Musical quotation is an intentional act of re-use by the composer who intends for it to be heard as reference to other music. Hence, part of musical quotation’s success lies in listeners’ recognition of the borrowed material. Nelson Goodman posited that there are two prerequisites for direct or indirect quotations: containment and reference. While containment is explicit, reference poses musical challenges since there is no system of reference in performed music. Therefore, context, emphasis, and pause serve as auditory devices for reference in music. In listening to Schnittke’s String Quartet No. 3, one finds it easy to recognize the initial fragment from Lassus, as each time it appears, the Lassus fragment stands in contrast to the music that came before and after. However, the reference to Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge in less obvious, as there is no clear stylistic contrast between the quotation and Schnittke’s own compositional idiom. As a result, one is less likely to be able to recognize the quotation. The recognition of Shostakovich’s “D–E-flat–C–B” signature is dependent on listeners’ familiarity with the aural projection of the motive. While familiarity plays a key role in the identification of the quotation, a keen awareness of the practice of musical quotation and musical literacy is more crucial. The identification of musical references also relies on memory and a shared cultural context between the composer and his listeners. While musical reference can be exclusionary by forging a bond between the composer and his musically literate audience, it can also be seen as an invitation to others to discover the original context of the quoted work and join the group of enlightened listeners.

Works: Schnittke: String Quartet No. 3 (186).

Sources: Lassus: Stabat Mater (186); Beethoven: Grosse Fuge, Op. 133 (186).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Jingyi Zhang

Satie’s score for Parade is regarded as an important work of early avant-garde modernism, reflecting a collaborative artistic endeavor involving Cocteau, Picasso, Diaghilev, Massine, and Satie, and helping to spawn the development of minimalism. This work attracted considerable attention in Paris, and its appropriation of cinema and jazz into the musical fabric of the work demonstrates Satie’s fascination with American culture. The “Ragtime du Paquebot” at the end of the second movement demonstrates rhythmic modeling from Irving Berlin’s 1912 popular song That Mysterious Rag. This intentional imitative gesture invited complaints of plagiarism. Other instances of Satie’s thematic borrowings are observed his melodic and orchestral quotations of Stravinsky and Debussy in the cabaret tunes and circus music themes in the third movement, “Acrobates.” These borrowing attempts, however, are mocking in nature. All the artists involved in this collaboration characteristically adopted a creatively defiant stance against tradition and convention. Satie rejected the adherence to a defined school of artistic or aesthetic thought, and his style of modern simplicity pervades the entire work. In spite of many criticisms, Parade was lauded for its stylistic innovation and departure from traditional forms and conventions. It is viewed as the culmination of avant-garde artistic expression and demonstrated a modernistic approach to creativity.

Works: Satie: Parade.

Sources: Irving Berlin: That Mysterious Rag (12).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Jingyi Zhang

Bartók’s use of Ravel’s “Scarbo” motive as the main folk-like theme in his 1911 piano work Allegro Barbaro, particularly his barbaric transformations of the motive, should be interpreted as a musical joke targeted at French critics. Allegro Barbaro can be considered as a representation of Bartók’s career because it reflects his formal musical training as well as his interest in folk music. Bartók’s education in art music is reflected by the influence of Debussy’s music, whereas his folk influence came from his interaction with the authentic Hungarian folk music that he collected. The first theme in the A section is distinctively composed in a Hungarian folk-like style, and in the B section, the barbaric folk style is dramatically transformed into the French art idiom through Bartók’s borrowing of Debussy’s “Minstrels” motive. This idiosyncratic source of borrowing should be viewed in an ironic and humorous light. Then, the barbaric, folk-like style immediately attempts to reassert its dominance over the French art style throughout the rest of the B section. The returning A section continues this dramatic play, with the French Impressionistic style further emphasized by “planing.” The reassertion of the Hungarian folk style comes immediately with the return of the tonal center of F-sharp.

Generally, Bartók’s quotations can be divided into four groups: the first is one in which Bartók borrows from his predecessors and contemporaries, the second includes programmatic and autobiographical quotations, the third contains humoristic quotations, and the fourth contains shopwork, in which he self-borrows. In Allegro Barbaro, Bartók employs the third group, and he conveys an ironic narrative.

Works: Bartók: Allegro Barbaro, Sz. 49 (165-71).

Sources: Ravel: “Scarbo” from Gaspard de la nuit (165-66, 168-71); Debussy: “Minstrels” from Préludes, Book I (170).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Nicolette van den Bogerd, Jingyi Zhang

Brahms’s complex feelings for Clara Schumann are demonstrated by the imprint of her emblem into the structural fabric of his most beloved choral compositions. Brahms often employed musical allusions in his works, but rarely provided clues to interpretation for fear of being criticized as an unoriginal composer. Musical allusions serve as a key to understanding Brahms’s thematic sources, and this is evident in his Ein deutsches Requiem, presumably composed in commemoration of Robert Schumann, whose penchant for using musical symbols and ciphers influenced Brahms significantly. Brahms notably inherited the “Clara emblem” from Robert Schumann, referring to the brief melody in the opening movement of his Fantasie, Op. 17, which in turn was borrowed from Beethoven’s song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98. Brahms’s Requiem as well as his Nänie both grapple with the concept of death and consolation, and both works are further connected through the central mother image of the texts. In the B-section of Nänie, a fragment from the fifth movement of the Requiem forms the basis for motivic development, and at a climactic moment, Clara’s emblem appears, sung by the sopranos. Brahms carefully crafted the “Requiem fragment” from the Clara emblem, suggesting it is the essential idea behind most of the fifth movement. The final song of Brahms’s Neue Liebeslieder, Op. 65, also suggests strong connections to the Requiem. It is in ABA’ form, with the second half of the Clara emblem forming the structural basis for both A sections, while the B section is a retrograde treatment of A. Brahms therefore manages to infuse a certain poignancy to his quotation, implying Clara as the source of his sorrows which inspired the composition.

Works: Robert Schumann: Fantasie, Op. 17 (16), Frauenliebe und -leben, Op. 42 (16), String Quartet in F Major, Op. 41, No. 2 (16), Symphony No. 2 in C Major, Op. 61 (16); Brahms: Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 8 (16), Schaffe in mir Gott, Op. 29, No. 2 (16), Nänie, Op. 82 (16), Neue Liebeslieder, Op. 65 (16), Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 (16).

Sources: Beethoven: An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 (16); Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 (16).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Jingyi Zhang

Shostakovich depended on Bach to confront a tragic state of reality under Soviet rule, and musical co-presence serves as his creative response to the demands placed on his identity. Musical co-presence refers to a blurring of boundaries between past and present due to the incorporation of past work into the fabric of the present work. Both Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues and the String Quartet No. 8 exhibit such co-presence and are closely associated with political crises in Shostakovich’s life and with his identity as a composer. It is impossible to isolate the composer’s life from his art; it was in times of crisis when Shostakovich turned to Bach as a mentor figure. Although the 1948 Zhdanov Decree denounced musical formalism, Shostakovich still decided to compose 24 Preludes and Fugues. His response should be interpreted as a strong reaffirmation of his identity as a composer by creating music derived from the very foundations of artistic expression. In doing so, he is heralding his own identity as being more significant than his contemporary cultural conditions. Bach thus represents Shostakovich’s renewed sense of identity under Soviet power. This heavy reliance on Bachian forms displays co-presence instead of allusion, as Bach’s presence constitutes the essence in the innovative design and ideological substance of the entire work. The more closely Shostakovich embodies Bach’s creative modes, the more authentic his own compositional voice becomes. David Fanning asserts that Shostakovich employs a specifically Bachian binary fugue in his work. The String Quartet No. 8 also displays co-presence in the Bachian fugal opening and closing movements.

Works: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15 in A Major, Op. 141 (41), Prelude and Fugue in C Major, Op. 87, No. 1 (43), Prelude and Fugue in F-sharp Major, Op. 87, No. 13 (44), Prelude and Fugue in C Minor, Op. 87, No. 20 (44), Prelude and Fugue in G Minor, Op. 87, No. 22 (44), String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110 (45), Symphony No. 10 in E Minor, Op. 93 (45), Sonata for Viola and Piano in C Major, Op. 147 (49).

Sources: Rossini: Guillaume Tell (41); Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (41); Shostakovich: The Song of the Forests, Op. 81 (43); Johann Sebastian Bach: Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C Major, BWV 846, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (43), Prelude and Fugue No. 9 in E Major, BWV 878, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II (44), Prelude and Fugue No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 871, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II (44), Prelude and Fugue No. 16 in G Minor, BWV 885, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II (45), The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080, Prelude and Fugue No. 4 in C-sharp Minor, BWV 849, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (45); Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131 (45); Shostakovich: Tormented by Grievous Bondage (46), Symphony No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 10 (46), Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67 (46), Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 107 (46), Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, Op. 29 (46); Wagner: Götterdämmerung, WWV 86D (46); Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74 (46); Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 in E Minor, Op. 93 (46); Beethoven: Piano Sonata in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (49).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Jingyi Zhang

The convenient label of East-West fusion in describing the recent rise of Chinese-inspired new works by Chinese-born American composers like Bright Sheng, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, and Ge Ganru demands reinterpretation. There is no fundamental connection between one’s ethnicity and one’s music; the borrowing of Chinese tunes, timbres or other musical devices merely reflects a matter of compositional choice and aesthetic preference instead of one’s own ethnicity. The composers’ reliance on Chinese materials to evoke a specific form of “Chinese” accent recalls the eighteenth-century artistic practice of chinoiserie, but the nature and perception of current hybrid compositions have totally transformed. Musical encounters between the East and West traces back to the Baroque era when Couperin composed his famous keyboard work “Les Chinois,” but it reveals Europeans’ false impressions of Chinese music. It was not until the turn of the twentieth century when the adoption of European musical tradition took root as a practice in China. According to Western evolutionary conception of music, Chinese music’s monophonic and heterophonic styles are inferior to the complexities of European music, and this attitude persisted into the nineteenth century, when Europeans started visiting China more frequently. The relationship between music and ethnicity is an artificial construct, as these composers employ various extramusical signifying techniques to forge a connection between sound and ideas. They self-consciously make references to China, Chinese ideology and philosophy through their program notes and descriptive titles, evoking a sense of “sonic Chineseness.” Bright Sheng’s Nanking! Nanking! resembles Béla Bartók synthesis procedure whereby he alludes to folk song without direct quotation. A close look at this work reveals that the only instrument that represents China is the pipa, a Chinese instrument.

Works: Bright Sheng: Nanking! Nanking! (277-78).

Sources: Anonymous: Ambush from All Sides (278), The Tyrant Removes His Armor (278).

Index Classifications: 1900s, 2000s

Contributed by: Jingyi Zhang

The concept of “New Music” in China during the 1980s demands to be reinterpreted, as it is not the musical style itself, but the act of introducing Western classical tradition to China that is new. Chinese composers in the 1980s adopted an eclectic stance in their use of musical borrowing. They often treated Western art music as a supermarket, choosing whatever musical elements suited their taste to combine with Chinese musical idioms, resulting in works that sound like Rachmaninoff, Mozart, or Ligeti. Before the 1980s, such compositional attempts are characterized by pentatonic romanticism, which does not reflect true synthesis of both musico-cultural idioms. The most eclectic Chinese composer is Tan Dun, whose works represent a diverse web of sounds from all over the world. None of the compositions in the 1980s applies the same borrowing approach. This eclectic form of musical borrowing prevents one from identifying the specific sources of borrowing, since the music reflects an integrative approach to influences from both Western and Chinese musical traditions and repertoires. These composers and their works fall under the category of “New Wave Music,” a term coined by Wang Anguo in 1986 in Musicology in China for Chinese composers who had just adopted modern Western compositional techniques into their own musical styles while departing from the romantic pentatonicism dominant until the mid-1970s. Alexander Goehr’s invitation to teach modern compositional techniques in the Central Conservatory in Beijing in 1980 influenced many Chinese composers to adopt a more modern stance in their compositions.

Works: Xiang Min: Piano Quartet (84); Tan Dun: Snow in June (88).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Jingyi Zhang

Copland’s Duo for Flute and Piano places Native American sound images within a non-Germanic context, making the work a unique expression of his own time in the United States. Copland believed that the creation of a unique American composition school demanded liberation from Germanic tradition and ideals, thereby explaining his sentimentality towards the Mexican-Indian idiom. This work represents a culmination of Copland’s earlier stylistic trends, and is especially reminiscent of his 1940s “Americana style,” one that evokes the city and country as well as Native American musical elements. Copland believed that musical and cultural idioms are transmitted unconsciously to people in the locale. His manner of musical borrowing is transformative in nature, deriving new expressive layers from the original folk idiom. Rather than quoting directly, Copland borrows the general stylistic traits of the collective Native American sound images. The first movement of Duo for Flute and Piano is characterized by an opening and closing monophonic flute solo, creating an outdoor, pastoral quality. Copland manages to successfully infuse folk idioms into the work through the surrounding context and combined impact of the material such as the use of open fifths and snap-like figures, as well as other Indian musical gestures like meter changes and wide use of consonant intervals in descending motion. Copland’s music was able to resonate with listeners of the day due to the pervasive dissemination of Indian stereotypes in films, perpetuating and reflecting common public opinions on Native music in the 1970s. Copland also incorporates Stravinsky-like grace notes within an American musical landscape in the second movement. The third movement evokes a distinctly heroic quality due to the deliberate allusion to Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony while assuming a uniquely American character.

Works: Copland: Appalachian Spring (52), Duo for Flute and Piano (53).

Sources: Joseph Brackett: Simple Gifts (52); Copland: Symphony No. 3 (53); Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 (“Eroica”) (66); MacDowell: Indian Suite (67); Copland: Billy the Kid (68).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Jingyi Zhang

Maurice Ohana, a composer of cosmopolitan cultural upbringing, is undoubtedly an individualist, but his late style reflects strong influence exerted by Debussy and Stravinsky. In reaction to serialism, Ohana founded the Groupe Zodiaque to announce their rejection of post-Webern serialism and promoted the study of folk music, plainsong and the vocal works of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. He also advocated for cultivating the tribal music of the north African Berbers and black Africans, musical influences that he was exposed to in his youth which formed the basis of his musical style. He employed chiefly Spanish idioms, like the Cante jondo, in his works in the 1950s not to evoke the usual romantic exoticism of a foreign land, but rather a certain grotesque, tragic image of Spain. However, Ohana’s mature style in the 1960s reveals his affinity with Debussy and Stravinsky; this is especially notable in his use of melodic parallelism and third-tones, which can be seen as a coloristic extension of the whole-tone scale. Spanish idioms, on the other hand, are employed more subtly in his later works. Influence of jazz and oriental theatre also influenced his compositional approach.

Works: Maurice Ohana: Tiento (70), Tombeau de Claude Debussy (71), Anneau du Tamarit (71), Études d’interprétation (71), Signes (74), T’Haran-Ngo (74), Livre des prodiges (74).

Sources: Manuel de Falla: Homenaje a Debussy (70), El Amor Brujo (71); Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande (71), Estampes (71), En blanc et noir (71); Federico García Lorca: Divan del Tamarit (71), La Célestine (71); Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (74).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Jingyi Zhang

Nineteenth-century composers’ use of allusions serves as a source of musical creativity and can be associated with the concept of Romantic irony, whereby composers engage in a form of intellectual play with listeners. Harold Bloom’s theory of the “anxiety of influence,” which is concerned mainly with personal struggle, does not account for instances of appropriation of lesser sources such as folk tunes. Allusions can be seen as a rhetorical technique composers employ to create symbolism and irony; listeners are turned away from the obvious and are constantly challenged to search for hidden musical relationships in order to arrive at a personal interpretation. An allusive relationship can be subjected to ahistorical reading; new symbols constantly reinterpret old ones, contributing to a two-way transfer of meaning. Just as a composer’s criticism of his predecessor reveals his own artistic ideals, motivic allusions, whether assimilative or contrastive, reveals the composer’s personal compositional aspirations. Non-programmatic composers who employ musical allusions have the freedom to transform motives beyond recognition, requiring listeners to come up with their own personal programs, while programmatic composers impose their programs on listeners. A fundamental criterion in the assessment of a successful allusion is whether its presence in a new work is musically successful by itself. If one misses the allusion, it merely means that one loses a dimension in the appreciation of the work.

Works: Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 1 in C Major, Op. 1 (167), Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15 (167), Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Mühseligen, Op. 74, No. 1 (167), Über die See, Op. 69, No. 7 (168), Wehe, so willst du mich wieder, Op. 32, No. 5 (168); Robert Schumann: Album für die Jugend, Op. 68 (170); Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 (174); Robert Schumann: Vogel als Prophet, Op. 82 (180), Fantasie in C Major, Op. 17 (181).

Sources: Beethoven: Piano Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 106 (“Hammerklavier”) (167), Piano Sonata in C Major, Op. 53 (“Waldstein”) (167), Fidelio, Op. 72 (167); Robert Schumann: Trio in D Minor, Op. 63 (167); Mendelssohn: Vocal-Chor zum Abendsegen, WoO 12 (168); Robert Schumann: Hoch, hoch sind die Berge, Op. 138, No. 8 (168); Clara Schumann: Piano Sonata in G Minor (168); Mendelssohn: Andante cantabile e presto agitato, WoO 6 (168), Elijah, Op. 70 (168); Gluck: Armide, Wq. 45 (174); Mendelssohn: Im Walde, Op. 41, No. 1 (180); Beethoven: An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 (181).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Jingyi Zhang

The complexity of musical meaning in Moulin Rouge demands detailed analysis and a better understanding of how director Baz Luhrmann uses music both literally and figuratively, in order to provide a more well-rounded assessment of the film and its relationship to postmodernism and the Hollywood musical. Luhrmann borrows the complete melody and lyrics of The Sound of Music, but re-orchestrates the accompaniment. In doing so, he relies on listeners’ recognition of this familiar tune to portray Christian as a creative talent. Smells Like Teen Spirit constitutes one of the most daring quotations throughout the entire film. Luhrmann keeps the melody and lyrics intact but endows the quotation with a new contextual meaning, effectively creating a mocking contradiction and parodic simplification of the original’s more complex meaning. Luhrmann’s borrowing of Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend is specially tailored for the leading lady, Satine, and invites comparison to Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Both Satine and Lorelei are beautiful entertainers who depend on their beauty and sexuality to manipulate men, but Satine aspires to be a true actress instead of a prostitute-like figure, so Luhrmann turns the original show-within-a-show production to an entire production based on Satine’s number. Other modifications include changing the original lyrics and singing them more slowly and intentionally than Lorelei’s version. Luhrmann’s borrowing of Elton John’s Your Song once again defines Christian as a man with creative musical talents, as he successfully wins the heart of Satine when he began setting the lyrics to music. It also represents a communicative channel for Christian as he is able to express his thoughts and emotions more clearly using music. Luhrmann’s exaggerated staging of Like a Virgin offers comic relief, and Christian’s musical genius is contrasted with the lack of singing lines on the Duke’s part.

Works: Baz Luhrmann: Moulin Rouge (31-37).

Sources: Rodgers and Hammerstein: The Sound of Music (32-33); Kurt Cobain: Smells Like Teen Spirit (33-34); Jule Styne and Leo Robin: Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend (34-35); Elton John: Your Song (35); Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly: Like a Virgin (35-36); Gordon Matthew Sumner: El Tango de Roxanne (36-37).

Index Classifications: 2000s, Film

Contributed by: Jingyi Zhang

During 1899-1900, Satie served as both accompanist and arranger for the popular Montmartre chansonnier Vincent Hyspa. Most of Satie’s cabaret chanson arrangements are found in two music notebooks; one currently in Harvard University library, the other in the Bibliothèque nationale in France. On the surface, Satie’s musical arrangements differ greatly from his original cabaret chansons. While both the Rêverie du Pauvre and Petite musique de clown triste were identified and published as Satie’s original compositions, they were in fact chanson arrangements. The Rêverie du Pauvre features a piano accompaniment to a mélodie by Jules Massenet, Les Enfants. The Petite musique de clown triste is an arrangement of “C’est la fille de ma tante” from Louis Varney’s operetta La Femme de Narcisse. Hyspa also did textual parodies of both melodies for cabaret performances. Satie’s arrangements should thus be studied as examples of compositional techniques that he later applied to his own works, most notably his humorous piano suites. In some later compositions, most notably in Celle qui parle trop, Satie employed techniques derived from Hyspa’s ironic art, but extended it significantly. While Hyspa gave a sarcastic twist to a familiar operetta refrain, Satie created an original refrain and treated it like a musical object that is isolated from its original function and context. By subjecting Hyspa’s parodistic technique to his own subjective means, Satie places an increased demand on his listeners. The success of Satie’s parodies relies on listeners’ familiarity with the sources of his quotations.

Works: Satie: La Marseillaise des épiciers (217), Président aux Concours des animaux gras (217), La Triste fin du Taureau Romito aux courses de deuil (217), Rêverie du Pauvre (225), Petite musique de clown triste (226), Chapitres tournés en tous sens (232).

Sources: Alphonse Varney: Chœur des Girondins (217); Offenbach: La Vie parisienne (217); Bizet: Carmen Suite No. 2 (217); Massenet: Les Enfants (225); Louis Varney: La Femme de Narcisse (226); Louis Maillart: Les dragons de Villars (232).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Jingyi Zhang

The score of Satie’s Vexations prompts speculative associations to Beethoven’s “Prometheus” Variations and to the verbal stunts of cabaret poets like Charles Cros. Satie’s instructions for the performer at the segno “to take up the thème de la Basse, to wit [and the bass theme is notated]” are confusing, leading to the question of how one should perform the work with texts that may not be read to the audience. Satie’s art lies in its suggestion of multiple significances of which one was to parody Beethoven through musical borrowing, bringing to mind his Embryons desséchés and its parody of the ending of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8. Satie’s experience in the cabaret sphere influenced his artistic tendencies and compositional technique. One such influence pertains to the multiple parodic associations in Satie’s music, and his Vexations shares affinities with some verbal games cultivated at the Chat Noir, the successor to a group of bohemian poets and musicians. Satie also shares the same aesthetic aims of economy and minimalism with Santiago Rusiñol and Cros. The 840-fold repetition of the “ce motif” in Vexations demonstrates an attempt to imitate the holorhymic verses of the French poetry. While it sounds almost identical, Satie subjects the musical material to various transpositions and voicings, resulting in a work where every musical phrase completely rhymes with every other. Therefore, he is essentially composing a monumental parody of Beethoven’s “Prometheus” Variations by reducing the musical idea to the eternal sameness of a musical holorhyme.

Works: Satie: Vexations (313), Embryons desséchés(313).

Sources: Beethoven: “Prometheus” Variations, Op. 35 (313), Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93 (313).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Jingyi Zhang

Tan Dun’s Symphony 1997: Heaven, Earth, Man, which was composed to celebrate Hong Kong’s reunification with China, makes use of extensive self-borrowing, fitting the traditional Chinese practice of using the same work for various settings. The composer here assumes a dual role as creator and culture carrier. Tan’s incorporation of the suicidal duet from the opera Princess Cheungping in the sixth movement harbors a political tone, as the opera symbolizes a city’s downfall. Furthermore, the duet titled Xiang Yao (the death of the princess) abbreviates Xiang Gang Yao Wang (the death of Hong Kong), which is ironic for a symphony intended to celebrate Hong Kong. In the seventh to tenth movements, Tan borrows from his own previous works to create a collage. The next two movements are borrowed from Tan’s own movie soundtrack for the film Don’t Cry, Nanking, detailing the Nanjing Massacre and contributing an overall depressing tone to the handover celebration. The presence of the gigantic Zeng Hou Yi bells is crucial in the understanding of the music. The Zeng Hou Yi bell-chimes are symbols of a local lord subverting the hierarchy of the ritual system, thereby harboring defiant political undertones. The use of the Zeng Hou Yi bell-chimes in this composition further contributes to a revival of ancient ritual objects and can be interpreted as a subversive act in this reunification context. This accounts for why only the first two movements of the symphony were performed in the variety show televised to the public in commemoration of the reunification.

Works: Tan Dun: Symphony 1997: Heaven, Earth, Man (57-71).

Sources: Anonymous: Mo Li Hua (58); Puccini: Turandot (58); Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra (58); Anonymous: Princess Cheungping (58-59), Xiang Gang Yao Wang (59); Tan Dun: Soundtrack to Don’t Cry, Nanking (60), Marco Polo (61); Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 (61).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Jingyi Zhang