A Study On The Theory And Practice Of Xiao Bai's Chorus Command

Bai Xiao,(1932-), a famous composer and conductor, is currently the Standing Consultant of Chinese Chorus Association. He has been a conductor, guest conductor or guest professor at the Shanghai Opera House, the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, the Harbin opera house, and Shanghai Conservatory of Music. As a composer, Bai Xiao has composed many works of various genres and themes, and adapted a large number of chorus works, which are very widespread.As a famous musician in our country, Bai Xiao not only compose and adapt a lot of choral works, but also command chorus and orchestra as a conductor for more than 40 years, and thus, Bai Xiao has rich experience in theoretical research and practical experience of chorus conducting. In recent years, Mr. Xiao has been to many places in China to give lectures on chorus conducting, however, which is still not enough for appetite. By analyzing and researching chorus conducting theory and practice of Bai Xiao comprehensively, we not only know his theoretical system and practical art research in greater details, but understand professional requirements for chorus conducting to grasp works and conducting art better. At the same time, this paper provides some useful suggestions and references for chorus instructors and learners.This article consists of three parts, namely, introduction, main body and conclusion. The introduction mainly discusses the reasons, theories, practical significances, current research situation and methods. The main text is divided into five chapters as following to discuss. The first chapter mainly introduces his life experience and composition experience; the second chapter mainly introduces his professional understanding about chorus conducting, which will be elaborated in two aspects--his particularity of chorus conducting and the relationship between a conductor and his team. The third chapter mainly introduces the interpretation of three barriers impeding the development of chorus conducting in China. Additionally, this paper will discuss in the weak educational foundation, scarce conductors of high level and outstanding choral works, and solutions for these concerns. Studying of Bai Xiao's theory is based on the thinking of the above barriers impeding the development of chorus conducting in China. Hopefully, this paper could be conducive to current chorus art. The fourth part mainly briefs on Bai Xiao's understanding about three-layer of chorus conducting theory, and it consists of three aspects. In this part, conducting conception of Bai Xiao will be discussed, featuring the theory, the practice and performance. In this way, on one hand a choral conductor theory that is scientific and feasible in practice will be known, on the other hand theoretical principles and rules could be extracted to offer researchers reference. The last chapter mainly talks about his understanding about "three-layer construction" of chorus conducting art in three details--technical level, cultural level, and aesthetic thinking level. The conclusion part is to summarize this paper.