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Chinoiserie or Chinese? Chinese-Inspired Piano Works from the Late Nineteenth to the Mid-Twentieth Century
Yeung, Tak Yan
Yeung, Tak Yan
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2020
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The present document examines the different ways in which European and American composers incorporated their impression or knowledge of Chinese musical style into their piano compositions between 1890 and 1950. Chapter one explores the phenomenon of chinoiserie in music, where Western composers evoke their impression of China by using musical devices commonly, and sometimes erroneously, associated with Chinese musical style. Detailed analyses of works by Anton Arensky, Cyril Scott, and Abram Chasins show that such musical devices are often ornamental; the Western concept of harmony and tonality drives the structure of each work. Chapter two provides a detailed explanation of Chinese musical style and analyzes three compositions by Alexander Tcherepnin. Having lived in China between 1934 and 1937 and studied genuine Chinese musical style, Tcherepnin fully understood the style and recreated it in his piano works. Such works faithfully reproduce the timbre, texture, tonality, and idiom of the Chinese style on the piano. Focusing on Bohuslav Martin?¿s The Fifth Day of the Fifth Moon, chapter three shows how a composer can juxtapose genuine Chinese musical style with other musical styles within a composition. The analytical tools in this document will help scholars and musicians identify elements of Chinese inspiration in Western music and distinguish musical chinoiserie from genuine Chinese musical style.
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Music