Listening to music by the valley—the Taroko Gorge Music Festival since 2002 held the first concert in 2012 on October 20th at the coast of Qingshui Cliff. It was the first time for the event to be held at the magnificent landscape of Qingshui Cliff near by the gloriously blue Pacific Ocean, while severe problems should be overcome such as strong winds and rising tides that would affect acoustics and traffics. The performing stage was made of rafts, and more than 3000 audience could sit on the pebbles or even lie on the beach sands to listen to the music played in a perfect combination with the gentle sounds of tides and winds blowing through continuously from the Pacific Ocean.
「坐看峽谷聽音樂」，2002年開始舉辦的太魯閣峽谷音樂節，今年10月20日在清水斷崖海岸舉行第1場音樂會，在碧藍的太平洋旁、壯麗的清水斷崖演出，這是音樂節首次在此舉辦，必須克服強風、音響效果、交通接駁甚至海潮漲退等難題，音樂家以出海用的膠筏為舞台，現場湧進的3000多位觀眾坐在卵石、沙灘，或躺在海灘，搭配浪濤聲，還有從太平洋拂面而來的風聲，美妙弦音盪氣迴腸。
The second concert was held on November 17th at Changchun Temple. The drizzling rain could not wear out the passion of the audience: more than 1000 of them have come and enjoyed the music with the beauty of nature in raincoats or with umbrellas. According to Taroko National Park Administration, as the Liwu River formed a meandering stream and a wide riverbed around Changchun Temple, it became the best spot for the concert to be held as the music can not only intertwine with the sounds of water, winds, insects and birds but also with the beautiful landscape of mountains, valleys, streams and waterfalls. The perfect match of the sense of hearing and sight also corresponded to the excellent mingling of human and nature in this event.
第2場音樂會11月17日在長春祠舉行，細雨不減觀眾熱情，上、下午場各約有1000多位民眾穿雨衣、撐傘，陶醉在自然天籟與美麗的音樂饗宴中。太魯閣國家公園管理處表示，立霧溪在長春祠附近形成曲流，河道也較寬闊，高山、峽谷、溪流、飛瀑，如畫的風景圍繞四周，樂曲中穿插著水聲、風聲與蟲鳴鳥叫，營造視覺與聽覺、自然與人文交融的美感。
In this year’s Taroko Gorge Music Festival, there were altogether 3 concerts lasting for totally 2 days. In the 1st concert at Qingshui Cliff, cello, viola, violin, flute and piano were taken in turns to play Johann Strauss’ “Roses from the South,” Schubert’s “Piano Quintet in A Major: Trout”, Bizet’s “Carmen: Intermezzo,” and the revised version of Taiwanese folk rhymes “Jasmine Flowers in June” and “An Old Train Song.”
今年的峽谷音樂節共舉辦2天3場，在清水斷崖的首場演出，大提琴、中提琴、小提琴、長笛和鋼琴相互搭配、輪番上陣，演出曲目包括小約翰史特勞斯的「南方玫瑰」、舒伯特的「鱒魚五重奏第四樂章」、比才「卡門」的「間奏曲」，以及改編的台灣民謠「六月茉莉和丟丟銅仔」等。
At Changchun Temple on November 17th, the 2nd and the 3rd concert were held before and after noon. In the morning, Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” was played in string quartet, with soprano giving performance later on of Franz Lehr’s “The Merry Widow,” the opening song “Memory” in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s famous musical “Cats,” and “The Nightingale and the Rose” by C. Saint-Saens. In the afternoon, Pachelbel’s “Canon,” Mouret’s “Rondeau,” songs in the movie “The Sound of Music” and the Mandarin folk rhyme “Ye Lai Xiang (Tuberose)” were played in Brass Quintet.
11月17日在長春祠上下午各舉行1場音樂會，上午場以弦樂四重奏演出莫札特的「小夜曲」，還有女高音演唱雷哈爾的「風流寡婦—華爾滋」、韋伯「貓」音樂劇中的「回憶」、聖桑的「夜鶯與玫瑰」等。下午登場的是銅管五重奏，演奏帕赫貝爾的「卡農曲」、穆雷的「迴旋曲」、電影「真善美」組曲及「夜來香」等台灣民謠。
Chen-chieh Chang, a cellist and also the director of the Taroko Gorge Music Festival, has worked in Alps Music Group, Austria, in the age of 16. He brought the idea of “performing music in nature” back to Taiwan, and has successfully finished outdoor music performances in Kinmen trenches and numerous landscapes in Taiwan. According to Chang, despite all the difficulties one might encounter when performing outdoor, and that the effect may not be as brilliant as being played in the National Concert Hall, yet the sounds of the insects, birds and waters, along with the fresh air, can always make music closer to nature and return to its primitive style.
太魯閣峽谷音樂節總監—大提琴家張正傑，16歲時在阿爾卑斯山樂團打工演奏，後來就把在大自然演出的概念帶回台灣，曾在金門坑道及許多風景區演出，他說，把交響樂團拉到戶外要克服許多困難，雖然音效不比在國家音樂廳，但伴隨蟲鳴鳥叫、水流聲、以及新鮮空氣，就能讓音樂結合大自然，回歸到最純樸的狀態。
