Stylistic Features of the Processing Genre in the Piano Work of Zhang Zhao

Abstract

The presented research is devoted to highlighting the stylistic features of the processing genre in the piano work of Zhang Zhao. Zhang Zhao’s work is aimed at preserving the traditional musical art of China and popularizing it in the world music arena. From this point of view, the genre of processing in the work of Zhang Zhao occupies a special place. The composer chose folk songs of various ethnic groups inhabiting the territory of the PRC as material for processing. However, the methods of processing these songs, regardless of their national identity, are very close. The analysis of piano pieces in the genre of processing demonstrated the composer’s penchant for certain kinds of means.The purpose of the research is to determine the palette of means used by the composer Zhang Zhao in his piano pieces, written in the genre of processing.The research methodology is a comprehensive approach, in line with which the methods of culturological, historical, comparative and music-theoretical analysis such as holistic, stylistic and genre are used. In addition, the method of active illustration (E. Vyazkova’s term) aimed at confirming the considered provisions through the involvement of significant visual material in the form of musical examples, poetic texts and illustrations is used. The works of a general nature which cover the issues of style theory including national one were the theoretical and methodological basis of the concept.The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time the characteristic of stylistic features of piano pieces in the processing genre by the composer Zhang Zhao were revealed.Conclusions. Zhang Zhao’s analysis of piano pieces showed that most of these pieces have a structure based on a two-time theme and a small concluding section. The author most often chooses texture and register changes as the main means of development, that is, those means that contribute to the preservation of the original thematic material unchanged. The ostinato of the accompaniment part plays an important role in many of Zhang Zhao’s piano arrangements. At the same time, the predominance of certain developmental methods in the plays analyzed does not exclude the presence of other transformation means. The choice is determined by the desire, firstly, to preserve in the processing as close as possible to the original sound of the thematic material, and secondly, to reveal the full range of expressive potential of the theme in each piece.