A Survey of Selected Classical Chinese Art Songs for Solo Voice and Piano from 1920 to 1950
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Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2020 A Survey of Selected Classical Chinese Art Songs for Solo Voice and Piano from 1920 to 1950 Tingting Chang West Virginia University College of Creative Arts School of Music, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Part of the Music Performance Commons Recommended Citation Chang, Tingting, "A Survey of Selected Classical Chinese Art Songs for Solo Voice and Piano from 1920 to 1950" (2020). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 7518. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/7518 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. 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Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2020 A Survey of Selected Classical Chinese Art Songs for Solo Voice and Piano from 1920 to 1950 Tingting Chang Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Part of the Music Performance Commons A Survey of Selected Classical Chinese Art Songs for Solo Voice and Piano from 1920 to 1950 Tingting Chang A Doctoral Research Project submitted to College of Creative Arts at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice Performance Hope Koehler, D.M.A., Committee Chair, Research advisor William Koehler, D.M.A. William Haller, D.M.A. Peter Amstutz, D.M.A. Richard Dull, Ph. D. School of Music Morgantown, West Virginia 2020 Keywords: Chinese Art Songs 1920 to 1950, Chinese Repertoire, Voice and Piano, Chinese Songs for Students, Chinese Art Songs and Poems Copyright 2020 Tingting Chang ABSTRACT A Survey of Selected Classical Chinese Art Songs for Solo Voice and Piano from 1920 to 1950 Tingting Chang This study aims to provide a repertoire guide of Chinese art songs for the pedagogical and research needs of musicians and scholars. Chinese art songs are derived from Western art songs. This work provides a valuable resource outside the scope of the standard art song repertoire. There are very limited studies with annotated lists of Chinese art song repertoire in English. Therefore, it is difficult for teachers to search for specific Chinese art songs to utilize with students who have different voice types and learning levels. This study will provide a practical tool that will meet these pedagogical needs. All the Chinese art songs selected for use in this study were composed between 1920 and 1950. Most of these songs were original works; some were arranged with piano accompaniment at a later point. Most of the works included in this study were originally composed for solo voice and piano. Several chamber pieces are also included, but there are no songs included that have orchestral accompaniments. With each entry there is an annotation providing information about the song. This information typically includes the work’s composer, title, publisher/year, poet, poem style, voice type (gender/classifications), tessitura, difficulty level (beginning/intermediate/advanced), duration, and brief comments. Learning Chinese art songs is beneficial for singers, teachers, and music scholars. This study provides a new resource which aims to make this invaluable vocal repertoire more accessible to teachers and musicians. The unique tunes and musical styles of Chinese art songs also bring fresh varieties of sound for audiences. Moreover, Chinese art songs are mostly based on both Classical Chinese poetry and modern Chinese poetry written by renowned Chinese poets. The Chinese art songs analyzed in this study also reflect important historical and cultural revolutions in China. This study provides a channel for western scholars and musicologists to study Chinese art and culture through music and poems, making a new field for scholarly exploration more readily available. To my husband Jing Zhang, and my child Annie Zhang iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to show my deep gratitude to my committee chair and advisor Dr. Hope Koehler. Dr. Koehler is patient and wise. She inspired me with her knowledge of art and guided me throughout my learning journey at WVU. I would also like to express my deep gratitude to my committee members, Dr. William Koehler, Dr. William Haller, Dr. Peter Amstutz, and Dr. Richard Dull. I am grateful for their continuous support and advice. It would not be possible for me to accomplish the degree without their help. Finally, I would like to express my special thanks to my husband Jing Zhang, and my little girl Annie for your love and support! Your smiles are my motivation! iv TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENT .............................................................................................................................. v Chapter I: Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 Need for the Study ................................................................................................................................ 7 Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................................................. 8 Limitation of the Study ......................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter II: Review of Related Literature .......................................................................................... 10 Chapter III: Annotated Listing of Chinese Art Songs in the 1920s .................................................. 16 Chapter IV: Annotated Listing of Chinese Art Songs in the 1930s .................................................. 27 Chapter V: Annotated Listing of Chinese Art Songs in the 1940s ................................................... 67 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................. 85 Appendix I: Lyrics and Translations for Chinese Art Songs from the 1920s ..................................... 88 Appendix II : Lyrics and Translations for Chinese Art Songs from the 1930s ................................. 100 Appendix III: Lyrics and Translations for Chinese Art Songs from the 1940s ................................ 140 Appendix IV: Publisher Information .................................................................................................... 158 Appendix V: Composer Index in Alphabetic Order ................................................................................ 1 Appendix VI: Title Index in Alphabetic Order ........................................................................................ 4 v Chapter I: Introduction Chinese art song first appeared at the beginning of the 20th century. Before then, Chinese voice performance was dominated by Chinese Opera, folk songs and traditional songs. The emergence of the Chinese art song was closely related to its historical background, during a time when radical changes were happening in social, political, and cultural environments in China. The most influential change was the New Culture movement (also called the May Fourth movement). It was an ideological and cultural innovation that was led by the intellectuals and scholars who were seeking solutions to the social and political crisis in China. They opposed the traditional social system and literary foundation and advocated for the idea of democratic freedom from the West, hoping to use western science and education to change Chinese society. Thus, they initiated vernacular literature and civilian education as a beginning of the change.1 As a result, the modern Chinese poetry emerged. Pioneer poets like Hu Shi and Cai Yuanpei strongly advocated for the modern Chinese poetry. It was created in distinct contrast with classical Chinese poetry. The modern Chinese poems were written in vernacular language instead of classical Chinese. Classical Chinese was the traditional written language that was only used by the upper-class and royals. All Classical Chinese poetry exclusively used classical Chinese that common people could not understand. Thus, using vernacular language was an innovative breakthrough for the New Culture movement. From then on, poems and literacy could be appreciated by common people, expanding the scope of civilian culture. And more important, it prepared the literacy foundation for the birth of the Chinese art song.2 1 Yuhe Wang, “Dreams of May 4th: Written in Commemoration of the 90th Anniversary of the May Fourth Movement” [in Chinese], Huangzhong/