Chinese Composers in the West: Towards a New Style Identity (Case Study of the Opera “Dream of The Red Chamber” By Bright Sheng)

Abstract

There is considered the issue of migration as a criterion of creativity of Chinese composers on the way to understanding a new stylistic identity. It is stated that in the case of Chinese composers who emigrated to America, the integration of their compositional experience into a different cultural space coincided with the period of renewal of Western musical language on the rowing waves of interest of European and American musical communities in Eastern cultural traditions. It is noted that the process of adaptation of Western listeners to the unusual musical language of Chinese composers was gradual. The figures of Tan Dun, Bright Sheng, Chen Yi, Zhou Long stand out, whose work is highly appreciated by modern musicians and listeners, which is confirmed by the concert programs of the world's leading music institutions. Among Chinese opera composers, the importance of Bright Sheng is emphasized, whose work combines the traditions of Western and Eastern cultures. Sheng managed to achieve a new stylistic identity, which allows us to call him a modern classic, in whose work classical values are disguised by cross-cultural combinations. The composer's experiences are conveyed through bilingual musical vocabulary, which reflects the result of Shen's cultural experience. The peculiarities of the opera "Dream of the Red Chamber" in terms of combining cultural symbols of east and west are analyzed. It is determined that oriental elements are manifested in the usage of additional traditional instruments (Peking Opera and Guqin percussion) while preserving their main function and rhythmic patterns, imitation of the sound of traditional Chinese wind instruments, introduction of quotations from folk songs, creation of variations on folk themes and more. Western traditions of opera writing are demonstrated through the appeal to the traditional number structure, the use of the method of monothematism and general tonal (but complicated by pentatonic constructions) harmonic writing.