An Infusion of Eastern and Western Music Styles into Art Song: Introducing Two Sets of Art Song for Mezzo-Soprano by Chen Yi

Chinese-American composer Chen Yi has been praised as “the most internationally renowned female Asian composer of contemporary music today,” and she “has in particular become a prominent figure in music circles in the United States and China.” Besides her successes in writing orchestral and chamber music, Chen Yi has also written numerous vocal compositions including some art songs. This document aims to introduce two sets of Chen’s art songs written for mezzo-soprano voice, Meditation and Bright Moonlight, and study the features of these compositions that represent the unique style of her music, which is influenced by Chinese folk music idioms and Western modern music elements. Chen Yi grew up in both the traditional China before the mid-1960s and the reformed China after the mid-1970s. She took her journey of music study a long way from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing to Columbia University in New York City. She is a Western-trained musician and has launched a successful career of teaching Western music in higher education in America. This document reveals Chen’s bicultural background, strengthens the link between her cultural uniqueness and her musical creativity, and elaborates on how her bicultural background has influenced her compositional style. Ancient Chinese poetry and Peking Opera singing style have inspired Chen’s art songwriting tremendously. By reviewing the poetic literature of Tang Shi and Song Ci and the performing practice of Peking Opera, this document will give comprehensive 1 “An interview with Chen Yi,” interview by John de Clef Piñeiro, July 26, 2001.