Thesis (Ph.D.)--University Of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1976. / Includes bibliographical references.

Wenye Jiang (1910-1983) is known as one of the most influential Taiwanese composers of the 20th century. He composed in a wide range of genres: large orchestral works, chamber music, vocal music, piano music, and opera. Sixteen Bagatelles, Op. 8 (1935) is an early composition. The purpose of this research is to provide explicit instructions for students not only to understand and perform Jiang’s Sixteen Bagatelles but also to develop the theoretical and aural awareness needed for apprehending and performing contemporary piano works in general. Chapter 2 provides a brief review of the composer’s life. Chapter 3 offers the musical challenges of the Sixteen Bagatelles, including the contemporary harmonies, rhythms, and Eastern characteristics. Chapter 4 discusses the various technical advice for practicing and performing this work, including fingering, pedaling, dynamics, and other performance techniques, such as big leaps, repeated notes, and various articulations. Studying the Sixteen Bagatelles, Op. 8 helps younger students make the transition from the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century repertoire to the twentieth-century repertoire, teachers can also compare the musical characteristics and various technical challenges with those in a familiar repertoire so that the student will better understand the complexity of twentieth-century compositional ideas and techniques and learn how to work on them efficiently.

"Floaters" are a large population of internal migrants in China. Led by a series of urban-based economic policies and the consequent income gap between rural and urban regions, these former peasants left their hometowns, floating temporarily and illegally in the cities for economic opportunities. Without legal immigration status, they are marginalized by local urbanites and are considered by the government as disobedient citizens with the potential to jeopardize the socialist society. This dissertation, drawing on two years' ethnographic and archival research in China, examines the basic characteristics of floaters' musical world and focuses on three representative musical components. The first is a repertory called Sour Songs, which originates from floaters' rural hometowns and serves as an outlet for release of nostalgia and spiritual pain. The second, Red Songs, is a genre invented by the communist government that has become an effective propaganda tool and is characterized as "a powerful bolt of the revolutionary machine" in the floaters' world. Finally, Rock 'n' Roll, the only musical form in China that signifies both urbanity and revolt, is used by floaters to display their special identity and to express themselves when they are silenced in the broader society. This dissertation reveals hidden meanings in floaters' music-making and suggests that the study of this overlooked musical community could provide new perspectives on Chinese music at large. / Music

Thesis abstract The aim of this thesis is to describe the role of school songs in the modernization of Chinese music. Since the establishment of modern Chinese education school songs have become an important part of Japanese-based teaching materials as well as a tool for introducing and transferring political ideology. The tunes of the early school songs were adapted from Western romantic songs and Japanese school songs, and as I argue, this have shaped the Chinese musical taste towards a greater popularity of music including western compositional elements and thus westernization of music in general. In addition to describing the musical specifics of Chinese school songs, the work focuses on more general questions about the modernization and westernization of Chinese music. Compositions written by Shen Xingong (1869-1947), Li Shutong (1880-1942) and Zeng Zhimin (1879-1929), prefaces to various editions of collected school songs, and articles on the relationship of these songs to the education system in China is the primary focus of the current study. Key words: modernization; Chinese music; school songs; early 20 century

Chen Yi's music is well accepted and recognized nationally and internationally through an increasing number of commissions and performances. Major symphony orchestras, choruses, institutions and companies request her compositions on many occasions in order to increase understanding and exploration of Chinese influences on western classical idioms. This study provides the first detailed discussion of her compositional mastery and her fusion of Chinese music with the language of western choral traditions. Chen Yi's reputation as a prominent orchestral composer does not restrain her passion to apply instrumental techniques and materials to her quality choral compositions. This study focuses on (1) how hardship and various life experiences during the ten-year Cultural Revolution shaped Chen Yi's musical inspirations; (2) how the influences of major musical genres, such as traditional Chinese folksong, jingju, model play, 19th-20th century nationalism, impressionism, and serialism are consolidated in her kaleidoscopic compositional techniques; and (3) the application of Chinese languages, pedagogical concepts, and extra-musical elements, such as Chinese poems, paintings, and calligraphies, revealed in her original, intelligent and resourceful choral creations.

Since the founding of "New China" in 1949, the musical culture has undergone numerous periods of identity crisis, particularly during the ten-year "Cultural Revolution," due to the fact that music had always been used to serve the needs of political propaganda. Even the development of a "National Style" encouraged by the central government was a political "brainchild" under the socialist ideology. Nevertheless, professional musicians struggled to create a new path in musical composition while walking on the thin ice of harsh political climate. Isolated from the rest of the world for almost two decades, China's musical development had not been able to keep pace with the world until the late 1970s, when the central government reevaluated its agenda on how to lead the country. This change of political environment eventually led to a more open society. The newly established contact with the outside world in the musical scene lent great opportunities for Chinese musicians to study the newest thinking about music, which ultimately, in the early 1980s, fostered the emergence of a new "National Style"- the so-called "New Wave." The style of "New Wave" differs drastically from the earlier "National Style" in that it employs primarily twentieth-century compositional techniques in the course of processing nationalistic elements. Throughout the development of "New Wave," Chen Yi was one of the most avid proponents and leading figures.

Winter Landscape is an interactive composition for erhu (Chinese two-stringed fiddle), flute, piano, and Max/MSP interactive computer music system. The total duration of the piece is approximately 15 minutes. Winter Landscape serves to demonstrate one particular approach to exploring the possibilities afforded in an interactive paradigm within a cross-cultural context. The work is intended to convey my personality and identity as a contemporary Chinese composer through diverse cultural and musical influences drawn to this particular piece while creating a balance between traditional and modern sounds. The influences of Chinese philosophy (especially Chán) and the essence of Chinese traditional music play a prominent role as demonstrated in the formation of structures, expressions, and concept of Yun in the work; these influences also play a great role in determining the instrumentation and basic pitch structures of the work. However, this work is equally influenced by techniques and practices of modern Western classical music. These diverse influences hopefully have resulted in a unique work that truly does represent a cross-synthesis of these varying influences. In Winter Landscape, the interaction that takes place between the computer and the live musician is intended to reveal the responsive human/machine relationships. The computer constantly shifts its roles as a musical instrument, conductor, performer, and improviser to facilitate the sonic realization of the solemn, nebulous, and peaceful nature of Chán philosophy, thus exploring the cultural and musical potentials; meanwhile, the design of algorithmic structures simulate the modeling of human performance, enabling the computer with intellectual ability and musical expressivity as a decision-maker, resembling its counterpart-the live performer.

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Westernization of Chinese traditional music occupies a significant portion of Chinese music history and has had a tremendous influence on Chinese contemporary music. This dissertation will discuss why almost all contemporary Chinese music has been integrated with Western musical elements. It will also address the evolution of Chinese music, the differences between traditional Chinese music and contemporary Chinese music, the way contemporary Chinese music combines Chinese traditional music with Western music, Chinese peoples’ views towards Chinese traditional music and contemporary music, and the significance of the above with respect to the preservation of Chinese culture and cultural diversity in the world.

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