CC BY
15
https://doi.org/10.29013/EJA-20-2-133-138
Jang Toj
Postgraduate Student, Music Facultyy Music Theory and History Department Kharkiv State Academy of Culture E-mail: [email protected]
CHINESE SMALL PIANO SONATA: PERIODS OF HISTORICAL AND ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT
Abstract. The Chinese Small Piano Sonata was formed in the 1940 s and developed by the end of the twentieth century. The Small sonata as the author's genre name in the piano music of China is a miniature circular formation with its peculiarity, conciseness of expression, simplicity of texture. Having passed 5 periods of development (1940-1947; 1950 s - first half of 1960 s; second half of 1960 s - 1970 s; 1980 s; 1990 s) with its characteristic signs of interruption cycle, the Small Chinese piano sonata is deactivated, yielding to the "grand" genre.
Keywords: Chinese Small Piano Sonata, author's genre name, period, historical and artistic development, sonatas, European genre arch\etype.
The Chinese small piano sonata as a permanent "author's genre name" (as it was defined by Ye. V. Nazaikinskyi [4]) and as an internal genre kind in the structure of China musical culture has retained its significance for 60 years, namely: from the 1940 s to the end of the 20th century. The development of a small piano sonata has influenced to the formation and improvement of the national genre features of the Chinese sonata for piano. If, according to V. Bobrovskyi, the respect of European composers of the 20th century to sonatina (or small sonata) was determined by their passion to neoclas-sicism, at the same time in China the spread of this genre is due to other artistic tasks, and the most significant ones are the creation, first of all, of the prototypes of a "big" sonata and, secondly, the creation of artistic samples for the development of the national children's repertoire.
The Chinese small piano sonata has become a kind of genre which is a basis to form and create the foundations of composer and, subsequently, performing interpretation of the national sonata. In a
small form, for the composers of China who formed the sound image of the "Chinese piano", it was more convenient to learn the compositional and substantive foundations of the conceptual European genre and adapt them to the specifics of the national musical culture. The small Chinese piano sonata had not only artistic, but also experimental functions of crystallizing the genre features of the national sonata, namely: its laconic, brief analogue, a model of a large, expanded sonata and sonata-cyclical form.
In Chinese musical culture, the small piano sonata was not the second in importance. It is significant that the Chinese composers of the last decade in the history of Old China and the first years of the history of the People's Republic of China paid attention not so much to Sonatina, but to a small sonata, looking for ways to embody the concept and form of the genre in small form. The spread of the Chinese small piano sonata in the pianistic culture of China is due to it concerns the specifics of the national tradition of worldview (passion toward miniaturization of the art form, which can reflect the horizon of the
universe as the basis of national artistic thinking). The Chinese small piano sonata appeared in a genre where there is the interaction of macro- and micro-worlds which are inherent to the Chinese artistic thinking in general.
The features of the development of the Chinese small piano sonata are due to both purely artistic and general laws of the historical development of the country in the middle and second half of the 20th century. In connection with the tragic pages in the history of China, numerous Chinese small piano sonatas were not maintained: unpublished samples of the genre were lost or destroyed during the "cultural revolution", because the sonata was included in the list of forbidden pieces of art which were not fused to the development of exclusively national traditions. Some of the small sonatas are only mentioned in the corresponding catalogs on the history of national culture.The forced exclusion of the small piano sonatas from the history of the piano culture of China as well as the prohibition of their creation, makes it impossible to objectively examine the genre from the point of view of its evolution. For example, the musical notes of the Chinese piano little sonatas of the first half of the 1960 s are completely absent. From the small piano sonatas destroyed during the "cultural revolution", only a few mentions in reference books have maintained. From the second half of the 1960 s to the end of the 1970 s, the small piano sonata stopped developing. Only in the 1980 s the Chinese small piano sonata was renewed. The 1980 s played a double role in the history of the Chinese small piano sonata: it was not only a period of the revival of the genre, but also a gradual transition to the completion of its history throughout the 1990 s. If in the 1960-1970 s, crossing out the small piano sonata from the genre system of the pianistic culture of China had the violent nature, but in the 1980-1990 s, judging by the minimization of composer appeals to this genre subspecies, it deactivated in the context of the China music culture. In the 1990 s, the latest samples of the genre of the small piano sonatas in the musi-
cal culture of China were created and they became a symbol of the completion of its history. At the end of the 20th century, the Chinese small piano sonata was unable to convey the volume of ideas and problems experienced by the reviving country after the end of the era of the "great Helmsman". The role of the small sonata as an experimental genre, where the national principles of the interpretation of the European genre tradition in eastern culture were produced, came to the end: the genre foundations of the Chinese piano sonata were formed. Since then, it was the big sonata that conveyed those topics and ideas that worried the country at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries. The place of the Chinese small piano sonata, beginning in the 1980 s, was taken by the "big" piano sonata in national culture.
So, the whole picture of the development of the Chinese small piano sonata today can be set only frag-mentarily. There are certain "gaps" in the development of the Chinese small piano sonata, which are impossible to fill today, due to the historical development ofthe country's ideology and art, due to the objective lack of a full picture of the relevant artistic samples. In the process of studying the genre representatives of the Chinese small piano sonata, certain assumptions objectively arise due to the uniqueness of its historical development. The samples of the Chinese small piano sonata which were maintained due to the time are the subject of analysis in this study.
In the history of the development of the Chinese small piano sonata, based on the characteristics of the development of the country and its art, such periods have been specified.
The first period of development of the Chinese small piano sonata covers the last years in the history of musical culture of Old China (1940-1947). In this transitional period, on the eve of the formation of the PRC (the year 1949), the birth of a small piano sonata happened, which found its development in the pianistic culture of New China.
If the first sample of the Chinese piano sonata was created in 1939 by the composer Ma Si Tson,
then the birth of the Chinese small piano sonata is associated with the next (1940) year. Then there appeared samples of the small piano sonatas by Chzhan Ven Ye (op. 31) and Tsian Venia. Unfortunately, the small sonata of Chzhan Ven Ye (op. 31), which is considered historically as the first sample of this genre, was not maintained in musical form. Another fate waited for the programmatic content of the small sonata Tszian Venia - a masterpiece of the early Chinese piano music. The three parts of the small sonata by Tszian Venia have got poetic programmatic names - "Midnight", "Light shadow" and "Catch from Taoyuan", corresponding to the honed national worldview. Contemplation, due to program sonatism, determines the significance of the slow pace, the expressiveness of melodic lines, the elegance of harmony, the specifics of the interaction of European and national traditions. Tszian Venia allegedly "enveloped" the traditional features of the Chinese national musical culture (that is, the national "intonation image of the world" peculiar to it, according to Yu. Chekan [5]) as a kind of "cloak" of genre and formative features of a musical genre of Western origin. The European tradition acquires the significance of the outer layer of the small piano sonata of Tszian Venia, while the national Chinese tradition acquires the significance of the inner. It is the type of interaction between national and European which has become decisive for the development of the genre in the piano culture of China.
In 1946 Din Shan De (1911-1995) joined the composing of the Chinese small piano sonata (in E-dur) and with his composer work the next development period is connected. Having received a professional musical education at the Shanghai National Music Institute (in the future, the National Music Academy of China), Din Shan De improved his skills in Germany (in particular, with the composer Frankel, 1942) and France (with A. Onehher, 1947), having mastered bases of European composer art of the first half of the 20th century. A Composer-pianist Din Shan De performed a media function, linking
various periods in the history of piano national culture in general and Chinese small sonata, as well as national musical traditions and artistic innovations of European art of the mid-20th century. And the small piano sonata by Lo Chzhunchzhun (1947) completes the first period of the development of the genre and it is the end of the history of Old China. The little sonata of Lo Chzhunchzhun does not have a program component: its semantics are determined by intonational content. The following compositional version of the European genre archetype is observed in the work: the 1st part (Allegro scher-zando) represents the hypostasis homo ludens, the 2nd (Andantino) - homo sapiens, the 3rd (Presto) -homo agens (definition presented according to the concept of M. Aranovskyi [1]).
This small sonata is characterized by the assimilation of varieties of the sonata form and the semantic structure of the three parts of the sonata cycle. The first part is written in sonata form with a developed exposition and reprise and a miniature development based on the development of thematic elements of the main party. This interpretation of the formation of the first part brings it closer to the "form of sonatina" (according to V M. Bobrovskyi [2]). The sonata form ofthe third part allocates approximately equal sizes of its sections. In the 1st iycem^T of the development, the intonems of the main and side parties are ocoun-terpoint held; epy section 2 is based on the motivational deconstruction of the theme ofa side party, the imitation ofwhich is gradually being compacted. The repriza exceeds the exposure in volume, acquiring the characteristics of a second development.
The laconic second part (Andantino) is based on the figurative and thematic contrast of the contemplative 1st and 3rd sections and the agitated middle (Poco animato). The second part distributes two samples of the sonata form in the small sonata of Lo Chzhunchzhun.
The 2nd period of the development of the Chinese small piano sonata concerns the 1950 s - the first half of the 1860 s (the first 15 years in the history
of New China). The 2nd period in the development of the genre is its heyday. It was the time when the largest number of small sonatas in the history of Chinese piano music was created, various composer interpretations of the genre were developed, the activity of creative searches was not limited only by the limits of this kind of genre, but also embraced the whole sonata genre.
Historically, the first sample of the Chinese small piano sonata of the 2nd development period was created in 1950 by Liu Shu An (1905-1985). The tempo drama of the three-part small piano sonata by Liu Shu An (the 1th part is Allegro, the 2nd part is Andante cantabile, the 3rd part is Allegro vivace) is fully consistent with the European tradition of contrasting tempo comparisons Fast - Slow - Fast. The transparency of the texture, the brightness of the thematic evidence: the work is designed for children's performance.
Two small sonatas by Tszian Ven created in 1952, only one of which - the program one ("Happy Childhood") was printed, continue the development of the genre during the 1950 s. The program sonata by Tszian Ven is the program software sample in the history of the Chinese piano sonata and its innergenre kind based on the development of children's themes. This fact means that the process of attracting children who were performers and heroes of a piano piece of art to the professional music education is the characteristic of the early years of New China.
The result of the generalization of national and European traditions in the works of Din Shan De, who was a founder of the national pianistic culture of New China, is a small piano sonata "Children's" (1953). The 5-part work has an atmosphere of joyful carefreeness, embodied festive, dance and game paintings of the children's world of China. The picture makes it possible to identify features of a suite cycle in the work. Each of the parts of the Children's Sonatine has a program name: 1 - "Happy Holiday"; 2 - "Butterfly" ("Catch the butterfly"), 3 - "Children's games" ("Jumping the rope"), 4 - "Hide and
seek"; 5 - "Dance Celebration"). Considering the programmatic content of the parts of the cycle, such observations shall be made. The 1st and 5th parts form a kind of "festive" outer circle, which facilitates the formation of arched dramaturgy in the structure of the small sonata, as well as the formation of a dispersed two-part cycle. Concerning the middle parts [2; 3; 4], reflecting the atmosphere of children's games, they appear as a kind of inner small cycle, embodying the image of a child playing.
The compositional plan of a small piano sonata allows considering it as an interaction of two cycles, namely: dispersed one (1 and 5 chch), forming an "external" semantic circle, and internal one, which combines the three central parts. The playing content of the central parts of the small sonata is as if "shrouded" by the atmosphere of the holiday. The outer circle as a kind of "frame" of a miniature sonata cycle frames the images of children's play. Din Shan De reproduced in a small sonata the features of the peculiarly interpreted sonata-cyclic form.
A tempo, constructive, formative logic of the small sonata of the Chinese composer-pianist is peculiar, its inherent sonata-cyclic form (according to V. Bobrovskyi [3]). The works are inherent some fast-paced varieties characterizing the restlessness of children's nature. Only the 1st part of the small sonata is composed at a quiet pace (Moderato deli-cato), while the next parts are composed at a fast pace (the 2nd part is Presto leggiero, the 3rd part is Allegretto grazioso, the 4th part is Scherzando, the 5th part is Vivace energico). The first part appears not as much as the figuratively-substantive center of the sonata cycle, but as an introduction to it (prelude). The bearers of the drama center here are three middle parts, namely: various embodiment of scherzo/scherzando. Evidence of the imitation of the European genre tradition in the interpretation of the genre arises, in particular, the following fact: the author's remarks (tempo, agogical, formative, emotional) are made in Italian, the program names of the parts are presented in Chinese. Bilingualism
is a characteristic feature of the national piano sonata as a whole. Turning to the typical features of the European piano texture (prelude, polyphonic, ho-mophonic-harmonious), Dean Shan De combines it with the features of the national musical language (pentatonic series). The children's sonata by Din Shan De is an example of sonata programmability, the effectiveness of the synthesis of European and national traditions in the Chinese small piano sonata of the second half of the 20th century.
The second two-part small sonata Lo Chzhunchzhun appeared 7 years after the 1st one, in a different historical era in the development of China (1954). Lo Chzhunchzhun is one of those Chinese composers who transferred the genre of the small sonata to the musical culture of New China. The original structure and concept of the second sonata Lo Chzhunchzhun. The 1st part is composed in a sonata form without development (in the form of a sonatina, with the characteristics of the European small sonata), the 2nd part - in the genre form of the theme with variations and coda. This is the first known example of introducing a variation form into a small piano sonata.
Two samples of the small piano sonata genre composed in 1957 are known and created by Wan Lizan and Si Huan. The small sonata by Si Huan is based on landscape programming: the 1st part is "Under the Sunlight", the 2nd part is "After the Rain", the 3rd part is "Dance in the Mountains". The 2nd period of the development of the Chinese small piano sonata is completed by Yan Yunchzhen (1959). It was printed one day, but unfortunately, it remains inaccessible for analysis in modern scientific thought.
The third developmental period of the Chinese small piano sonata covers the 1960 s - 1970 s. During this period, the direction of development of the genre radically changed. In the first half of the 1960 s the development of the genre subset of the sonata took place. Four samples of the genre are known and were created in the first half of the 1960 s: the Small sonata "May Song" by Ho Tsurong (1960),
Children's Sonata Huang Huwei (1962), the Small sonata Huang Huwei (1962), the Small sonata Yan Litsyn (1965). But all of them were lost during the "cultural revolution" in 1966-1976, which stopped the development of a small piano sonata in China until the end of the 1970 s. The Chinese small piano sonata in its evolution has interrupted cycle of historical development.
In the 1980 s, the fourth period began in the history of the development of the Chinese small piano sonata when the genre was revived. Two samples of the Chinese small piano sonata of the 1980s are known: the first one was created by Van Lipin in 1981 (in 3 parts), the second appeared in 1988 in the creative heritage of Din Shan De (op. 52, in 3 parts). Since the 1980 s the process of updating the non-programmed kind of the Chinese small piano sonata has started.
In the 1990 s the fifth final period in the development of the Chinese small piano sonata took place. In the second halfofthe 1990 s the last two samples ofthe small Chinese piano sonata were created. In 1996 Shi Chzhi Bin composed a one-part small sonata (1996), Chu Vanhua (a pianist composer) composed a 3-part small sonata (1999), with a characteristic dedication: "For children today who will become good people tomorrow." The final of the last small sonata in the history ofChinese piano music is characterized by genre programming (Alla Dance).
The general periodization of the development of the century of piano solo music of Chinese composers [6] in this study has acquired a certain specification due to the specifics of the development of the small piano sonata genre. Firstly, here is cut the 1st period of the development of solo piano music lasting from 1913 to 1948. The duration ofthe 1st period of development of the Chinese small piano sonata is limited to 1940-1947 when the first samples of the genre were created. But the limits of the 2nd period in the development of solo piano music of Chinese composers and the development of the genre of the Chinese small piano sonata almost completely coin-
cide (1949-1965 - in the first case, 1950-1965 - in the second one).
Regarding the further evolution of Chinese solo piano music, the periods of development of the Chinese small piano sonata are somewhat adjusted. The encyclopedic publication distinguishes two periods of development - 1966-1976 (it coincides with the era of the "cultural revolution") and 1977-2013 (covers the entire following process of evolution of the solo piano music of Chinese composers), the development of the small piano sonata genre, according to the author of the study, requires accentuation of other time limits. The lack of samples of the small piano sonata genre in Chinese music until the end of the 1970 s stipulated the need to single out the 15th anniversary from the second half of the 1960 s to the end of the 1970 s as the third period.
A further revival of the genre made it possible to single out the period of the 1980 s as a separate fourth period in the development of a small piano sonata. Finally, the completion of the history of the genre in the 1990 s conditioned the need to interpret of the last 10 years of the 20th century as an independent (the fifth) period of its development. The fourth and fifth periods of the development of the Chinese small piano sonata would be "inscribed" in the evolutionary process of the solo piano music of Chinese composers from 1977 to 2013.
The Chinese small piano sonata arises as an early genre variety of the Chinese piano sonata, formed in the 1940 s (before the beginning of the history of New China) and developed until the end of the 20th century. The small sonata in Chinese piano music, as the author's genre name, acts as a miniature cyclic formation with characteristic formative features (a large-scale indicator), and its parts acquire the value of contrasting piano pieces, chamberness, laco-nicism of expression, and simplicity of texture. The small sonata in Chinese piano music has a mobile cyclic structure: the presence of one-, two-, three-, and five-part samples testifies the composers' free attitude to the interpretation of the European genre archetype.
A small Chinese piano sonata, having passed through 5 periods of development (1940-1947; the 1950 s - the first half of the 1960 s; the second half of the 1960 s - 1970 s; the 1980 s; 1990 s), having performed the function of an analogue of a large form, filed in a laconic version, completed its history. The Chinese small piano sonata, having performed its function of forming the foundations of the genre, has lost its relevance and ceased its development, giving way to a big sonata. The fact of the 20-year break in the 60-year history of the small Chinese piano sonata determined the definition of the development of the genre as an interrupted cycle.
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