Processing of Ancient Taoist Songs by Chinese Composers of the XX – Early XXI Century

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to find the most significant references of modern Chinese composers to the processing of ancient Taoist songs in the context of modern genre features and stylistics. Research methodology. The realisation of the goal required the use of the following set of methods: source-research method – to identify examples of modern composers’ arrangements of ancient Taoist songs as a little-known heritage of China’s musical past. Musicologist method was used to analyse the identified works of modern composers and characterise their stylistic and genre features. Retrospective method helped to specify the phenomena and facts of the past; cultural studies – to comprehend the dynamics of general cultural processes in the musical art of China. The scientific novelty lies in the first musicological analysis of the arrangements of ancient Taoist songs by contemporary Chinese composers as a phenomenon of Chinese culture; in the selection of the most exemplary works among the discovered samples; in determining the genre and stylistic features of these works in the context of Chinese composers' study of Western experience and implementation of its achievements in their national creativity. Conclusions. The study of arrangements of ancient Taoist songs proved to be important for comprehending the possibilities of using the means of modern stylistics and thus bringing them closer to the listener. It is determined that in this work, Chinese composers could not do without studying the Western experience and implementing its achievements in national creativity. The article traces the measures taken to draw attention to China's very ancient and unexplored musical heritage: raising the problem of urgent search for Taoist musical artefacts, establishing scientific laboratories, organising their work on systematising, deciphering and cataloguing the found samples, organising musicological research, holding seminars and conferences. It was found that there are very few studies of these unique examples of the past.

Key words: ancient Taoist song, Chinese composers, arrangement, style, genre.