Musical Chineseness: contemporary chinese vocal music between localism and globalization

This research examines contemporary Chinese vocal works in the circumstance where there is a strong tension between globalization and localism. Many representatives of the so-called “New Wave” are observed to use vocal and vocal techniques of traditional Chinese music. At the same time, these composers integrate and combine such techniques with the idioms of Western music. Their works are closely linked with a critical discourse that centers on the question of how to define the Chinese identity in music. The vocal works are appropriate for this research because the way in which a voice is used musically, as perceived and understood by the audience, is closely related to the particular individual and the political, historical, social, religious and cultural contexts. On one hand, a human voice can express an ethnic and cultural affiliation to show who we are; on the other hand, it can also be instrumentalized in socio-political terms to voice out who we would like to become. The subjects of this research are vocal works of Chinese composers who belong to the generation of 'New Wave' as well as have a polycultural biographical background and international renown. Since the number of these composers’ vocal works is about 80, a pre-selection is necessary. Living in the U.S. and France respectively, composer Tan Dun and Chen Qigang attract the interest of this research as many of their vocal pieces were composed since 1985 and they live in two different countries. Thus - at least the hypothesis - two different perspectives on the relationship between globalization and localism could be examined. Works such as On Taoism (1985) and A Sinking Love (1995) by Tan Dun, and Poeme Lyrique II (1990) and Iris Devoilee (2001) by Chen Qigang often use local or Chinese vocal styles, such as elements from the traditional chant or the local opera, although these pieces to a large extent are composed under the commission of western clients or premiered in the West. In these works, there is a reflexive and dependent relationship between globalization and Chinese identity: on one hand, Chinese composers living abroad often use Chinese elements as a marketing strategy and unique selling proposition; on the other hand, such works are products of the multicultural environment in which the composers live. This shows the ambivalence of globalization, in which not only the similarities but also the differences between cultures are strongly emphasized. Methodically, the composition background, the compositional process, the role of language, the implementation of Chinese vocal techniques, the notation, the reception history and the social-historical background are examined in more detail. Historical-musicological research methods are combined with methods from music ethnology and postcolonial studies with a focus on identity research.