| 释义 |
▪ I. ‖ opus, n.|ˈɒpəs, ˈəʊpəs|
[L. opus work, pl. opera.]
1. A work, a composition; esp. a musical composition or set of compositions as numbered among the works of a composer in order of publication. Abbreviated op. Also attrib., as opus number.
1809Southey Lett. (1856) II. 162, I shall do it volume by volume in my great ‘Opus’. 1815Ibid. 404, I have found out another opus for you when you have completed the ‘West Indies’. 1880Grove's Dict. Mus. II. 135 No opus-number is given on the English copy. Ibid. 532/2 No rule is observed as regards the size of an opus: for instance, Beethoven's op. 1 consists of three pianoforte trios, while Schubert's op. 1 is only the song ‘Erlkönig’.
2. The Latin expression opus magnum or magnum opus ‘great work’, is frequent in Eng. use, esp. in reference to a large or important literary work.
1704Swift T. Tub v. 116 His Account of the Opus magnum is extreemly poor and deficient. 1791Boswell Let. to Rev. W. Temple (1857) 406 My magnum opus, the ‘Life of Dr. Johnson’..is to be published on Monday, 16th May. 1843Mill Logic v. iii. §1 To determine what these propositions are, is the opus magnum of the more recondite mental philosophy. 1892Nation (N.Y.) 29 Dec. 500/2 When an author's magnum opus is his only work, we have no right to complain if we sometimes detect tentative efforts in it. Mod. ‘How goes the magnum opus? What letter are you working at now?’
3. Applied to slighter productions, compostions, etc.
1957J. D. Salinger Zooey in New Yorker XXXIII. 93/1 The most courageous goddam offbeat television opus you ever read. 1959P. Bull I know Face ix, 147 ‘B’ films and other ghastly opuses. 1967Crescendo May 8/2 ‘When Lights Are Low’ is the old Benny Carter opus—one of my favourites. 1967Telegraph (Brisbane) 30 June 12 Nine young couples are determined to go ahead with New York's latest open air opus—a ‘wed-in’. 1976Publishers Weekly 15 Mar. 49/3 A spooky chiller of a first novel, this will have readers waiting impatiently for the next Ryder Brady opus to come along.
▪ II. opus, v.|ˈɒpəs, ˈəʊpəs|
[f. the n.]
trans. To include and number among the works of a composer of music. Abbreviated op.
1900W. A. Ellis Life Wagner I. 376 This negligence in ‘opus-ing’ his musical works. 1921A. B. Smith in Music & Lett. II. 364 A large class of composers..write pieces solely for the pleasure of opusing them. Ibid., Every piece of his [Gurlitt] is Op.-ed. |
