The Rise of Chinese-Style Clarinet Works: A Comparative Study of Six Clarinet Works by Michele Mangani and Giuseppe Ricotta

Abstract

The clarinet is one of the important woodwind instruments in Western music. Since it was introduced to China, many Chinese musicians have combined this instrument with traditional Chinese music elements, created many repertoires, and made efforts to perform and promote related works worldwide. Therefore, in past studies, this repertoire is often categorized as "Chinese clarinet works", which emphasizes and focuses on the issue of the "nationalization" process. However, with the development of technological society and the widespread acceptance of cultural diversity, nowadays Chinese musical elements are also being noticed and skilfully applied by many non-Chinese cultural background musicians. Therefore, a new and developmental perspective is needed in the related research. This study selects six recent clarinet works composed by Italian composers Michele Mangani and Giuseppe Ricotta, applies qualitative-content analysis methodology, conducts the comparative study based on the results from the traditional formal analysis to the selected six works, interprets the application of Chinese music elements in these works from a more neutral perspective and more objectively and comprehensively explores how these works create Chinese-style music characteristics by integrating traditional Chinese music elements with traditional Western tonal music theory from narrative manner, then initiates a new classification term "Chinese-style clarinet works" that could better reflect the music characteristics of these selected works as the conclusion. The examination of music from the cultural perspective of this study is more of an innovative exploration proposal, not an authoritative conclusion or the only research approach. If possible, it can be further improved in the interpretation research of musical works involving the integration of different musical styles. However, the author hopes that this study can enable readers not only to have a deeper understanding of these selected works themselves, but also to inspire a broader perspective when interpreting or researching such cross-cultural music works in the future.