1 the Art Songs of Huang Zi
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Art Songs of Huang Zi: A Selective Study D.M.A Document Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Musical Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Yanyan Lin Graduate Program in Music The Ohio State University 2020 D.M.A. Document Committee Robert J. Ward, Advisor C. Andrew Blosser Edward Bak Christin Ray 1 Copyrighted by Yanyan Lin 2020 2 Abstract Over the past decades, the interaction of culture and art from different countries has become very popular- including singing. Many singers from all over the world desire to sing songs in their native language on the international stage while other singers want to try different songs from different countries. Besides vocal repertoire in Italian, German, French, and English, there is still a large amount of vocal repertoire in other languages that remains unexplored, including Chinese art songs. However, relatively few non-Chinese singers perform them because of cultural and language barriers. Considering that, the first chapter of this document introduces Chinese art songs, including a definition and developmental history. The second chapter explores Huang Zi, who was the representative composer during the first flourishing period of Chinese art songs. This chapter includes information on his life, career, his compositions, the influence on his compositional style, and the significance of his compositions. To help reduce the language barrier, chapter 3 introduces the “Pinyin” system for pronouncing Chinese characters. Chapter 4 explores ten of Huang’s classic art songs, and provides a translation with “Pinyin” and text analysis. These two chapters offer non- Chinese singers an understandable and effective way to sing and study Huang’s art songs. ii Acknowledgments I would like to express my gratitude to all my committees: Dr. Cyril Blosser, Prof. Edward Bak, Dr. Christin L Ray, and Dr. Ward, for supporting and encouraging me to complete this document. Also, I would like to extend my special thanks to my former advisor and voice teacher, Dr. Scott McCoy. Also, thank you all who ever helped and supported me during my DMA program. I also thank my husband Dr. Shi and my parents. Thank you all for giving me support and taking care of me during my DMA program. Without your endless support and love, I could not finish my DMA degree. iii Vita July 2012………………………………..B.A. Music, Nanjing Normal University July 2015………………………………..M.M. Voice, Nanjing Normal University 2015-2016………………………………Voice faculty, Changzhou Normal University August 2018 to present…………………D.M.A Voice Performance, The Ohio State University Fields of Study Major Field: Music Concentration: Voice Performance iv Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................. iii Vita ..................................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ v List of Tables .................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1. Chinese Art Songs ............................................................................................. 1 1.1. Definition of Chinese Art Songs ........................................................................................... 1 1.2. Historic Development of Chinese Art Songs ........................................................................ 3 Chapter 2. Huang Zi .......................................................................................................... 10 2.1. Huang’s life and career ....................................................................................................... 10 2.2. Introduction to Huang’s Works .......................................................................................... 15 2.3. Characteristics of Huang’s Art Songs ................................................................................. 17 2.4. The influences on Huang’s compositions ........................................................................... 21 v 2.5. Significance of Huang’s Compositions .............................................................................. 23 Chapter 3. Introduction to Chinese “Pinyin” System ....................................................... 25 Chapter 4. Huang’s Art Songs .......................................................................................... 29 4.1. Missing Homeland .............................................................................................................. 29 4.2. Spring Nostalgia ................................................................................................................. 33 4.3. Three Wishes of Rose ......................................................................................................... 37 4.4. Flower in the Mist ............................................................................................................... 40 4.5. Swallow’s Chirping ............................................................................................................ 42 4.6. Nanxiangzi - Reflections after Climbing Up the Northern Hill Pavilion ........................... 45 4.7. Busuanzi - Written at Dinghui Abbey in Huangzhou ......................................................... 49 4.8. Ode to Ascending the Tower .............................................................................................. 52 4.9. Philosophical Song ............................................................................................................. 55 4.10. Downstream to Jiangling .................................................................................................. 60 Chapter 5. Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 62 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 63 Appendix A. Scores for Huang’s Art Songs with “Pinyin” ............................................. 67 vi List of Tables Table 1 Summary of twenty-one initials in “Pinyin” system. .......................................... 25 Table 2 Summary of six basic finals in “Pinyin” system. ................................................. 26 Table 3 Summary of four tones in “Pinyin” system. ........................................................ 27 vii List of Figures Figure 1: The historic development of Chinese art songs. ................................................ 4 Figure 2: Gongchi notation for Chinese song, “Zhe Gu Tian.” ......................................... 5 Figure 3: m. 1 - m. 3 from ‘Flower in Mist.” ................................................................... 18 Figure 4: m. 1 - m. 3 in “Spring Nostalgia.” .................................................................... 19 Figure 5: m. 13- m. 15 in “Missing Homeland.” ............................................................. 19 viii Chapter 1. Chinese Art Songs 1.1. Definition of Chinese Art Songs In western music history, art song composition originated toward the end of the 18th century and reached its peak in the 19th century. In Germany, to differentiate from German folk songs (Volkslied), art songs were called Lieder or strictly Kunstlied by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, et al. In France, art songs are named Mélodie while they are Romans in Russia and Art Antiche in Italy.1 The term Art Songs first appears in China in the 1920s which was translated from Germen “Kunstlied” by Xiao Youmei.2 The Chinese name of Art Songs is Yishu Gequ (艺术歌曲). According to the book, Collection of Chinese Art Songs, the definition of Chinese art songs is: “Art songs composed by Chinese composers are based on Chinese national rhyme with independent and artistic accompaniment. Texts of Chinese art songs are usually selected from Chinese poems. Chinese art songs highlight the combination of Chinese and western compositional techniques, the expression of sincere and deep emotion, the delicate and perfect structure, and the unique charm within Chinese music.”3 1 Yu, “On the Different Phases,” 2. 2 Xiao Youmei (萧友梅) was one of the first-generation composers in Chinese art songs who once studied compositions in Germany. 3 Zhang and Mao, “Collection of Chinese Art Songs,” 35 1 Therefore, Chinese art songs are composed by Chinese composers. They are usually based on the combination of Chinese and western musical elements, but also exhibit Chinese national styles.4 The choice of melody and the settings of tonal structures and harmonies reflect Chinese composers’ efforts to express the compositional characteristics in Chinese musical culture and give their art songs a strong national identity.5 Similar to western art songs, poems are the main source of texts for Chinese art songs. A large number of Chinese poems have been written over the course of 2,500 years. These poems were composed by different poets under different situations and offer a wealth of imagery and insight into Chinese history.