Abstract Peter Klatzow’s short opera focuses on the figure of the English woman, Lucy Lloyd, in his portrayal of the interaction between the Victorian and ‘Bushman’ cultures in Southern Africa in the late 19th century. Apart from concentrating on Klatzow’s use of melodic gestures to represent the cultural interaction between two very different groups, this article looks beyond the relationship between music and libretto, discussing Lloyd’s involvement with the ‘Bushmen’ (the San, who refer to themselves as the |xam). The short survey of Lloyd’s and Wilhelm Bleek’s ‘Bushman’ research deals with four men whose narratives in the opera describe their daily existence and the folklore that represents the psyche of the |xam. The empirical section of the article shows how the composer shaped the musical material in order to represent the interaction between people of two different cultures. The search for musical signification finally promotes a better understanding of the mind and soul of the |xam.

中文翻译：

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彼得·克拉佐《断弦之语》：两种文化在遥远的过去相遇

摘要 Peter Klatzow 的短歌剧以英国女性露西·劳埃德 (Lucy Lloyd) 的形象为中心，描绘了 19 世纪后期维多利亚时代和南部非洲“丛林人”文化之间的互动。除了关注 Klatzow 使用旋律手势来代表两个截然不同的群体之间的文化互动外，本文还超越了音乐和歌词之间的关系，讨论了劳埃德与“布须曼人”（桑人，他们自称为 | xam）。Lloyd's 和 Wilhelm Bleek 的“丛林人”研究的简短调查涉及四个男人，他们在歌剧中的叙述描述了他们的日常生活和代表 |xam 精神的民间传说。文章的实证部分展示了作曲家如何塑造音乐材料以表现两种不同文化的人们之间的互动。对音乐意义的探索最终促进了对 |xam 的思想和灵魂的更好理解。