The tradition of luogu dianzi (percussion classics) and Its signification in contemporary music

Abstract

From the decades around the beginning of the twenty-first century, contemporary Chinese composers' music performed in various concert halls has exhibited a great debt to the expressive power of music gestures from Beijing opera, including the opera tradition's percussion classics (luogu dianzi). In these modern compositions, luogu dianzi are often used as rhythmic topoi, where they are transformed in a variety of ways. This article traces several significant music gestures in Chen Yi and Chen Qigang's works to specific luogu dianzi; briefly describes the music, dramatic and psychological characteristics of these classics in their original context; and observes the different modes of signification in the ways that these percussion classics are put to use.