THE FANTASY JASMINE FLOWERS BY CHU WANGHUA: SYMBOLIC IMAGERY AND ITS MUSICAL INTERPRETATION

Abstract

The article highlights that the piano Fantasy “Jasmine Flowers” (2003) by Chinese composer Chu Wanghua represents the pinnacle of his late creative period. In this composition, the intonational layers of national folk music are intricately interwoven with the diverse palette of European expressive means. At the core of the work lies the well-known folk song “Jasmine Flowers”, which in Chinese culture symbolizes purity, femininity, and spiritual harmony. However, for the composer, it becomes more than just a theme for arrangement – it serves as a source of profound artistic transformation. In the Fantasy, the folk melody unfolds within a large-scale piano composition characterized by a free, arch-like structure, integrating elements of the rondo, ternary form, and concentric development.A comprehensive analysis of the work reveals that the thematic material undergoes a reinterpretation imbued with new emotional meanings through the use of extended pentatonic passages, impressionistic chordal textures, and the imitation of the timbres of traditional Chinese instruments such as the guqin, erhu, pipa, and xiao. Notably, the climactic cadenza appears not at the end, but at the structural center of the work, alluding to the traditions of Chinese instrumental music, where virtuosic insertions often hold symbolic significance. Complex polymeter, timbral effects, and expressive markings such as subito passionate, una corda, and con fuoco reveal the composer’s nuanced approach to the imagery and philosophical conception of the piece, thereby enhancing the multidimensional symbolism of the jasmine flower.The analysis of the musical language demonstrates a synthesis of pentatonic intonations with elements of the European Romantic tradition. The impressionistic harmony, characterized by soft textures and blurred chordal fields, is achieved through the use of pedal, arpeggiation, and register contrasts. The vertical layering of multiple textural strata and the employment of quasi-polyfunctional sonorities reflect the composer's use of techniques associated with contemporary musical language. Chu Wanghua employs modal inflections alongside European tonal logic. The Fantasy reveals a dialogue of cultures: the songfulness and meditative qualities of the East resonate with the Romantic expressiveness and the art of interiority, fleeting impressions, and emotional and sensory elusiveness of Western Impressionism.