Effect of national traditions on the dramaturgy of the piano concert «The Four Spirits» by Chen Yi

Genre of the piano concert holds a prominent place in the works ofcontemporary Chinese composers. The interest is due to the integration ofChinese culture into the Western music world, the awareness of pianoversatility for national musical material adaptation. Article analyses for the first time one of the most recently written works of the contemporary Chinese-American composer Chen Yi – the piano concert “The Four Spirits” (2016). The purpose of the article is to determine the effect of ancient Chinesemythology on the content and structure of the piano concert “The FourSpirits”, written by Chinese composer Chen Yi. The methodology usesmusical and theoretical analysis method to study work’s musical drama andprogram basis.The concert analysed combines organically pan-European andnational features, when the national dominates over the European. This ismanifested in the concert at the content level, through Chinese mythologyimages, as well as in the musical language, by stylizing and quoting folkmelodies common in various regions of China. Referring to the basics ofChinese mythology, Chen Yi reproduces in the 4-part cycle of the suite typethe imagination of four sacred animals, symbols of Chinese culture: dragon,xuanwu (a combination of turtle and snake), tiger and phoenix. The composerstylizes in the lyrical and energetic music of the first part of the concert theChinese folk songs from Central China. Mysterious mood and imagery of thesecond part are reproduced by the sonorous orchestral recording and spatiallayers in the piano-solo part. Dramatic images of the third part, which is alink to the final, arise due to collisions of piano registers emphasized by means of orchestration. The fourth part is lively and energetic; the thematicmaterial is borrowed from the folk melody of Southern China. The piano andorchestra are transformed in each part into an organic whole, symbolizingthe spirit of Chinese culture. The unique national traditions, in particular theancient mythology of the Chinese people, became the source of the originalmusical ideas and their original embodiment by the modern Chinesecomposers.