| After reviewing the piano works I’ve learned and studying the relationship between the works of contemporary American musician and the traditional Chinese teaching methods, I made my decision to focus my research on William Bolcom. William Bolcom, a contemporary American composer, musician and writer, is one of the best representative figures in contemporary American music circles. Combining the characteristic of traditional ragtime and the fashionable element of music in the late 20th century, he has conducted a majority of significant musical compositions. It is his great dedication to music that exposes him to many awards, such as the Rockefeller foundation award, the Pulitzer award and the national arts award of the United States. As a professional musician who won Grammy twice, he also was awarded Best Music Composition Prize in 2007. In addition, his masterpieces, such as Song of Innocence and of Experience and the Garden of Eden, are world-renowned. My essay starts with introducing all William’s life to give a basic impression of the composer; then focus on his musical compositions, enumerating his piano compositions, orchestral music works and vocal; next analyzes and compares his piano work 4 Rags for Piano from comprehensive aspects, such as musical form analysis, mode and tonality analysis, texture form, rhythm and metre, melody grammar as well as the harmony of grammar; after that studies the specific performance technique of the players towards 4 Rag for Piano. The main purpose of my essay is to explain William’s perfect combination of the traditional and contemporary creating techniques; study how William applied Ragtime, the folk music element, into regular composite; broaden our acknowledge of American Ragtime and apply the knowledge to produce traditional Chinese piano works and piano education; and sincerely hope that my research can be theoretically useful when it comes to the study of William as well as his compositions. |
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