The Significance of Chinese Art Songs by Huang Tzu (1904 - 1938)

Cho Hang Chu, Edmond

Chinese art song, a type of Chinese New Music, was a musical genre referring to the songs composed particularly in the 1920s. It is undeniable that it was a product of the real contact and fusion of Chinese and Western cultures. Imagine listening to music like Schubert or Puccini, you may suddenly realise that the language is not German or Italian, but an exotic language (Mandarin, also mixed with different Chinese dialects). Chinese art songs indeed had such characteristics. Its appearance was epoch-making. Before the 19th century, the gate of Chinese traditional culture was closed and self-sufficient, but due to the invasion of Western powers, this gate soon collapsed. Western culture also swept China along with the military trend in the early 20th century, causing earth-shaking changes in China, in which Western music was also introduced into China. Some intellectuals enlightened by modern thoughts and knowledge believed that in addition to learning western military and technology, they should also absorb their philosophy and culture, so that China could rise in all directions and catch up with Western powers. The theme of this research revolves around one of the intellectuals (composers) of this period, Huang Tzu (1904-1938) who challenged and responded to the culture shock through composing Chinese New Music. After studying in the United States in 1926, he returned to Shanghai, China. Like the intellectuals at that time, in addition to being proficient in various fields like science, he also dabbled in music. Many of Huang Tzu’s music revolved around the concept of "nationality". It refers to an approach: borrowing Western compositional techniques to highlight the values of traditional Chinese aesthetics. This research did not aim at describing the characteristics of music or literature in Chinese art songs itself. Yet, it finally allowed me to discover more about how intellectuals dealt with issues of cultural exchange between the East and the West a hundred years ago. What would be the effects if Western music elements, such as harmony, form, techniques and musical instruments were added to the Chinese traditional music language and habits? From a cultural perspective, what significance did this incur?

8. Historical Significance

This research only discusses the musical or linguistic features of Huang's art songs. It is impossible to discuss in detail the process of his introduction of Western music to China, nor can it describe his contribution to music education in China. These parts were believed as one of his greatest historical significance in Chinese music history. For example, he devoted himself to music education in Shanghai, and in 1933 he led the founding of the "Music Art Society'' to promote "experimental" music. This organisation led by Huang Tzu plays an extremely important role in promoting Chinese new music. From these aspects, his contribution is beyond doubt, and many influential musicians are his students. In addition to creating art songs, he also created music works of various genres, published academic research, music monographs, magazines, teaching materials, organised music broadcasts, etc. He was also known as the most important "music education composer" in China in the 1930s.

Nevertheless, I think his greatest influence and success on future generations is his methodology of integrating Chinese and Western music, which is what this research focuses on. From a historical point of view, the period in which Huang lived (1920s-1930s) was the "Age of Music Enlightenment": the development of music was lagging behind and "comparably to the 12th and 13th centuries in Europe” and "the situation was very difficult at that time, like being in the desert", waiting for the nourishment of nectar. At that time, China lacked systematic music notation and educational methods; traditional music was treated as "elegant music", which was only spread among the upper class, and so its popularity was not high. Therefore, music inheritance became very difficult, Many music, techniques, and musical instruments were lost over time. It is conceivable that when Western music was introduced, the impact was that earth-shaking.

As mentioned, Huang's art songs were "experimental music" under the fusion of Chinese and Western cultures. Exactly like what Huang aimed at: "absorbing and melting foreign cultures, then becoming a part of ourselves, and of course always making progress”. What Huang Tzu had done is to lead Chinese music out of the dilemma of the desert, so that it could further develop, progress and pass on. In terms of positioning, Huang was unique among the composers of his time. Some composers did not support the absorption of Western music at all, and emphasised retaining the appearance of traditional Chinese music. They tend to pursue and learn from Asian music similar to China, such as Japanese music and aesthetics; some, on the contrary, moved towards complete westernisation and abandoned the value of traditional Chinese music. Huang Tzu gave us a new solution. He undoubtedly explored and established the status of modern Chinese music and provided the future generation with feasible composition methods and aesthetic approach.

In my research, it is not difficult to understand his methodology of composition and its achievements:

The relationship between poetry and melody was carefully handled, which perfectly matches the piano part as well. It is worth mentioning that he solved the complexity of Chinese languages and provided new approaches for melody writing.
The western harmony was used just right, which allowed us to have a richer imagination of the ancient and modern poetry; some Chinese harmonies’ colours were also added and experimented. It provided references for the development of national music in the coming 20 years;
Western musical forms were taken reference to, and were combined perfectly with the structure and development of Chinese poetry, so as to express a better poetic conception;
The use of modes or tonality in his songs was also fascinating. On the basis of Western tonality and harmony, he also successfully added traditional Chinese modes, especially in the musical setting of traditional poetry.

He not only let that generation understand more about the western composition skills, but also laid the foundation for the future exploration of Chinese modern music, providing a good reference for future musicians, as commented below:

"His methodology was the outlet for Chinese modern music, and his style even influenced the 1950s and later."

"In terms of Western composition methods, his music had successfully expressed the power and essence of Chinese music, and truly achieved the style of Chinese aesthetics."

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