INNOVATION AND TRADITION IN LISAN WANG’S PIANO SUITE OTHER HILL

Authors

Rongjie Xu, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

12-2010

Document Type

Article

Comments

A Doctoral Document Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts, Major: Music, Under the Supervision of Professor Paul E. Barnes. Lincoln, Nebraska: December, 2010
Copyright 2010 Rongjie Xu

Abstract

Lisan Wang is one of the most celebrated musical figures in China. His five-movement piano suite Other Hill (1980) is the composer’s response to the “New Wave”, a compositional trend generated in China after the 1977 Cultural Revolution. Gaining fame as a piano composition for showing the application of multiculturalism and syncretism to music, Other Hill is regarded as a prime example of cross-cultural piano composition in China. Wang challenges Chinese traditional piano composition with different artistic media—philosophy, calligraphy, poems, and various folk elements in Other Hill. This document proposes an interdisciplinary study of Lisan Wang’s musical fusion of Chinese and Western traditions in the suite Other Hill and will discuss its contribution to the Chinese piano repertoire and its role in the ongoing evolution of piano music in China.