INNOVATIVE EUROPEAN TECHNIQUES IN A CHAMBER-INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE “LAN ON THE OTHER SIDE” BY GONG XIAO-TING

Abstract

The significance of the genre of chamber-instrumental music in the artistic space of the West and the East is outlined. The circumstances of the origin of the idea of composing the piece “Lan on the other side” by Gong Xiao-Ting are described. The role of modern compositional techniques in the canvas, as the main means for the embodiment of musical images, is highlighted. The main trends of the artist’s musical language are analyzed, and the dominant means of expression in the work concerned are emphasized as well. Attention is paid to the analysis of the musical language in the ensemble instrumental music of the contemporary Chinese composer Gong Xiao-Ting from the perspective of the dialogue of cultures. The research distinguishes the manifestations of folklore in the musical language of the instrumental ensemble “Lan on the other side”, as well as sound-imaging effects that contribute to creating a coherent musical image. The program in the chamber-instrumental ensemble “Lan on the other side” by Gong Xiao-Ting renders the ambience and the composer’s state after visiting the museum in France. The new impressions of the author, who was brought up in the traditions of Eastern culture, were quite complex and contradictory after contemplating pieces of Western European painting. Thus, the author’s feelings and sense of art are conveyed in the work through numerous dissonant constructions, cluster verticals, and atonal consonance. The analysis of Gong Xiao-Ting’s musical language throughout the entire composition, in particular, the dominant expressive features of the canvas, demonstrates the interpenetration of Eastern and Western traditions. In addition to the use of innovative techniques characteristic of Western European avant-garde artists of the late 20th century – aleatoric music, sonorism, pointillism – one can trace in the work the connection with transformed folklore sources. Key words: Gong Xiao-Ting, chamber-instrumental ensemble, innovative techniques, musical and expressive means, musical language, modern music, composers of China.