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?

9. Conclusion

The era in which Huang Tzu lived (1920s-1930s) had a great degree of freedom. It means intellectuals could absorb different cultures in this free environment and explore what Chinese music should look like, reflecting the nationality and uniqueness of Chinese music. Cultural exchanges between China and the West could be carried out and cultivated under such circumstances, and the same for Chinese art songs. Yet, by the end of the 1930s, the music styles and themes had changed drastically because of the Second World War (1939-1945). Afterwards, China experienced the civil war, and then the Communist Party of China (CCP) has been in power until now. The Chinese cultural gate had been closed or semi-open to a certain extent. We have no way to study or replicate this kind of "experimental music", nor the cultural exchange could be carried out. And even, due to unfavorable social and political factors, we could not obtain relevant historical materials. Until the past five years, due to the relatively unrestricted political environment, we could re-examine the style of works of this period. It can be imagined that the development of Chinese music in the past 100 years has been deeply influenced by ideological, political, social, cultural and other factors.

Likewise, our perceptions of beauty (aesthetics) have also been influenced by society and politics. Compared with the "me" of yesterday, the "me (as an immigrant to Europe)" of today seem to be in a freer circumstance. In that way, maybe I could understand and appreciate Huang Tzu's works better. At least today, I have studied more about classical music in Europe and so have a better understanding about the origin of Chinese arts songs's compositional theories as well.

Of course, I would like very much to stress again how impressive the moment was when I heard Huang Tzu's music for the first time. Other than describing it as "beautiful", I firmly believe it represents my own culture (in the integration of Chinese and Western cultures). As mentioned by Liu, Huang’s art songs have a kind of charm: "His art songs still influence us today. Now people still appreciate his songs when they hear them, and people even try to learn and sing his songs afterwards." In the past two years, I even promoted his songs (which also belong to me) in the Netherlands so that more people can understand its charm and beauty. What's interesting is that the responses from "foreigners" were very similar to mine, they were full of appreciation. Although they did not understand the poetry or the language, they liked the melody and musical arrangement very much. Impressively, they could even understand Chinese aesthetics (Chinese poetic conception) through my singing. It gives me new inspiration that the meaning of the existence of Chinese art songs may not lie in time, region and language.

During the research process, although I experienced many difficulties, such as data collection, translation, etc. Luckily, I was able to finish. I am very grateful to many people for their support and opinions. These have always encouraged and pushed me to learn more about the connotation of Chinese art songs, because I do not want to only use the word "beautiful" to describe his songs because of its subjectivity and ambiguity. As suggested by my supervisor, I need to study specifically what beauty means behind. I am sure there are more and more vocabularies to explore and use to describe.

In the past, Huang brought Western music to China, promoting the cultural exchange between China and the West. Today, I bring these art songs to the Netherlands, which is also a manifestation of cultural exchange.

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