Talking about Chinese elements in western music works

The Chinese elements in western music works include the use of Chinese modal scales, Chinese rhythms, and Chinese melodies.

1, the use of Chinese tonal scales

Schubert's "Unfinished Sonata in C Major" incorporates the pentatonic scale, and in the ninth measure of the piece, the pentatonic scale in C major is shown in the form of triplets. Subsequently, Liszt similarly used the pentatonic scale in his Fountain at Este Manor, and utilized this scale form in a distinctly impressionistic manner.

In modern times, the most skillful use of pentatonic modes and scales was by the Russian-American composer Zilpin. Having traveled and lectured in China, and having married a Chinese wife, Zilpin was familiar with traditional Chinese music, and composed the Pentatonic Scale Piano Etudes, which consisted of two sets of suites and a collection of miniatures, all in pentatonic scale.

2. The Use of Chinese Rhythm

British composer Bantock once said that rhythm and melody are the most basic features of Eastern music. In the opinion of many Western musicians, the rhythm of Chinese music tends to be stable and balanced on the whole, which is also in line with the Chinese people's reverence for the path of neutrality and harmony. In Debussy's Etudes, this kind of rhythm is widely used.

Many places are clearly labeled with free, at-will notation, giving the performer great freedom to obtain a richer and more diverse secondary creative effect. Another example is Zirpin's work "The Fairy and the Peasant", in which he imitated the timbre of the gongs and drums in the form of a piano according to the rhythmic characteristics of Chinese music, obtaining a rhythmic effect of dramatic color.

3, the use of Chinese melodies

In Chinese traditional music, both vocal and instrumental, there are a lot of popular melodies that have been widely spread in the West. For example, the well-known folk song "Jasmine Flower" once appeared in Puccini's opera "Turandot". Similarly, this folk song has also appeared in Western piano works.

Russian composer Ariansky, for example, used the melody in his Etudes, and in his Etude No. 25, he used the rondo form, alternating the theme's presentational and interjectional parts, and the beginning of the work was performed in Western major and minor harmonies. The work employs the old folk song twice in a brisk and even urgent form, and the melodic material is Chinese.