概要：Boléro（博萊羅舞曲）是商業(yè)上最為成功的古典音樂之一，世界上每15分鐘就有管弦樂隊演奏一次。本文講述了Boléro的創(chuàng)作過程和引發(fā)的版權(quán)問題。這首歌你一定聽過：

“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·拉威爾的Boléro是一首奇怪的樂曲，由兩個旋律組成，每個旋律重復(fù)九次。它原本是芭蕾舞劇的配樂，優(yōu)美動聽，讓人聽后余音繞梁，三日不絕。一部新的法國傳記電影《Boléro》講述了1928年拉威爾努力創(chuàng)作這首作品的過程，電影采用了類似Boléro音樂的重復(fù)手法。導(dǎo)演兼聯(lián)合編劇Anne Fontaine重現(xiàn)了拉威爾飽受性欲折磨、迷戀機(jī)械噪音和緩慢的精神衰退。1937年，他死于腦部疾?。簧窠?jīng)科醫(yī)生認(rèn)為可能是額顳葉癡呆，與強(qiáng)迫性重復(fù)有關(guān)。

“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是古典音樂中最著名的曲調(diào)之一。據(jù)估計，該首歌曲從現(xiàn)場表演、錄音和電影配樂中獲得的版稅超過1億美元。誰得到了這1億美元這個問題很復(fù)雜。拉威爾沒有后代。在拉威爾死后，版權(quán)傳給了他的哥哥，他哥哥在一次車禍后與他的看護(hù)人結(jié)婚。然后他妻子又把版權(quán)留給了她的第一任丈夫，這位前夫又娶了自己的美甲師。最終，版權(quán)歸屬于這位美甲師與其前妻所生的女兒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.

根據(jù)法國法律，Boléro的版權(quán)于2016年到期，進(jìn)入公共版權(quán)領(lǐng)域。但就像這首音樂本身一樣，圍繞Boléro的版權(quán)之爭仍在繼續(xù)。2018年，芭蕾舞劇原布景設(shè)計師Alexandre Benois的繼承人起訴法國版權(quán)機(jī)構(gòu)SACEM，Pen de Castel女士也支持這場訴訟。他們辯稱，這部芭蕾舞劇是一部合作作品，而且由于編舞師Bronislava Nijinska直到1972年才去世，版權(quán)到期時間應(yīng)該是2051年。6月，法國法庭將對該案進(jìn)行裁決。

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女士的電影與金錢爭奪無關(guān)，講述的是拉威爾和他的音樂。1928年，在巴黎的俄羅斯舞蹈家Ida Rubinstein委托拉威爾創(chuàng)作一部芭蕾舞劇。但他推遲了，當(dāng)時他正困擾于一段未結(jié)束的感情。他逃到海邊，參加派對，逛窯子(他不是去尋歡，而是讓女孩戴上手套，聽這一過程的聲音)。在電影的回憶中，觀眾了解到他曾為了被法國古板的音樂學(xué)院接受做過艱辛的努力，并曾與另一位法國作曲家克勞德·德彪西一爭高下。

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.

隨著Rubinstein的截止日期臨近，拉威爾絕望地在鋼琴上敲著。他管家唱的一首模糊的西班牙流行歌曲進(jìn)入了他的腦海。有些電影可能會把這一幕稱作靈光一現(xiàn)，但Fontaine女士認(rèn)為靈感的來源多種多樣。在另一個電影場景中，拉威爾帶Rubinstein去工廠聽機(jī)器的轟隆聲。他說，芭蕾應(yīng)該是一首現(xiàn)代機(jī)械的頌歌。

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的成功立竿見影，經(jīng)久不衰。美國著名指揮家和作曲家Leonard Bernstein很喜歡它。Fontaine女士的電影演職員聲稱，世界上每15分鐘就有管弦樂隊演奏一次Boléro。毫不奇怪，Pen de Castel女士希望還能靠Boléro賺錢。SACEM副總裁David El Sayegh說，Benois設(shè)計了芭蕾舞劇的布景和服裝，但從未聲稱自己參與了Boléro制作。SACEM認(rèn)為這起訴訟是無稽之談。雖然不太可能，但如果這場版權(quán)繼承人的訴訟取勝，其他人可能會也會就過期版權(quán)提起訴訟。

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?”■

據(jù)一位門生透露，拉威爾對Boléro持矛盾態(tài)度。他認(rèn)為這是他的杰作，但也說“這首曲子里面沒有什么音樂成分。”然而，拉威爾可能也認(rèn)為這首歌曲的旋律一直重復(fù)并沒有什么不合適的。在電影中，他問一個朋友：“你不覺得這個旋律有一種固執(zhí)的堅持嗎?”