'NANBEI ERPAI MIBEN PIPAPU ZHENQUAN'---A CRITICAL STUDY OF A NINETEENTH-CENTURY HANDBOOK FOR THE CHINESE 'PIPA' LUTE

Although Wanbei Erpai Miben Pipapu Zhenchuan, "The Secret Pipa Music of the True Traditions, Southern and Northern," (abbreviated as HSP) is one of the most important publications in Chinese music history, there has been no analytical study of this source by either Chinese or Western researchers. This study includes both theoretical analysis and an exploration of the cultural-historical context of the subject.;The following conclusions are drawn from the research: (1) For the editors of HSP, the pipa and its music were associated with musical, historical, and poetic traditions spanning at least two millenia. (2) The primary division of the HSP repertoire is between small pieces and large mutisectional suites. (3) Sub-groups of small pieces possess shared musical features, including: tonal emphasis, metrically-consistent scale-degrees, and motives. (4) The small pieces as a whole are arranged in order of musical similarity. (5) Many of the small pieces possess a "sonata-like" form with an exposition, development, and recapitulation of tonal emphasis, phrase rhythm, and motives. (6) The large suites are independently structured, although most possess a high degree of internal unity, provided by large units of shared material or by a generative melody. (7) In both small pieces and large suites, there are patterns of correspondence between musical structure and non-musical themes expressed in the titles and subtitles.;In terms of Chinese music research, this study contributes to our knowledge of musical structure in the entire body of classical solo pipa repertoire, since most of this repertoire is included in HSP.;Chapter One provides the historical and aesthetic background, and makes use of comparative transcriptions to clarify the interpretation of the gongche notation used in HSP. Chapter II is an annotated English translation and staff transcription of HSP. Chapter III is devoted to musical analysis of HSP, and moves among three levels of structure, with explicit reference to the transcriptions of Chapter II. Chapter IV makes use of synthetic methods, including the exploration of patterns of correspondence between music structure and extramusical theme in HSP.