ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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Description
ABSTRACT
As a composer, Chou Wen-Chung (1923-2019) was a learner and inheritor of Chinese traditional music culture and was committed to carrying it forward. As a native of China who had his primary musical training in the West, Chou Wen-Chung was one of the first Chinese composers to make his mark on Western music. He successfully combined Western elements and Chinese tradition in his music. Chou Wen-Chung was one of the few prominent East Asian composers known in the Western musical world, and his music therefore has had a strong influence on other Chinese composers.
In order to understand more clearly his music, I analyzed his chamber work: Yü Ko. This piece was composed in 1965 for 9 instruments: Violin, Alto Flute, English Horn, Bass Clarinet, 2 Trombones, 2 Percussion and Piano. Inspired by the ancient Chinese musical instrument the Qin (also called guqin, or “ancient qin”), which is a plucked seven-string instrument, Chou Wen-Chung composed Yü Ko. Literally meaning “fisherman’s song,” this work was composed originally for the Qin, based on a melody composed by Mao Min-Zhong who was a very noted scholar and Qin player of the late Southern Song dynasty (C.E.1127-1276).
This paper provides Chou Wen-Chung’s biography, compositional styles and developments. It lists and explains the most common Chinese traditional cultural elements which he used in his compositions. In particular, it introduces the Qin in detail from the external structure, performance techniques, sound characteristics, the tablature notation, and compositional methods.
This document also includes a detailed analysis of Yü Ko in terms of the orchestration, pitch, tonal material, structure and tempo, dynamic and musical materials, and explains Chou Wen-Chung’s imitation of the Qin as well as the influence of Western music shown in this piece.
As a composer, Chou Wen-Chung (1923-2019) was a learner and inheritor of Chinese traditional music culture and was committed to carrying it forward. As a native of China who had his primary musical training in the West, Chou Wen-Chung was one of the first Chinese composers to make his mark on Western music. He successfully combined Western elements and Chinese tradition in his music. Chou Wen-Chung was one of the few prominent East Asian composers known in the Western musical world, and his music therefore has had a strong influence on other Chinese composers.
In order to understand more clearly his music, I analyzed his chamber work: Yü Ko. This piece was composed in 1965 for 9 instruments: Violin, Alto Flute, English Horn, Bass Clarinet, 2 Trombones, 2 Percussion and Piano. Inspired by the ancient Chinese musical instrument the Qin (also called guqin, or “ancient qin”), which is a plucked seven-string instrument, Chou Wen-Chung composed Yü Ko. Literally meaning “fisherman’s song,” this work was composed originally for the Qin, based on a melody composed by Mao Min-Zhong who was a very noted scholar and Qin player of the late Southern Song dynasty (C.E.1127-1276).
This paper provides Chou Wen-Chung’s biography, compositional styles and developments. It lists and explains the most common Chinese traditional cultural elements which he used in his compositions. In particular, it introduces the Qin in detail from the external structure, performance techniques, sound characteristics, the tablature notation, and compositional methods.
This document also includes a detailed analysis of Yü Ko in terms of the orchestration, pitch, tonal material, structure and tempo, dynamic and musical materials, and explains Chou Wen-Chung’s imitation of the Qin as well as the influence of Western music shown in this piece.
ContributorsSong, Yiqian (Author) / Ryan, Russell (Thesis advisor) / Campbell, Andrew (Committee member) / Solís, Ted (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
The organ sonatas of Hans Fährmann are some of the fullest realizations of the orchestral potential of the pipe organ. These works fill a crucial gap in the existing canonic organ repertoire; they allow the organist to engage with the late German Romantic symphonic works of Brahms, Mahler, and Strauss. There is relatively little remaining documentary evidence about Fährmann’s life. This paper provides a biography summarizing what is known about the composer and situates his work historically. Turn-of-the-century Dresden, the so-called “El Dorado on the Elbe,” provided an environment where musical conservatism and radical progressivism lived uneasily side-by-side. The evolution of the German Romantic organ and the organ sonata paved the way for Fährmann’s important contributions to the genre. Fährmann’s own musical language situates him between the organ tradition and broader trends in 19th-century German composition, especially Richard Wagner.Although there is little information on the performance practice of Fährmann’s music, it is possible to derive ideas from German Romantic conducting practices. The study compares the rhythmic interpretive decisions of conductors contemporary to Fährmann with organ-playing in the Straube tradition. The symphonic performance tradition is a better source for organists interpreting Fährmann because of the stylistic similarities between his organ sonatas and the orchestral repertoire, as opposed to the approach of the Straube school, which was at that time laying the foundation for and engaging with the Orgelbeewgung. To elucidate the registration of Fährmann’s organ sonatas, the author investigates contemporary practices and specification of the Johanneskirche instrument on which Fährmann spent most of his time. The study concludes with an analysis of his First Sonata, demonstrating the composer’s craftsmanship and creation of a narrative arch across the form.
ContributorsHalbert, Nicholas (Author) / Marshall, Kimberly (Thesis advisor) / Campbell, Andrew (Committee member) / Reymore, Lindsey (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024