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A Study of Two Selected Chamber Works for Piano and Violin by Bright Sheng

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A Study of Two Selected Chamber Works for Piano and Violin by Bright Sheng A Study of Two Selected Chamber Works for Piano and Violin by Bright Sheng A Night at the Chinese Opera and Three Fantasies by Zhou Jiang A Research Paper Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Musical Arts Approved April 2018 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Russell Ryan, Chair Andrew Campbell Ellon Carpenter ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY May 2018 © Zhou Jiang All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Our world has become smaller due to globalization and frequent cultural exchange between different countries. As a result, classical music is becoming increasingly global. There are a significant number of Chinese composers, including Tan Dun, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, and Bright Sheng, who have gained international attention. For a modern performer, familiarity with music outside of the Western canon is increasingly important. Bright Sheng is an internationally renowned Chinese-American composer who blends the heritage of traditional Chinese musical elements, traditional instruments, Chinese Opera and folk melodies with Western musical techniques. He infuses Chinese character into his works and introduces Chinese music to the Western classical music world. In this paper, I discuss two of Bright Sheng’s pieces: A Night at the Chinese Opera and Three Fantasies. Both works were composed in 2005 and are the only two compositions he wrote for violin and piano. Most pianists are not familiar with how to transfer or imitate the sounds of traditional Chinese instruments on Western musical instruments. The paper examines traditional Chinese techniques for Western instruments from A Night in Chinese Opera. Three Fantasies contains three distinct musical characters related to different musical elements from different regions of China. I explore the traditional musical forms from Three Fantasies and offer practical suggestions for performance practice. i This document provides Bright Sheng’s biography, educational background, influences, and compositional style. It also features the inspirations for both pieces, a detailed analysis of both scores including a structural outline, discussion of compositional style, usage of rhythm and timbre and explanation of special techniques. This document also serves as an interpretative guide to each composition, including story outlines, suggestions for practice strategies, aesthetic considerations, rehearsal techniques and performance considerations. The research for this paper is based on personal interview and coaching with Bright Sheng and analysis from the published scores for A Night at the Chinese Opera and Three Fantasies by G. Schirmer, Inc. I hope that this document will be a comprehensive performers’ guide to both works and serve as an explanation and promotion of Chinese classical music to a larger audience. ii Dedicated to my parents, for their endless love, support and encouragement. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to express my appreciation to Professor Bright Sheng, who graciously offered an interview and helped me with this project. It became one of my lifetime’s unforgettable and valuable experiences. A special thanks to my teacher and music mentor Professor Russell Ryan; thank you for all your long-term help, not only with the project, but also with the past six years’ study. I would also wish to thank my committee members, Dr. Andrew Campbell and Dr. Ellon Carpenter, for their support and advice; without their help, I couldn’t have completed this project. I also would like to offer a special thanks to my wonderful college and friend Aihua Zhang, who committed to play these pieces, and traveled with me to New York City for the interview. Lastly, many thanks to my parents who have supported me while studying in America. Also thanks to my husband and parents-in-law for their support and help. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii LIST OF EXAMPLES ..................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………....1 2 LIFE, CAREER, AND SUBSTANTIAL INFLUENCES OF BRIGHT SHENG………………………………………………………………….3 Chinese Life and Influences .........................................................................3 United States Life and Influences ..................................................................... 5 3 A NIGHT AT THE CHINESE OPERA……….……………………………...…...9 The Inspiration of A Night at the Chinese Opera ........................................9 The Introduction to Chinese Opera ............................................................11 The Instruments in the Traditional Chinese Orchestra ..............................14 A Brief Introduction to Chinese Theory ....................................................15 The Structure and Compositional Technique in A Night at the Chinese Opera .................................................................................................17 Interpretative Suggestions for A Night at the Chinese Opera ....................32 4 THREE FANTASIES…..………………………………………………..……….45 The Inspiration of Dream Song ..................................................................45 Structure and Compositional Technique in Dream Song ..........................46 Interpretative Suggestions for Dream Song ...............................................48 The Inspiration of Tibetan Air ...................................................................50 v CHAPTER Page Structure and Compositional Technique in Tibetan Air ............................51 Interpretative Suggestions for Tibetan Air .................................................59 The Inspiration of Kazakhstan Love Song .................................................63 Structure and Compositional Technique in Kazakhstan Love Song ..........64 Interpretative Suggestions for Kazakhstan Love Song ...............................70 5 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………..77 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................79 APPENDIX A. LETTER OF PERMISSION ....................................................................82 APPENDIX B. LECTURE RECITAL ..............................................................................83 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1: Map of China showing provinces. .................................................................................. 5 2: Changing notes and their addition to C Gong mode. ................................................... 16 3: Diagram of A Night at the Chinese Opera. ................................................................... 18 4: Formal structure chart of A Night at the Chinese Opera. ............................................. 20 5: Chinese tranditinal percussion instrument Bangu. ....................................................... 33 6: Chinese tranditinal percussion instrument Xiaoluo. ..................................................... 35 7: Chinese tranditinal percussion instrument Bangzi. ....................................................... 36 8: Chinese traditional woodwind instrument, Sheng. ....................................................... 38 9: Chinese traditional woodwind instrument, Dizi. .......................................................... 39 10: Chinese traditional string instrument Ruan. ............................................................... 41 11: Chinese traditional string instrument Huqin. .............................................................. 42 12: Formal structure chart of Dream Song. ...................................................................... 46 13: Form structure chart of Tibetan Air. ........................................................................... 52 14: Formal structure chart of Kazakhstan Love Song. ...................................................... 65 vii LIST OF EXAMPLES Example Page 1. Basic Chinese Pentatonic Scale ............................................................................ 15 2. Five Pentatonic modes . ........................................................................................ 16 3. A Night at the Chinese Opera, mm. 10-13 ............................................................ 17 4. A Night at the Chinese Opera p. 1 from mm. 10-18 ............................................. 21 5. A Night at the Chinese Opera p. 4 mm. 52-56 ...................................................... 22 6. A Night at the Chinese Opera, p. 6 mm. 92-96 ..................................................... 22 7. A Night at the Chinese Opera, p. 8-9, mm. 125-141 ............................................ 23 8. A Night at the Chinese Opera, p. 10 mm 152-156 ................................................ 24 9. A Night at the Chinese Opera, pp. 13, mm. 179-185. ........................................... 25 10. A Night at the Chinese Opera, 13-14, mm 189-192 and mm. 197-200 .............. 25 11. A Night at the Chinese Opera, p.19 mm. 245-254 .............................................. 26 12. A Night at the Chinese Opera, p. 3, mm. 40-46 .................................................. 27 13. A Night at the Chinese Opera, p. 18 mm. 231-235 ............................................. 28 14. A Night at the Chinese Opera, p. 13, mm. 179-189 ............................................ 29 15. A Night at the Chinese Opera, p. 4, mm. 52-56 .................................................. 30 16. A Night at the
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