A Study On The Constructive Methods Of Pitch System Of Chou Wen-chung’s Music

In this dissertation, the study of Chou Wen-chung’s music focuses on the pitch tectonic system, such as the core interval, pitch class set, chord structure, pentatonic scale,"Pien" mode (variable mode), texture, and so on. As important elements of the structure of pitch, they are both independent and associated. The scale mode will be the principal line, to which the others will be attached.Chapter Introduction, through the analysis and research of the large number of documents, the main direction of this study have been found which is the compositional techniques and its historical logic, rather than musicology studies.Chapter Ⅱ focuses on the first period of Chou Wen-chung’s music. In this period, the pentatonic factors act as the main organized tools, using the themes of Chinese folk songs directly, or developing the folk themes, or abstracting the elements of pentatonic scale, such as three-tone or four-tone group, interval of major second, minor third or perfect fourth, etc. He creates many stacked chords of pentatonic feature, such as stacked perfect fourth or fifth intervals, integrated horizontal melody to vertical chord, etc. The poetic picturesque mood in All in the Spring Wind and the sensational delicate sound in And the Fallen Petals show the noble and elegant temperament, the oriental style, what is appreciated by westerners!Chapter Ⅲ focuses on Chou Wen-chung’s Pien modes which are essentially manual tuning, similar to the tuning created by Messiaen, Debussy and Bartok. By means of contrast, the mathematical logic of Pien modes is abstracted from the Yijing, one of the sources of Chinese culture, which is different from the cultural characteristics of the other techniques of artificial tuning. This is a self-contained system, which develops from complicated methods of note filling in Cursive toward concise dispensable filling note in Yiin.Chapter Ⅳ mainly researches Chou’s music language system amalgamated back into the normal universal compositional techniques from extreme personalization. The first breaking of self-sufficient restriction is in Windswept Peaks, dovetailing with the pitch class set. The second is in the Cloud, with the12-tone chromatic processing, the widespread use of modern techniques. However, the self-logic personality of Pien mode is still intact, even more satisfactorily unfolded in general system. Into the21st century, Chou puts aside the skills and controls his music freely in Streams, just as spring boils from Stream, the real music flues out from the heart.It is shown in the fifth chapter that Chou’s creative ideas and techniques have brought the influences to some composers who live in the mainland of China in the late20th century. Through a brief introduction of the composition system of "Taiji","Wuxing" and "Ganzhi", the historical logic between them is shown.The conclusion is that:the occidental shape is ostensible, and the oriental spirit is inherent, which means integration of the Chinese and the Western.