Yang: The Politics of Music and Identity 523 dieKunst kontrolliert, begrenzt undgearbeitetist,umsofreier istsie.«5 DarüberwirD mansichkaumwundern,wennman an andere vergleichbare FälleinStravinskijskomposi- torischemSchaffen denkt.(DieseEinstellungist eher im letztenamerikanischen Schaffen auffällig. In denpräkompositorischen Phasen isteinestrenge serielle Richtliniezuerken- nen, dieerstspätervom ›Handwerker‹frei behandeltwirDDurch Entscheidungen,die sich vor allem nach dem Hören richten.) DieIdee, nach bestimmten aufMetronombasis errechnetenZeitverhältnissenzukompo- nieren, diedamit in Minutenund Sekunden übertragbar sind,ist einVerfahren,das unsere Ohren zunächst kaum wahrnehmen: Im Schaffen ausder Zeit des Concerto weisen lediglichdie Symphonies eine vergleichbare Genauigkeitauf.Mit der Zeit wird aber dasInteressedes Kom- ponistenfür dasTimingimmer intensiver unDDie Abweichungenvon einergenauen Be- rechnung seltener,sodassder Komponistmit immerkomplexeren Proportionen arbeitet.Die formaleZeitgliederunginden oben erläutertenBeispielenbleibtzwarein paradigmatischer Fall fürdie Ordnung, dieStravinskij im Kompositionsprozess anstrebt.Analogzudem pro- minenterenFall der Symphonies belegt dasVorhandensein dieser Rechnungen eine generelle Tendenzvon Stravinskijs musikalischenUntersuchungender 1920er Jahre. Dieseund noch andere Faktoren erlauben uns, einaltes,aberimmer noch anzutreffendes Vorurteilzuüber- winden,und zwar dieVorstellung, Stravinskijs Musikder Zeit seilediglichein bloßer Rück- griffauf alte Modelle,formaldiskontinuierlich undaus verschiedenen einfachnebeneinander gestellten Materialiengebildet. Mankannsichdie legitime Fragestellen,was nunvon diesem ordnenden Willen übrig bleibt,wennman dieResultate der Kalkulationnicht einhält: viel- leicht der Versuch, einmenschliches Werk unDDessen Genuss aufein Zeitmaßabzustim- men–eineallzu menschlicheKonvention, wonach eine Sachlichkeitsästhetikstrebte. Hon-Lun Yang (Hong Kong) The Politics of Music and Identity Liszt’sLegacy and Chinese Symphonic Poems* When Lisztcoinedthe term ›symphonic poem‹ to identify his Tasso in 1854,asCarlDahl- haus pointedout,1 he notonlylegitimated hisformallyrelaxed overtures, butalsofound an expressiveoutletfor hisliteraryaspirationand hisrhapsodic andexperimentalmusical lan- guage.1With theconceptionofthisnew genre, Lisztpresented to theworld an alternative to thesymphony, agenre thoughttobeshackledbythe symphonic tradition. Though the 5 Stravinskij, Musikalische Poetik,S.41. * Theresearchthatled to thepublication of this paperisfundedbythe Hong Kong University Grant Council’sCompetitive Earmarked Research Grant(HKBU2116 /04H). Chinesenames (withthe excep- tion of my own) aregiven last name first,aspracticed in China, anDchinese wordsare renderedin pinyin,the romanization of theChinese language. 524 Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts genrecametoaquick declineafter 1920,itsurvivedoutside Europeand hascontinued to thrive in oneofthe most unexpected places –the People’sRepublicofChina (PRC). The purposeofthispaper is to examineLiszt’s legacy in Chinesesymphonic music, focusing on oneworkinparticular,Xin Huguang’ssymphonic poem Gedameilin (1956),2 usingitas acasestudy to examineissues pertinenttomusic andidentity. Historical Overview ThedevelopmentofChinese symphonic musiccan be dividedintothree stylisticperiods: first,the pre-PRC,prior 1949 period, second,the socialistperiodbetween 1949 and1976, andthird,the post-Cultural Revolutionperiodfrom1977tothe present.3 As agenre,the symphonic poem hasbeentaken to heartbyChinese composersand audiences fortwo main reasons: first,its implicit programmatic andsingle-movementapproach is in tune with theconceptionand aesthetics of traditionalChinese music, single-movement, program- matic, andwithsuggestivetitlesthatallude to certainemotional,poetic, or descriptive topics;second,programmaticmusic befitted the PRC’s socialistideology to mobilizeart forpropaganda andtobuild themasses’ socialistworldview. Thus,itisnosurprise that Chinesesymphonic poemsabound. Earlyexamplesincluded theGerman-trainedXiaoYoumei’sorchestralsuite NewRaiment of Rainbow andFeather Dance (1923) andthe American-trained HuangZi’soverture Nostalgia (1929).The first symphonic poem proper –aworkbearingthe genrenomenclature –was Xian Xinghai’s Amangaida (1941),inspiredbythe life of theKazakhheroAmangaida.4 There wasaflood of symphonic poemsafter thefoundingofthe PRC in 1949 as aresultofgovernmentalen- couragement. Forinstance, JiangWenye’s TheSinking Streamofthe RiverBoLou (1953) was inspired by the2230thdeath anniversary of thepatriotic poet Qu Yuan,and Wang Xiping’s PixiuDance (1954) wasasymphonic sketch drawingonthe dancefeaturesofthe ruralfes- tivalofthe Southern region, Pixiubeing alegendary mascot.Revolutionary Romanticism, theChinese form of Socialist Realismlaunchedin1958, prompted anew trendofsym- phonic poemswithrevolutionary subjects.5 Qu Wei’s TheMonumentfor thePeople’sHero 1 Carl Dahlhaus, Nineteenth-Century Music,transl. by J. Bradford Robinson,Berkeley1989, p. 238–239. 2 XinHuguang, Guanxianyue zhongpu: Gedameilinjiaoxiangshi (OrchestralScore:Gedameilin Sym- phonicPoem),Beijing 1979. 3 Similardivisions of compositionaltrendscan be foundinLiang MaoChun’smonograph Zhongguo dangdaiyinyue:1949–1989 (Chinese Contemporary Music: 1949–1989),Shanghai 32004. 4 At thetimeofthe composition, thecomposer wastrapped in Moscow.Beforethen, he hadstayeD in Kazakhstan forashortperiodoftimeand hadbecomefamiliarwithits folk hero there. Presumably, Xian Xinghaimusthavecomeacrossahandful of symphonicpoems when he studiedinParis from 1930 to 1935,firstwithVincent D’Indy andthenPaulDukas.For moreinformation on Xian Xinghai, seethe presentauthor’s writing, »The MaingofaNationalMusical Icon:XianXinghai andHis Yellow River Cantata«, in: Music, Power, andPolitics,ed. by AnnieRandall,New York 2005,p.87–111. 5 ForaDDitionalwritingson»Revolutionary Romanticism«orChinese »Socialist Realism,«see the presentauthor’s article, »Socialist Realismand ChineseMusic«,in: Socialist Realism andMusic:Musicological Colloquiumatthe Brno InternationalMusic Festival,36,ed. by Mikulá Beke.a., Prague 2004,p.135 –144. Yang: The Politics of Music and Identity 525 (1959) andcollectivelycomposed workssuchasAugust1(1960) anD Defend Yan’an (1960) were afew of theexamples. Curiously, symphonic poem continuedtoattract Chinese composers’ interestsevenafter theCulturalRevolution. WhileLiZhongrong’s Sketching in theCloudyMountains (1980), ZhangChienyi’s Northern Forest (1981),and ZhuJian’er’s AWonderfulNaxi (1984) were examples from theearly 1980s, ZhuJian’er’s Hundred Years’ Vicissitudes (1996),composed forthe commemorationofHongKong’sreunificationwith the PRC,aswellasLiu Huan’s TheEchoesofHaka’sEarth Buildings (2000), whichwas in- spired by theuniquearchitecturalfeaturesofthe Haka peopletocelebrate the16thWorld Conferenceofthe Haka People, aretwo better-known recent examples. Xin Huguang and Gedameilin XinHuguang (b.1934),agraduateofthe CentralConservatoryofMusic in 1956,was the first generation of PRC composers, theso-called spirit of thenew regime. Hersymphonic poem Gedameilin (1956) wasinspiredbythe Mongolia hero Geda,aMeilin (high-rank official) at theMongoliacourt,who ledthe Mongolianpeopleintoanuprisinginthe 1920s andwhose brave deedsportrayed in aMongoliaepicwhich became widelyknown in the PRC after1949. Though only astudentwork, Gedameilin hasattained almost aclassic status in Chinesesymphonic music. In an articleshe wrotein1981, Xinrevealedthe composi- tional process of thework: Thelifeofthe Mongolianhero Geda Meilin wasverydramatic, thus verysuitable forsymphonic treatment. Besides, sinceGedaMeilin’s revolutionary actwas mo- tivatedbythe welfare of theMongolian people, hisuprisingand failurewere no longer just hisown experience, butthatofthe wholeMongolian society[…].In Mongolia,the epicwas widelypopularand this grandepichad struck me so deeply that Iwould like to captureitinmusic […]. Idid wonder as to themostappropriateformfor atopiclikethis. 19th-century symphonic musicgavemesomeideas as wellasmodels. Duetothe character of the epic,the formal structureofthe musicdoesnot only have to be somethingdrama- ticinnaturelikethe sonata form butalsorelaxed enough to allowfreedom in ex- pression. Therefore,Ichose theformatofthe single-movementsymphonic poem, whichentails features of thesonataformand at thesametimeallowsfreedom in my treatment.6 Cast in arelaxed sonata form,the themes of whichare almost all derived from theGeda- meilin folk song,Xin’s piecedraws heavilyonEuropeancompositionaltechniquesinits formal treatmentand thematic transformation.The adagio introduction (mm. 3–12, see example1)inGminor introduces thefolksonginaugmentationonthe violin,the theme supportedbymurmuringstrings. 6 XinHuguang,»Tantan jiaoxiangshi›Gedameilin‹dechuangzhuo tihui« (Talks about my composing of thesymphonicpoem Gedameilin), in: Yinyue luncong 4(1981), p. 1–12, here:p.1–2. 526 Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts Example 1: Gedameilin,adagio introduction, mm. 3–12, vl I. Theexposition(mm.13–151)entails twothemes, establishing thetonal areasofGminor andCminor,respectively. Thefirsttheme (mm. 13–49) in Gminor consists of thetheme properwhich is derived from thefolktune, especiallythe verylastpart(see example2), andthe impressionofspaciousness resultingfromthe useoflarge intervalsinthe melodic contourmakes referencetothe folk song as well.7 Example 2: Gedameilin,first theme, mm. 13–20, ob. Thesecondtheme (mm. 124–151) begins with atheme in Cnatural minor(as thelead- ingtoneisnever raised), whichisderived from theopening ascendingfifthofthe