On the technical and expressive features of Chinese cello music, using the example of the cycle "Seven Tunes Heard in China" by Sheng Zongliang (Bright Sheng)

The subject of research in this article is the suite Seven Tunes Heard in China by Sheng Zongliang (Bright Sheng), considered in two aspects: as one of the outstanding works of contemporary Chinese composers for cello and as an example of musical multiculturalism. Particular attention is paid to the synthesis of various stylistic influences, which is manifested in all components of the musical language of the work: modal organization, rhythm, texture, timbre, performing technique. The authors of the article analyze the methods and techniques of working with musical material, borrowed by the composer both from Chinese traditional music and from a number of styles and movements of European music. They also examine the cultural connotations of the composer's expressive means (in particular, the symbolic significance of the imitation of the guqin's sound and associative "references" to the music of J. S. Bach). The multicultural nature of the work under study prompted the authors to employ a comparative cultural method. A holistic analysis of the musical work was also employed. The scientific novelty of this article lies in its detailed, comprehensive analysis of various aspects of the work under study, reflecting their synthetic, multicultural nature, which manifests itself at all levels of the composition—in musical language, the structure of the cycle, and musical and aesthetic principles. The conceptual and symbolic function of Bach's stylistic features and the imitation of guqin playing in Sheng's suite are revealed; conceptual parallels are drawn between Sheng Zongliang's Seven Tunes Heard in China"and Tan Dun's Ghost Opera. The authors conclude that Seven Tunes Heard in China played a significant role in the development of Chinese cello music, as well as the mutually enriching nature of the intercultural interaction embodied in Sheng Zongliang's suite. Specifically, the application of Western methods of polyphonic development to traditional Chinese melodies reveals new expressive possibilities. At the same time, the introduction of sound production techniques borrowed from traditional Chinese instruments to cello music enriches the cello's arsenal of technical means and timbral palette, and contributes to the rapidly expanding range of performance techniques in avant-garde music.

Sheng Zongliang, Bright Sheng, suite for cello, Chinese cello performance, cello glissando, musical multiculturalism, imitation of traditional instruments, extended performance techniques, erhu, guqin