The use of traditional chinese elements in selected saxophone works by Lei Liang

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the use of traditional Chinese elements in two of Lei Liang’s saxophone works, Peking Opera Soliloquy and Xiaoxiang, and to analyze how Liang incorporates such elements into compositions written largely with Western musical techniques and vocabularies. Traditional Chinese elements identified in these pieces include Peking Opera singing, Peking Opera accompaniment, traditional Chinese melodies, one-note polyphony, and other Chinese artistic elements such as negative space and calligraphy. This study also explores how the traditional Chinese musical and artistic elements are reproduced or alluded to with western musical notation, genres, saxophone performance styles and techniques in creative and innovative ways. It is hoped that this research can inspire further investigations on works of saxophone or works of other musical instruments with embedded Chinese elements.