English translation of "scambiava per un convoglio" - "mistook for a procession"

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156 months ago

Barbara Cochran (a guest user) asked this question:

Language pair:	Italian > English
Subject:	Other
Level of diffculty:	Easy / medium
Word or term in question:	scambiava per un convoglio
Context:	Piano, piano, la Cathédrale engloutie di Debussy, le mazurche di Chopin furono lasciate..
Keywords:	...lasciate chiuse nei volumi che si andavano ricoprendo di polvere sul pianoforte. Ma in compenso, né Chopin né Debussy tornavano più dalla deliziosa Betty, in veste di vendicatori fiammeggianti. La Cathédrale che essa scambiava per un convoglio e le mazurche che sincopava fino a renderle estrinsecazioni pianistiche di un ballo di San Vito, riprendevano nel silenzo pudico della sua stanza le lor tonalità, il loro linguaggio, cosi como scaturirono dai cuori dei loro autori, che le avevano ricevute dalle volte del cielo...Betty is a woman who thinks she is and wants to be a great piano player but just doesn't have the talent.

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Complete list of answers and comments

156 months ago

wrote:

which her playing turned into a fleet of ships/sounded more like a fleet of ships

My comment:

I'm not sure if "fleet of ships" is the right word here. I'm thinking that a naval "convoy" is probably a fleet. The main point is that it might be better to change the structure of the sentence slightly. Perhaps also "La Cathédrale", which became a fleet of ships the way she played it, and..." or "which sounded more like a fleet of ships when she played it".

156 months ago

Amanda Haste PhD, DipTrans(IoLET), MCIL, CL wrote:

could have been mistaken for a [naval] convoy

My comment:

The point is that this beautiful piece by Debussy evokes a mysterious watery world, whereras the performer evidently made it sound more like a convoy of ships steaming through the water, rather than the ethereality of a submerged cathedral.

BTW I'm a musicologist.......... :-)

156 months ago

Josephine Cassar wrote:

mistook for a procession

My comment:

I think this is more the sense her. ciao buon lavoro domenica pomeriggio

My references:

scambiare= to mistake

The asker rated this answer best

156 months ago

Josephine Cassar wrote:

mistook for a procession

My comment:

I think this is more the sense her. ciao buon lavoro domenica pomeriggio

My references:

scambiare= to mistake

Comments by other colleagues on this answer:

156 months ago

wrote:

I just found one translation of "convoglio" as "funeral procession", so I think what the writer meant is that the player played the piece as if it were some kind of dirge or music played during a funeral procession. What do you think?

156 months ago

wrote:

After all, in previous context, the writer went on a bit about how this woman was such a deficient pianist.

156 months ago

wrote:

I looked up Chopin's Cathedrale and found that it was like a dirge, a funeral piece, so that must be the connection; she played badly so she might have played it as if it was a funeral procession. Could that be the case, then?As if she mistook it for a funeral procession, literally or the way she played was as if it was for a funeral procession

156 months ago

wrote:

I went with "it seemed as if she played the piece as if it were the music that accompanies a funeral procession". After all, the writer often uses humor in this book.

156 months ago

wrote:

that's right, it goes with it then, go ahead

156 months ago

wrote:

156 months ago

wrote:

that's right, it goes with it then, go ahead

The asker rated this answer best

156 months ago

Josephine Cassar wrote:

the Cathedral that she exchanged for a procession