From 'Land of Tulip' to 'River City,' a Dutch conductor's musical life | 来自“郁金香之国”，在“江城”执棒奏响人生

　　Buying a house, expecting his first child, planning the next concert...Lute Brommer, a Dutch conductor, is living the life he always wanted in Wuhan.

　　买房安家，期盼着孩子的出生，谋划下一届音乐会……荷兰籍指挥家律德（Lute Brommer）在武汉过上了自己想要的生活。

　　Brommer conducting

　　Becoming a husband and father-to-be

　　他成长为丈夫、父亲

　　"There's nothing I don't like about Wuhan!"

　　“武汉这座城市，没有什么是我不喜欢的！”

　　It is the 13th year that Brommer has lived in Wuhan. In 2009 when he first came to Wuhan, he was fascinated with the Chime Bell of the Marquis Yi of Zeng State at the Hubei Provincial Museum: "It has so many changes in scale, rhythm, and mode that it is more developed than the European instruments of the same time".

　　今年是律德住在武汉的第13个年头，他与武汉的缘分还得从2009年说起。那年，他第一次来武汉，在湖北省博物馆，曾侯乙编钟让他着迷,“它有那么多音阶、律制、调式的变化,比同时代欧洲的乐器发达”。

　　Born in a musical family, Brommer learned from the famous conductor Sergiu Celibidache. He once studied and worked in France, Germany, and many other places, but his short trip to Wuhan helped him decide to stay in this "hometown of bosom friends." In 2010, Brommer enrolled in the History Department of Wuhan University, majoring in Music Archaeology.

　　律德出身音乐世家，后师从著名指挥大师切利比达克。他曾在法国、德国等地学习及工作。但短暂的武汉之行，却让他做出决定：留在“知音故里”。2010年，律德入读武汉大学历史系音乐考古专业。

　　The East Lake Scenery Village, where Brommer rented for several years, is a pleasant place to live. To this day, he still remembers the poetic life there: "In Wuhan, I like East Lake the best."

　　东湖风光村景色宜人，律德曾在这个宜居的地方租住好几年。直到如今，他仍对彼时的诗意生活念念不忘。“在武汉，我最喜欢东湖。”

　　At Wuhan University, Brommer found his "bosom friend" and future wife. She was from Tianmen City, Hubei Province, and they met when both were studying the Exegetics course. "This course is very unpopular and there were only 12 students in the class," but their two hearts united there. After marriage, they bought an apartment in Nanhu (South Lake).

　　在武汉大学，律德寻到他的“知音”和妻子。律德的太太是湖北天门人，因为同修《训诂学》而相识。“这门课很冷门，班上只有12位同学。”但偏偏两人就这样相遇了。婚后，他们在南湖购置了房产。

　　In Brommer's study a grand piano stands by the window, a guqin (Chinese seven-stringed zither) lays on a shelf beside it, and Chinese calligraphy works, and paintings adorn the walls. Everything reminds you that the owner of the room loves music and traditional Chinese culture. In his spare time, Brommer will play a song in the study, forgetting the external disturbances and indulging in his music.

　　在律德的书房，三角钢琴静立窗边，一旁的琴架上搁着古琴，墙壁上挂满中国字画。一切都在提醒你，房间的主人热爱音乐及中国传统文化。闲暇之时，律德在书房里弹奏一曲，抛开外界纷扰，将身心置于音乐。

　　Good things come in pairs this year. Brommer has obtained not only his Chinese permanent residence card but also his identity as a father-to-be.

　　今年，律德家双喜临门。前不久，他刚获得中国永久居留身份证（绿卡），并且将在年内升级为爸爸。

　　From East Lake to South Lake (Nanhu), Wuhan has seen the highlights of Brommer's life.

　　从东湖到南湖，武汉见证了律德人生的高光时刻。

　　Playing guqin at home Photo by Xia Junjun

　　A bridge between Chinese and Western classical music

　　搭起中西古典音乐交流的桥梁

　　Brommer is now the conductor of the Wuhan Fanghua Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hubei Philharmonic Orchestra. He thoroughly enjoys the weekly rehearsals and is fully devoted to his work.

　　现在，律德身兼武汉芳华爱乐团和湖北爱乐乐团的指挥。每周一次的排练，都让他无比享受，全身心投入。

　　The artistic atmosphere of Wuhan gives Brommer a broad stage to play to his talents and also makes him a bridge between Chinese and Western classical music. He once invited friends from France, Germany, the U.S., and other overseas classical music circles to hold a "forest concert" in the woods with students from the orchestra of Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

　　武汉的艺术氛围给了律德很大的发挥空间，也让他成为中西古典音乐交流的桥梁。他曾邀请来自法国、德国、美国等海外古典音乐圈子的朋友，和华中科技大学乐团的学生们一起，在林间举办“森林音乐会”。

　　Brommer used to be the director or conductor of the symphony orchestras at the Wuhan Yucai No. 2 Primary School and Huazhong University of Science and Technology. He has held five consecutive Celibidache Music Festivals, in the name of his mentor Sergiu Celibidache, inviting outstanding students from various music conservatories in China to participate. In order to let the highbrow classical music, approach the ordinary people, he once performed on the square of a community in Wuhan, bringing the audience direct experience and feelings through a live performance.

　　他曾在育才二小、华中科技大学等校的交响乐团任指导或指挥，还以恩师之名，连续举办5届切利比达克音乐节，邀请中国各音乐学院的优秀学生参加。为了让“阳春白雪”古典音乐走近普通人，他曾在武汉一个社区的广场上表演，用现场演奏的方式给听众带来最直接感受。

　　Brommer has always had the idea of creating a band with graduates from Dutch conservatories and the Wuhan Conservatory of Music and then inviting music teachers from Europe to teach them so that students from both countries can exchange musical skills at any time. He is now working hard to make this a reality.

　　律德一直有个想法：让荷兰的音乐学院和武汉音乐学院的毕业生组成乐团，再邀请欧洲的音乐老师进行教学，让两国学生可以随时切磋音乐技巧。目前，他正在努力推动这项计划。

　　Playing Guqin and savoring tea with Vietnamese friend

　　抚琴品茶觅知音

　　Through music, Brommer has made a group of friends in Wuhan and Vietnamese Guqin player Ruan Yanjun is one of them. They got to know each other through the common love of Guqin. From time to time, the two friends meet to play the Guqin, have a cup of tea, enjoy flowers, and exchange views on Eastern and Western music from different perspectives.

　　“以乐会友”，律德在武汉结交了一拨好友，越南琴师阮延俊就是其中之一。两人因古琴而结识，又都留在“知音故里”武汉。挚友二人不时相约拨弄古琴、品茶赏花，从不同角度交流对东西方音乐的看法。

　　According to Brommer, Ruan favors Eastern music while he prefers Western orchestral music. Ruan also says that the two have different aesthetic tastes. "When I go to the Plum Blossom Garden with Brommer, he would fill his camera with plum blossoms while I like to zoom on just one blossom and leave the rest of the picture blank." However, those differences, they say, have not kept them from being friends for more than a decade.

　　律德说，阮延俊偏爱偏爱东方音乐，而自己偏爱西方管弦乐。阮延俊也表示，两人的审美趣味不同。“我和律德去梅园，他拍的梅花是满满当当，我喜欢拍一朵，其他留白。”但他们说，这些差异并不影响他们做了十几年的朋友。

　　(Edited by Ye Shiyu)