The creative use of conservative western compositional techniques in Wen-Yeh Chiang's "Piano Suite - Twelve Poems On Folk Festival", Op. 53

Abstract

Wen-yeh Chiang is one of the pioneers in the twentieth-century music history of China. His Piano Suite - Twelve Poems On Folk Festival, Op. 53 is a remarkable contemporary piece for solo piano that epitomizes Chiang’s various stylistic characteristics. The most distinct idea of his mature style is presenting traditional Chinese folk elements in a twentieth-century language with conservative Western compositional techniques. In this document, a detailed musical analysis of Chiang’s innovative treatments of melody, harmony, texture, and form will be provided. The discussion of his latest monumental work Piano Suite - Twelve Poems On Folk Festival, Op. 53 will be the major section, along with analysis of his other piano pieces.