拓展模块 U7 Western Culture 课文-1 只读版 ~ Popular music

Unit 7 Western Culture

拓展模块U7课文-1只读版Popular Music

1When we think of popular music, the first thing that comes to our mind is music that belongs to here and now: disco, country and rock and roll.In each of these cases, popular music is music of the present.It has a wide audience and is very popular.

The revolution in popular music was started with romanticism.It accelerated in the twentieth century.As serious concert music grew more difficult to understand, it became less capable of filling the needs of the mass market for music.However popular music met that need

2Around the turn of the twentieth century,the demand for music began to grow greater.Furthermore,powerful new technologies were developed,one after the other,to promote the spread of music to the masses: phonographs, radio,movies,and finally, television.It is no wonder that,over the past century, popular music has grown to an amazing degree.

3Today popular music,also called pop music,enjoys the widest audience in the world.It is produced for and sold to a broad audience.Types of popular music include jazz,music from motion pictures, country music and rock music.Influenced by social, economic and technological forces, popular music is closely linked to the social position of its performers and audiences.

4The leading pop music singers were the Beatles, the most popular of the 1960s rock groups.The Beatles were four young men from Liverpool, England.The Beatles sang songs written mainly by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.Their infectious music and witty lyrics made them two of the finest 20th century songwriters.Early Beatles’songs were written in traditional forms.Their lyrics gradually became more subtle and tender, like the song“yesterday,”and sometimes very abstract.They often use modern record-production techniques to invent new musical effects.Under their influence rock and roll became more commonly known as rock music.

5A number of factors contributed to the quick development of the music industry during the mid-1980s.Music, video and compact disk stimulated the demand for popular music.In 1982, Michael Jackson's Thriller album became the biggest-selling record in history,and it established a new way for record companies to make profits by relying on a few big hits instead of many small sales.

6Although there have been great changes in the technology used to produce popular music over the past few decades,some aspects of it remain relatively unchanged.It continues to be one of the favorite musical forms loved by young people all over the world.

流行音乐

1当我们想到流行音乐时，我们首先想到的是属于当前的音乐：迪斯科、乡村音乐和摇滚。在这种情况下，流行音乐是现在的音乐；它有广大的听众而且非常受欢迎。

2流行音乐的革命始于浪漫主义。二十世纪它加速发展。由于严肃的音乐比较难以理解，它变得无法满足巨大的音乐市场的需求。而流行音乐正可以满足这一需要。

3二十世纪末前后，对音乐的需求开始大增。此外，强有力的新技术一个接一个陆续开发出来，推进了音乐在群众中的传播，如：唱片、收音机、电影，最后还有电视。难怪在上一个世纪中，流行音乐已经发展到令人吃惊的地步。

今天，流行音乐，也叫pop音乐，在世界上得到最广泛的听众的喜爱。它被制作并销售给广大的听众。流行音乐的类型包括爵士乐、电影音乐、乡村音乐和摇滚乐。由于受到社会、经济和技术力量的影响，流行音乐与它的表演者和听众的社会地位密切相关。

4领导流行音乐潮流的歌手是披头士,他们是60年代最受欢迎的摇滚演唱小组。披头士是由四个来自英格兰利物浦的年轻人组成。披头士演唱的歌曲主要出自约翰•列侬和保罗•麦卡特尼之手。他们富有感染力的音乐和风趣的歌词使其成为二十世纪最优秀的两位词曲作者。早期的披头士歌曲用传统形式写成。他们的歌词逐渐变得比较难以捉摸而又亲切，像歌曲“昨日”，并且有时非常抽象。他们常常运用现代的录音技术来创造新的音乐效果。在他们的影响下，摇滚成为通常称为的摇滚乐。

5有许多因素促成了20世纪80年代中期流行音乐产业的迅速发展。音乐录像和CD剌激了对流行音乐的需求。1982年，迈克尔•杰克逊的“Thriller”唱片集成为历史上销售量最大的唱片，而且为唱片公司创立了依靠几次大成功而不是多次小销量产品来获取利润的新途径。

6虽然在过去的几十年间用于生产流行音乐的技术有了巨大变化，但是，流行音乐的某些方面并没有改变。它仍然是受到全世界年轻人喜爱的音乐形式之一。