A Study On The Development Of Ancient Chinese Poetry Song In Modern Times

The ancient Chinese poetry songs is a new music genre,which is different from western art songs(such as German lied,French mélodie,Russian romance,etc.).It is learned from western composing techniques,combined with excellent ancient China poetry.It retains the connotation of good ancient China poetry,and reveal the western composing techniques.When the ancient Chinese poetry songs were composed,they spread all over the country widely.Through the late Qing Dynasty,the early Republic of China,1920 s,1930s and 1940 s,it is a boom of the composition of ancient Chinese poetry songs in the history of contemporary Chinese music with the efforts of composers and music educators of different times.According to incomplete statistics,more than 30 composers composed the ancient Chinese poetry songs,and their nearly400 works have provided as the model for the later ancient Chinese poetry songs.This research is based on the research perspective of modern Chinese music history,the research object of the ancient Chinese poetry songs,and the research premise of a large number of documents.Arguing on the basis of previous studies,this research uses historical research methods,documentary research methods,musicological analysis methods and interdisciplinary research methods.Based on the perspective of "lyrics and music" of ancient Chinese poetry songs,this research analyzes its origin and works.Therefore,it sorts out the development of ancient Chinese poetry songs in modern times,and clarifies the perspective of the motive of composition.This research contains 8 parts: the introduction,six chapters and the conclusion.This study takes the late Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China,after the “May Fourth Movement”,the 1930 s and the 1940 s as the four historical periods.Through a comprehensive vertical and horizontal analyzing,this research has excavated the "lyrics and music" relations,,values of time,and artistic characteristics of modern ancient poetry and songs.In this way,it can point out the direction for the further development of ancient poetry and songs in the new period.In general,this research could carry forward the fine traditional Chinese culture and enhance national self-confidence.What needs to be emphasized is that "ancient Chinese poetry songs" is the research object in this study,especially referring to a song genre composed by composers from 1840 to 1949,which takes ancient Chinese poetry as the lyrics,with western music composition techniques.Chapter 1 combines the relationship between lyrics and music and analyzes the origin of ancient Chinese poetry and music in different historical periods.From the classification of these songs' character of different eras,it can be divided into three stages.There are the stage of "matching music with poetry" such as singable "Shi Jing" and "Chu Ci";the stage of "matching poetry with music" such as “Yue Fu Poems”,“Tang Poetry”,and the quatrains which often used in singing;and the stage of "poetry and music are equal" such as “Song Ci” and “San Qu” in Yuan Dynasty.In this dissertation,the stage of "matching poetry with music" and the stage of "poetry and music are equal" are responses in the four historical periods of ancient Chinese poetry song lately.Chapter 2 bases on the perspective of the education situation in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China to analyze the process of how the ancient Chinese poetry song transfer to the ancient Chinese poetry song in modern times.It not only clarifies the historical truth of the "incarnation" of ancient Chinese poetry song,but also finds the source of the creation of ancient poetry and songs--school music,and summarizes its characteristics through case analysis.Li Shutong is the pioneer of ancient Chinese poetry.Musical textbooks,“The Newest Medium Music Textbook",incorporate the interval etudes of the ancient Chinese poetry genre.At that time,ancient poems were bluntly written into foreign music tunes,and the relationship between lyrics and music was close to the "matching poetry with music" made by ancient Chinese poetry.Chapter 3 combs the historical background of the 1920 s,the implementation process of school aesthetic education,normal music education and professional music education by describing the historical background since the "May Fourth Movement".This research explores the reasons for the emergence of the ancient Chinese poetry song of the academic school and summarizes the characteristics of the works by analyzing the works of composers.Early students studying abroad,such as Xiao Youmei and Qing Zhu and German musician Valesby actively devote themselves to the professional music education in China,and at the same time use ancient poems to create songs.They devoted themselves to professional music education in China.They use ancient Chinese poetry as the lyrics for song composition.Compared with the ancient Chinese poetry songs of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,the compositions of these composers showed more artistic and academic style.The academic style composers of this period are no longer satisfied by choosing melody and filling in the lyrics,replacing it with a way of focusing on both "lyrics" and "melody".They used Western composition techniques to "tailor-made" the melody and harmony for each ancient Chinese poetry.Due to the immature thinking about Chinese music composition,the ancient Chinese poetry songs of this period mostly showed the style characteristics of Western music.Chapter 4 analyzes the development of music educational on the theme of AntiJapanese and National Salvation by describing the historical background of the 1930 s.Through the analysis of some ancient Chinese poetry,summarize the characteristics of the development of ancient Chinese poetry song composition in the peak period.Whether it is Zhao Yuanren,Zhou Shuan,Huang Zi,Ying Shangneng,Qingzhu,Li Weining and other students studying abroad,or the "Four Disciples",Chen Houan,Lin Shengji,Zhang Ding and Qiu Wangxiang and other domestic students,they all began to pursue A musical style that has both national and personal characteristics and explores an effective way of composing "Chinese music".During this period,both "Yue Ge" style ancient Chinese poetry songs and academic style ancient Chinese poetry songs were used in middle school music teaching and professional music teaching.From the perspective of the relationship between "lyrics and music",the two composing techniques of "matching poetry with music" and "poetry and music are equal" coexist.Chapter 5 analyzes the development of music education under the theme of democracy by describing the historical background of the 1940 s.Through the analysis of the works of some composers,such as Xian Xinghai,Tan Xiaolin,Jiang Wenye,Cai Jikun,etc.,this research summarizes the reasons for the decline of ancient Chinese poetry's composition and the characteristics of composition.Therefore,the composition of ancient Chinese poetry songs was greatly reduced.On the contrary,the composition of mass songs flourished.It is undeniable that a new group of overseas students brought back the composition theory of new Western music genres from European and American countries.They brought new ideas to the composition of ancient Chinese poetry song in modern times.During this period,the composition of ancient Chinese poetry songs in the "Yue Ge" style and academic style continued into the 1930 s.Obviously,the two composing techniques of "matching poetry with music" and "poetry and music are equal" coexist.Chapter 6 reviews the historical process of more than one hundred years,the birth and development of ancient Chinese poetry song under the influence of the new music education system,and its artistic characteristics are manifested in the relationship between Chinese and Western,ancient and modern,refined and vulgar.The relationship between Chinese and Western composition techniques can be seen from the perspective of "one lyrics with multiple melody" and the relationship between lyrics and music;the relationship between ancient and modern composition genre can be seen from the perspective of the content of poems;the relationship between elegance and vulgarity can be seen from the perspective of the motive of composition and the limitation of communication.Based on mentioned before,this study clarifies the production and development of ancient Chinese poetry song.In this research,it will also present the full picture and explore the historical value of the research object.At the same time,combining with the current situation of the development of ancient Chinese poetry song to give objective and pertinent evaluation,in the comparison of ancient and modern,Chinese and Western mutual learning,elegant and vulgar comparison,efforts to explore the development direction of ancient Chinese poetry song.