CC BY
83
https://doi.org/10.29013/EJA-20-2-37-42
Zhang Guangjian, Postgraduate Student, Department of Interpretations and Analysis of music of Kharkov national University of Arts named after I. P. Kotlyarevsky E-mail: pianokisa@gmail.com
REFLECTION OF NATIONAL MUSICAL TRADITIONS OF SOUTH CHINA IN THE PIANO WORKS OF ZHANG ZHAO
Abstract. The article discusses the piano work of an outstanding Chinese composer, pianist and teacher Zhang Zhao. The huge scale of the musician's activities is associated with the popularization of his own piano heritage, reflecting the musical traditions of the composer's homeland - southern China. The factors that influenced the genesis of the piano style and the formation of the creative personality of a Chinese composer are analyzed. The characteristic features of the synthesis of national and pitfalls of traditions in the piano works of Zhang Zhao are revealed on the example of the concert "Ailao Rhapsody", fantasies on the themes of the Beijing opera "Pi Huang", concert pieces "Chinese Piano Dream", cycles "Three Songs of the Southern Foothills", "Chinese Melodies" and etc.
Keywords: Zhang Zhao, Chinese piano music, synthesis of national and western elements, folk traditions of southern China.
Composer, pianist, professor, member of the Chinese Association of Musicians Zhang Zhao (born in 1964) - today is one of the most famous figures of Chinese culture. Zhang Zhao is a recognized and well-known composer in his country; however, he is relatively unknown to the rest of the world, and not only Russian-speaking, but also speaking Western languages. To a large extent, this is due to a lack of information related to the language barrier, which is due to the very difficult task of translating the relevant material from Chinese.
The creative heritage of Zhang Zhao includes symphonic, piano compositions, works for Chinese traditional instruments, vocal, chamber, ballet music. The interests ofthe Chinese and world global level, surprisingly intersecting in his work, testify to the views of the composer, open to everything significant in life and art. On this basis, Zhang Zhao came to important conclusions about the role of modern classical musical art in the life of people in China and in the world.
Zhang Zhao is the author of many piano works, among which are the "Ailao Rhapsody" piano concerto, a fantasy on the themes of the Beijing opera "Pi Huang", concert pieces The Chinese Piano Dream, In the Farthest Place, the cycles "Three Songs of the Southern Foothills", "Piano adaptation of folk songs", "Chinese melodies" and others. Many piano compositions by Zhang Zhao are known in China and some other countries. They require the highest pianist level from the performer.
Until 2010, the composer's piano works were published only in China, and therefore, in Western countries, both musicians and music lovers were denied the opportunity to get to know them. So, the fantasy of "Pi Huang" was included in the collection ofworks "Classical Chinese Piano Works", which includes selected piano works created from 1913 to 2003, and published by Shanghai Publishing House.
In 2011, Germany's largest music publisher, Schott, published The Chinese Melodies by Zhang
Zhao in his piano collection. Thus, the Schott Publishing House opened a window to the world in Chinese folk music. Twenty arrangements of the Chinese Melodies cycle were also very warmly received by musicians from different countries. For example, in 2013, one of the plays in the Jingpo Folk Songs cycle was selected as a competitive entry at the Royal Academy of Music in the UK for a piano exam. Thus, Zhang Zhao became the first Chinese composer, whose works became mandatory in a European educational institution. The piano compositions of Zhang Zhao are widely represented by the renowned Chinese pianist Lee Yundi on world famous scenes, and are also recorded on the disc "Li Yundi's Red Piano Album".
Studying the piano heritage of Zhang Zhao is important to deepen the characterization of this outstanding Chinese composer. The comprehension of the originality of his piano style contributes to the identification of new aspects of the originality of Chinese musical culture, which today has an impact on Western European and American art. In addition, the development of this topic provides the basis for further theoretical generalization of some issues of modern pianism, and also creates practical prerequisites for updating the concert and pedagogical repertoire, which leads to the partial resolution of one of the urgent needs in the field of performance and pedagogy.
To understand the features of the piano style of Zhang Zhao, it is important to study his creative path not only as a composer, but also as a pianist. Zhang Zhao, a native of the southern Chinese province of Yunnan, belongs to the national minority I. For the first time the composer presenting to the public his works "The Swallow" and "Scherzo". At eighteen, he published his piano Scherzo in The Musical Composition.
In 1983, Zhang Zhao graduated from the piano class at the Yunnan School ofArts, and in 1987, from the music department of the Central University of Nationalities, specializing in piano performance and composition. In the 1990 s, Zhang Zhao continued
his education at the Master's program at the Beijing Central Conservatory in the class of the outstanding Chinese pianist Zhou Guangren. As a performer and composer, Zhou Guangren has always encouraged her student's desire to create his piano pieces. Zhou Guangren repeatedly emphasized that Zhang Zhao very vividly feels the influence of national art. The teacher believed that her student will be able to "transmit national cultural traditions through his work. Therefore, you need to create as many piano works as possible, reflecting the richness of Chinese culture" [5, 34].
Already in 1996, Zhang Chao presented the premiere of his concert "Ailao Rhapsody" in a concert hall in Beijing, where he performed a solo piano part with the Chinese Radio Symphony Orchestra (now the Chinese Philharmonic Orchestra) under the direction ofLi Xin Kao and made an indelible impression on the audience. "Ailao Rhapsody", written on the basis of the composer's childhood memories, uses themes from the ancient Dashan song folklore living in the mountains ofAilao in central Yunnan.
In 1998, Zhang Zhao graduated with honors. Years of study in Beijing significantly influenced the formation of the worldview of a young musician. In addition to his mentor, Zhou Guangren, Zhang Zhao also gratefully recalls the famous composer Guo Wenjing, who lectured at the Central Conservatory of Music during his studies. Guo Wenjing taught the young musician a lot and helped him a lot. Also, a renowned music theorist Wei Ting made a lot of efforts to promote creativity. Everyone who taughtJean Zhao musical art and supported his undertakings played an important role in the life of the composer.
The famous pianist Bao Wei first introduced Zhang Zhao's piano cycle "Three Songs of the Southern Foothills" on stage, which was later included in the fourth edition of Selected Chinese Piano Works, published by Folk Music Publishing House. This composition also received the highest rating in China - the Golden Bell Music Award, and also entered the repertoire of many prominent pianists.
From the point of view of the genre, the cycle "Three Songs of the Southern Foothills" refers to the piano suite; the musical material of the songs "Wen-shan Dai", "Honghe Tonglu" and "Lunan Sani" heard by the author in southern Yunnan is used as prototypes. Three pieces of the cycle - "Shang wa", "Moon in the Mountains" and "Mountain Fire", based on folk music of Yunnan province, have a bright national flavor. The basis of their musical language is freedom of expression, and whimsical rhythm, subtlety, grace of melody, detailing of the figurative system, a variety of timbre-instrumental characteristics.
From the point ofview of musical form, the "Three Songs of the Southern Foothills" uses the triadic principle of compositional structure. The composition of the three plays is organized by pace in sequence: fast - slow - fast, where it is the slow, philosophical part that becomes the core of the work. Such dramaturgy is quite consistent with the traditional Western musical structure. If you look at the structure of the plays, you can see in "Shang wa" and "The Moon in the Mountains" also a complex three-part form. Although the play "Mount Yue" is written in two-part form, the final coda can also be considered as an option that implements a three-part structure.
In the early 2000 s, Zhang Zhao actively promoted his works in Canada, Singapore, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and other countries. He participated many times in large-scale cultural events, to which he was invited to perform his works. Among such events are the "Opening ceremony of the sixth and seventh games of national minorities", "The opening ceremony of the tenth and eleventh games of Inner Mongolia", "The large-scale festival of Ulanchabu in Inner Mongolia", "The closing ceremony of the Fourth Games of East Asia", "The opening ceremony of the 11th championship World Junior Athletic Federation" and others. The composer also received awards from various cultural organizations in China and Japan for his outstanding creative achievements.
In his next piano compositions, Zhang Zhao continued to develop the theme of his native land and
childhood memories. One of the most striking and famous works of the composer was the fantasy "Pi Huang", created in 2007. The national originality of this music lies in the fact that the composer embodied the sound of the original material of the Beijing opera, which facilitated the understanding of his compositions by the audience and allowed his listeners to feel involvement in their national roots. Fantasy is built according to the dramatic principles of the Beijing opera, it contains well-known types of melodies - sipi (funny, lively) and erhuang (sad, dramatic).
Various types of Chinese folklore found their refraction in fantasy, including dance music, folk songs, instrumental and musical-dramatic art, as well as typed melodies assigned to the characters. The piano texture of the play has a pronounced romantic orientation, it also includes a variety of performing techniques that reflect the sound specificity of Chinese instruments. "Pi Huang" changes throughout the play, it is necessary to have unique skills in playing the piano, the ability to transform a musical text into polyphonic thinking and embody this thinking in accordance with the capabilities of the instrument.
Thus, in "Pi Huang", Zhang Zhao transforms the tunes of the Beijing opera into a polyphonic texture, represented by volumetric effective sound and dynamic richness of melodic lines. Sipi and Erhuang, playing the main melodic role in the Beijing opera, played a crucial role in revealing the musical content and the embodiment of the artistic image of fantasy.
Fantasy was awarded the first prize at the Chinese music competition "Palatino", sponsored by several Chinese conservatories, including the largest Central Conservatory and the Tianjin Conservatory. The name of the competition is associated with a group of calligraphic fonts based on drawings by Italian masters of the Renaissance period. In the music world of China, the fantasy of "Pi Huang" caused a great resonance. She was ranked among Chinese classical masterpieces. The play was recommended as an educational material in piano training programs in China.
Jin Jinglan in his article "Growing Mood: An Analysis of the Variations of the Young Composer Zhang Zhao" [3] suggests that, based on the analysis of the work of "Pi Huang", "it becomes clear that piece conceived as an application for a composition competition, where the young author originally planned to write all the work in accordance with variation thinking. The content of the text does not raise doubts about its variational nature. However, in the variation genre it was difficult to realize the scale of the project and unleash the potential of the composer's intent. Here, the large form of the Beijing opera, which was appropriately transformed into a form close to the western three-part sonata, was perfectly suited" [3, 33].
Fantasy "Pi Huang" became the most successful piano piece created in the 21st century using elements of the Beijing opera. Its form and content are based on rich Chinese traditions and incorporate modern Western and Chinese creative techniques. In terms of composition, Zhang Zhao borrowed a style of motive from Western musical writing, but the main tone of the motive is based on the penta-tonic character of the Beijing opera. The harmony structure is also based on the pentatonic mode.
Using various textured transformations, the sound effects ofthe Beijing opera group were adapted to the piano, which allowed giving familiar works a rich and distinctive acoustic effect. In terms of form, the most obvious feature was that Zhang Zhao used Western three-part form, variational thinking and the "synthetic" nature of Beijing opera, consisting of performing arts of various genres. A multi-layered musical structure has been formed, so all work from the initial concept to the final form emphasizes the characteristics of traditional Chinese music.
The language of music is easy to understand and accessible to a wide audience. Trying to maximize the contingent of listeners, Zhang Zhao in his works did not use too many modern academic methods of composition, did not put forward complex technical concepts and did not write for the sake of advanced
composing techniques. The composer's use of modern ideas about harmony and texture fully satisfies the needs of the work and is acceptable for most viewers, therefore "Pi Huang" has a wide audience and is highly appreciated by an unprofessional audience. At the same time, the work is highly regarded by professional musicians.
The next vivid composition of Zhang Zhao, reflecting the treasury of Chinese national traditions, was a cycle of transcriptions folk songs for piano. This collection includes processing songs created from 2009 to 2013. The rich possibilities of the piano and the composer's finds made the plays vivid and expressive, opening up for the listener the rich art world of Chinese song.
The composer Zhao Yuanren, who developed the concert piece "Chinese Piano Dream," created exactly one hundred years after the creation of the first piano piece, brought particular fame to the composer. Since then, the era of the creation of Chinese piano works began. A hundred years later, in 2013, the dream of several generations of Chinese composers, creating music for a Western piano instrument, came true. The "Chinese Piano Dream," created by Zhang Zhao and embodied on stage by the unsurpassed young virtuoso pianist Yundi Li, has become a true triumph of Chinese piano music.
Besides being a composer and pianist, Jean Zhao is also a professor at the Central University for Nationalities. Jean Zhao, who works in the field of music creation, performance and training, not only introduces his students to piano techniques. In the learning process, he attaches greater importance to the aspirations and aesthetic taste of students, and also shares his aesthetic criteria and musical ideas. Many ofhis students became successful composers. Among these students are Qi Zhuqing, Xu Liang, Ma Hui, Li Yongming, etc.
In addition to working on higher education, Zhang Zhao also creates works for school students. His essay "Children's World" was included in the textbook for elementary school students. The com-
poser believes that Chinese authors rarely compose children's songs, and he hopes that he will be able to contribute to the education of aspiring musicians. Zhang Zhao is convinced that music is "not an ordinary voice, but a kind of special and extremely subtle language system that conveys inner culture. Music performs not only an entertaining function. It also serves as a support for the human spirit, helps people come to a state of happiness and enlightenment. This is much more important, because entertainment cannot last long, and happiness can. The beauty of classical music lies in its ability to help people achieve enlightenment and happiness" [1, 134].
Conclusions. The prominent Chinese composer Zhang Zhao vividly embodied the national musical traditions of South China in his piano works. Interest in this musical material was formed by the childhood impressions of the composer living in the area, as well as the subsequent influence of many prominent Chinese musicians who trained him at the Beijing Central Conservatory. Most of the works of Zhang Zhao are based on national melodies, they reflect the composer's love for life and nature. Many works have won awards both at the composer's homeland and abroad, they are heard in many countries of the world.
The piano compositions of Zhang Zhao combine unique national identity and the brightest original pianism, which undoubtedly is of great research value. Of great importance in Chinese piano music at the beginning of the 21st century is the piano fantasy "Pi Huang", which inherited and absorbed the best achievements of many years of composition of Chinese piano music, harmonious, rhythmic innova-
tions, textured techniques, improvisation, and much more. Fantasy is based on the musical elements of the Beijing opera, a pronounced romantic piano style, has the characteristic technical techniques inherent in Chinese piano music of recent decades.
Fantasy "Pi Huang" echoes two similar works by the composer, which are also the masterpieces of piano by Zhang Zhao, refracting the musical traditions of South China. This is the piano cycle "Three Songs of the Southern Hills" and the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra "Ailao Rhapsody", which have become the most representative piano pieces by Zhang Zhao with national color. However, the aforementioned works of the composer reflect the rich national musical world of South China in different ways due to the search for musical innovations in the field of composer technique in combination with composition methods and ideas of modern Western music.
If in the fantasy "Pi Huang" developing two main themes of the Beijing opera, the author shares his impressions of life in the cultural environment ofYun-nan, then in the series "Three Songs of the Southern Foothills" he uses the material of folk songs heard in southern Yunnan as prototypes.
Since the musical material is based on the folklore of the Yunnan minority, the pentatonic scale is the modal basis of the piano works of Zhang Zhao. However, due to the use by the author of modern musical techniques, quart harmony and irregular rhythms, the musical language of the composer's piano works is modern and unique, despite the widespread use of traditional national musical elements.
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