Letter from Boston On the Esplanade By MASAKO YAMADA	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
エスプラネード公園で 7月4日はアメリカの独立記念日。この日は全米各地でさまざまな催しが開かれます。雅子さんの住むボストンでも、チャールズ川沿いの公園で無料コンサートが行なわれました。友達と出かけた雅子さんの、コンサートの感想は…。

There is a long, narrow park along the Charles River called the Esplanade. It is a beautiful strip of grass that has benches, picnic tables, a bike path and a lovely view of the river. There is an outdoor concert hall on the Esplanade called the Hatch Shell. During the summer months, the Esplanade is the scene of many free concerts. The Fourth of July concert is the largest event that is held at the Hatch Shell.

This year, about 300,000 people went to the shell on Independence Day to listen to the free concert and to watch the fireworks display. There are no seats at the shell. People spread out blankets and lawn chairs in order to claim their territory. Apparently, some Boston residents used to camp out at the site on July 3 in order to save a good spot; nowadays, the park is closed off until 6 a.m. on the morning of July 4. Especially eager (and idle?) concertgoers go to the shell as soon as the gates open. They wait there until 8 p.m. for the concert to begin. People also congregate on the Cambridge side of the Charles River: there are speakers set up in Cambridge so that they don't miss out on the music.

The performance by the world-famous Boston Pops is the focal point of the event. My friend Joseph and I went to the Esplanade around 6:30 p.m. in order to catch the action. Even though we thought this would give us ample time to find a nice patch of grass, by the time we got there there were no good spots left. We staked out a corner of asphalt behind some trees (we could barely see the roof of the shell) and sat there until the concert began. A group of high school kids who were taking summer school courses at Harvard sat in front of us, and we all chatted until the concert began. All of them were going to enter their senior year of high school in the fall and they were eager to hear our stories on the college application process.

The concert program was interesting and varied (the Boston Pops is known for its wide-ranging repertory of catchy music), but since we weren't seated in a good spot, we couldn't hear, much less see, the performance very well. Joseph and I tried moving to a better spot, but that resulted in our having to stand for the remainder of the evening. This didn't dampen our spirits, though.

My favorite part of the concert was the sing-along. A sing-along is an event in which the entire audience sings along with the performing artists. Sing-alongs are popular in churches and summer camps, but I've never participated in one as large as this was. We both bought American flags at a nearby stand and waved them while we sang together. The sing-along consisted of a medley of very famous American songs ranging from "God Bless America" to "This Land is Your Land." It was a lot of fun to be a part of this large, off-key chorus. What I found interesting is that even though the lyrics to the songs were printed in the program, many of the people around us didn't participate. It seems that they didn't know the pieces. Even though I've spent many years in Japanese schools, I knew the words to most of them by heart and I sang to my heart's content.

The concert lasted for about two hours. Toward the end of the concert, the Pops played Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture." This is an age-old Boston tradition; fireworks light the sky in sync with the music. After the music concert, the main fireworks display began. These fireworks were special: for the first time in the history of this Hatch Shell event, the fireworks were set to music. The music was prerecorded. The tunes were well-selected; for instance, there were glittery, romantic fireworks set to the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody," and big, booming ones set to the theme song from "Superman."

After the fireworks were over, Joseph and I walked a couple of miles from the Esplanade to BU. We sat in front of my office for a while and watched the people go by. Only after the crowds thinned out did we head home. It was a hectic event, but it's the first time I've spent my summer vacation in Boston: I'm thrilled that I was able to participate.

Shukan ST: July 18, 1997

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