Interview of Jianzhong Wang

Recently, I am writing Jianzhong Wang for Wikipedia entry. When I am searching the resource, I find one interview particularly catches my attention. The China Daily talked about Jianzhong Wang in September 13^th. Wang, an influential Chinese composer and music teacher, gave a lecture on his piano works on Tuesday at the Mannes College of Music in New York. More than 100 of Wang’s students and admirers attended the event which also celebrated the composer’s 80^th birthday. The night’s program included “Liu Yang River” (1972), “Three Variations of the Plum Blossom Melody” (1973), “Hundreds of Birds Worshipping the Phoenix” (1973), and “Evening Song on the Fishing Boat” (2006). All of these are famous piano repertory in China.

The former vice-president of the Shanghai Conservatory, Wang is a household name in China thanks to his large body of works for piano composed in 1960s and 1970s, music that bridged traditional Chinese music with Western classical and modern composition styles. His music bridged traditional Chinese music with Western classical and modern composition styles. His piano compositions were valued for what they revealed about the dilemma faced by Wang’s generation of Chinese composers during a time of great social turmoil. The popularity of his works continued after the bans on contemporary music and Western music were lifted in the 1970s. He successfully developed a piano style that captures the sound and spirit of traditional Chinese folk music by integrating ornamental tones, chromaticism, and pentantonic scales.