Kulning: A Hypnotic Swedish Singing Tradition“庫爾寧”：一種有魔力的瑞典歌唱傳統(tǒng)

賈斯廷·考爾德倫 秦書未

Skallskog is a secluded farm without running water or electricity that most Swedes have never heard of. Hidden deep in the Nordic wilderness， this humble collection of cattle barns and russet-red farmhouses may seem like a place of little importance. But this is where youll find the disappearing roots of an ancient Swedish singing tradition so intimately connected to nature that it can only be described as magic.

Kulning is a vocalisation tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages， where singers corral1 farm animals with hypnotic melodies， luring cows， goats， sheep and ducks towards them as if each note was charged with its own gravity. This mystical ability originates from centuries-old f?bods2 （summer farms） like Skallskog， where farmwomen would traditionally call their meandering animals back home as they grazed freely during the few warm months in these frigid lands. In recent decades， as womens place in society has shifted， these sounds have transformed from farmland pragmatism3 to operatic4 ele-gance.

A kind of Nordic yodelling5-meets-Dr Doolittle6 superpower， modern Kulning has a bewitching quality that inspired Disney to include its entrancing melodies in Frozen 2. In 2016， YouTuber Jonna Jinton posted a video of her Kulning to cows that racked up more than eight million views. And outdoor concerts and folk music festivals featuring trained Kulning singers are continuing to popularise this spellbinding art of communicating with nature.

This form of herd-calling connects hyper-digital Sweden to its pastoral past. Yet， just as Swedes have become increasingly detached from the farm， the origins of Kulning have come close to being forgotten.

I visited Skallskog in late September as part of my search for a summer farm where Kulning was once routinely practiced.

“Kulning is a vocal technique born out of function. It happens across several regions in the Nordic countries. Norway， of course， but also historically in eastern Finland，” Jennie Tiderman-?sterberg， a trained opera singer and former punk rocker told me on the drive from the train station to the farm， explaining that the musical tradition started in the stubborn soil of Scandinavias frozen farmlands that made Kulning more necessity than art. Farmers here are migratory and herd their animals to f?bods during the summer months to graze on fresh grass. Unlike many herding cultures， Scandinavias shepherds were mostly women that employed high-pitched animal mimicry.

“The long， ornamented7 and melismatic8 calls are often directed towards cows. Goats and sheep have different sounds; often shorter， more rhythmical， and more guttural9，” she said， adding that the “magic” that makes Kulning work is a combination of controlling how ones voice travels across natural landscapes and a knowledge of animal calls.

Id arrived in Sweden just in time to attend one of Tiderman-?sterbergs last Kulning concerts of the season. The venue was a sunken silver mine in a hilly pine forest south of Borl?nge that provided the necessary natural acoustics. An audience of about 20 people set up camping chairs around an impossibly brilliant turquoise pool formed by the sunken mine， while she and two other female Kulning singers and a man with a cow horn spread out around us， facing away so as not to project directly at anyone.

In this sense， the outdoor setting is practical： “There are such strong sounds in Kulning you could make someone deaf if you use it in a room or even in a concert hall，” said Tiderman-?sterberg.

A piercing call suddenly burst through the majestic silence of the wilderness. Starting with an undulating melody from one of the singers hidden just beyond the tree line， the performers took turns calling their hypnotic chorus to invisible animals. The songs primordial force seemed to awaken something unseen. Birds chirped in response， or perhaps as an accompaniment. A natural echo added to the music. Tree leaves shook; whether it was the wind or spirits， I could not tell.

When it was Tiderman-?sterbergs turn， she rang a cowbell to help visualise the animals she was calling upon. “I need to hear the sound of the cattle to call on them， even if they are imaginary in an open-air concert，” she later told me. “But I can almost sense the smell of them and hear their bellowing when I hear the cowbell. They become a part of the sense-scape that creates the right feeling for me. Then I get in contact with all the women who sang before me in these forests. Its quite spiritual， real-ly.”

Alice Gustafsson， 81， is one of these women. She learned to walk at Skallskog many decades ago， and still marches her animals here every summer， a 20km walk from the farm in Dalarna that her family uses for the rest of the year.

Gustafssons relationship with her six cows—how she mimics their voices and cares for them—is a rare snapshot10 of what Kulning originally was. “I dont practice Kulning the way that many of us talk about [it] today， but I do communicate with the animals. I call on them， talk with them and sing to them， just as a way to relate，” she said. “They are part of my family.”

Today， Tiderman-?sterberg is tirelessly working to gain UNESCO Intangible World Heritage status for the Nordic f?bods and Kulning singing traditions.

Jinton concedes that “Kulning will never be the same way that it once was. It was from farmers calling the animals， but maybe now it can evolve， and we can benefit from it in another way.”

Jinton admits there is “something enchanting” about sharing her love for Kulning.

“It doesnt matter if you are from Sweden or Africa， Kulning gets the same reaction， no matter the culture，” she said. “I still dont know what it is. Perhaps it has something to do with this kind of sound and frequency that reminds us of something very ancient that has been locked away in our DNA for a long time.”

“This music helps people， it heals people. I think Kulning will continue to be good for us in this way.”

斯科爾斯科格農(nóng)場是大多數(shù)瑞典人從未聽說過的一處僻靜的農(nóng)場，這里沒有自來水，也沒有電。在北歐的荒野深處，這些不起眼的牛棚和紅褐色農(nóng)舍似乎顯得微不足道。但就是在這里，有一種正在漸漸消亡的古老的瑞典歌唱傳統(tǒng)，它同大自然有著十分緊密的聯(lián)系，簡直只能用神奇來形容。

這種歌唱傳統(tǒng)就是“庫爾寧”。其歷史可以追溯到中世紀(jì)，那時的人們?yōu)榱税褎游镖s進(jìn)圍欄，會唱起催眠小曲，誘使牛、山羊、綿羊、鴨子都朝他們走來，就好像每個音符都被賦予了引力似的。這種神奇的能力源自有著數(shù)百年歷史的“夏日農(nóng)場”，比如斯科爾斯科格農(nóng)場。在這些嚴(yán)寒地區(qū)難得暖和的幾個月里，“夏日農(nóng)場”的女人們會習(xí)慣用歌聲呼喚那些游蕩著自在吃草的牲畜，讓它們回家。最近幾十年，隨著女性社會地位的轉(zhuǎn)變，這樣的呼喚從一種牧民實用技能演變?yōu)橐环N高雅的歌唱藝術(shù)。

現(xiàn)代“庫爾寧”融合了北歐約德爾唱法和杜立德醫(yī)生的奇異能力，也給迪士尼的創(chuàng)作者們帶來了靈感，他們將“庫爾寧”迷人的旋律用在了《冰雪奇緣2》中。2016年，博主喬娜·金頓在優(yōu)兔視頻網(wǎng)站上發(fā)布了一則她向著牛群唱“庫爾寧”的視頻，獲得了累計超過800萬的播放量。一些戶外音樂會和民間音樂節(jié)也會邀請受過相關(guān)訓(xùn)練的歌手來表演“庫爾寧”，不斷讓這種令人沉醉的與大自然交流的藝術(shù)形式得到推廣。

這樣一種呼喚牧群的方式，讓人仿佛從瑞典高度數(shù)字化的現(xiàn)代生活穿越回昔日的農(nóng)牧生活。但是隨著瑞典人越來越脫離農(nóng)牧生活，“庫爾寧”的原始形態(tài)已快要被人們淡忘。

為了找到一處曾時常有人唱“庫爾寧”的“夏日農(nóng)場”，我在九月末探訪了斯科爾斯科格農(nóng)場。

珍妮·蒂德曼-奧斯特貝格是一位受過專業(yè)訓(xùn)練的歌劇演員，她還曾經(jīng)做過朋克搖滾樂手。開車從火車站去往農(nóng)場的路上，她告訴我：“‘庫爾寧是有實際功用的一種發(fā)聲技術(shù)，在北歐國家的好幾個地方都有，挪威當(dāng)然有，歷史上芬蘭東部也曾有過。”她解釋道，斯堪的納維亞地區(qū)耕地凍結(jié)，土壤不適合農(nóng)作物種植，在這里“庫爾寧”與其說是藝術(shù)還不如說是必要技能，所以這一傳統(tǒng)得以在此形成。這里的農(nóng)民過著遷徙的生活，每到夏天，他們就到“夏日農(nóng)場”去放牧，讓牲畜吃到新鮮的草。和很多游牧文化不同的是，斯堪的納維亞地區(qū)的牧羊人，大多是能模仿動物尖聲叫喚的女性。

她接著說：“那種悠揚的、帶有裝飾音的歌聲，通常是對牛唱的。對山羊和綿羊唱的話，聲音就不一樣，常常更短促，更有節(jié)奏性，更像喉音?！彼€補充道，“庫爾寧”之所以能奏效，秘訣在于既要懂得如何操控聲音傳遍四野，又要了解各種動物叫聲。

我這次來瑞典，剛好趕上了蒂德曼-奧斯特貝格在這個季度最后的幾場“庫爾寧”音樂會之一。音樂會的表演場地是一處下陷的銀礦，位于博倫厄南邊、丘陵地帶的一片松樹林，這樣的環(huán)境為表演提供了必要的天然音效。大約有二十來位觀眾，他們擺好折疊椅，圍坐在這片由低洼的銀礦形成、璀璨奪目的藍(lán)綠色“樂池”四周。蒂德曼-奧斯特貝格和另外兩位女歌手，以及一個戴著牛角的男人，四個人在我們周圍分散站開，面朝外，以免過響的歌聲直接沖擊觀眾。

從這個意義上來說，室外的環(huán)境再合適不過了?！啊畮鞝枌幍穆曇籼罅?，要是在房間里唱，甚至在音樂廳里唱，都會震耳欲聾的?！钡俚侣?奧斯特貝格說。

突然，一聲尖銳的鳴唱劃破這荒野的靜穆。只聽見一段起伏的旋律傳來，原來是藏在林邊的一位歌手唱的，然后演唱者一個接一個加入合唱，歌聲令人迷醉，呼喚著不知在何處的動物們。這歌聲的原始魔力似乎喚醒了某種看不見的東西。鳥兒嘰嘰喳喳地應(yīng)和起來，也或許是給歌手們伴奏。大自然的回聲也融進(jìn)這音樂之中。樹葉搖晃起來，到底是風(fēng)還是幽靈，我說不清。

輪到蒂德曼-奧斯特貝格了，她搖響一只牛鈴，這樣便于自己想象出所要呼喚的動物。她后來告訴我：“要呼喚牛，我得聽見它們的叫聲才行，即便在戶外音樂會上這些只能靠想象。但只要聽見牛鈴響，我仿佛就能聞到它們的氣味，聽見它們哞哞叫。這成了一種知覺的畫面，帶給我對的感覺。然后，我就會和森林里所有在我之前唱過的女歌手產(chǎn)生聯(lián)系。這真的是一種奇妙的精神體驗?！?/p>

81歲的阿莉塞·古斯塔夫松是這些女歌手中的一位。幾十年前，她在斯科爾斯科格農(nóng)場學(xué)會了放牧?，F(xiàn)如今，每年夏天，她依然會把她的動物趕到這兒來放牧。這里距離她們家在達(dá)拉納的農(nóng)場步行要20公里，一年中的其他時間里，她們家就會使用那個農(nóng)場。

古斯塔夫松和她的六頭牛之間的關(guān)系——她模仿它們的叫聲和照料它們的方式，就像一張珍貴的照片，記錄了“庫爾寧”最原始的形態(tài)?！拔也⒉挥萌缃窈芏嗳硕荚谥v的那種方式演唱‘庫爾寧，但是我的確在和動物們交流。我呼喚它們，和它們交談，給它們唱歌，都是為了同它們保持一種聯(lián)系?！彼f，“它們是我的家人?！?/p>

目前，蒂德曼-奧斯特貝格正在不辭辛勞地為北歐的“夏日農(nóng)場”和“庫爾寧”歌唱傳統(tǒng)爭取著，以期聯(lián)合國教科文組織將它們列入世界非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)名錄。

金頓承認(rèn)說：“‘庫爾寧將再也不會回到以前的形態(tài)了。它源于牧民們呼喚動物的傳統(tǒng)，而如今它或許會發(fā)生演變，我們能以另一種方式從中受益。”

她還坦言，分享她對“庫爾寧”的喜愛，是一件“還挺迷人的事兒”。

“不管你是來自瑞典還是非洲，無論你有怎樣的文化背景，‘庫爾寧都能喚起同樣的感受。”她說，“我依然說不清這種感受到底是什么。或許它就跟這樣一種聲響和頻率有關(guān)，而這種聲響和頻率，喚醒了我們基因中蘊藏已久的某種古老記憶?！?/p>

“這種音樂形態(tài)能夠幫助人們，療愈人們。我相信‘庫爾寧將繼續(xù)以這種方式造福我們。”

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎?wù)撸?/p>

1 corral把（馬或牛）趕入圍欄（或關(guān)進(jìn)畜欄）。? 2 f?bod瑞典語，原義為“小木屋”。

3 pragmatism實用主義;務(wù)實思想;實用觀點。? 4 operatic歌劇的;和歌劇相關(guān)的。? 5 yodelling約德爾唱法，一種歌唱形式，特點是伴隨快速而重復(fù)進(jìn)行胸音到頭音轉(zhuǎn)換的大跨度音階。? 6小說《杜立德醫(yī)生》及同名電影中的虛構(gòu)人物，是一位能和各種動物交談的獸醫(yī)。

7 ornament裝飾;點綴;美化。? 8 melismatic裝飾音的;花唱式的。? 9 guttural（似）喉間發(fā)出的。

10 = snap（尤指搶拍的）照片。