論音樂劇《奧克拉荷馬！》之創作緣由及歌詞韻律與音樂節奏解析

Abstract

美國音樂劇學者將1943年作為音樂劇歷史的一座里程碑，原因在於當年正是《奧克拉荷馬！》首演之年，這齣劇以寓意式的地方性題材展現美國的民族性、本土化，革命性的突破了歐洲輕歌劇的傳統模式，成功的塑造出美國人本土的音樂劇。 成立於1918年的「戲劇協會」(Theatre Guild) 是個講究戲劇藝術的團體，藉由發起人羅倫斯‧廉納 (Lawrence Langer) 長期的經營，以及製作人特蕾莎‧海爾本 (Theresa Helburn) 尊重戲劇專業的態度，才能克服現實問題並成功的推出《奧克拉荷馬！》。另外，作曲家理查‧羅傑斯 (Richard Rodgers) 與作詞家奧斯卡‧漢姆斯特恩二世 (Oscar Hammerstein II)「先作詞再作曲」的合作模式，使富有韻律的歌詞與音樂成功結合，並藉由歌曲串聯劇情、表達意識形態，大大的提升了歌曲在音樂劇中扮演的角色。

Most of American musical savants took the year of 1943 as a milestone in the musical history. The reason lied in the Oklahoma! opened on Broadway in that year. This musical succeeded to break the traditional style of Europeanize operetta by local story with implied meaning which expressed America’s nationality and localization. Theatre Guild established in 1918 was an art theatre group. Due to the founder, Lawrence Langer’s long-run operation and Theresa Helburn’s attitude in respecting professional, Theatre Guild could then overcome the financial problems to successfully produce Oklahoma! Besides, the collaboration of composer and lyricist was different from anterior musical. With Oscar Hammerstein II writing lyric first and Richard Rodgers composing music later, Rodger’s rhythmic music perfectly matched Hammerstien’s lyricism, and with the songs linking up the story plots and expressing ideology, they greatly escalated the role of songs playing in musical.