從里約到塞爾瑪 今年有多少紀念日

Anniversaries are great for catching a look in the rearview mirror, remembering where we came from and rethinking where we’re going.

週年紀念是回顧過去的好時機，可以回憶我們從哪裏來，重新思考我們往哪裏去。

This year will see the 2,000th anniversary of the city of Derbent, Russia, on the Caspian Sea; the 450th anniversary of Rio de Janeiro (to be celebrated all year long); the bicentennial celebrations of both the Battle of New Orleans and the Battle of Waterloo; and the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta, perhaps one of the earliest symbols of the struggle for civil liberties. (With regard to the latter, operas, tours and lectures abound, but the four remaining originals can be viewed only at Salisbury Cathedral, Lincoln Cathedral or the British Library, all of which are planning their own exhibitions and activities.)

今年是俄羅斯瀕臨裏海的傑爾賓特市建市2000年；里約熱內盧誕生450年（全年都會慶祝）；新奧爾良戰役和滑鐵盧戰役200年紀念；《大憲章》(Magna Carta)簽署800週年，它可能是最早的公民自由鬥爭的象徵之一（關於最後這項週年紀念，有很多歌劇、遊覽和演講，但是留存下來的四份原件只能在索爾茲伯裏大教堂、林肯大教堂或大英圖書館看到，這三個機構都在計劃自己的展覽和活動）。

For a young(ish) country like the United States, which commemorates some of its grittiest history this year, there is still a lot to be learned.

美國這樣比較年輕的國家還有很多可學的，今年它也將紀念自己歷史上最動盪的一些時刻。

Alabama is ready to welcome an estimated 30,000 visitors to Selma in March for the 50th anniversary of the civil rights marches that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. And an ever-growing list of concerts (one featuring Patti LaBelle), educational tours, balls and galas will bookend the two most significant events: a re-enactment of Bloody Sunday, the first attempted march, which was violently stamped out by authorities just blocks from its start (March 8); and, in commemoration of the second, successful march, just two weeks later, a 54-mile journey led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Montgomery neighborhood of St. Jude hosts a Freedom March festival (March 24).

今年3月，阿拉巴馬州將迎接大約三萬名遊客來到塞爾瑪，紀念民權遊行50週年，該遊行促成了1965年的《投票權法案》(Voting Rights Act)。屆時將會舉辦很多音樂會（其中一場將由帕蒂·拉貝爾[Patti LaBelle]領銜）、教育旅行、舞會和晚會，來紀念兩次最重要的遊行：第一次遊行發生在3月8日，剛走出幾個街區就被當局殘暴鎮壓了，被稱爲血腥星期天；兩週後的第二次遊行很成功，由小馬丁·路德·金博士(Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.)領導，遊行了54英里。蒙哥馬利市的聖猶大區將舉辦自由遊行節（3月24日），以示紀念。

Of course, there’s never a shortage of re-enactments when it comes to the Civil War, and the Civil War Trust has planned several in the months leading up to and through the 150th anniversary of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender to the Union Army in April. Numerous other festivities center on the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park in Virginia, which is helping to organize narrations of historical events, cavalry demonstrations, a formal ball and a period chorale concert (April 8 to 19).

當然，重演美國內戰的的活動一向都有很多，內戰信託組織(Civil War Trust)已經策劃了幾場活動，將在4月份，羅伯特·E·李將軍(Robert E. Lee)向聯邦軍隊投降150週年紀念日前後舉行。其他很多慶祝活動將在弗吉尼亞州阿波馬托克斯的國家歷史公園舉行，該州還將組織歷史事件講述會、騎兵遊行、一場正式舞會和一場古裝讚美詩音樂會（4月8日至19日）。

The 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Lincoln will be observed with round-the-clock dramatic retellings of the event at Ford’s Theater in Washington (April 14 to 15); and in Springfield, Ill., there will be a re-creation of Lincoln’s funeral train to Oakridge Cemetery, helped in part by descendants of his original pallbearers (May 1 to 3).

在林肯總統遇刺150週年之際，華盛頓特區的福特劇院將24小時不間斷重演該事件（4月14日至15日）。伊利諾伊州斯普林菲爾德將重現前往橡樹山棱墓園的林肯送葬長隊，這項活動得到了當年護柩員後裔們的幫助。

If you like the sounds of the Avett Brothers or Bob Dylan or revel in the weathered voices of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger or Huddie William Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly, you owe the late Alan Lomax a thank you. And what better time than during the centennial year of his birth?

如果你喜歡艾維特兄弟(Avett Brothers)或鮑勃·迪倫(Bob Dylan)的聲音，或者喜歡沉浸在伍迪·格斯里(Woody Guthrie)、皮特·西格(Pete Seeger)或胡迪·威廉·萊德貝特(Huddie William Ledbetter，他更著名的稱呼是“鉛肚皮”[Lead Belly])滄桑的歌聲中，那你要感謝已故的艾倫·洛馬克斯(Alan Lomax)。在他百年誕辰之際表達謝意最合適了。

An ethnomusicologist and folklorist, Lomax, with the help of his father, John Avery Lomax, traveled from swamp to mountain in the early 1930s, gathering the most diverse collection of folk music recordings ever documented. (They are available at the Library of Congress, which in 2000 named Lomax an actual “living legend.”)

洛馬克斯是一位民族音樂學家和民俗學家。20世紀30年代初，在父親約翰·艾弗裏·洛馬克斯(John Avery Lomax)的幫助下，他走遍沼澤和山脈，收集民謠，他收集的錄音是最多樣化的（在美國國會圖書館可以聽到他收集的錄音，2000年該館稱讚洛馬克斯是真正的“活着的傳奇”）。

Anyone who plans to attend an even borderline Americana fest this year is sure to hear him praised in tributes from SXSW in Austin to the Brooklyn Folk Festival. For a more concentrated experience, Purdue Convocations, the performing arts arm of Purdue University in Lafayette, Ind., is to host “Fieldwork: An Alan Lomax Centennial Residency,” two days of music workshops, symposiums and discussions, culminating in the Lomax Project’s performance of a few of the sea shanties, a cappella, weaver work songs, fiddle tunes and ring shouts Lomax so carefully recorded (March 27 to 28).

今年計劃參加各種美國傳統風格音樂節的人一定會在很多活動中聽到對他的讚美，從奧斯汀的西南偏南音樂節到布魯克林民謠節。想獲得更集中體驗的人，可以參加印第安納州拉斐特普渡大學表演藝術部普渡集會舉辦的“實地考察：艾倫·洛馬克斯百年駐地創作”活動，它包括兩天（3月27日至28日）的音樂講習班、座談會和研討會，重頭戲是洛馬克斯項目組(Lomax Project)的表演，包括幾首海員號子、無伴奏合唱、紡織工勞動歌曲、小提琴曲以及洛馬克斯精心錄製的圓圈甩抖歌舞(ringshout)。