Tyzen Hsiao (1938- ) is one of the prominent Taiwanese composers of recent years. His compositions include many different musical genres. Among them, choral music is the category of the majority. There are more than eighty choral pieces in all, some sacred and some secular. The Prodigal Son, completed in 2000, is Hsiao¡¦s principle sacred composition. It is written for five soloists, mixed chorus, and piano accompaniment. The text of the work comes from the Bible. The music is divided into eleven parts: a piano introduction, two solo and eight choral sections. All solos, choral and piano parts are constructed in a very thoughtful way; and it demonstrates good compositional techniques, originality, and correlation of text and music; therefore it is a well-composed piece. This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One introduces the material. Chapter Two is the background of Tyzen Hsiao: Part one is a biographic sketch of Hsiao¡¦s life; Part two generally describes Hsiao¡¦s compositional development ; Part three explains the style and feature of Hsiao¡¦s musical works; Part four introduces Hsiao¡¦s choral compositions. Chapter Three focuses on analysis of The Prodigal Son, consisting of four sections. The first section is about why and how this work became a reality. The second section discusses the origin of the text. The third section is about the borrowed melody, and the last contains the musical analysis of the work. Chapter Four supplies a rehearsal technique and a teaching suggestion for the director of a performance The Prodigal Son. Chapter Five provides the writer¡¦s conclusion from the study. In the end of this thesis is an appendix which gives a phonetic transcription of The Prodigal Son in Roman letters. Hopefully it can be a helpful diction reference for conductors and singers.

Tyzen Hsiao(1938-), one of the most important Taiwanese composers in modern time, whose main contribution is to blend Taiwanese folk music into the western music, promoting and introducing it to the international stage. His compositional style is not only influenced by S. V. Rachmaninoff(1873-1943), F. Chopin(1810-1849), and B. Bartók(1881-1945), it is also strongly marked by native Taiwanese folk music. His works are numerous and his composing realm, being various and wide, includes many forms of works. The thesis discusses and analyzes different kinds of Hsiao¡¦s piano works, focusing on the melody, harmony, folkloric music material, and composing techniques, so to categorize the composing style and language of his piano works. This study includes the analysis of his representative work¡ÐPiano Concerto in C Minor, Op.53, and the related discussion of the performing skills and interpretation. This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter one describes the motivation, means and realm of the study. Chapter two presents Hsiao¡¦s life and music works and the important factors that have influenced the formation of his music style, including his life, his Christian belief, education, the background of his study of western music, and the ideal of blending eastern and western music. Chapter three focuses on a practical analysis of his piano composition style. It is categorized into four music characters: Romanticism, Taiwanese folkloric music material, the composition method of the 20th century music and the poetic music expression. Chapter four discusses his most important piano work¡ÐPiano Concerto in C Minor, Op.53. In addition, the author has met with the composer himself in order to understand the thought of his composition and receive valuable comments that have helped analyzing the entire work and the characteristics of this work. Also through the commands of critics, the author discusses the related questions of the performing skills and interpretation of this piece, so to present specific explanation and recommendation. Chapter five concludes Hsiao¡¦s piano work style, and the value and influences of his works.