Lives in Chinese Music

Description

Until recently, most scholarly work on Chinese music in both Chinese and Western languages has focused on genres, musical structure, and general history and concepts, rather than on the musicians themselves. This volume breaks new ground by focusing on individual musicians active in different amateur and professional music scenes in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Chinese communities in Europe. Using biography to deepen understanding of Chinese music, contributors present richly contextualized portraits of rural folk singers, urban opera singers, literati, and musicians on both geographic and cultural frontiers. The topics investigated by these authors provide fresh insights into issues such as the urban-rural divide, the position of ethnic minorities within the People's Republic of China, the adaptation of performing arts to modernizing trends of the twentieth century, and the use of the arts for propaganda and commercial purposes. The social and political history of China serves as a backdrop to these discussions of music and culture, as the lives chronicled here illuminate experiences from the pre-Communist period through the Cultural Revolution to the present. Showcasing multiple facets of Chinese musical life, this collection is especially effective in taking advantage of the liberalization of mainland China that has permitted researchers to work closely with artists and to discuss the interactions of life and local and national histories in musicians' experiences. Contributors are Nimrod Baranovitch, Rachel Harris, Frank Kouwenhoven, Tong Soon Lee, Peter Micic, Helen Rees, Antoinet Schimmelpenninck, Shao Binsun, Jonathan P. J. Stock, and Bell Yung. | Contents Acknowledgements Introduction: Writing Lives in Chinese Music Helen Rees Part I. Regional Focus: The Yangtze River Delta 1. Zhao Yongming: Portrait of a Mountain Song Cicada Frank Kouwenhoven and Antoinet Schimmelpenninck 2. Shao Binsun and Huju Traditional Opera in Shanghai Jonathan P. J. Stock with Shao Binsun Part II. The Literati 3. Tsar Teh-Yun at Age 100: A Life of Qin Music, Poetry and Calligraphy Bell Yung 4. Gathering a Nation's Music: A Life of Yang Yinliu Peter Micic Part III. Music on the Cultural Frontiers 5. Grace Liu and Cantonese Opera in England: Becoming Chinese Overseas Tong Soon Lee 6. Abdulla M¿jnun: Muqam Expert Rachel Harris 7. Compliance, Autonomy, and Resistance of a Chinese "State Artist": The Case of Mongolian Musician Teng Ge'er Nimrod Baranovitch Contributors Index | "In a difficult field...[this] book breaks new ground by bringing us the real lives of real musicians."—Songlines "A magnificent contribution to English-language scholarship on the music of China. . . . The exceptional writing throughout the volume results in a collection that displays ethnographic research and writing at its best."— The World of Music "The essays integrate the life stories of each musician into political, social, and economic developments in China. . . . Recommended."—Choice | Helen Rees is a professor of ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the author of Echoes of History: Naxi Music in Modern China.