Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2002 Chinese Musical Language Interpreted by Western Idioms: Fusion Process in the Instrumental Works by Chen Yi Xin Guo Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC CHINESE MUSICAL LANGUAGE INTERPRETED BY WESTERN IDIOMS: FUSION PROCESS IN THE INSTRUMENTAL WORKS BY CHEN YI By XIN GUO A Dissertation submitted to the School of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2002 The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of Xin Guo defended on November 6, 2002. James Mathes Professor Directing Dissertation Andrew Killick Outside Committee Member Jane Piper Clendinning Committee Member Peter Spencer Committee Member Approved: Seth Beckman, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs and Director of Graduate Studies, School of Music ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to many people who have helped me in one way or another during my research and writing of this dissertation. Dr. Chen Yi’s music inspired me to choose the topic of this project; she provided all the scores, the recordings, and her reference materials for me and responded to my questions in a timely manner during my research. Dr. Richard Bass guided me throughout my master’s thesis, an early stage of this project. His keen insight and rigorous thought influenced my thinking tremendously. Dr. Harris Fairbanks spent countless hours proofreading both my thesis and dissertation. His encouragement and unwavering support helped me enormously and for this I am deeply indebted to him. Dr. Marianne Wheeldon and her course on Music and Culture in fin-de-siècle Paris (Florida State University, 1999) broadened my analytical perspectives. Her emphasis on the historical and cultural context in relation to music enlightened me to propose a multidimensional approach to the analysis of Chen Yi’s work. My major advisor, Dr. James Mathes, gave me valuable comments and edited my work in detail. His patience in having to endure long waits between chapters was both immeasurable and appreciated. Other members of my dissertation committee—Dr. Andrew Killick, Jane Piper Clendinning, and Peter Spencer—also spent hours reading my dissertation and gave me much appreciated advice. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Examples …………………………………………………………………………….…… vi List of Figures ………………………………………………………………………….……….. viii Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………………. x CAHPTER ONE: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CROSS-CULTURAL PHENOMENON IN MUSIC ... 1 Western Reaction to the Incorporation of Non-Western Music …………………… 4 Non-Western Responses to the Impact of Western Music ………………………… 15 Incompatibilities and Possibilities of the Fusion of Western and Chinese Music …… 23 Analytical Methodology of the Fusion Process ……………………..……………… 41 CHAPTER TWO: CHEN YI’S CULTURAL AND MUSICAL CONTEXT ………………………..…………… 49 Chinese Composers’ approaches to the Cross-Cultural Fusion …..………………… 51 Family Influence and Early Working Experiences …………………………………… 69 Musical Education and Working Experiences in the United States ………….………. 74 Analytical Procedures ……………………………………………………………..… 83 CHAPTER THREE: ABSORB WESTERN TECHNIQUES IN PITCH STRACTURE ………………………… 85 Woodwind Quintet (1987) ………………………………………………………….. 86 Pitch Constructions and Their Treatment ……………………………..………… 86 Relationship between Form and Pitch Structure ……….……………..………… 92 Near Distance (1988) …………………………………………………...…………… 95 Connections between Pitch-Class Sets ………………………………………….. 95 Treatment of Pitch Materials …………………………………………….…….. 99 Connections between Form and Pitch Structure ……………………………….. 104 CHAPTER FOUR: ADAPT STRUCTURAL PRINCIPLES OF A CHINESE FOLK TUNE ……………… 107 Sparkle and the Piano Concerto (1992) ……………………………………………. 108 Rhythmic Groupings and Proportion as Determinants of Form ……..………… 108 A New Approach to Pitch Structure …………………………………………….. 116 Qi (1997) ……………………………………………………………..…………..…… 125 Proportional Divisions and Rhythmic Function ………………………………… 125 Construction and Transformation of Pitch Materials …………………………… 131 Timbral Design in Relation to Registral Distribution …………………………… 136 iv CHAPTER FIVE: ADOPT IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS OF WESTERN INSTRUMENTS ……………… 143 Ge Xu (Antiphony, 1994) ……………………………………………………….…. 144 Adaptation of Original Folk Tunes ………………………….………………… 145 Stylistic Coordination of Pitch Materials ………………………………………. 153 Determinant Elements in Formal Structure ……………………………..……… 158 Idiomatic Expressions in Orchestration ……………………..………………… 162 Sound of the Five (1998) ……………………………………………………………… 167 I. Lusheng Ensemble: Registral Contrast and Competition between Solo and Ensemble ……….. 167 II. Echoes of the Set Bells: Effects of Harmonics and Pizzicati …..…………………………………… 176 III. Romance of Hsiao and Ch’in: Continuity of Melodic Lines and Generation of Polyphonic Texture ……... 185 IV. Flower Drums in Dance: Rhythmic Groupings and Textural Process …………..……………………. 192 CHAPTER SIX: ADEPT IN ACHIEVING A COHESION THROUGH MANIPULATING TEXTURE … 204 Symphony No. 2 (1993) …………………………………………………………….. 205 Pitch Materials and Their Functions ……………………………………………. 206 Formal Structure and Process …………………………………………………… 210 Scoring Principles and Specific Devices ………………………………………. 224 Momentum (1998) ……………………………………………………………………. 233 Transformation of Pitch-Class Sets ……………………………………………. 233 Textural Process in Creation of Shapes ………………………..………………… 244 Control on Tone Quality of Timbre and Physical Energy of Sound ……….….. 257 CHAPTER SEVEN: CHEN YI’S WORK IN RELATION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC ………………….. 264 Cross-Cultural Fusion as a Process in Chen Yi’s Composition …….……………… 265 Implications of Chen Yi’s Work in regard to the Music in the Future ……...……… 275 APPENDIX MATERIAL ………………………………………………………………………. 277 BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………………………… 279 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ………………………………………………………………. 288 v LIST OF EXAMPLES Example 1-1 The technique of “Borrowing Notes” ………..……………………..…………. 34 Example 3-1 Fragment of a Chinese melody and its modified version …………………………. 89 Example 3-2 Row with timbral shifts and modulation ………………………………………..… 91 Example 3-3 Vertical presentation of the row ………………………………………………..….. 91 Example 3-4 Ic 1 or 6 in pitch constructions ……………………………………………………. 98 Example 3-5 Combination of ics 1 and 6 in pitch constructions ……………………………… 98 Example 3-6 Avoidance of pc repetition in individual lines ………………………….…..…… 100 Example 3-7 Avoidance of pc repetition in contrapuntal combinations …………………….… 101 Example 3-8 Timbral combinations of individual pitches in Near Distance ……………………102 Example 3-9 A single sustained pitch C#5 produced by four instruments …………………….. 104 Example 4-1 Phrases and rhythmic groupings of the original Baban …………………..……... 110 Example 4-2 Treatment of Baban melody in Sparkle ………………………………………..... 122 Example 4-3 Connections between twelve-tone row-forms in Sparkle and the Piano Concerto .. 124 Example 4-4 Rhythmic telescope and notated acceleration in Qi ………………..……………. 128 Example 4-5 Rearranged rhythmic groupings of Baban in Qi ………………………………….. 129 Example 4-6 Polymeter in Qi …………………………………………………………………….. 130 Example 4-7 Melody of the initial five measures in Qi ………………………………………….. 131 Example 4-8 Melodic alterations in Qi ……………………………………………………….. 133 Example 4-9 Melody of Qi and its pentatonic origin ……………………….…………………… 133 Example 4-10 Vertical pitch constructions in Qi ………………………………..………..……… 135 Example 4-11 Spacing between melody and accompaniment in Qi ……………...…………………139 Example 5-1 Mountain Song (Fei Ge) of the Miao ………………………………………………. 146 Example 5-2 Adaptation of Mountain Song of the Miao in Ge Xu …………..……………….… 147 Example 5-3 Music for Shuangxiao of the Bouyei ………………………………………..……... 148 Example 5-4 Adaptation of Shuangxiao Music in Ge Xu ……………………….…………….… 149 Example 5-5 Song of Tiaoyue of the Yi ………….…………………………………………….. 150 Example 5-6 Comparison of the original and adapted Song of Tiaoyue ……………………………151 Example 5-7 Metrical distortion on the third Chinese folk tune (Song of Tiaoyue) ………..…… 152 Example 5-8 The second auxiliary material in Ge Xu …………………………………………. 154 Example 5-9 The third auxiliary materials for the woodwind section ………………….……… 155 Example 5-10 The fourth auxiliary material by the double bass …….………………………….. 157 Example 5-11 Spacing and staggered entrance of a simultaneity ………….…………………….. 164 Example 5-12 Thickened melodic line (melodic band) ………………………………………..… 166 Example 5-13 Construction of main idea in Lusheng Ensemble …………………………………. 169 vi Example 5-14 Development of motives ………………………………………………………….. 170 Example 5-15 The five-note pc set manipulated in combination of harmonics and pizzicati …… 179 Example 5-16 Varied transformations of the five-note pc set …………………………………….. 181 Example 5-17 A pentatonic melody and its development ……….……………………….……… 182 Example 5-18 An eight-note simultaneity and a four-note glissando harmonics ……………….. 183 Example 5-19 Main idea in Romance of Hsiao and Ch’in ……………………….……………….. 186 Example 5-20 Off-the-string techniques ………………………………………………………….. 190 Example 5-21 On-the-string techniques …………………………………………………………… 191 Example 5-22 Rhythmic pattern and ostinato in Section B ….…………………………………. 196 Example 5-23 Two irregularly accented rhythmic patterns in Flower Drum in Dance ………….. 199 Example 5-24 Patterns in interims ………………….……………………………………………. 201 Example 5-25 Melody