与巴赫莫扎特相比，贝多芬的作品数量并不庞大，但精品比例非常之高。他的不少作品因为情思幽深内涵丰富，需要反复聆听多遍才可以登堂入室，发现其无与伦比的美。这有些像探险寻宝，只有那些有耐心和毅力的探索者，才能够最后发现并拥有宝藏。

西方古典音乐是一座琳琅满目美不胜收的艺术宝库，但是只有少数被拣选（blessed）的幸运儿可以尽情享用。让我们珍惜这莫大的福分，感谢上帝的奇异恩典吧！

交响曲是什么？交响乐就是“幸福昵”。

提纲挈领叙述中国历史，一首《二泉映月》足矣。

“对于贝多芬，我喜爱其中期作品，有时喜爱其早期作品，但实在嫌恶其晚期作品，特别是晚期的四重奏。晚期作品中有闪光，但只是微光。其余是一片喧嚣，上空有这位音乐界上帝的灵魂在游荡，四周是一片浓雾。”这是一百多年前，一位专业音乐工作者在他的一篇题为《我心中的太阳 — 莫扎特》的文章中，谈及贝多芬的一段话。

贝多芬的晚期钢琴奏鸣曲和弦乐四重奏，至今仍不普及，但却是古典音乐界公认的有史以来最伟大的音乐作品，比作者本人的中期作品更伟大，古典乐坛丰碑一般的存在。她们难以普及的原因是曲高和寡，因为过于博大精深了，所以有能力听懂的人不多。写出上述评论的这位先生就听不懂，为之公开发表的评论低劣不堪，几近亵渎神明，虽然他的职业是音乐。由此可见，艺术欣赏和艺术实践可以是两个不同的领域，就音乐欣赏和评论而言，业余爱好者的水准不一定就比专业工作者低，爱好常常就是能力，职业却不一定。作为古典音乐爱好者，我们不用迷信业界权威，他们有的，我们或许没有；而我们有的，他们可能也没有。我们有的，就是对音乐发自内心的热爱，和与生俱来独特的审美能力。

最后说一句，上述的这位专业音乐工作者，名叫柴可夫斯基。

以下评论为描述贝多芬的最贝多芬式的语言：“腓特烈大帝和贝多芬同为德意志千载一遇的奇男子，都具有出类拔萃气吞山河的英武气质，一个在政治军事上，一个在音乐艺术上。腓特烈以他的马鞭和军刀，贝多芬以他的乐队指挥棒和钢琴键盘，各自调度着他们的千军万马。历史证明后者的乐器远比前者的武器更具震撼及感召人类心灵的伟力。转眼间两个世纪过去，腓特烈的血肉军团早已化为尘土，而贝多芬的音符军团始终驰骋于星球的表面。穿越时空无远弗界，英雄命运月光田园，有一种声音叫作不朽，有人类的存在就有贝多芬。”

从顾圣婴到李云迪，中国几代钢琴家为什么都擅长肖邦，却总也弹不好贝多芬呢？概因贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲传达的情感思想最为丰富多彩，复杂深刻，这让虽不乏演奏技巧，但自小受限于奴性教育，熏陶于酱缸文化，而造成个性压抑，思维僵化的中国钢琴家难以驾驭。中国几代钢琴家没有一人出版过贝多芬的32部钢琴奏鸣曲演奏全集，因为没有能力拿下来，工匠般过一遍不难，但若理解肤浅，演绎低劣只能贻笑大方。近年年轻的瑞士华裔女钢琴家Melodie Zhao出版了个人演奏的贝多芬钢琴奏鸣曲全集，她或许是华裔第一人，很不简单。我听过其中多曲，虽与顶尖尚有差距，但普遍质量不低。

旋律够丑，又没劲道，再加单调，大陆流行歌曲能入我法耳的凤毛麟角。香港/广东歌却是一个异数，常有刚劲宽广之音，尚可偶尔听之。

OP笑话：以前有位同事，一个加拿大白男。此公在美国人面前低眉顺眼，在中国人面前趾高气扬，挺种族主义的一个角色。上世纪70年代生人，音乐癖好为80年代的二三流歌曲，如今几乎闻所未闻。一次他坐我的车，随手拿起一张贝多芬CD，见上面有个OP字样，立马不懂装懂：“Oh, opera（歌剧）。”保持基本礼节，我强忍住笑，和他认真解释：“在这里OP不是英文歌剧一词的缩写，而是拉丁语OPUS的缩写，意指音乐作品，后面的数字为作品编号……”

任你的皮肤再白眼睛再蓝，在全人类文化的结晶，西方古典音乐这个领域，咱这个中国人甩你十万八千里。你看不起我的肤色，我可怜你这个人。

不像黄金和美女，音乐作品是一旦欣赏，便成为拥有，拥有的多了，你就成为富豪。

“二泉映月是人类最棒的音乐，没有之一，句号！”（网言）动辄说这个最优美，那个是唯一，说明你听的少，或欣赏水平有限，难免要贻笑大方。另外中西音乐完全没有可比性，如同西湖面对大海。西方古典音乐作品，没有最佳，只有更好。

绘画雕塑与音乐，文字的介入越少越好。话虽如此，我还是要说一套做一套。

欣赏西方古典音乐登堂入室的一大标志是听出了天堂，听出了上帝。如否，实在对不起，在这片壮丽无边的海洋，你还只是一尾浅水的鱼。继续努力吧朋友！

如果想看美丽女性的美丽身体，我会去脱衣舞俱乐部，而不是音乐厅。去俱乐部是为了走马观花地看，去音乐厅是为了聚精会神地听。

亲爱的女钢琴家和女小提琴家们，你们的想法难道和我的相反？如果不，你们为什么要在音乐厅抢可怜的脱衣舞女们的生意？

成年后，让我流泪最多的事物是音乐，让我欢笑最多的或许也是。

After I became an adult, the thing that makes me shed the most tears is music, and it might just be the same thing that brings me the most laughter.

音乐不应成为一件教化工具。即使其具有某种教化功效，也只应于个体欣赏中通过潜移默化完成。

Music should not be a tool for indoctrination. Even if it has some kind of edifying effect, it should only be achieved through unconscious influence during individual appreciation.

推荐贝多芬作品是一件难事，因为佳作众多，不忍割爱，也怕遗珠。勉为其难吧：

It is difficult to recommend Beethoven's works because there are so many great pieces. It's hard to exclude some, and it is easy to miss some. Let me try my best:

Choral Fantasy in C minor, Op. 80
Egmont Overture, Op. 84
Fidelio, Op. 72
Missa Solemnis in D major, Op. 123
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 ("Emperor")
Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 No. 1
Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10, No. 1
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 ("Pathétique")
Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat major, Op. 26 ("Funeral March")
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 ("Moonlight")
Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 ("Pastoral")
Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2 ("Tempest")
Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 ("Waldstein")
Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 ("Appassionata")
Piano Sonata No. 25 in G major, Op. 79 ("Cuckoo")
Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major, Op. 106 ("Hammerklavier")
Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 ("Eternity")
Piano Trio No. 7 in B-flat major, Op. 97 ("Archduke")
Romance No. 1 in G Major, Op. 40
Romance No. 2 in F Major, Op. 50
String Quartet No. 2 in G major, Op. 18, No. 2 ("Complimentary")
String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4
String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 74 ("Harp")
String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat major, Op. 127
String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130
String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131
String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132
String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, ("Eroica")
Symphony No. 4 in B? major, Op. 60
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 ("Destiny")
Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, ("Pastoral")
Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, ("Choral")
Triple Concerto in C major, Op. 56
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61
Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24 ("Spring")
Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major, Op. 47 ("Kreutzer")

音乐可区分听众的文化层次，但不能辨别其人格水准。通俗点说，好人能喜欢坏音乐，坏人能喜欢好音乐。

Music can distinguish the cultural level of the listener, but it cannot discern their personhood. In layman's terms, good people can enjoy bad music, and bad people can enjoy good music.

以下列举了多位“单曲作曲家”及其作品。这个别出心裁的称号不是说这些作曲家一生只创作了区区一首乐曲，而是说时至今日，他们各自大约只有一部（不绝对）作品仍被奉为经典，广为传播为人耳熟能详。作品在精不在多，虽然只有一部，也是相当了不起的成就。当然除了“单曲作曲家”，还有“双曲作曲家”、“三曲作曲家”，直到几十曲作曲家如贝多芬、莫扎特、巴赫等。

The following is a list of "one-work composers" and their works. This unique title does not imply that these composers created only a single piece of music in their lifetime, but that to this day, each of them has only about one (not definitely) work that is still regarded as a classic, widely distributed, and familiar to music lovers. The quality of the artwork is more important than quantity. Having only one classical work in music history is still a remarkable achievement. Of course, in addition to the "one-work composers", there are also "two-work composers", "three-work composers", and even dozens-work composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, etc.

埃内斯库《第一罗马尼亚狂想曲》(Enescu, Rumanian Rhapsody No. 1)
塔蒂尼《魔鬼的颤音》(Tartini, Devil's Trill Sonata)
奥尔夫《博伊伦之歌》(Orff, Carmina Burana)
威塔利《恰空》(Vitali, Ciaccona)
巴哈贝尔《D大调卡农》(Pachelbel, Canon In D Major)
巴达捷夫斯卡《少女的祈祷》(Badarzewska, Maiden's Prayer)
庞塞《小星星》(Ponce, Estrellita)
拉罗《西班牙交响曲》(Lalo, Symphonie espagnole)
斯美塔那《伏尔塔瓦河》(Smetana, Vltava)
格林卡《鲁斯兰与柳德米拉序曲》(Glinka, Russlan and Ludmilla Overture)
格鲁克《旋律》(Gluck, Mélodie (Dance of the Blessed Spirits))
罗德里戈《阿兰胡埃斯》(Rodrigo, Concierto de Aranjuez)
肖松《音诗》(Chausson, Poème for Violin and Orchestra)
苏萨《星条旗永不落》(Sousa, The Stars and Stripes Forever)
葛罗菲《大峡谷组曲》(Grofé, Grand Canyon Suite)
蒙蒂《查尔达什舞曲》(Monti, Csárdás)
阿尔福特《布基上校進行曲(桂河進行曲)》(Alford, Colonel Bogey March, The River Kwai March)
霍尔斯特《行星组曲》(Holst, The Planets)
鲍罗丁《在中亚细亚的草原上》(Borodin, In the Steppes of Central Asia)
维瓦尔第《四季》(Vivaldi，The Four Seasons)

(The list is subject to update)

眼下能想得起来还稍微欣赏的民乐曲，好像只有《二泉映月》和《江河水》两首，还都是近代作品，同样地如泣如诉，是数千年来中国百姓的最佳写照。其它什么《春江花月夜》、《十面埋伏》等，以前听过但都印象不深。号称五千年的古老文明，中华民族在音乐艺术上的成就乏善可陈。就说所谓的民族乐器，大多也是进口产品如二胡京胡笛子琵琶等。汉民族不是一个能歌善舞的民族。音乐素质本来就先天不足，再加上政治管控、传统礼教等几重高压，更是雪上加霜了。

The only Chinese folk musical works that I still remember and somewhat appreciate are "Moon Reflected on the Second Spring" and "Water of the River". Both are modern works and the best portrayals of the Chinese people over thousands of years, with their tearful and sorrowful melodies. What other "Spring River Flowers and Moonlight", "Ten Faces of Ambush", etc., I have heard long ago with minor impressions. Despite claiming a five-thousand-year-old ancient civilization, the achievements of the Chinese nation in the musical arts are nothing to boast about. Even so-called "national instruments" such as the urheen, bamboo flute, and lute are mostly imported products. In general, Han people are not good at singing and dancing. Our musical quality is inherently lacking, coupled with political control, traditional rituals, and other forms of oppression, which makes the situation and consequences even worse.

据说托尔斯泰聆听贝多芬《克罗采奏鸣曲》听出了intercourse，并由此获得灵感写出了小说《克罗采奏鸣曲》，有些匪夷所思，证明文学大师的音乐欣赏力大约在柴可夫斯基《如歌的行板》水准。我以为音乐是距离“性”最远的艺术，因而也是最为纯粹/纯洁的艺术。莫如其它艺术形式如绘画雕塑小说诗歌等，都与性爱有着直接密切关联。时至现代，不乏音乐家试图把“性”引进音乐，例如Enigma’s Push The Limits加入了一段类似女子叫床的声音，即便如此也不牵涉情欲，而是对生命荒诞的一种阐释尝试，可谓巧妙。

It is said that Tolstoy heard "intercourse" in Beethoven's "Kreutzer Sonata", which inspired him to write the novel "The Kreutzer Sonata". It is unbelievable and proves that the literary master's appreciation of music is at the level of Tchaikovsky's "Andante Cantabile". I believe that music is the art that is furthest away from "sex" and therefore the purest art form. Other art forms, such as painting, sculpture, novels, poetry, etc., have direct and close associations with sex. In modern times, there is no shortage of musicians trying to introduce "sex" into music, such as Enigma's Push The Limits, which adds a sound similar to a woman screaming for sex, even though it does not involve eroticism but rather an attempt to explain the absurdity of life, which can be considered ingenious.

演奏弦乐四重奏、钢琴三重奏等室内乐是一项十分艰巨的工作，比演奏管弦乐作品高难许多，甚至比独奏还不易。原因是既没有指挥，又不能随心所欲，演奏完全要靠演奏者之间的相互默契，心神感应。且在3，40分钟的演奏中，演奏者几乎没有休息的空隙。演奏交响曲时，乐队各声部的演奏者许多时间是处于“轮休”状态，你方唱罢我登场，极端的如定音鼓手，大部分时间无事可做。协奏曲中的独奏者，也有在乐队唱主角时，停下来喘口气的机会。而在演奏弦乐四重奏等室内乐时，演奏者必须自始至终全神贯注高度投入，这常常会反映在了他们紧张严肃的面部表情上。

Playing chamber music such as string quartets and piano trios is a very challenging task, much more difficult than playing orchestral works and even harder than playing solo. The reason is that, although there are no conductors involved in organizing the performance, the players cannot do as they please. The performance depends entirely on the mutual understanding and telepathy between the performers. Moreover, in the 30 or 40 minutes of performance, there is almost no break for the players. When playing symphonic works, the players of each section of the band are actually on rest rotation; you sing and I appear, as in the extreme case of a timpanist, who has nothing to do most of the time. Soloists in concertos also have opportunities to take a breath when the orchestra takes over the main role. In chamber music, such as a string quartet, the performers must be fully engaged from beginning to end, and this is often reflected in their tense and serious facial expressions.

人的眼睛里有两个世界，一个是现实世界，一个是语言世界。人的耳朵里有两个世界，一个是现实世界，一个是音乐世界。

There are two worlds in the human eye: one is the real world, and the other is the language world. There are two worlds in the human ear: one is the real world, and the other is the music world.

贝多芬是射向我的一道强光，但另一方面，他同时也是一面镜子，让我从中看到自己的光。

Beethoven is a bright light that is shining toward me, but on the other hand, he is also a mirror in which I see my own light.

音乐是什么？音乐就是花，并非必需品，没有也能活，只是活的质量大减。耳朵里没有音乐，如同眼睛里没有鲜花。

What is music? Music is like flowers—it's not a must for us, but the quality of life would be greatly diminished without it. Having no music in your ears is like having no flowers in your eyes.

音乐与诗歌绘画等艺术的区别，前者更能经受审美疲劳的考验。一首贝多芬钢琴奏鸣曲，我能够在短期内反复聆听几十种版本几百上千遍甚至几千遍而乐此不疲。再好的诗歌，最多看一二十遍就足够。

The difference between music and other arts such as poetry and painting is that the former can withstand the test of aesthetic fatigue. For a Beethoven piano sonata, for example, I can listen to dozens of versions hundreds or even thousands of times in a short period of time without getting tired of it. Even the best poem would only need to be read ten to twenty times at most.

贝多芬：不要指望我的音乐帮助你超脱人世间的苦难。身处艰难困苦，你最大或许唯一的依靠是你自己，你的意志、勇气和永远不屈的精神。如果我的音乐能够在你陷于苦难时，给你带来几分激励和慰藉，我就含笑于天国了。

Beethoven: Please do not expect my music to help you transcend the sufferings of the world. In times of hardship, your greatest and perhaps only reliance is on yourself - your will, courage, and eternal indomitable spirit. If my music can bring you even a moment of inspiration and solace during your suffering, I would smile in heaven.

莫扎特：你们喜欢叫我天使，这我无意否认，欣然接受！希望我的音乐能够给你带来欢乐，这欢乐包括身处苦难中由衷的喜悦和幸福。