For my analysis project this semester, I would like to look into the 1st erhu Rhapsody by 王建民 (Wang Jian Min).
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Brief background:
This piece was composed in 1988 and it is the first professional erhu piece that Prof Wang embarked on. Its creation was sparked off when he was approached to write a piece for an erhu graduating student, Deng Jian Dong from Nanjing Conservatory, and the conditions were that the piece had to be of a certain technical demand and depth. At that time, Wang just graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory not long ago and belonging to the group of younger generation China composer at that time, he felt obliged to delve into music for Chinese instruments and to bring Chinese Classical music to greater heights. Despite this Erhu Rhapsody being one of his earliest composition, it won him the 2nd prize in the 6th China National Chinese Music Composition (no first prize was awarded). The acclamations that followed after this piece was premiered spurred him to write the other two rhapsodies, which was completed in 1998 and 2003 respectively. But in between he wrote other pieces for the erhu and guzheng. Presently, these 3 rhapsodies are well-known in the erhu repertoire and commonly refered to as <一狂>，<二狂>, < 三狂>.
The 1st Erhu Rhapsody was conceived to be pushing the boundaries of traditional Chinese music, such as imbuing more freedom to the formal structure, use of self constructed scale (which I have not yet discovered), the playing with melodic and rhythmic motives, more daring explorations harmonically and greater demands in terms of performance techniques. For my analysis, I would be looking into these areas and hopefully it could help me appreciate how he preserves folk elements on one hand and incorporate western compositional techniques and styles on the other.
Generally, in all his compositions, Prof Wang strives to achieve a blend with both Western contemporary compositional techniques as well as folk elements from traditional Chinese music to create new musical styles and soundscape.
This piece was composed in 1988 and it is the first professional erhu piece that Prof Wang embarked on. Its creation was sparked off when he was approached to write a piece for an erhu graduating student, Deng Jian Dong from Nanjing Conservatory, and the conditions were that the piece had to be of a certain technical demand and depth. At that time, Wang just graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory not long ago and belonging to the group of younger generation China composer at that time, he felt obliged to delve into music for Chinese instruments and to bring Chinese Classical music to greater heights. Despite this Erhu Rhapsody being one of his earliest composition, it won him the 2nd prize in the 6th China National Chinese Music Composition (no first prize was awarded). The acclamations that followed after this piece was premiered spurred him to write the other two rhapsodies, which was completed in 1998 and 2003 respectively. But in between he wrote other pieces for the erhu and guzheng. Presently, these 3 rhapsodies are well-known in the erhu repertoire and commonly refered to as <一狂>，<二狂>, < 三狂>.
The 1st Erhu Rhapsody was conceived to be pushing the boundaries of traditional Chinese music, such as imbuing more freedom to the formal structure, use of self constructed scale (which I have not yet discovered), the playing with melodic and rhythmic motives, more daring explorations harmonically and greater demands in terms of performance techniques. For my analysis, I would be looking into these areas and hopefully it could help me appreciate how he preserves folk elements on one hand and incorporate western compositional techniques and styles on the other.
Generally, in all his compositions, Prof Wang strives to achieve a blend with both Western contemporary compositional techniques as well as folk elements from traditional Chinese music to create new musical styles and soundscape.
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In order to help me better appreciate contemporary erhu music, I've read up on 中国现代二胡曲创作概念, and it talks about the various developmental phase in contemporary Chinese erhu music.
Contemporary Erhu music can be largely classified into 3 phases (from 1949 – 1989).
In the early days, Chinese classical music were usually used to accompany Chinese operas, arias and assumes more of an accompanimental role. Many developments in erhu music can be attributed to 刘天华 (Liu Tian Hua) in the 1920s and 30s and it was him that elevated the status of Chinese music from serving entertainment purposes and progressed from ‘peoples music’ towards a more professional and sophisticated status.
Phase 1 (1949 – 1966)
The birth of New China provides the foundation for progress in erhu music, because the government supports folk music/ people’s music, and efforts were made to preserve and develop them. There were about 100+ erhu works being composed during this phase and most of the composers were erhu performers themselves and their works strive towards nationalistic ideals, inclusion of folk elements (e.g. folk tunes, scales, jiangnan sizhu music) so as to cater more to the masses. Composers built upon styles and performance practices broughtforth by pioneers such as 刘天华 and 瞎子阿炳 in the 1920s - 30s. 阿炳 is a well-known 'people's musician' with a unique style of playing 江南丝竹 music and his compositions were injected with jiangnan flavor.
Erhu compositions in this phase were generally described to emote both the hardships people have went through in the past, and the promises, hopes and happiness that the new China holds for them. There were considerable improvements made to the structural, thematic and technical features in those compositions. Composers built on the compositional techniques of Liu Tian Hua and consciously inject folk elements to achieve a blend between musical characteristics from both Western and Chinese musical traditions. I also realize that most Chinese classical music conform to the ABA structure.
Phase 2 (1966 – 1976)
This period coincides with the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, thus all previous developments made to erhu music were almost put to a stop, as only simple arrangements of “样板戏”and “革命歌曲”were allowed. Thus there were almost no significant erhu compositions during this time. Music composed or arranged in this period generally served political agendas and pledged the support of the government. Hence, little or no considerations were made regarding the instrumental capabilities, structure, inner workings of the music. But rather, thoughts were put into the content of what is honored in the song, generating feelings of patriotism to the government.
Phase 3 (1976 – 1989)
This is a significant phase in the development of Chinese erhu music and marks the end of the Cultural Revolution. In this period, there is a sudden surge in quantity of erhu compositions, injected with new compositional techniques that comes with influences and contact with Western music and theories, as well as a greater variety of music genres.
Clearly, 王建民’s 1st Erhu Rhapsody belonged to this phase and he plays a pivotal role in opening up new territories for exploration in contemporary erhu music. I'll be looking further into this area in my subsequent post.
Contemporary Erhu music can be largely classified into 3 phases (from 1949 – 1989).
In the early days, Chinese classical music were usually used to accompany Chinese operas, arias and assumes more of an accompanimental role. Many developments in erhu music can be attributed to 刘天华 (Liu Tian Hua) in the 1920s and 30s and it was him that elevated the status of Chinese music from serving entertainment purposes and progressed from ‘peoples music’ towards a more professional and sophisticated status.
Phase 1 (1949 – 1966)
The birth of New China provides the foundation for progress in erhu music, because the government supports folk music/ people’s music, and efforts were made to preserve and develop them. There were about 100+ erhu works being composed during this phase and most of the composers were erhu performers themselves and their works strive towards nationalistic ideals, inclusion of folk elements (e.g. folk tunes, scales, jiangnan sizhu music) so as to cater more to the masses. Composers built upon styles and performance practices broughtforth by pioneers such as 刘天华 and 瞎子阿炳 in the 1920s - 30s. 阿炳 is a well-known 'people's musician' with a unique style of playing 江南丝竹 music and his compositions were injected with jiangnan flavor.
Erhu compositions in this phase were generally described to emote both the hardships people have went through in the past, and the promises, hopes and happiness that the new China holds for them. There were considerable improvements made to the structural, thematic and technical features in those compositions. Composers built on the compositional techniques of Liu Tian Hua and consciously inject folk elements to achieve a blend between musical characteristics from both Western and Chinese musical traditions. I also realize that most Chinese classical music conform to the ABA structure.
Phase 2 (1966 – 1976)
This period coincides with the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, thus all previous developments made to erhu music were almost put to a stop, as only simple arrangements of “样板戏”and “革命歌曲”were allowed. Thus there were almost no significant erhu compositions during this time. Music composed or arranged in this period generally served political agendas and pledged the support of the government. Hence, little or no considerations were made regarding the instrumental capabilities, structure, inner workings of the music. But rather, thoughts were put into the content of what is honored in the song, generating feelings of patriotism to the government.
Phase 3 (1976 – 1989)
This is a significant phase in the development of Chinese erhu music and marks the end of the Cultural Revolution. In this period, there is a sudden surge in quantity of erhu compositions, injected with new compositional techniques that comes with influences and contact with Western music and theories, as well as a greater variety of music genres.
Clearly, 王建民’s 1st Erhu Rhapsody belonged to this phase and he plays a pivotal role in opening up new territories for exploration in contemporary erhu music. I'll be looking further into this area in my subsequent post.
1 comment:
Hi jr,
Following last week's and today's class on some of the possible pcset relations (namely, subset-superset relation, transposition, inversion, Z-relation), here are some pointers for you to help you move forward with your analytical investigation:
i. Examine the opening 'ad lib' intro in terms of the pitch-class content of (sub-)phrases or motivic gestures, you should discover trichord(s), tetrachord(s), pentachord(s) and hexachord(s) that are related in some significant way.
ii. Do the same for the ensuing Andante, you will find a different set of pcsets that are related in a different way from those of the intro.
I don't know for sure what the 'self-constructed scale' you mentioned is, but I have some hutch what it is based on the pcsets alluded to above. I will leave you to discover it and elucidate how the composer draws upon this scale.
I now have confidence that a set-theoretic approach can be relevant here (though it should not be the only approach/perspective), so your venture with this piece should be a fruitful one.
Have fun!
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