Reflection of Mongolian musical culture in Liang Lei's String quartets

Van Chzhan ORCID: 0009-0009-9073-852X PhD in Art History Graduate student, Novosibirsk State Conservatory named after M.I.Glinka 243000, China, Maangshan, Hunan str., 1000 1793619844@QQ.COM

Liang Lei (1972-) is a Chinese-American composer whose work has hardly been studied in Russian musical science. In the context of the gradually increasing attention of musicologists to the problems of national instrumental performance and compositional creativity, unexplored lacunae of individual artistic experience are increasingly being discovered. In particular, the works of many young and very talented Chinese composers are deprived of the attention of scientists due to the lack of information about the current state of musical academic culture.

At the moment, the Russian-language article by Chen Shuyun "American composer Liang Lei: biography and concept of creativity" is devoted to the composer's personality and work, published in the second issue of the journal "PHILHARMONICA. International Music Journal" in 2019 ^[5]. The string quartet of Liang Lei is considered in the article by A.M. Petrova "Quartet creativity of Chinese composers: on the problem of reflecting national content, published in the third issue of the Bulletin of Musical Science for 2023 ^[3]. There are also mentions of the composer's name in the dissertations of Chinese researchers defended in Russia, however, his compositions as an individual creative experience still remain almost completely out of the field of view of musicologists. Very few works on Liang Lei's work have also been published in Chinese. In particular, articles by Ban Lixia ^[7], Wang Wenlian ^[7], He Zhongjun ^[9], Jia Daqun ^[10], Chen Yixuan ^[11], as well as an article by the composer himself ^[8], in which the author characterizes the features of his own creative method.

Hence the reasons for the interest in the quartet work of Liang Lei, the author of this article. The quartets "Serashi Fragments" ("色拉西"", 2005) and "Gobi Gloria" ("戈壁赞", 2006), as well as a piece for string quartet and pipa "Five Seasons" (五季, 2010) were the object of research. The research revealed the composer's special attention to the Mongolian musical culture, which, in the context of studies of chamber and instrumental creativity of Chinese composers, is very curious and requires careful study. This generated the subject of this study, which focuses on identifying ways and methods of reflecting the Mongolian musical tradition (primarily song) in the material of the designated compositions. In this regard, the goal-setting of this article is based on the identification of the peculiarities of reflecting the features of Mongolian folk musical culture in the quartets of Liang Lei. This determined the methodological aspect of the study, which is based on an analytical examination of the musical material of the compositions through the prism of identifying intonation-semantic elements of folklore of the Mongolian musical culture. To achieve this goal, the author delved into the theory and history of the study of Mongolian folk music, which will be discussed later.

Liang Lei, Chinese-American composer, was born in 1972 in Tianjin, China. From an early age, he studied piano and composition, and after entering high school at the Central Conservatory of Music, studied composition with professors Guo Wenjing and Li Yanbin. In the 1990s, Liang Lei studied at the New England Conservatory of Music^[1], then went to Harvard to prepare and defend his doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Professor Zhou Wenzhong^[2].

The first years of study in his homeland allowed the future composer to accumulate knowledge in the field of traditional Chinese culture and gain initial professional skills, and subsequent studies in the United States allowed him to get acquainted with modern world musical trends at that time and try his hand at the latest composing techniques. Such cross-cultural training laid a solid foundation for the formation of their own compositional method in the future, combining Far Eastern musical traditions and Western avant-garde.

As mentioned earlier, Liang Lei's work covers a wide range of genres and includes compositions of large and small forms. However, the most extensive is the sphere of chamber instrumental music. Researcher Ban Lixia identifies two main stages of Liang Lei's work: the "Buddhist" (from 1996 to 2000)^[3] and the stage of creative searches (from 2001 to the present)^[4]. "Serashi Fragments", "Gobi Gloria" and "Five Seasons" belong to the second stage, which is characterized by attempts to overcome artistic inertia, the search for new ideological and meaningful concepts, timbral sounds and a convincing balance between static and dynamics, sound and silence, strength and fragility.

Influenced by modern musical and artistic trends, Liang Lei's compositions are distinguished by a wealth of content and a variety of techniques, they mix national Chinese and Western European cultural elements. The most famous works in the field of chamber instrumental music in the composer's work are two string quartets – these are "Serashi Fragments" and "Gobi Gloria", as well as a piece for string quartet and pipa "Five Seasons". They make up the circle of Liang Lei's compositions, created based on the traditions of Mongolian musical art. Therefore, in Chinese musicology they are often called the "Mongolian theme" of the composer's work.

Being a Chinese composer belonging to the branch of authors who live and work in another country (namely, in the USA), Liang Lei, at the same time, paid much attention to the study of Mongolian culture, which was the result of his fascination with "the work of the Mongolian folk musician Serashi" ^{[5, p. 53]}. The composer very successfully integrates elements of the Mongolian musical tradition into the fabric of his quartet compositions, saturated with modern techniques and techniques. This creates a unique flavor and gives a unique author's tone to his works. Let's consider the peculiarities of the manifestation of the Mongolian song tradition in the designated quartets of Liang Lei. To do this, let's first focus on the features of the traditional musical culture of the Mongols.

Mongolian folk songs are rich in their content and melodic vocabulary. According to I.V. Kulganek, all songs (duu) are divided into historical, lyrical, heroic, humorous, satirical, philosophical, religious and love. "According to the manner of performance and the nature of the melody, they <songs> can be drawn out (mong. urtyn) <according to B. Smirnov – "urt du" – steppe long-drawn song > and fast (Mong. bogino). Among them there are both ceremonial and non-ceremonial ones" ^{[2, p. 9][5]}. In the Mongolian song tradition, there is also a genre of heroic fairy tale poems, which, according to B. Smirnov, absorbed national liberation ideas in the XVIII century. It should be noted that the study of the Mongolian song tradition is still replete with unexplored lacunae, which sometimes makes it very difficult to identify genre, stylistic origins and features of intonation and rhythmic components.

The most representative and well-known musical instrument of the Mongolian people is the morinhur (mong. morin is a horse, x uur is a musical instrument), which is often called a "Mongolian violin" with a horse's head. I.V. Kulganek, referring to the work of M. Santari, points out that "the technical capabilities made it possible to reflect the nomads' idea of the world order they observed, always played <Maureen Khur played a big role in shaping the culture of the Mongols. This tool is it <M. Santari> calls it nomadic, state and concert at the same time, perfectly adapted for the performance of songs, prayers and works on various occasions" ^{[2, pp. 63-64]}. The instruments of the Mongols are very diverse and include stringed bows, various types of wind instruments, zithers and percussion. According to the classification of G.V. Abdullina and Liu Yilun, morinhur performance became entrenched in the Mongolian tradition at the second stage of the development of Mongolian folk music culture – from the end of the 800s AD.

Also iconic phenomena of Mongolian culture are the way of performance – khoomei – throat singing, and chaoer. Chaoer (Chaoer) or Mongolian chor (Chor) is a general term for the performance of two voices. This phenomenon has five forms – two vocal and three instrumental.

Vocal forms:

1. Choline-chor. Throat singing, in which the performer leads two lines (often called "hoomey");

2. Chaoer-doo. Two or more people perform two melodic lines, with one singing in the upper register, the other in the low register.

Instrumental forms:

3. Maodong-chor. A woodwind instrument capable of playing two voices is also known as "Hu Jia";

4. Topshuur-chor. A traditional plucked stringed instrument common in the western part of Inner Mongolia (PRC);

5. Utashun-chor. A stringed instrument with two strings, related to the morinhur. It is known as Chaoerqin.

Let's consider the manifestations of the indicated phenomena in the quartets of Liang Lei.

String quartet "Serashi Fragments" ("色拉西""). This work was created in 2005 in honor of the Mongolian folk virtuoso musician and teacher Serashi. Liang Lei describes the unique performance technique as "exploring the true meaning of each note, stimulating vitality, opening up a vast space and a deep sense of solitude" ^{[6, p. 40]}. This makes it possible to discover forms of dialogue between the compositional method and the Mongolian folk music art.

The traditions of urtyn-duu are directly reflected in the freedom of rhythmic drawing, which often violates the laws of metrorhythmic regularity and creates long-lasting "acentless" fields, as well as the effect of improvisationality. These qualities permeate the entire material of the quartet.

Fig. 1. Liang Lei, "Serashi Fragments", string quartet, bars 57-66.

In the indicated example, material from the Mongolian folk song "Lonely White Sheep", performed by Serashi for the composer, is used. The original invariant of the melody of the song is distinguished by the complexity of the rhythmic pattern with variable metric supports. It was this folk source that inspired the composer to create the composition and choose a name for it - "Serashi Fragments" - literally, "Fragments of Serashi")

Fig. 2. Liang Lei, the Mongolian song "The Lonely White Sheep".

In the composition, the composer refers to specific acoustic effects, which are designed to create a sense of spatial breadth and the sound of a special timbral color characteristic of Mongolian national instruments. At the beginning of the quartet, a chord is played on Forte fortissimo, performed by all the participants, after which silence ensues. This consonance combines sounds located at a semitone distance from each other (g-g#-a-a#(b)), which creates a chord cluster, as if imitating a blow on the strings of a Mongolian performer before the start of performance. The subsequent pauses only emphasize this effect and voice the silence by scattering the sound of overtones.

Fig. 3. Liang Lei, "Serashi Fragments", string quartet, bars 1-2.

In the quartet, Liang Lei turns to the glissando technique as an imitation of instrumental performance on the morinhura. In the musical material of the composition, this technique is used quite often and for very long periods. At the same time, the composer's glissando is somewhat different from the classical Western European one. Here, slides do not always have a final sound, but are often thrown, ending in pauses. A kind of instrumental dialogue of the four participants is formed, which can be compared both with an ensemble of instruments and with folk choral performance.

Fig. 4. Liang Lei, "Serashi Fragments", string quartet, bars 81-84.

Chen Shuyun notes that the string quartet "Serashi Fragments" embodies the idea of the simultaneous existence of different time streams and different cultures, which is seen as a manifestation of the trend of universalization characteristic of the second half of the 20th century. A similar synthesis of temporal and spatial components is also formed by combining elements of Eastern and Western cultures, "immersing their ethical and religious ideas in a modern sound context" ^{[5, p. 52]}. At the same time, the composer implements another important principle of his creative method, which Chen Shuyun calls "transformation" (变化). Its essence lies in the "flow of energy from one state to another" ^{[5, p. 53]}. It should be noted that this principle is found in the concepts of the teachings of Taoism.

All this, of course, is the philosophical and aesthetic basis of the composer's creative method. However, if we look a little more broadly, we find a very pragmatic context of these phenomena. In particular, such an "embedding" of his own artistic concept into the framework of the eastern and Western systems allowed the composer to freely maneuver in the field of various semantic and meaningful areas and build an individual creative context. All this made Liang Lei's work very relevant and determined that his work belonged to the advanced musical art.

String quartet "Gobi Gloria" (戈壁 赞). The composition was completed in 2006, and the premiere took place in 2007. The quartet was originally written as a violin and cello duet, but was later reinterpreted by the composer and remade into a full-fledged string quartet. Here, Liang Lei also makes extensive reference to the Mongolian folk tradition – the composer transformed it with the help of Western European compositional techniques. This allowed him to form a unique musical language with which he conducts a dialogue with listeners. As in "Serashi Fragments", in this quartet the composer turned to the Mongolian folk song. In particular, the song "Night Sky".

Fig. 5. The Mongolian song "Night Sky".

Fig. 6. The song "Night Sky" in Liang Lei's quartet "Gobi Gloria".

It is quite natural that the original source of the songs has changed in some of its moments, but its general outline has mostly remained the same. There are also some subtle changes in the rhythm, which emphasizes the more instrumental melodic character of the folk song, but at the same time gives the melody a more free character. The composer, as it were, releases the song melody, giving it an instrumental character.

The quartet also noted an appeal to the traditions of Chaoer, which manifested itself in the heterophonic sound of several voices. The musical material is extremely rich, which is due to the imitation of the sound of the ensemble of national instruments belonging to the Chaoer group: maodong chor, topshuur chor, utashun chor. This shows the universalism of Liang Lei's work – he does not follow banal imitation, but rethinks it, raising it to the level of an artistic idea. It can be said that in his view, the sound of Mongolian folk instruments becomes a symbol of the entire instrumental tradition of the people.

Fig. 7. Liang Lei, "Gobi Gloria", string quartet, bars 101-102.

The sustained bass in combination with the sound of the melody and portamento, combined with overtones, creates a kind of two-voice characteristic of the vocal variety of chaoer. A.M. Petrova in his article points out that creating the sound effect characteristic of "chorus", the composer repeats the form of two-voice performance, where one voice leads the melody, and the other is its ostinate accompanied by ^[3].

The musical material of the quartet can be divided into two levels: the first – arpeggiated sequences performed by the part of the first violin, the second level, performed by the second violin and viola in a fixed rhythm – wide melodic moves that create the effect of spatiality and breadth, the cello part, forming the third level – melody. At these three levels, by dividing them into different registers, a wide spatial perspective and contrasts characteristic of chaoer are created. A.M. Petrova makes an important remark about the function of the cello in the musical material of the quartet – quoting folk songs and the form of performance of chaoer. The researcher also notes the composer's appeal to the shamanic tradition, which still exists in Mongolia. "The music of shamans, presented in a unified form <...>, embodied through a variety of syncopated forms and rhythmic rigidity" ^{[3, pp. 170-171]}.

In addition to imitating and using traditional Mongolian music, Liang Lei also recognizes the importance of the instruments themselves – the members of the quartet ensemble. Combining unique acoustic effects that mimic the sound of national instruments with traditional performance methods, Liang Lei creates a unique sound appearance and figurative context, referring to the Mongolian tradition.

The "one tone, many voices" technique is at the heart of Liang Lei's philosophy. This technique originates in the aesthetics of the traditional Chinese Guqin instrument, where the sound of a melody consists of tone, timbre and overtones. In guqin music, the same tone, played with different fingers and on different strings, creates timbral differences, which allows you to maximize the content of the sound. According to the composer's idea, the same tone can have different timbres due to the difference in range, impact strength, playing style, etc. The reflection of this compositional idea is found in the quartet "Serashi Fragments".

Fig. 8. Liang Lei, "Serashi Fragments", string quartet, bars 96-101.

In the 96th bar, the first violin plays mi (sul tasto), then in the 98th bar, the second violin plays mi (sul pont), after which the cello plays a lowered mi (e flat). In the last 101st bar, the cello performs on pizzicato (sul pizz), which gives the sound a strong metallic tint, unlike the usual strings of the pizzicato viola (pizz). During these six bars, only one "mi" is presented in various guises. This allowed the composer to significantly expand the figurative and meaningful component of the composition, to create facets of ideas about the musical fabric. The composer's use of different tones, timbres, strength and technique of performance on the same tone is intended to imitate the variety of timbres of the sound of Serashi's playing. This unique compositional technique is exactly the combination of Chinese and Western music that Liang Lei advocated, reflecting his individuality and creativity, as well as his creative thinking related to the inheritance of culture and the search for individuality and independence.

Another characteristic technique used by the composer is the Mongolian philosophy of "shadows" (影子). Mongolian pastoralists in ancient times determined time by the shadow of sunlight entering the window, so the shadow in Mongolia acts like a clock and is equivalent to the value of time. The compositional technique of "shadows" also traces its history back to the Asian tradition of performing in simultaneity, which can be compared with Western European polyphony. Here, one voice can be used both as the main melody and as a secondary one. Two melodies are often performed out of sync or even separately, which creates the so-called "shadows". Simply put, lines that are not synchronized or mismatched in time can work together and influence each other, or exist separately and in parallel.

Fig.9. Liang Lei, "Serashi Fragments", string quartet, bars 9-11

.

Fig. 10. Liang Lei, "Gobi Gloria", string quartet, bars 40-43.

The idea of "shadow" permeates both quartets under consideration. The composer uses a combination of the sound of two violins to create a continuous dialogue between two sounding melodies. The combination of these two violin melodies constantly varies, projecting their own musical elements onto each other – sounds, rhythms and timbres, but at the same time maintaining independence. The two quartets under consideration, under the auspices of an individual creative method, perfectly combine Mongolian folk songs, national philosophy, the timbre of Western European instruments and modern compositional techniques. All this gives Liang Lei's compositional concepts a fresh innovative character and a bright personality, revealing the originality of the composer's thinking.

After the quartets "Serashi Fragments" and "Gobi Gloria", Liang Lei's innovation in his works in the Mongolian style reached new heights. He began experimenting with new timbral and instrumental combinations, which was reflected in the chamber work "Five Seasons" (五季). This composition was written by order of the pipa performer, virtuoso Wu Ban^[6]. "Five Seasons" is a 17-minute composition – an instrumental piece, the participants of which are Pipa and a classical string quartet. It also uses the techniques of "One tone, many voices" and "shadow", which the composer tested in the quartets considered earlier.

Fig. 12. Liang Lei, "Five Seasons", piece for string quartet and pipa, bars 54-58.

In bars 54-58, all five instruments of the ensemble simultaneously perform the "mi" sound, but with different sound effects arising from different ways of touching the strings. This gives the sound an overtone richness, depth and variety.

Fig. 13. Liang Lei, "Five Seasons", piece for string quartet and pipa, bars 30-35

In bars 30-35, the pipa is performed in the same manner as on Western European instruments in the "One tone, many voices" technique, when the same sound is played on different strings or plucked. Meanwhile, the combination of pipa and string quartet sounds inevitably distances itself from the usual performance in terms of the timbre coloring of the ensemble. This is due to the properties of the instruments themselves and required the composer to do a good job of balancing the acoustics. Therefore, in the "Five Seasons", the timbre of Chinese and Western European instruments sometimes converges in some performing techniques. Since the pipa is a stringed plucked instrument, for its better integration into the timbre of the quartet ensemble, Liang Lei uses the pizzicato technique in the technique of performing a string quartet. The composer also uses another technique in which the pipa strings produce a glissando when plucked, creating a sound similar acoustically to the sound of a bow pulling the strings of a violin.

Fig. 11. Liang Lei, "Five Seasons", piece for string quartet and pipa, bars 95-99

All this made it possible to find a commonality between the "soloist" - pipa and the "orchestra" - a quartet ensemble. From the point of view of ideological and artistic content, the composer conveys to the audience the idea of universalism.

The string quartets considered and the piece for string quartet and pipa by Liang Lei are an excellent example of the modern development of chamber and instrumental music in the works of the Chinese composer. The material of the works combines modern techniques and elements of national culture, in this case, Mongolian, in a very harmonious and peculiar way. Liang Lei's favorite methods, as our research has shown, are the citation method, imitation of the sound of folk (Mongolian) instruments, and an appeal to the traditions of Chaoer. The composer embodies all this through special and traditional sound production techniques on Western European instruments. It seems that Liang Lei's creative method is an original way of development within the framework of the Chinese school of composition.