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From the end of the last century, arranging Taiwanese folk songs for different
purposes has become highly popular. Many Taiwanese composers have arranged
originally mono-line melodies into vocals with orchestral accompaniment, or into
arrangements for pure instrumental ensembles. No matter what caused the phenomenon - possibly the political situation, the rise of national consciousness, use in education, or
just an increase in commercial demand -- these products were welcomed in the public
media, and heard in different venues, including concerts, films, and TV episodes or
commercials. Some of the products were thematic compilations, commercially available
as CD albums. Among the one that are still sold in stores today are the collection of
Chinese Symphonic Century arranged by Li Tai-Hsiang1, the albums arranged and
released by Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, and Splendor—When Western Baroque
meets Taiwanese Folk Songs, arranged by the author2. In fact, these Taiwanese
musicians are not the only composers who have shown interest in creating this kind of
music. In 1993, the Japanese composer and music professor, Masaaki Hayakawa
produced two albums containing arrangements of Taiwanese folk songs, Four Seasons of
Taiwan and Beautiful Folk Melodies.3 Along with the other composers’ works, his
products are still commercially available today.
Through this popular theme many composers have shown their great creativity and
skill in arranging folk songs with a variety of interpretations. However, among the
released audio products, only two series -- the series by Masaaki Hayakawa and Splendor,
1
Masaaki Hayakawa, Four Seasons of Taiwan., Taipei: Sunrise Records LTD., 1995. Audio CD..
Szu-Hsien Lee. Splendor – When Western Baroque meets Taiwanese Folk Songs, Taipei: Wind
Records LTD., 2006. Audio CD Performed, recorded, and produced by Baroque Camerata, the faculty
chamber orchestra in the department of music, National Sun Yat-sen University, 2006.
2
3
Masaaki Hayakawa is teaching in Nagoya University, Nagoya. His two albums for Baroque
Chamber Orchestra were both brought out by Sunrise-Records, 1995.
by the current author -- feature the Baroque music style, with instrumentation for
Baroque chamber orchestra.
The Baroque chamber orchestra usually consists of ten to twenty players: one
harpsichordist, one contrabassist, and at least two players for each part of the strings.
Sometimes wind or brass players participate to contribute different combinations of tune
colors. Thus Baroque chamber orchestral color is characteristically light, transparent, and
unique. In addition, it presents the sound of music from approximately 1600 to 1800, the
Baroque and early Classical periods. The music style of that era is a mix of clear and
joyful, realistic and intellectual. The folk songs arranged in this specific style can be
understood and liked by folk song lovers naturally, and without much effort. It also lifts
the folk song arrangements to attain a certain complexity and artistry. It not only benefits
the economics of the performance, the convenience of the instrumental substitution, but
also the uniqueness of the sound.
Although written for the same instrumentation, and namely in the similar historical
style, the current author’s arrangements sound very different from Hayakawa’s. The
simplest, but intuitive analysis might find that Hayakawa’s is more sophisticated and
strictly Baroque, and that Splendor has a stronger Taiwanese flavor and also is mixed
with various western music languages other than Baroque. The contrast between these
latter works arouses curiosity about several questions:
1) what music languages -- that is, the elements and techniques selected in the
arrangements -- can be considered more Eastern and Taiwanese, or more Western and
Baroque; 2) what music languages are indeed used and mixed in these two Asian
composers’ arrangements; and 3) are the composers’ background, identity and era
revealed in their musical arrangements.
Many composers in Taiwan today are not enthusiastic about analyzing or critiquing
their own music for public discussion. But as a music theory and composition teacher,
this writer’s interest and curiosity has been aroused by the questions directed at me from
other musicians, from persons in the private sector, and even from myself. Therefore,
following the questions posed above, I will attempt to investigate my arrangements in
Splendor from a theorist’s point of view, and to recall why I made various decisions
about the fusion of different music languages when arranging the melodies as a composer.
A brief comparison with Hayakawa’s Four Seasons of Taiwan will follow. The goal of
this analysis and comparison is to point the way for young Taiwanese composers to
become aware of, and to express, their identity both geographically and chronologically
by sensitizing themselves to historical musical styles, and by developing the motivation
and ability to combine multiple music languages.
I. What music language is considered Baroque (Western), or Taiwanese (Eastern)?
In seeking to understand music, many musicologists and music theorists compare
music to natural language. They attempt to apply linguistic theories in studying music
because they believe music possesses certain characteristics of language. The theories
include semiotic analyses, information theory, theories of generative grammar, and other
specially invented theories of what is being expressed in music.4 Yet, how music relates
to language, whether music is itself a language, and what is meant by music language
seems a never-ending debate. Some theorists have even warned us about the problems of
trying to map music onto language directly.
Music resembles a language. ….. But music is not identical with language. The
resemblance points to something essential, but vague. Anyone who takes it literally
will be seriously misled.5
Music resembles language in the sense that it is a temporal sequence of articulated
sounds which are more than just sounds. ….. The succession of sounds is like logic:
it can be right or wrong. But what has been said cannot be detached from the music.
Music creates no semiotic system.6
It is not my intention here to discuss the pros and cons of comparing music to
language. However, the fact that music theory teachers have successfully applied
linguistic theories to help explain music is undeniable. The basic elements of music can
be explained equivalently as the materials that compose prose or poetry: music scales
provide melodic intervals in music and are like the intonations of a spoken language—
probably in a sense of localism; chords are like the words pronounced in a language; and
the scheme of chordal progressions function as grammars. Different music may be
constructed in different pitch structures, just like different languages are organized using
4
Christopher Dobrian, Music and Language. http://music.arts.uci.edu/dobrian/CD.music.lang.htm,;
Internet; accessed October, 2006.
Theodor W. Adorno, translated by Rodney Livingstone “A Fragment” in Quasi una Fantasia:
Essays on Modern Music, (London, New York: VERSO, 1998), 1.
5
6
Ibid.
different intonations, words, grammars, and logic. This analogy can be applied with little
deviation to approach western tonal music written within the era of common practice7,
since tonal music has been well-developed for hundreds of years and is accepted by the
public’s subconscious as a systematic and mature language. Thus Western tonal music
language can refer to music that “intonates” in major or minor tonal diatonic scales,
“speaks” horizontally in tonal melodies, and vertically in triads or seventh chords, and
“communicates” through the functional harmonic progression, the scheme of T—S—D—
T.8
Although the logic of music is not necessarily identical to literal syntax, music does
have its own systematic organization, and good music usually is written with good
organization. The analogy therefore goes beyond the organized connection of sounds and
extends to the whole structure. The traditional theory of musical form employs such
terms as sentence, phrase, segment, ways of punctuation, question, exclamation, and
parenthesis.9 The Period, in musical terms, is similar to a finished sentence with a period;
and sections or parts correspond to paragraphs.
However, the extension to the whole music structure, which is called music forms,
dwells in all music regardless of the pitch structures of the music. In the writer’s opinion,
the same formal structures can be seen in different music languages, just like the sonnets
can be read in English or Chinese, and an article composed in four paragraphs can be
7
Common practice refers to the years of tonal music from the 17th-century to the late 19th-century.
8
All the chords in tonal music are categorized into T (tonic), S (predominant or subdominant), and D
(dominant), and function as the beginning points (also ending points) that are stable, transitions to the
middle points, and the middle points that are unstable. The scheme of the progression is always follow the
direction of T-S-D-T
9
Theodor W. Adorno, 1.
written in any language. The antecedent-consequent periodic structures, the ternary
formal design can be seen in many music works whether they are Eastern, Western,
modal, tonal or atonal. Music language that the writer intends to define in this discussion
is thus restricted to the use of pitch elements and structures--the scales, intervals, chords,
and the connections of these elements.
Further exploration of the resemblance of music and language, syntax, and the
idiom of structuring music leads us to consider the composer’s personal style. The great
composers in music history tend to express their emotions or characters by twisting or
breaking existing rules. For the rules of tonal music language, the use of mode mixture
and borrowed chords, enharmonic tones, and the interruption and the prolongation of the
expected harmonic progression are common techniques. They function against the
normal logic of the predominant music language, but without moving the language
toward nonsense. The syntax can be different from composer to composer, or from piece
to piece, and conceived of as a composer’s signature.
In western music history, Baroque is a turning point in that tonal music reached
maturity, became dominant over modal music, and flourished for more than three
hundred years. The unique Baroque sound and the contrapuntal texture that continued to
develop from the polyphony of the Renaissance, along with the tonal language,
contributed the historical music style of Baroque. Although the great Baroque
composers—A. Corelli, J. S. Bach, G. F. Handel, or A. Vivaldi all had their own music
signatures, the historical styles recognized in their music are all considered the same.
The music language of the Classical era also is tonal. However, the historical styles
of Baroque and Classical have essential differences. First, the texture of Classical is less
polyphonic. Furthermore, in spite of the same basic schemes of harmonic progression as
that of Baroque, the tempos of Classical chordal alternations, and the moving of bass
lines, are relatively slow. One of the typical Baroque features is the rapid sequential
melodic and chordal progressions, which can be heard in famous pieces, for instance
Pachbell’s Canon in D or Bach’s Prelude in C. The progressions are used for prolonging
a period of music and function as bridges or transitions to modulate between sections.
[Fig 1] Sequential harmonic progressions
Following our previous assumption, if chords resemble words, then fast chordal
alternation and decorative moving of melodies should create the impression of wordiness
or grandiosity. This is actually one of the Baroque flavors: the tonal language spoken by
unique orchestral sounds, presented in contrapuntal multiple voices, and elaborated with
characteristics of rhetoric, color, and “splendor.”
Using the previous assumptions, it is not hard to discover what distinguishes the
language and flavor of Taiwanese music -- at least of Taiwanese folk songs, -- from that
of Baroque. First of all, the scales are different. Scales are the collections of the melodic
intervals frequently appearing in a piece of music. In Taiwanese songs, as well as in
most Chinese songs, the commonly used intervals are almost identical to the intonation of
the spoken words. In other words, the intonation of the spoken language leads the
melodic contour that is structured with particular intervals. For the Taiwanese languages,
the intonations of words mainly can be mapped onto simple intervals of major second,
third, fourth, fifth, sixth and octave. Minor second and seventh are not considered
idiomatic in the language. When words are sung in secession, the melodic intervals
indicated above may move in succession, either in the same direction or in the opposite
direction according to the word connections. However, thirds moving in the same
direction in secession are not heard in the language. The motion in this mode is instead a
second, a third, a fourth or a fifth to connect with major second (Fig. 2). In other words,
unlike the triad being the essential element in tonal music language, the connection that
may generate the sense of the broken triad chord is not considered idiomatic in
Taiwanese music language.
[Fig.2] The intervallic motions of the melody. They can be transposed or rotated.
The result is that the scales used in the majority of Taiwanese music are pentatonic
(Fig. 3). By starting from a different point on this five-note sequence, a scale with a
different interval a sequence is created. Similar to the construction of modes in modern
Western music, the modes of scales are named after its starting note as in Gong (宮),
Shang (商), Jue (角), Zhi (徵), and Yu (羽), like Chinese modes are named.
[Fig.3]
This observation about the scales, intervals, and melodies comes from the writer’s
experiences while composing songs sung in Taiwanese or Chinese languages. Some may
disagree with the writer’s observation, and argue that the language and music of Taiwan
is too diverse to support that observation. How and why the pentatonic scales are used in
the majority of Taiwanese music’s language is actually not that simple to explain. But it
is undeniably true. Taiwanese music indeed has diverse origins. The contemporary
works may have mixed the musicality and other characteristics of the music of aborigines,
of the immigrations from China, of the influences from Japan, and of the western world.
If the spoken language influences the scales and intervals in which a song is constructed,
then different intonation from these languages should lead to Pluralism in Taiwanese
music. To take the traditional Taiwanese music as an example, a lot of traditional music
is subordinate to Xi-que (戲曲), (traditional opera). The music scales are varied along
the different genres, as the seven-note diatonic scales are used, but differently in
Nanguan10 (南管) and Beiguan (北管)11, the usage of the intervallic leap of fourth is
10
A vocal and instrumental ensemble that is originated in Quanzhou area in Fujian province in
mainland China. The Quanzhou localism can be heard in its seven-note scales. Four scales used in
Nanguan : wu-k'ung kuan, ssu-k'ung kung, wu-liu-ssu-ch'ih kuan, pei-ssu kuan. The intervallic
combinations in the scales are all different.
often seen though differently in Hakka folk songs (客家山歌) compared to Ge-zai opera
(歌仔戲). Thus to elementarily define the music language -- the scales and intervallic
schemes of the Taiwanese folk songs -- may not be agreed with by all linguisticians and
musicologists.
However, the research on the relation between spoken language and the melodic
structure in Taiwanese music is not mature and systematic yet, and neither are the
theoretic studies on the music melody per se.12 It does require further study and
discussion. Yet, the observation on the pitch structures of the twelve Taiwanese folk
songs selected in Splendor may illustrate the usefulness of the definitions offered by the
writer.
The songs selected in this album may be originally sung with special intonations,
but the current melodies transcribed and arranged – and also the version that are familiar
by people -- have been modified to fit well in the categories of diatonic and pentatonic
scales in different modes. The scales of the twelve songs are mostly pentatonic in mode
Gong, Yu, and Zhi (see the chart A). But the 4th, 9th, and 11th songs are exceptions.
11
Beiguan uses seven notes scales: siong, yit, wu, liok, huan, gong, ce, siong. It almost resembles to
do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, the scale degrees in western seven notes diatonic scales.
Surveying the books written by the Taiwanese musicologists (ex., Hsiu Chang-Hei 許常惠, Liu
Chuen-Kuen 呂錘寬, and Jien Shang-Jen 簡上仁,), the researches on Taiwanese music mainly focus on the
historical documentary analyses. Only the dissertation written in 1974 by Liu Wen-Liu (劉文六) attempts
to categorize Taiwanese music and to theorize about the structures of Taiwanese melodies (available on
Electronic Theses and Dissertation System).
12
Chart A. The scales and modes of the twelve songs
The song in the album
1. Dark Sky before the Downpour
Scales
(Notated in Gien-Pu, the
numbers indicate the
scale degrees)
5 6 (7) 1 2 3 5 6 [Final=6]
. .
2. Jasmine in June
2356123
Modes
(Encoded with the name of
Chinese modes or Church
modes)
Yu (羽) with an added note (7) for
the nuances
[Final=5]
Zhi (徵)
. . . .
3. Melody Reminiscent of An-Ping
3 5 6 1 2 3 5 6 1 [Final=6]
Yu (羽)
. . .
4. Moonlight Sorrow
5. Tao Hwa Crosses the River
3 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 [Final=1]
Quasi Ionian lacking 7
. . .
/ quasi Gong
561235
[Final=1]
Gong (宮)
[Final=6]
Yu (羽)
[Final=1]
Gong (宮)
[Final=6]
Yu (羽)
. .
6. The Cricket Teases the Rooster
6123561
.
7. Egret
5612356
. .
8. Cattle Plowing Songs
3561235
. . .
9. Rainy Night in the Port City
3 #5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1
Minor / Aeolian with raised 5.
. . . .
The setting of the tendency
[Final=6]
(leading) tone makes the tonal
flavor of minor.
10. The Tune of Taidung
356123
[Final=6]
Yu (羽)
. . .
11. When the Farewell Gongs Sound
12. Lullaby
35671235671
Quasi Aeolian (lacking 4)
. . . .
[Final=6]
/quasi Yu (羽)
12356123
[Final=1]
Gong (宮)
. . . . .
The Taiwanese folk songs from Splendor in fact should be further divided into two
categories. One category contains the anonymous natural folk songs. The 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th,
7th, 8th, and the 10th songs are belonged to this category. They mostly originate from
nursery rhymes or recite intonations, and are simple and short in one or two part form.
Since the melodies follow the intonation of Taiwanese spoken language, the intervals of
the transcribed melodies tend to be major second, third, and fifth. The Chinese
pentatonic scales provide suitable intervals for the spoken-like melodies.
The other category contains the popular songs written by well-known song writers
between 1930 and 1960. Many of the writers received music education overseas and
were influenced by Japanese or Western music. The 3rd, 4th, 9th, 11th and the 12th songs
are in this category. Some of these melodies tend to be less simple: the range of melodies
is bigger, the change of the melodic motion is quicker, the combinations of intervals are
more complicated, and the scales are possibly a mix of different systems. An example is
the mixture of pentatonic and diatonic scales in Moonlight Sorrow13. The mixture of
Gong and Ionian in Moonlight Sorrow is caused by the use of the scale degree 4. The
melodic movement in minor second several times from the scale degree 3 to 4 makes the
song sounds more Western. This is also seen in When the Farewell Gongs Sound. The
half step motion between the scale degree 7 and 1 causes the language to sound be quasi
in Western modal and quasi Chinese. As to Rainy Night in the Port City, the note below
the tonic (the final, the key center) is raised one half step. This is typically tonal music
idiom. It strengthens the melodic tendency toward the tonic, also implies the tonal
cadential movement from Dominant to Tonic. Nevertheless, the succession of
13
Moonlight Sorrow was composed in 1933 by Deng Yu-Hsien (1906-1944). Dang Yu-Hsien
studied composition at the Tokyo Music Conservatory in 1928.
descending melodic motion (Fig. 4) stresses the diminish 5th and gives the flavor of
Japanese mode. The song writer’s background14 is already revealed from the mixture of
the language even in this single melody.
[Fig. 4] Rainy Night at Port City
14
Rainy Night in the Port City was composed by Yang San-Lang (1919-1989). Yang San-Lang
studied music composition and arrangement in Japan between 1937-1940. He ever worked in the club
bands in several cities in China as a trumpet player.
II. The music languages, techniques, and the mixture in the arrangements in Splendor
and Taiwan Four Seasons
To extend a short monody into an instrumental ensemble piece that is at least three
minutes long, an arranger’s task is first to determine the ways of harmonization, as well
as the formal design for the whole piece. Hayakawa’s Four Seasons of Taiwan also
consists of twelve Taiwanese songs. However, the whole structure of his album is
arranged by relying on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Violin Concerto, unlike that of Splendor
which models no specific exemplar. The form of each piece in his album basically
emulates the form of the corresponding pieces in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Even so,
according to the author’s assumptions presented above, the formal design is not the key to
influencing the music language. Therefore, the reason the arrangements in Splendor
preserve more Taiwanese flavor is mainly due to the harmonization.
How to choose the intervals and chords to find a good counterpoint with Taiwanese
flavor has to be deeply thought about by the arranger while composing. Based upon
close observation of the original materials, the chords that go along with the pentatonic
scales are constructed as a third, a fourth or a fifth with an added major second. Thus,
although the triad is still the major choice in Splendor due to the Baroque context, the
arranger used many modal chords when she intended to emphasize the modal
characteristics of Taiwanese or Chinese [Fig.5].
[Fig. 5] Jasmine in June, mm.1-15.
As a matter of fact, these kinds of chords are commonly heard in Chinese music.
Traditional Chinese music is usually considered monophonic. However, some
instruments still play harmony, especially the plucked string instruments. The intervals
between the open strings of Pipa (mostly A-D-E-A), Guchin (mostly C-D-F-G-A-C-D),
and Guzhang all have the quality of generating the sonority of modal chords. The
arranger used the chords not only for the locality of the music, but also to emulate the
sonority of Chinese or Taiwanese instruments [Fig. 6].
Neither of these kinds of devices are seen in Hayakawa’s arrangements, nor is the
frequency of use of modal chords. The harpsichord in Hayakawa’s arrangements only
played the role of realizing figured bass, strictly typical Baroque. Hayakawa used triads
and tonal cadences throughout; in contrast, the language of Splendor is fusion, depending
upon how much originality of the songs the arranger wished to preserve.
[Fig. 6] The Cricket Teases the Rooster, mm.83-93.
This fusion can be seen in other aspects as well. Basically, the arranger kept the
surface design -- the uniqueness of the sound, and the texture in the historical impression
of Baroque. In addition, she kept the orchestral design to emulate concerto gross (Fig7);
the fugatal techniques for the thickness and complexity of polyphony (Fig. 8); the fast
moving bass lines that support the quick alternated chords (Fig. 9); and the use of
Dominant-Tonic progression in sequence to connect sections (Fig. 10). Yet, the
techniques borrowed from other languages or historical styles were used to reveal the
hidden pictures expressed in the original text of the songs, for instance, for revealing the
design of the texture. Although the texture is mostly in contrapuntal polyphonic, the
arranger actually borrowed idioms that do not belong to Baroque. Heterophony15 is used
in Tao Hwa Crosses the River, to present the “whir” of the original function of the song
15
Heterophony is the texture where the various voice or parts are differentiated in character. This can
refer to a kind of complex monophony in which there is only one basic melody, but realized simultaneously
by multiple voices, each of which play the melody differently, either in a different rhythm or tempo, with
different embellishments and figures, or idiomatically different.
(Fig. 11).16 In preserving this texture, the parallel motion that is forbidden in Baroque
contrapuntal writing was an effective choice to reveal the locality of Taiwanese.
[Fig 7] Dark Sky before the Downpour, mm. 13-25.
16
Tao Hwa Crosses the River is music from a kind of street folk show played in early farmers’
festivities. This melody is sung with dance and an act in the show. The main characters in the show are
Miss Tao Hwa and a zany old sailor on a ferry. Because of the entertaining function and the characteristics
of farce and humor in the melody, the arranger used un-Baroque scales (Pentatonic) and textures
(heterophony) to illustrate the whir of the parade and colorful carnival.
[Fig 8] When the Farewell Gongs Sound, mm.64-7.
[Fig 9] The Tune of Taidung, mm. 65-80.
[Fig 10] Dark Sky before the Downpour, mm. 81-99.
[Fig. 11] Tao Hwa Crosses the River, mm. 13-24.
Sound and the historical style are also mixed in certain pieces. In Melody
Reminiscent of An-Ping, the arranger created the expression of dark and sentimental.
Thus the intervals, the unresolved enharmonic tones, the range and the density of the
orchestration, and the layering complexity all create strong harmonic tension. The sound
and the style are rather Romantic.
As to the formal design, the arranger feels the western ways of modulation are great
to facilitate extending the short songs into much longer ones, even if just through
repetition. Therefore, the arrangements are all unfolded with shifting and alternating
keys, the central tones. Besides, the fixed forms in western music are treasured vehicles
to help extend the song length and into a specific historical sense of Baroque. Thus some
of the songs were arranged in forms that have association with historical Baroque style,
though the modulation of keys of these songs remains relatively simpler than Baroque
(see Chart B).
As can be seen from the chart, the arranger was not addicted to the Baroque way of
modulation. First of all, it is not necessary to go back to the original key areas. As the
example, in Egret a modulation in the secession of thirds is used. This is rather an idiom
of the Classical era, but bravely chosen to create the image of the egrets’ graceful motion
of flying.
Something worth noting is that the brevity is not only seen on the modulations.
Whole tone scales shortly appear in Egret, and the Jazz blue note sounded in Rainy Night
in the Port City. The mixtures in the arrangements are seen from its music language,
forms, historical styles, and results in the flavor of fusion that goes beyond Baroque or
Taiwanese.
Chart B. The forms of the twelve arrangements
The songs in the album
Forms
The alternation of the key
areas
1. Dark Sky before the Downpour
Song; With long prelude in
e-b-e
concerto style
2. Jasmine in June
Song; with a fugato prelude
G-A (Zhi on D-Zhi on E)
3. Melody Reminiscent of An-Ping
Through-composed
a-#f-b
4. Moonlight Sorrow
Song
C-D
5. Tao Hwa Crosses the River
Ternary
C-G-A (a)-C
6. The Cricket Teases the Rooster
Binary, with long prelude and
c-e-#c
interlude
7. Egret
Song
A-C-bE-G
8. Cattle Plowing Songs
Minuet and Trio
a-A-a
9. Rainy Night in the Port City
Continuous Binary form in the
g-e-g
style of Gigue , with the
additional opening and coda in
the style of French Overture
10. The Tune of Taidung
Binary, with additional prelude
a-b
and coda.
11. When the Farewell Gongs Sound
Binary, with Fugue in the second
g-a
part.
12. Lullaby
Song
C-bD-C
In comparison, Hayakawa’s language is more typically tonal. The triads, the tonal
harmonic progression and the cadences are used throughout in the album. As to the
texture, emulating Vivarldi’s Four Seasons, his arrangements are less fugatal. However,
his ways of modulation between sections, and the mature skills of using motivic elements
of sequential harmonic progressions to prolong the modulation, make him a brilliant
arranger who could retain the flavor of Baroque successfully. His great skill also helped
the twelve Taiwanese songs to be woven in the order of the forms of those of Four
Seasons. In some sense, he quotes the sound, the texture, and the harmony from Four
Seasons literally.
The technique of parody also is seen in Splendor. Bach’s prelude in C Major is
quoted in Egret and transformed into accompaniment played by harpsichord; and the
harmonic progression, recalling that of Pachbell’s Canon, is heard in Lullaby. The
difference is that Four Seasons works as a plot for Hayakawa’s Taiwan Four Seasons.
The Taiwanese songs are woven on Vivaldi’s plan and united with his language. In
contrast, in Splendor, the segment of C Major Prelude works as a fixed quotation and
was cut and pasted into Egret. Thus in Egret, the impression of Bach appeared briefly
like an echo, but has no essential relationship with the song itself. These techniques use
the superimposition of different languages and materials rather than recomposing new
music from the materials. These techniques are often seen in composers’ works after
1950, for example George Crumb’s and Luciano Berio’s. This kind of design is defined
as postmodernism by some music aestheticians. It is characteristic of the era of the music
far after Baroque in the twentieth century.
III. The relation between the arrangements and the composers’ background, identity and
era
People may consider that arranging music creates nothing original, thus it may
requires less effort and creativity than freely composing a whole new piece. But in the
author’s experience, re-composing with or on the existing materials may be more difficult
in some ways. It requires the composer to apply different techniques, languages and
styles, and relies heavily upon the arrangers’ awareness of the material and the goals of
the arrangement. Therefore, the arrangements should reveals the composer’s personality
and identity just as freely composed new pieces do provided the composes has a deep
understanding of the original materials and is clear about what he or s/he intends to
address.
This awareness would have been achieved by the two composers before they
created the Baroque version of Taiwanese folk songs. Their intentions were different but
clear as discussed in previous paragraphs. The decisions that cause the differences are
somehow related to their cultural identities and educational backgrounds. First of all, the
Taiwanese arranger of Splendor is more intimate with the originality of the material.
Those Taiwanese folk songs are like her mother tongue. She’s familiar with the
musicality from the language, the hidden color and flavor in the folk songs, and the
meaning of the original text sung in the songs, which stimulated and guided her choices
in deviating from pure Baroque. If Hayakawa arranged the Japanese folk songs in
Baroque style, the result might sound more Asian in flavor with a mixture of his own
locality.
Second, their educational and life experiences are different. Hayakawa had his
music education in Japan, and studied briefly in Europe from 1978-79. The writer was
educated in Taiwan, but studied music and composition in Los Angeles from 1998-2004.
The multicultural atmosphere on the western coast of the United States influenced her
creativity. These influences not only were included a in the mixture of western historical
styles, mixtures of the Eastern and Western musical languages, but also in the mixtures of
main stream music that is studied academically field and is popular with the public -- for
instance, Rock and Jazz.
This actually reveals not only the geographical experience of the composers, but
their chronological accuracy. After the collapse of the boundaries between the Eastern
and Western world after the cold war around 1950, not only the distance between
countries became closer, but also the development of art and music turned from linearly
progressive into that in multiple directions toward stability17, the pluralism. The
interactions between the culture and styles generated more unity. The plurality of mixing
styles is itself a historical style at the present time.
The composers as well as the other artists have to face this stream of ever changing
music styles. To create fusion is one way composers show their awareness of their
chronological identity. While the influence of nationality alone can become relatively
vague, the proportions of styles and languages in any mixture should just be designed to
facilitating their expression, and the development of their special music language. This
can be the important issue for young composers in Taiwan today. To be aware that
17
Leonard b. Meryer, Music, The Arts, and Ideas: Patterns and Predictions in Twentieth-Century
Culture, (Chicago:The University of Chicago Press, 1994).
Taiwanese music is as important as other languages, and that deep familiarity with this
material is essential – these are the starting points for creating a fusion with other styles.
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