The semantics of the names of Luo Maishuo’s Piano Etudes as the transformation of traditional national images
Authors: Dan Enyi 
Published: March 2024

Statement of the problem. Recent research and publications. Chinese composers, influenced by European musical norms since the late 19th century, face a critical challenge in navigating their national traditions within academic music. China piano music is a progressive sphere, which allows to identify and analyze the most relevant directions of creative searches of Chinese composers. The work of individual representatives of the piano composer school, including Luo Maishuo, is still incompletely studied. Luo Maishuo’s leadering positions in China piano music is determined by adept fusion of traditional and contemporary components in his work. Researching his programmatic compositions with the viewpoint of their semantics provides a perspective for understanding the intricate connections between Chinese musical heritage and national mentality and philosophy. The works dedicated to Luo Maishuo’s creativity are represented by Bian Jingjing’s (2016) and Wang Aiguo’s (2009) articles, as well as Huang Zhongjun’s (2020) and Zhuang Junjie’s (2021) studies, which reveal the composer’s contribution to the Chinese piano music. However, it is necessary to research such a phenomenon as the semantic component of various genre samples in his piano music in the aspect of preserving traditional culture. Obiectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of this article is to analyze the semantics of the names Luo Maishuo’s piano etudes in order to reveal the process of transformation of national musical traditions in his music and to determine the connections between the content of the works and the traditional cultural contexts. The innovative aspect of the research is the first analysis of Luo Maishuo’s piano etudes in view of the reflection of national cultural patterns in the program titles of his works; the study is designed to determine how the composer embodies the principle of preserving national musical traditions through the symbolic semantics of the names of his etudes. This new perspective allows not only to present Luo Maishuo’s work as a bright page of musical history, but also to reveal his role in the preservation and reinterpretation of national cultural concepts through program music. The historical and cultural approach made it possible to present the broad context of cultural, historical and social realities, the philosophical and cultural background of traditional values reflected in the titles of the composer’s works. Semantic and musicological types of analysis were used to consider the symbolism and imagery of etudes, and to select the illustrative musical fragments. In addition, we relied on the key propositions of Lu Jie’s dissertation (2017: 6–7), who believes that “the terms ‘concept’ and ‘conceptosphere’ are appropriate for revealing the way of thinking of Chinese musicians”. which is “different from European transcendental dimensions”. Research results. The article considers Luo Maishuo’s cycle of 12 Etudes, which consists of two equal parts. The first part (6 Etudes op. 19) was created in 2010–2011, the second (6 Etudes op. 3) – in 2013–2016. Their visual and semantic features are reflected in the program titles, which represent the original fusion of national and non-national elements. Op. 19: 1. “Music of the wind”, 2. “Flea”, 3. “Wind”, 4. “Running water”, 5. Basso ostinato, 6. Fugue; Op. 23: 1. “Circle"” 2. “Contrast”, 3. “Bamboo”, 4. “F 1”, 5. “Painting with ink”, 6. Variations. The titles of some works refer to certain genres of European music (Basso ostinato, Fugue, Variations); “F 1” – to extremely high speeds of ring races in “Formula-1”. The names of the rest of the etudes are related to the national theme expressed either as a comparison with specific iconic phenomena (“Wind Music”, “Bamboo”, “Painting with ink"), or more indirectly, through ideas-images of Chinese philosophy (“Circle”, “Contrast”). Our attention is focused on the names of the First book of Etudes (op. 19), indicative in the aspect of belonging to the Chinese national tradition. Some of them, according to Lu Jie’s classification (2017: 8), represent the conceptual sphere of nature (Etudes No. 1, 3, 4) and direct the imagination of the performer and listener to its eternal primordial forces, the images of which are deeply rooted in the folklore of various peoples of the world, in particular, in the Chinese national tradition. The latter interprets them in a very original way: the images of wind and running water, widespread in Chinese culture, are primarily associated with deep philosophical ideas about the essence of the world. The image of water is also likened to one of the highest moral values – kindness – and is combined with the Tao. An illustration of the multidimensionality of hidden subtexts can be considered the title of the first Etude op. 19 –“Wind Music”, which refers not only to the sphere of nature, but also to another conceptual sphere of the Chinese tradition – “ritual” (ceremonial). This name is related not only to the image of the wind as such, but also to the fairly common practice of installing small bells under the roofs of temples that ring when there is a current of air. The Etude’s piano texture, based on alternating hands in the upper register, almost reproduces their sound. Conclusion. Luo Maishuo’s cycle of Etudes occupies a special place in the modern piano culture of China. The composer, presenting a practical “artistic study” of the techniques of modern pianism, created one of the most ambitious projects in the instrumental etude genre. At the same time, the traditional national component is realized by an extremely multifaceted way: the names of the compositions appeal both to philosophical and generalized concepts and to the images-symbols characteristic of China culture. Such approach allows to consider the cycle as a kind of “catalogue” of signs characteristic of the national tradition.