"Chinese Style" in the Piano Piece "Spring Dance"

Du Wenting PhD in Art History PHD, Department of Art Theory and History, Moscow State University 119991, Russia, Moscow, Leninskie Gory str., 1 wenting@internet.ru

1. A brief history of the creation of the "Spring Dance""Spring Dance", a piano piece in the Uighur style, was written by Sun Yiqiang in 1980, when he was invited by Liu Shikun to Xinjiang during the harvest season.

Sun Yiqiang was inspired by the scene of young Uighurs carelessly picking grapes, dancing and singing. Thus was born a piano piece with the ethnic characteristics of the Xinjiang Uygur people ^{[1, 11-12c]}. The work is melodic, rhythmic, expresses the beautiful nature of Xinjiang, the warm and energetic character of the Uighur people, reflects the unique musical style and regional cultural characteristics of the Uighur people, and also expresses the composer's love for ethnic music and culture. The work is very popular^{[2, 59-64c]}.

2. Analysis of the "Chinese style" in the "Spring Dance"

2.1. Imitation of traditional instruments

The action of the work "Spring Dance" takes place in Xinjiang. In the work, one can notice a high proportion of syncopated rhythms, which are typical of rhythmic patterns characteristic of Uighur music. Syncopated rhythms are an imitation of a traditional Xinjiang percussion instrument^{[3, 42-43.45s]}. Xinjiang residents love to sing and dance, and at every festival they express their joy by singing and dancing, showing that the Uighur people are full of hope and love for life. Thus, syncopated rhythms imitating drums are used throughout the work, not only making the music rhythmic, but also reflecting the ethnic identity of Xinjiang music. The rhythms of traditional Chinese instruments are also imitated, which gives the music a Chinese atmosphere.

The "Chinese style" in rhythms is not only an imitation of the rhythms of traditional folk instruments, but also an imitation of the peculiarities of the language of Chinese national minorities. Many phrases in this work begin with a weak ascending rhythm (examples 2-1 and 2-2).

Example 2-1

Example 2-2

In Xinjiang music, zatact is used by a wide range of composers due to the Uighur language. The logical stress in the Uighur language falls on the last syllable, so cadence is often noticeable in the compositions of Xinjiang songs. This is how the composer reflects linguistic peculiarities in music, using a pause in strong parts of the beat, creating rhythmicity and demonstrating the unique rhythmic beauty of the work ^{[4, 72c]}.

2. 2. The use of ethnic tonality

When composing the work "Spring Dance", in order to better emphasize the ethnicity of the work, the composer added a national tonality based on the harmonic function, combined third and non-third harmony, such as major third, minor third, reduced seventh and minor seventh, as well as non-superimposed third intervals, such as major second, fourth and fifth, using these non-superimposed third intervals makes the work more ethnic, gives the work an ethnic flavor. Chords are used in lively and joyful fragments of the composition, giving the music a unique sense of rhythm, while non-finger intervals are used in calm and gentle sections, conveying the mood of the music ^{[5, 69-70s]}.

Composers often use the dissonance of diatonic intervals to produce various harmonic effects, converting the seventh part of the seventh chord into a diatonic note to create a piece. The mastery of harmonization, the imposition of harmonic techniques emphasizes the ethnic character of the work ^{[6, 89-90s]}.

The most commonly used chords in folk tuning are chords I, III, V and VI, which are a distinctive feature of folk music style. In "Spring Dance" the author also uses a lot of VI chords reflecting the peculiarities of folk melody, so that Western compositional techniques are used throughout the work while preserving the Chinese style.

2.3. Expression of mood

 The "Chinese style" in Chinese piano works is expressed not only in rhythm and harmony, but also in the mood of the piece, which is inseparable from traditional culture. In ancient Chinese literature, poetry and lyrics are characterized by a mixture of scenes, distant rhythms and the expression of emotions through scenes. The expression of mood is an inseparable part of Chinese works ^{[7, 21-25c]}.

In the introduction, the lyrical melody seems to tell about the unfolding event. The right hand of this section is mainly concentrated in the upper register, which is light, creating a distant atmosphere that evokes endless thoughtfulness and emphasizes the musical mood of the piece.

Towards the end of the unfolding section, the author designated Recitativo (see example 2-3), a musical term meaning recitation. The previous section depicts a joyful singing and dancing scene, but here the intensity suddenly changes from fff to p, and the music suddenly fades away, in sharp contrast to the previous mood. At the same time, an enlarged second in the Uighur style appears again. The use of a series of ascending arpeggios imitates the clear sound of a folk plucking instrument and reflects a light, barely perceptible mood.

Example 2-3

At the end of the piece, the lyrical melody returns, the music fades with the ringing of a camel bell, and when the music stops on the note of re and is about to end, a higher octave re suddenly appears, which takes the stopped music away and leaves the listener in endless reverie, which also emphasizes the mood of the composition.

Conclusion

The title of the work says that the music expresses a lively spring dance, the dance of the people of Xinjiang, so in the process of listening to music we can deeply feel the national flavor of the Uighur people. In the process of listening to music, we can deeply feel their enthusiasm and ability to sing and dance. Thanks to the study of the "Chinese style" in this work, the author has more deeply understood the unique charm of Chinese piano works, which will also serve as a guide for the subsequent study of similar piano works.