最後的浪漫主義鋼琴詩人

蕭泰然

The Last Romantic Poetic Pianist: Tyzen Hsiao

1938年出生於台灣高雄，幼年時由母親蕭林雪雲女士啟蒙習琴，七歲時即第一次公開表演。1963年起先後畢業於國立台灣師範大學音樂系、日本國東京武藏野音樂大學及美國加州大學洛杉磯分校音樂研究所。1967年返台後曾任教於台南家專音樂系及師範大學音樂系，1975年在台北中山堂首次舉辦〝蕭泰然樂展〞。

Tyzen Hsiao was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in 1938. He was taught how to play the piano as a young child by his mother Syue-yun Lin Hsiao, and made his debut at the age of seven. He graduated from the Music Department of the National Taiwan Normal University in 1963 and Musashino Music University in Japan in 1967, and earned his master's degree in composition at California State University, Los Angeles in 1987. He was appointed to the faculty of the music departments of Tainan University of Technology and the National Taiwan Normal University after he returned to Taiwan in 1967. He held the first “Hsiao Tyzen Night” in 1975 in Taipei Zhongshan Hall.

1977年移居美國，多年來強烈思親、念鄉的情懷，不斷的促成他創作的靈感，例如：〝出外人〞、〝嘸通嫌台灣〞、〝上美的花〞、〝永遠的故鄉〞、〝家園的回憶〞⋯等，這些作品無時無刻都透露著他內心對台灣這塊土地的浪漫〝心〞。

Since he immigrated to the US in 1977, his feelings towards his family and motherland have inspired him to create new compositions such as The Vagabond, I Love Taiwan, The Most Beautiful Flower, The Everlasting Hometown and Memories of Home, which constantly reveal how much he misses Taiwan.

在諸多作品裡，有鋼琴獨奏小品、四手聯彈、雙鋼琴以及小提琴獨奏集、大提琴小品、橫笛小品以及鋼琴三重奏、弦樂四重奏、鋼琴五重奏，除了旋律動人之外，往往在伴奏的和聲運用，更是令人讚嘆不已。

His many works include bagatelles for piano solo, piano duets, compositions for two pianos, violin solo collections, bagatelles for cello, bagatelles for flute, piano trios, string quartets and piano quintets. His application of harmony in accompaniment as well as touching melodies is incredibly amazing.

1993年底當他持著一股對台灣歷史見證的使命感，開始創作令人震撼的交響詩〝1947序曲〞，由於過度勞累引發了心臟大動脈疾病，生命垂危，經過十幾個小時的大手術，才挽回他珍貴的生命，而〝1947序曲〞就在他堅定的毅力支撐著虛弱的身體，於1994年完成。

He started composing the breath-taking symphonic poem Overture 1947 in the end of 1993 with a sense of mission to witness the history of Taiwan. He was struck by and almost died of an aortic disease due to excess fatigue, and was finally saved by a major operation which lasted for more than ten hours. At last, Overture 1947 was completed in 1994 with his strong willpower.

雖說許多音樂界人士都將他的作品歸類於浪漫派曲風，但是他卻在1987年完成了一首現代曲式的交響樂〝Formosa〞，這首交響樂竟然在1999年1月6日，才由俄羅斯聯邦交響樂團在莫斯科首次演出而大放異彩。1988年至1990年間，含蓄、內斂、浪漫的思緒，讓他完成了小提琴、大提琴和鋼琴三首聞名的協奏曲，這些年來不斷地在海內外演出深受好評。

Although he is generally deemed a composer of the neo-Romantic school, he completed a modern symphony Formosa in 1987 which didn’t premiere until January 6^th, 1999 in Moscow by the Russian Federal Symphony Orchestra, yielding unusually brilliant results. From 1988 to 1990, his reserved, implicit and romantic thoughts led to the creations of Violin Concerto in D, Cello Concerto in C and Piano Concerto in C minor, which have receieved favorable reviews domestically and internationally over the years.

1995年返台定居後，依然以虛弱的身體，陸續的創作出：〝台灣魂〞、〝傷痕之歌〞、〝玉山頌〞、〝啊∼福爾摩沙 〝為殉難者的鎮魂曲〞⋯等名曲。

After moving back to and settling down in Taiwan in 1995, he continued to produce, despite his feebleness, many celebrated works such as The Spirit of Taiwan, The Song of Scars, Ode to Jade Mountain and Ilha Formosa: Requiem for the Formosan Martyrs.

誠如他經常說的一句話：「既然生命是從死亡的邊緣撿回來的，那麼每天都是恩典，我更應該將生命奉獻給台灣的音樂。」        

His devotion to music is best described by his words, “Since I was so fortunate as to have cheated death, every day is a blessing for me and I should dedicate my life to the music of Taiwan.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyzen_Hsiao