The Theoretical Background for the Chinese Composers Piano Music Genre Peculiarities Research
Authors: Zhou Daping 
Published: July 2019

Introduction. The given paper is devoted to questions, which make up the dissertation research section upon the genre semantics of the Chinese composers’ solo piano creations. The general theoretic background for the vast amount of the musical artifacts studying is specified in the current section. Theoretical background. In his studying of the Chinese composers’ piano creative work the author follows the research trend, originated by G. Schneerson, Lui Ji, Wei Tinge, Liu Fuan, Zhang Xiaohu, Zhang Qian and others. In particular, the current research is based upon the works by Bu Li, Bian Meng, Wang Ango, Wang Yuhe, Cheng Xu and other authors, devoted to the problem of the European and national music traditions interaction in the Chinese composers’ piano artifacts. The insufficient readiness of this thesis is mentioned. Namely, it is still the point of discussion and analyzing, to what extend and in what quality the genre system of European piano music is mastered by the Chinese composers. It is another point of investigation if their compositions are the result of the surface signs borrowing, taken from the most widely spread European genres or the Chinese composers were able to comprehend the genre semantics profoundly and develop some genres creatively, basing on the national musical tradition. Objectives. The main objective of the current article is the essential theoretical background specification for the Chinese composers’ piano creations genre peculiarities research; in particular, the polygenicity, the borrowed material usage principle, the composer’s genre stylization method. Methods. The task setting and developing is based upon the functional and morphological approaches to the musical genre comprehension, on the terminological analysis of the musical genres and styles understanding, on the upto-date philological and musicological conceptions of composition poetics, artistic genre and stylization method. Results and discussion. The concept of musical genre is defined as the type of the creation or the musical creative activity. Here the category of genre involves not only the formal but also the substantial musical compositions properties, their typical semantics. The musical genre genesis is specified by three factors: 1) the functional creations similarity, the identity of their assignment; 2) the similarity of the conditions of the composition creating and performing; 3) artistic and contextual affinity. The given factors specify the occurance of common musical form properties among several compositions, and these properties are defined as genre style. The composition style properties quite definitely “indicate” some kind of genre “prototype”, and in this sense they are the sign-index of the genre. The typical artisticcontent properties of musical creations and performing are also the index of the genre. These typical properties and designated as genre image (or genre semantics). The genre style and the corresponding images reflect the real type relations of the musical practice phenomena. It enables the composers to use the formal signs of a certain genre as an artistic attribute well recognized by the audience. In the musical genres system, the areas of interactive and independent music are conventionally separated. The first group includes the numerous kinds of every day musical performing, where music interacts with the riot, dance, poetic verbal speech, theatre performance and other types of a person’s artistic activity. Meanwhile, the main and specific function of the independent music is its being the object of artistic perception. The independent music artifacts don’t need any interaction with the expressive means of other arts. The piano music can belong to both spheres. A lot of independent sphere piano music compositions are bear the names of the genres belonging to the folklore, theatre music, church rituals, urban life. We mean such as piano “lullabies”, “ballads”, “minuets”, “waltzes”, “marches”, “arias”, ”love songs” etc. there is still another phenomenon: the piano music pieces, the name of which is not connected with the interactive music genres, are often profoundly connected with them on the levels of the language and artistic text. Quite often, the piano pieces are built on certain composition, borrowed from the sphere of folklore, popular or church music. In all the alike cases we can notice the artistically justified synchronous (non consequent) interaction of several musical genres signs and properties in the form of the definite composition. This phenomenon is characterized as polygenicity. Two main approaches to achieve the polygenre artistic expressive effect are defined: a) the use of the “exterior” (non native, another’s, alien) musical material; b) the genre style characteristic properties reproduction (genre stylization). The given work gives the definitions for the methods of different musical genres properties combination by means of borrowing and of the “exterior” material use in the frames of the original composition: quotations, arrangements, edited versions, fantasies and transcriptions. The genres, originated by these composing methods, are characterized. The essence of the genre stylization method in the Chinese composers’ creations is revealed. It is the reproduction of tonal and compositional peculiarities of the certain traditional Chinese music genre style into the composition text belonging to the European piano music genre system. The wide range of this method implementation is mentioned: from total style imitation to allusion. Conclusions. The existence of the great amount of the piano music compositions in the today’s Chinese musical culture motivates the overall and profound scientific analysis of this phenomenon, in particular, it stimulates the given sphere genre features revelation in both synchronous and diachronic (historic-evolutionary) aspects. The piano music genre sphere researcher needs the clearly formulated, capacious and non-contradictory categories of musical genre, genre style, genre system, genre semantics, as well as of the notions, derivative and connected with them. As it was mentioned by numerous specialists, the Chinese piano music distinctive feature consists in its lasting connection with the national music tradition. The task, set for the musicologists, is to define the nature, the principles, the variants of the interaction between the European piano music genres and styles and the traditional Chinese music genres and styles ( folklore, theatre, popular song). The given article states that the first artistic method, leading to the combination of the European and Chinese traditions in the frames of one composition consists of the composer’s borrowing and using some “alien” material, a fragment of the famous musical creation in his artifact. Thus, using serves as a general notion, embracing a number of certain musical text composing methods, which include quoting, arranging, creating versions, fantasies and transcription. The second artistic approach, leading to European piano music and the Chinese traditional music interaction, consists in the artistic method of stylization. This method implies the reproduction of tonal and compositional peculiarities of the certain traditional Chinese music genre style into the composition text belonging to the European piano music genre system. This method reveals the unlimited possibilities to create the bright vivid effects for genre dialogue, conflicts, interaction, as well as very delicate conceptual modus, allusions, hints, promoting the remarkable enrichment of the compositions genre figurativeness. Basing on the given theoretical background the author is going to analyze the genre-style contents of the seven-volume edition “A century of Piano Solo Works by Chinese Composers”. This content may serve as a working model for the studying of the whole thesaurus of piano music artifacts, created by the Chinese composers.