted symbols of the region's pride, either an Alpine flower or a bull's head with long curved horns. Depending on the wood used, the trombones are yellowish to dark brown in color and have different tones depending on the quality of the wood.
This huge wind instrument is not only found in central Europe. Instruments similar to the Alpine trombone can be found all over the world, in Europe, the Americas and parts of Asia, where the Alps are as steep as the mountains.
Archaeological studies have traced the history of the Alpine trombone back 2,000 years. In Europe, its documented history is also more than 500 years old. Originally a humble instrument for shepherds, a 16th-century European painting vividly depicts a shepherd milking a cow while another shepherd plays a trombone to soothe the cow with music. In addition to this, the Alpine trombone was also a means of transmitting information in the mountain villages. The mountain people use the horn to spread joyful news such as marriages and new births, to send greetings to family members and sweethearts in another mountain village, and sometimes to announce illnesses, deaths and accidents with a low melodic sound. Sometimes the trombone is also used as a call to assembly among the mountain people, a bugle to go out to battle, or even a trick for the mountain people to go to the city to beg for a living during the off-season of farming and herding. Interestingly, it is said that the earliest written reference to the Alpine trombone in Switzerland is actually an entry in the ledger of the ruling nobility of the canton of Lucerne in 1527: "A gift of tuppence to the local herdsmen from the canton of Valais who come to beg with the trombone."
It was these wandering horn players and shepherds who brought the long, melancholy melody of the Alpine trombone to all corners of Europe, stirring up homesickness in young Swiss men who were far from home, fighting as mercenaries for the nobility of other countries. In an opera describing the scene, a wounded and dying Swiss soldier sings in agony, "O brother, I am about to say goodbye to you forever, it is the sound of the trombone that makes my heart ache."
The Alpine trombone was first described in detail in Germany at the beginning of the 19th century by a Swiss scholar of local cultural traditions, who introduced the folk instrument to the upper classes. At the same time, however, it became clear that the trombone was becoming increasingly difficult to find in the Alps. This is why the organizers of the first Shepherd's Festival in the canton of Bern included trombone playing as part of the competition to promote this traditional instrument. Unfortunately, there were only two trombonists in the entire festival, and they duly took home the two trombone prizes: a medal and a goat.
The magistrate of Bern, Switzerland, wrote to a music teacher at the Fellenberg Conservatory, über, ordering him to open an Alpine trombone school to train professional players, and to allocate funds for the manufacture of a number of Alpine trombones for the students to practice on. The magistrate had exclaimed that this wonderful instrument must not be allowed to disappear from our mountains! Thanks to Mr. Huber's efforts, the Alpine trombone and its music quickly developed. In the beginning, trombone students practiced and played tunes handed down from generation to generation in the same way as their fathers and grandfathers. From the 18th century onwards there were official trombone scores. One of the most famous is that of the famous German composer Brahms, who wrote to his good friend, the famous female musician Clara Schumann, on her birthday in 1868, after she had climbed the Tiraspol in Switzerland. The most famous of these is the trombone score on the postcard he wrote to his good friend, the famous female musician Clara Schumann, after her ascent of the Tirlex in Switzerland, congratulating her on her birthday, and which formally appeared in the fourth movement of Brahms's Symphony No. 1 eight years later.
The melody of the Alpine trombone is soothing and long, the tone is simple and unadorned, and the tunes blown give people a unique sense of melancholy beauty, which incomparably expresses a deep sadness, melancholy emotion and idyllic pastoral theme, and has been favored by many composers. Famous composers Liszt, Wagner and Puccini have all used the melody of the Alpine trombone in their scores.
[Speaking of the Alpine trombone, Porter's voice is full of emotion: "This object is not only a musical instrument, but the mountain itself! It is the roots of the mountains that tremble, the echoes of the earth's memories, the messengers of our ancestors."]
Today the Alpine trombone has become an irreplaceable symbol of Switzerland and plays an important role in the promotion of Swiss tourism. Commemorative postcards with the Alpine trombone on them can be found at tourist attractions everywhere; in stores, the Alpine trombone is emblazoned on the wrappers of Switzerland's famous chocolates and cheeses; and performances of the trombone have become an indispensable part of the reserved program at any Alpine festival. Alpine trombone festivals like today's are held in Switzerland almost every one or two years. Hosted in turn by different mountain villages in the German-, French- and Italian-speaking regions, it both builds on national traditions and adds color to Switzerland's travel and tourism industry.
Today, the small square in the center of the village is swirling with a festive atmosphere, a change from the usual silence. A large table is filled with glasses of local wine, and villagers carry trays of wine among the guests from all over the world, offering a glass of wine and a warm welcome to Morlan, while more than 70 Alpine trombonists from all over Switzerland, dressed in local-style national costumes, mingle among the crowds in the square to greet each other. They are both musicians and true mountain people, with big, strong bodies, faces black and red and rugged by the Alpine winds, and German, French, Italian, and Romance languages with strong local accents do not hinder the communication between the horn players of different regions. As I made my way through the horn players and tourists, I saw a tall, 60-something year old man pointing to the circle of trombones in the center of the square and telling the crowd something. Although he was dressed in traditional mountain people's clothing, he had a scholarly demeanor about him. In the midst of the predominantly German conversation, I realized that he was speaking French, and I hurried over to him when I had a chance to communicate. So I had the honor of meeting Mr. Girard Porter, an expert on the Alpine trombone. Mr. Porter.
Porter is an expert Alpine trombone maker with nearly 40 years of experience, and the instruments he makes in his hands enjoy a high reputation in the world of musical instruments. Not only does he handcraft and lacquer-paint his trombones, but he is also an accomplished Alpine trombone player. What's more, Porter has been studying the acoustic properties of the trombone from the point of view of acoustic science in the spirit of striving for excellence, constantly improving its sound quality and enhancing the characteristics of the trombone.
"I'm a perfectionist on the trombone," he said. "Thirty years ago, I was a brat and expected to make a trombone as beautiful as the one made by Kurchard, the great trombone maker of the day. So I went to study with him. He looked at me with disdain and said, 'You can't do it, kid. You might as well eat a slice of pizza with me.' From that moment on, I was determined to make a better trombone than he did."
"I've heard that many trombones are now made using machines. Perhaps that improves efficiency quite a bit over handcrafting?" I asked tentatively.
"Otherwise, using machines can certainly improve efficiency, but the things made by machines are one of a kind and lack individuality. But the trombones that I have made have their own personalities. Just like people, each person has their own temperament character." Porter said confidently.
"The production of trombone is a discipline, the light selection of materials is very concerned. Some say the spruce wood glows red and is harder at sunset every day. I can't say for sure, but I've found that the direction of growth of the tree has an effect on the sound quality of the instrument. Also the older the tree, the better the ****ing performance of the trombone. I usually go for spruce that are 300 years old, they have even fine wood and good echo." Porter told me somewhat mysteriously, "There's also something to be said for the time of year when the trees are cut down. I decide the moment to cut down a tree based on the astrological signs, and I usually pick the time when Leo is on duty."
After the trees are cut down, Potter dries the wood for six or seven years before using it to make the trombone, which is the only way to get a perfect sound. The entire process of making a trombone takes 80 hours of meticulous work and is worth at least 3,000 Swiss francs.
The Alpine trombone, despite its enormous size, is a very simple instrument. It has no keys or reeds, which are essential for a wind instrument, and there are no air holes in the wall of the tube, except for the mouthpiece and the bell at the end. The music it produces depends only on the length of the airflow blown by the player, the strength of the pressure, and especially the fluttering of the player's lips in different ways. This strong and weak, frequency changes in the airflow through the long wooden horn tube **** sound and amplification and produced a long lasting, continuous and uninterrupted in the ear of the beautiful music, and can be spread to a very far place. The simplicity of the structure greatly increases the technical difficulty of playing. But like all different forms of art, what is more difficult and important than mastering technique is understanding and embodying the emotion and spirit of the art. Alpine trombone is the son of the mountains, nature's spirit, it sends out the sound is to the call of heaven and earth, it is the expression of the music and its surrounding mountains and forests as one, harmonious **** sound. Bugler only really understand this spirit, can give the Alpine trombone simple music to the deep connotation, give it to pour life. No wonder some people think that playing the Alpine trombone is not only playing a musical instrument, or the horn player in the spiritual contemplation and sentiment cultivation.
Speaking of the Alpine trombone, Porter's voice is full of emotion: "This object is not only a musical instrument, but also the mountain itself! It is the roots of the mountains that tremble, the echoes of the earth's memories, the messengers of our ancestors. It originated to carry messages between the valleys and the alpine pastures. That's why those livestock have a special feeling for its sound. If you don't believe me, try playing a tune in a high mountain pasture and all those cows will come running over to shake their heads and tails in front of the trombone!"
"Whenever I hear the sound of the trombone, I can't help but burst into tears and tremble. I think there must be a million little trombones running through my blood." Mr. Porter is indeed a trombone fanatic, and that time, to congratulate his little grandson on his second birthday, he actually gave him a trombone several times taller than the little man as a birthday present.
[So the two lonely men stood on top of a mountain that could be heard from afar but could not be reached by sight, and across the longitudinal valleys, played their respective trombones, responding to each other with that long melody, exchanging sentiments that words could not convey to help them get through that long time].
The trombone festival lasts all day. The opening ceremony in the morning is followed by a time for musicians and sightseers to interact with each other. Another indispensable element for visitors from far and wide is a walk in the mountains and forests around Morlan, so that they can more y appreciate the Alpine spirit and sentiment encapsulated in the long, distinctive melody of the Alpine trombone.
The village of Moran is located at an altitude of 1500 meters above sea level, in a small valley surrounded by several large mountains of more than 2000 meters. The mountains are lushly forested and there are mountain trails leading in all directions. I chose one of the trails to head upwards. At first it was a dense forest, the path was covered with thick wood chips, which was very comfortable to step on, and the fragrance of the soil and turpentine was even more pleasant. The higher we went, the trees gradually thinned out, but the meadow became more and more lush. Gradually, the forest disappeared underfoot, and the surrounding area became a sea of flowers. Looking around, I don't see any human traces. Thick meadows on a fluffy, clusters of unknown mountain flowers in the sunshine competing to open, free and easy to show another kind of vigorous life. The mountain is like a guardian deity, warmly embracing these insignificant but distinctive children of nature in its bosom.
The mountain road is still gently going up. Turning a bend in the mountain, a picture jumped into my eyes that made me hold my breath: a towering cliff like a giant screen, unobstructed on the side of the valley at the foot. The familiar silhouette of the peak made my cheer come out, "Middy Peak!"
Midi is one of the most beautiful peaks in the southwestern Swiss Alps, and it has been featured in an unknown number of scenic photographs of Switzerland's Lac Léman region. Its magnificence and the beauty of Lake Leman and the ancient vicissitudes of the lake congestion of the old castle far away, the lake and mountains and natural history into one, constitute the most beautiful picture of Switzerland, a country as beautiful as a fairy tale. In front of us, even the ravines between the iron-gray rocks of the Midi are clearly visible, so close that it seems as if one step forward would be enough to step on its boulder-strewn body. But underneath was a deep valley. Mountain wind blowing, mist like a light veil from the bottom of the valley rising, silent hints of heaven and the earth's insurmountable. On this side of the meadow, mountain flowers blossomed on their own. There are three or five cows from nowhere grazing peacefully, indifferent to the beauty of the wildflowers around them. In this world, which is so free that it is mediocre and so natural that it has no desire, I suddenly feel that the praise of nature in human language seems so pale, pretentious and pretentious.
Just then, seemingly from far away came a melody as slow as the sound of heaven, such as sobbing, such as sighing, such as song. This is an Alpine trombone to the mountains issued a call, is a birch tree had grown on the slopes of the mountain with its body to the mountain mother poured out her heart. The evening sun reddens the mountains, twilight rises in the valley, is the traditional moment of the Alpine trombone blowing. I couldn't help but run up and down the mountain paths to meet the faint music. It drifted in the valley, in the forest, in the air around me, sometimes clear and pleasant, sometimes as thin as a wisp. I could not recognize its direction; it seemed to come from all directions. But I know that it is the echo of the lonely shepherd who spoke to the mountains hundreds of years ago.
I rushed back to Moran village to the sound of the trombone, which was getting clearer and clearer. The twilight concert, the best part of the trombone festival, had already begun. Teams from different regions and mountain villages took turns to play folk songs with different themes and styles. They sometimes played solo, sometimes in a group ensemble, and sometimes two trombones played against each other. The music transports people to the summer of the Alps, when shepherds drive their cattle to the fat pastures of the high mountains, where they spend the entire grazing season. They are far away from their families, alone with their cattle and sheep day and night, but in the evening when they return home, but it is difficult to go home, the face of reckless mountains, infinite melancholy through the trombone whimpering out. The soothing and harmonious melody is like the ancient echo of nature, giving them comfort. Occasionally, in addition to the echoes of the mountains, they could also hear the response of another trombone on the top of a mountain in an unknown place. So the two lonely people are standing in the distant but not reachable mountain tops, across the longitudinal valleys, blowing their own trombones, with that long melody a response, exchange of language can not convey the feelings to help them through the long time.
At the end of the festival, the horn players all take the field in a huge arc. Dozens of trombones looked like a giant fan unfurling. In front of the horn line, two mountain men dressed in Swiss national costume dance the Swiss flag high in the air. The flags were fluttering in the air, the horns were sounding, and the deep and melodious melody was swinging in the valley for a long time. The sound of this music announced to the world: the trombone did not disappear in the mountains, it will always echo in the Alps.