Folk Music Genes in Hunan Piano Compositions: A Regional Analysis of Characteristics and Contemporary Value
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Abstract
This study investigates folk music genes in Hunan piano compositions, focusing on works incorporating minority music elements from the Tujia, Miao, and Dong ethnic groups. Analyzing piano works composed between 1980 and 2020 by five Hunan composers (Xi Qiming, Tan Dun, Wang Jianzhong, Chu Wanghua, and Hu Yuping), this research employs musicological analysis, modal analysis, and cultural interpretation methods. Results reveal distinct regional characteristics: (1) predominant use of Yu mode with raised Shang and Zhi tones (found in 73% of analyzed works), a distinctive feature of Hunan Flower Drum Opera; (2) rhythmic patterns imitating percussion and vocal inflections from local opera traditions; (3) direct melodic borrowing from Hunan folk songs, with "Liuyang River" being the most frequently adapted melody; (4) structural preferences for modified ternary form (67% of works), reflecting folk song verse structures. These findings advance understanding of regional musical identity in Chinese piano composition, provide compositional models for integrating folk elements into Western musical idiom, and document the role of art music in preserving endangered folk traditions.
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