Among China’s traditional musical instruments, the zheng (or guzheng) is the most commonly played; it currently enjoys tremendous popularity, particularly among urban Chinese girls. The art of zheng has overcome several significant hurdles in the twentieth century, including tuning which was considered incompatible for use in large ensembles such as Chinese orchestras, poor projection of sound, and a repertory lacking technically challenging solo masterpieces idiomatic to the instrument. The zheng’s most enduring—and most beloved—solo repertory consists of favored traditional or ‘classic’ works, most of which rely on nuanced melodic content. In these pieces, the left hand does not pluck the strings but rather refines and supplements the sounds created when the right hand plucks the strings. On close examination, much of the zheng’s basic repertory was derived from earlier vocal music (“folk music”), instrumental ensemble works, or solo music for other instruments transcribed or transplanted into the zheng repertory, and thus much zheng solo music is apparently relatively new (post- imperial). A more formal zheng repertory began to appear in the second half of the twentieth century, as solo compositions specifically written for the zheng were created; many of these pieces were the work of expert zheng performers and pedagogues teaching and/or studying in the music conservatories of the People’s Republic. The zheng’s evolution from an ensemble and accompanimental instrument in late imperial China to a solo concert instrument with virtuosic potential and an increasingly idiomatic repertory occurred as the instrument’s repertory was explored, notated, and recorded. As master zheng musicians—mostly male--began to teach in Chinese conservatories, structural changes were also introduced into the manufacture of the instrument. This project looks at how this process happened, and discusses why it happened. Why were “schools” of zheng established and what is a “school” (liupai 流派)? What do we know about the zheng’s solo repertory prior to the twentieth century? What role did improvisation play in zheng music before its repertory was notated, classified, and recorded? Did a gender switch happen (or is it happening now), with previously male masters being replaced essentially by women and girls? What has been lost and what has been gained in the zheng’s most transformative era: the past hundred years?
목차
Abstract Introduction Historic Gains and Losses Preserving the Unique Character of Zheng Art in Changing Times Further Changes During the “Opening Up” References
키워드
ZhengModern TransformationConservatoryMusician
저자
Ann L. Silverberg [ Professor in Austin Peay State University's Department of Music, Clarksville, Tennessee, specializing in musicology and ethnomusicology. ]
아시아에서 벌어지는 모든 음악활동을 연구합니다.
특히 아시아에서 일어나고 있는 유럽 음악 편중의 음악상황을 아시아음악 중심으로 전환하기 위한 연구와 운동을 합니다. 아시아음악은 아시아인이 가장 잘 연구할 수 있다는 점에서 아시아음악학 연구는 아시아 학자에 의하여 주도되어야 한다고 생각하는 사람들의 모임입니다.
이러한 목적 달성을 위하여 아시아음악의 역사 이론 연주를 연구합니다. 이 연구 성과는 Asian Musicology라는 영문 저널을 발행하고 있습니다.