L10 Music and Globalization:

Chinese composers in the world

Frederick Lau
Department of Music
 Music=meaning=symbolism
• The boundaries of music study is infinite:
– Structure & Form
– Migration, mobility
– Pop culture
– Western music
– Chinese music
– World Music
– Ideology & politics
 Music-culture-practice
• Raymond Williams: culture as signifying
practices
• “Meaning-bearing activity in all its forms”
• Bourdieu: Culture as practice F- ¥¥¥ut¥

• Bhabha: culture as the sphere of subjectivity,

of identity formation
 More on music is culture
• Instrument as site of meaning production
• Emphasis on music and emotion
• Emphasis on music and meaning
• Music as production of subjectivity & identity
• Performance as scripts, which structure social
contexts and meanings
 Western Music in China
• Historical perspectives!
Monument commemorating the propagation of
Christianity in China (781CE)
 Jesuit priests
f- if I :b "E¥n
• Matteo Ricci’s (1552-1610) arrival in China in
1582

• Tomás Pereira , 1645-1708

Les Choinois, Francois Couperin (1668-1733)
 From Ricci’s journal
• “Music instruments are common and of many
varieties, but (they) possess no instrument of the
keyboard type... The whole art of Chinese music
seems to consist in producing a monotonous
rhythmic beat as they know nothing of the variations
and harmony that can be produced by combining
different musical notes. However, they themselves
are highly flattered by their own music which to the
ears of a stranger represents nothing but a
discordant jangle...” (Ricci, Trigault, Gallagher
1953:22)
hitting metal
J.A. van Aalst (1858- 1914)
 Van Aalst’s CONCLUSION about Chinese Music
• The question is often asked-Why does not Chinese music leave a better
impression on the ears and minds of foreigners? Most naturally because it
has not been made for foreigners. But from a theoretical point of view we
may say that it is because:-
• 1 °. The intervals of the Chinese scale not being tempered, some of the
notes sound to foreign ears utterly false and discordant.
• 2 °. The instruments not being constructed with the rigorous precision
which characterises our European instruments, there is no exact justness
of intonation, and the Chinese must content themselves with an an a peu
pres.
• 3°. The melodies being always in unison, always in the same key, always
equally loud and unchangeable in movement, they cannot fail to appear
wearisome and monotonous in comparison with our complicated
melodies.
• 4°. Chinese melodies are never definitely major nor minor; they are
constantly floating between the two, and the natural result is that they
• It is incontestable that Chinese music compares unfavourably
with European music. From our point of view it certainly
appears monotonous, even noisy-disagreeable, if you please;
but what matters this if the Chinese themselves are satisfied
with it? And that they are satisfied, that they like it, that it is a
necessity for them, is fully proved by the constant use of
music in their ceremonies and festivities; by the numerous
bands parading the streets and offering their services; by the
strict attention with which they listen to the ballad singers—
now exhibiting emotion at an affecting picture of suffering,
now bursting into hearty laughter when the subject is of an
amusing kind; and finally, by the large variety of instruments
which, although often played without taste or feeling, are
nevertheless remarkable for their beautiful simplicity of form,
and their extreme cheapness. According to the Chinese
themselves. Music proceeds from the heart of man; it is the
expression of the feelings of the heart.
Music as domination
* *
Effect of Western music in China
• New repertory
• New playing techniques
• Concerto
• New pedagogy
• Cultivating a new generation of soloists
 Since the 20th century
• Solo versus ensemble

• Solo founded on: individual talent

• Personal charisma
• Virtuosity
• Technical demanding
• Concert setting
 Development of Chinese Music
F. q±Ez¥u
• Conservatory training
• Western musical ideal
• Performativity
• Establishment of a new “National” music
• Notions of “development” fazhang
• “Scientism”
• Modern
European fascination of China
chinoiserie

Acculturation
Appropriation
Hybridity
Fusion
Musical borrowing
Bricolage 8¥
John Barrow 1764-1848
 From John Barrow
Travels in China p.316

7¥ ¥51b
-
 John Barrow on Molihua

• “I never heard but one single Chinese

who could be said to sing with feeling or
plaintiveness. Accompanied with a kind
of guitar, he sung the following air in
praise of the flower Moo-lee, which it
seems is one of the most popular songs
in the whole country.
 John Barrow contd.
• The simple melody was taken down by Mr.
Hittner, and I understand has been published
in London, with head and tailpieces,
accompaniments, and all the refined arts of
European music; so that it ceases to be a
specimen of the plain melody of China. I
have therefore given it in its unadorned plain
state, as sung and played by the Chinese,
together with the words of the first stanza,
and their literal translation.” (p.316)
 J.A. van Aalst (1858- 1914)
Conclusion about Chinese Music
• The question is often asked-Why does not Chinese music leave a
better impression on the ears and minds of foreigners? ….
• 1 °. The intervals of the Chinese scale not being tempered, some
of the notes sound to foreign ears utterly false and discordant.
• 2 °. The instruments not being constructed with the rigorous
precision which characterises our European instruments, there is
no exact justness of intonation…
• 3°. The melodies being always in unison, always in the same key,
always equally loud and unchangeable in movement, they
cannot fail to appear wearisome …in comparison with our
complicated melodies.
• 4°. Chinese melodies are never definitely major nor minor…the
natural result is that they lack the yigour, the majesty, the
sprightliness, the animation of our major mode…
• It is incontestable that Chinese music
compares unfavourably with European music.
From our point of view it certainly appears
monotonous, even noisy-disagreeable, if you
please; but what matters this if the Chinese
themselves are satisfied with it? And that they
like it… is fully proved by the constant use of
music in their ceremonies and festivities; by
the numerous bands parading the streets and
offering their services… although often played
without taste or feeling…
Puccini’s 1924 Opera Turandot
1934 Hollywood movie The Good Earth
Pearl Buck: The Good Earth
 Bright Sheng: The Stream flows
• The first part of "The Stream Flows" is based on a
famous Chinese folk song from the southern part of
China. The freshness and the richness of the tune
deeply touched me when I first heard it. Since then I
have used it as basic material in several of my works.
Here I hope that the resemblance of the timbre and
the tone quality of a female folk singer is evoked by
the solo violin. The second part is a fast country ¥¥f
☐

dance based on a three-note motive.

Bright Sheng: Little Cabbage
 Tan Dun: ON Taoism
This piece was written on the death of my grandmother, after
I went back to Hunan to take part in her funeral in the village
where I grew up. This Taoist ritual brought back to me the
sounds, the movement, the spiritual vibrations from my
childhood, forgotten in the many years I was dedicated to
learning western music. I used both instruments and voice to
break the artificial law that music must be made of tonal and
atonal scales. I wanted to explore sound in many dimensions:
microtonal, swimming among frequencies, expanding timbres
as the ink of calligraphy spreads in rice paper.
Tan Dun: On Taoism
 Tan Dun: Out of Peking Opera for violin & orchestra

•
1. The first three bars of this piece are a direct
quotation from the jing hu fiddling of Peking
Opera. This is the seed - it unfolds, becomes
increasingly abstract, expressionistic,
developing power, beauty, and longing.
Gongs and Drums
 Reviews of Chen Yi
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

• “complex tonal palette serves as a bridge between the

musical sounds of East and West.”

• “brilliant vitality with which Chen Yi dresses the strains of

Chinese music in Western orchestral garb”

• “the musical riches are all there, especially in the choral

passages, and in the high-relief solos for the pipa, the erhu
and other Chinese instruments”
 “Flavored” Classical Music Albums
¥ Tita Fi ¥1T -177
1%-17=0 £4k
• The enchanted forest: Melodies of Japan for Flute
• Soul of Tango
• Obrigado Brazil
• Appalachian Journey
• Dim Sum
• Pieces of Africa
• Silkroad Journey
• Oriental Landscapes
 Tan Dun-Symphony 1997 (Heaven,
Earth, Mankind) for Cello, Bianzhong,
Children's Chorus & Orchestra
• 1997 - . .
 1997 - . .

1. : 7. ( )
2. 8.
3. 9.
4. 10.
5. 11.
6. 12.
13.
 65
1978
36
 #1 Song of Peace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZvjIDpg0D4&list=OLAK5uy_kwHwk6KTxB9srYjAgTF-
CdnIKD8N8mhe4&pbjreload=101
 Tan Dun-Symphony 1997 (Heaven,
Earth, Mankind) for Cello, Bianzhong,
Children's Chorus & Orchestra
• The sixth movement, “Bell-chimes and the
operatic performance of Temple Street," is a
piece of musique concrete.
record of sound
Mixing
• a duet from tile opera Princess Cheungping (Di
Nii Hua)—signified Xiang Gang Yao Wang (tile
• death of Hong Kong), in a symphony
celebrating Hong Kong is ironic.
#5 Symphony 0047 (Ode to Joy 0:35)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp3a06Th_hw&list=OLAK5uy_kwHwk6KTxB9srYjAgTF-
CdnIKD8N8mhe4&index=5
#6 Use Cantonese opera from
Temple Street)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFM33OPL6V8&list=OLAK5uy_kwHwk6KTxB9srYjAgTF-
CdnIKD8N8mhe4&index=6
 1997: 12. 58”/5’

• !
• !
•
•
•
•
1937 ! ( 1996) 4’ 03”
 #12 Lullaby
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucVCp2Y3tNI&list=OLAK5uy_kwHwk6KTxB9srYjAgTF-
CdnIKD8N8mhe4&index=12
• 2009 :
: , 210 – 249
• 2004 “Two Practices Confused in One Composition: Tan Dun’s Symphony
1997: Heaven, Earth, Man,” in Frederick Lau & Yayoi U. Everett ed.,
Locating East Asia in Western Art Music, Middletown: Wesleyan
University Press, 57 – 71.
• 2001 : : : 16- 43
• 1998 “1997” VIII:
146 – 149
• 1998 1997
70 : 49 – 53
• 1997 7 23
• 1997 7 18
• 1997
7 5
 Yu Siuwah
• P.67 ⇐ ✗ ☒ ¥w
• It was bewildering to see the bell-chimes, once
inappropriately owned by a local lord in defiance
of the central king) now used by the central
government to symbolize its power and authority
to be imposed on Hong Kong. Any Chinese who
had studied Chinese history would not miss such
irony. It was also sarcastic to see the history and
meanings that the bell-chimes had once carried
now being recalled in such grandeur during the
celebration of reunification. ¥474
• Musique concrète

!
 Who has the final word?
• Situational
• Culture as Practice
• Personal identity