🕯️ 文明的呼吸｜Gregorian Chant：信仰的呼吸

我一直覺得，如果想真正理解音樂，就不能只看樂譜，要去了解那個時代的人在怎樣生活。因為音樂，從來都是人生活的回聲。

在早期的歐洲，音樂仍屬於信仰。那時候的世界是垂直的——神在上，人在下。人唱歌，不是為了表達，而是為了服從。聲音是一種祈禱，也是一種秩序。

我常常想像，如果我當時走進一座哥德式教堂，那些高聳的拱門、長長的走廊，空氣裡應該都在回響。聲音一旦唱出來，就會在穹頂間飄浮幾秒。那不是「舞台上的音樂」，而是一種讓自己安靜下來的聲音。

也因為這樣，聖歌的旋律都很簡單，不能太多、不能太快。每一個音都要留出空間，讓它自然消散，回到空氣裡。這樣唱歌，其實需要很深的呼吸。那是慢的、平穩的、沒有野心的呼吸。

雖然那時候還沒有我們今天熟悉的樂器音樂，大多是人聲——但我覺得這反而是最值得我們學習的地方。因為聲樂家的呼吸，就是最早的「樂句訓練」。他們懂得用氣去塑造旋律，用身體去支撐情感。這些，對我們這些吹奏樂器的人來說，其實是一個最好的啟發。要懂得怎樣吹，就要先懂得怎樣唱。

我越來越相信，越了解不同文化、不同時代的音樂，我們就越能理解音樂背後的邏輯和靈魂。不是為了演得更「古」，而是為了在演奏裡，找到更真實的連結。

對我來說，Gregorian Chant 不是宗教的遺跡，而是一種提醒——音樂從來不是為了表現，而是為了傾聽。傾聽自己，也傾聽空氣裡那份靜。

I’ve always felt that to really understand music,you can’t just read the notes—you have to know how people once lived and breathed.Because music has always been the echo of human life.

In early Europe, music still belonged to faith.The world then was vertical—God above, man below.People sang not to express, but to obey.Sound was both prayer and order.

Sometimes I imagine walking into a Gothic cathedral—those tall arches, long corridors,and air that hums with echoes.Once a voice rises, it lingers for seconds,as if the space itself were breathing.It wasn’t music for the stage;it was sound made to quiet the soul.

That’s why the melodies were simple—never too many notes, never too fast.Each tone needed room to fade,to return gently into the air.To sing that way, you need deep breathing—slow, steady, without ambition.

There weren’t many instruments yet;it was mostly the human voice.But that’s exactly why I find it so inspiring.Vocalists understood phrasing before instruments did.They shaped melody with breath,carried emotion through air.For us who play wind instruments,this is a lesson that never ages—to play, we must first learn to sing.

The more I learn about different times and cultures,the more I see how understanding contexthelps us play with truth, not just accuracy.Gregorian Chant, to me, isn’t about religion;it’s about listening—to yourself, to silence, to the air that holds everything together.