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Sonic Imagery in the Viola Arrangement of Hwang-Long Pan's Concerto for Violoncello and Chamber Orchestra (1996/97)

The Viola Concerto by Hwang-Long Pan (b. 1945) is a transcription of the composer's Cello Concerto (1996/1997) created at the request of the author in 2007 in order to enrich the concert repertory for solo viola, and to promote the music of one of China's most distinguished modern composers. In his musical compositions, Pan translates ideas from Chinese music, philosophy, literature and art into contemporary sound imagery. This composition technique is what he refers to as yīn xiăng yì jìng [音響意境] in Chinese, which literally means "Sonic Imagery." This document examines Pan's Cello Concerto (1996/1997), making use of the composer's sketches, interviews and other scholarship, to illustrate how the composer blends Western instrumentation and formal structure with elements of traditional Chinese music and philosophy. The analysis reveals how Pan uses modern European compositional techniques such as symmetrical pitch structure, arch forms, and avant-garde performance practices in the Concerto. The author also discusses performance techniques required of the solo violist and other orchestral instruments in order perform the style of Chinese heterophonic music evoked in the Concerto and to realize the ornaments and special performance effects that Pan borrows from traditional Chinese instruments, such as the lute-like pipa.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/294020
Date January 2013
CreatorsYang, Shang Ju
ContributorsSturman, Janet, McLaughlin, Carrol, Patterson, Thomas, Sturman, Janet
PublisherThe University of Arizona.
Source SetsUniversity of Arizona
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext, Electronic Dissertation
RightsCopyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.

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