ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC

MASTERS PROGRAMME
MMus Research Project
PROPOSAL TEMPLATE

Your name: Ziqin Chen

What is the working title of your project? This should provide an idea of your topic as well as your
approach:

Western meet Eastern：Flute and Chinese Dizi

What format are you intending to complete (circle as appropriate):

Lecture Recital/Critical Project

What research questions are you intending to explore and answer? You should formulate one main
question and no more than three or four subsidiary ones.

Main research question:

What techniques from Dizi can we use in performaning the piece from Debussy?

Subsidiary questions, where appropriate:

1.What Dizi techniques can we use on the modern flute ?

2.How can we use these techniques in pentatonic western music?

3.How can these techniques help us in the work by Debussy to get close to his original sound?
Briefly outline the background to your subject, naming authors whose research you are drawing on, the
dates of this work and what aspects of it you are using. For example, mention if there are gaps you
intend to fill or if you are making a connection between a composer or a work/s and/or something
arising from your own performing experience.

Some techniques of the Dizi are very suitable for reference in modern flutes.
1. Fingers slowly move away from the holes to make glissando effects.
2. In the improvisation of the flute, fast pentatonic up and down scales are often used. When playing
some Western works such as Debussy, sometimes if you want to add some improvisation, use fast up
and down pentatonic scale to play instead of playing the whole scale. It may reduce some sense of
redundancy.

Among the western pentatonic pieces, Dizi has certain advantages over the modern flute.
Such as, Dizi uses Pythagorean tuning, which has a completely different auditory experience compared with
the modern flute. This kind of tuning method because the frequency relationship between each tone is in
line with the golden ratio, it will make the listener have a more harmonious auditory experience. But it also
has its limitations. For example, if you use a G Dizi to play an F key music, it will give people the feeling of
out of tune. So be sure to use a flute corresponding to the key to play.

As an ancient musical instrument, Dizi has various characteristics. These characteristics may sometimes
produce different effects when playing Western music, but it also has their own limitations. Technically
speaking, like the Baroque flute, it relies on fingers to block holes to change the pitch. Without a modern
mechanical button structure, Dizi cannot play the chromatic scale perfectly and quickly. Debussy's Bilitis is
very suitable for playing with Dizi. We might observe that Debussy’s musical language always remained
rooted in triadic consonance and the principle of monotonality. 1 The entire song of Bilitis(First movement)
is written in the five-tone mode of F from beginning to end.

If this piece is played with some techniques of the Dizi, we can use its rapid Grace note as improvisation to
express the lively and innocent qualities of Bilitis as a girl. As shown on the chart

Original

Improvised
Secondly, the flute can appropriately change timbres by changing the size of the player’s mouth opening
size.
The larger size mouth is opened the timbre will be brighter. On the other hand, the smaller size mouth is
opened the timbre will be warmer. In the first six bars of this Bilitis, the next three bars are the echo of the
1
The Cambridge companion to Debussy / edited by Simon Trezise. Page 155
 first three bars. We can play a brighter and slightly louder sound in the opening mf, while the back silence
part plays a warmer sound in response. Increase the sense of hierarchy and picture of the piece.

Thirdly, the flute is more convenient for circular breathing. This Bilitis has no rests in the opening bars 1-11,
and the phrase between bars 7-11, if you want to better maintain the integrity of the phrase, you can use it
appropriately to circular breathing.

关于德彪西与非西方音乐的一些关系，印度尼西亚音乐。
Gamlen music
126-129
139-144
Debussy and Nature
Sound colour texture

Growth music proquest music database and Jay storeroom

Search Debussy+Pentatonic

789.deb 这里找书 Chanson Bilitis

Lecture Recitalists only: please check the syllabus and indicate the music you intend to perform:

Claude Debussy – Bilitis for flute and piano

Please now include an indicative bibliography, including as many of the following sources as possible:
monographs, edited books, journal articles and scores, and possibly also theses, websites, dictionary
entries, recording sleeve notes and audio-visual items. What you include should demonstrate your
familiarity with existing work, across theory and, where appropriate, practice as well.

The Cambridge companion to Debussy / edited by Simon Trezise. Cambridge : Cambridge University
Press, 2003

Caroline,Potter. “Debussy and nature:Cambridge University” Press,2011.

Julie,mcquinn. “Exploring the erotic in Dubussy’s music. Cambridge University” Press,2011.

Aleah Fitzwater “What Is The Dizi Flute?” Published on:

February 5, 2021. https://www.notestem.com/blog/dizi-flute/