2. Study Background and Motivation
A few years ago, I learnt one of Huang Tzu's art songs by coincidence. At that moment, I found his music extremely moving and the melody so easy to remember and sing.
It then triggered two main questions in mind:
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Why did his music sound beautiful and moving?
(Was it due to musical structure, complex harmony or rhythmic patterns?)
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Why were his melodies so easy to sing and remember?
(Was it related to the text-music arrangement: how music was designed to enhance the rhetoric and poetic ideas?)
Inspired by these questions, I hope to study his musical characteristics in depth. In terms of musical characteristics and structure, I want to analyse his music features from the perspective of Western classical music where I come from. In terms of melody, I would like to study how he handled the relationship between Chinese language and music. On a higher level, I hope to understand how his Art Songs reflect the fusion of Chinese and Western music. As Huang Tzu once mentioned:
"Culture is originally a circulation. As long as you can absorb and melt towards foreign cultures, they can become a part of yourself."
As a student of classical singing, I have often been exposed to music such as German Lied and French Mélodie. I often think about why we perform this type of music, and what is the importance and meaning? I travelled to the Netherlands to study classical vocal music. I think that in addition to being exposed to Western classical music and languages, it is also worth studying the art songs from my own country. Chinese art songs are a great combination of classical music and my culture. This study is of great significance for understanding my own culture and establishing identity in the Netherlands.