Musical creativity in twentieth-century China : Abing, his music, and its changing meanings
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Musical creativity in twentieth-century China : Abing, his music, and its changing meanings
(Eastman studies in music)
University of Rochester Press, 1996
Available at 3 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 195-204) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This work examines the multiple and conflicting interpretations created around the life and music of the blind folk musician Abing (1893-1950). Abing is a household name in China, but despite the central place he holds in Chinesemusic, he is little known, and his music rarely heard, abroad. This detailed study of Abing, and the accompanying CD compilation of his most well-known works, reveal much both about this unjustly neglected composer, and about therecreation of traditional music in contemporary China. Particular attention is given to the problematic category of the musical `work' in a tradition which relies heavily on improvisation and creative reworking of material; Abing's music has also taken strikingly different shapes since his death, notably in arrangements, some involving Western instruments, which have adapted his music to changing tastes and ideological trends, both in mainland China, and in Taiwan and overseas.
Dr. Jonathan P.J. Stock is Lecturer in Music at the University of Durham. Contains audio CD.
Table of Contents
- Introduction: the individual in ethnomusicology
- blind Abing
- ethnomusicology and history
- Chinese music research
- ethnography and fieldwork
- ethnomusicology and music analysis
- structure
- note on romanization and translation
- periodization of Chinese history. Part 1 China and the city of Wuxi from the 1890s to 1950: the city of Wuxi, origins to 1950
- China in turmoil, 1890-1912
- China in development and disarray, 1912-1937
- China at war, 1937-1950. Part 2 Narrative, ideology and the life of Abing: Yang Yinliu's official biography of Abing
- rival biographies
- a patriotic and revolutionary street-singer - the construction of a text
- issues of source and identity - the case of "The Moon Reflected on the Second Springs"
- further biographical details - music, marriage and death. Part 3 Musical life in early-20th-century Wuxi: musical instruments - erhu, pipa, sanxian, di and xiao, luogu and ban
- notation
- musical genres - dramatic and narrative genres, instrumental ensemble genres, solo music for erhu and pipa, new musical forms. Part 4 Music for erhu: introductory passages
- low-register melodies
- middle-register melodies
- high-register melodies
- codettas
- other material
- summary of related material
- locally-specific variation techniques
- large-scale constructive techniques
- musical structure as a result of performance decisions
- the case of "Listening to the Pines". Part 5 Music for pipa. Part 6 Musical creativity, identity and meaning in 20th-century China: the conservatory tradition - nationalist establishment 1920s-1949, communist consolidation 1949-1994
- musical meaning. Appendices: erhu music - "Cold Spring Wind", "Listening to the Pines"
- pipa music - "Dragon Boats", "Great Waves Washing the Sand", "Zhaojun Crosses the Border".
by "Nielsen BookData"