Study on Tonal Ambiguity and Timbre Thinking in Contemporary Chinese Art Song Creation

Tianxiao Tan

doi:10.54097/n5tbek04

Authors

Tianxiao Tan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54097/n5tbek04

Keywords:

Contemporary Chinese Art Song, Tonal Ambiguity, Timbre Thinking, Composing Technique, Artistic Expression

Abstract

Contemporary Chinese art song, as a core carrier of the integration of Chinese traditional musical culture and Western modern composing techniques, has shown a diversified development trend in the process of cultural collision and inheritance. Tonal ambiguity and timbre thinking, as two key aesthetic and technical characteristics in its creation, have become important signs of the innovation and development of contemporary Chinese art song. This paper takes the creation practice of contemporary Chinese art song (since the 1980s) as the research object, combs the connotation and manifestation of tonal ambiguity and timbre thinking by using the research methods of musicology, statistics and case analysis, explores the internal connection between the two, analyzes the application rules and artistic value of tonal ambiguity and timbre thinking in specific works, and provides theoretical reference and practical enlightenment for the creation and development of contemporary Chinese art song. The research finds that tonal ambiguity in contemporary Chinese art song creation mainly manifests in the weakening of functional tonality, the superposition of multi-tonality and the free conversion of mode, which breaks the traditional tonal framework and enriches the emotional expression of the works; timbre thinking, on the other hand, realizes the innovation of sound color through the integration of national instrumental timbre, the expansion of vocal timbre and the exploration of electronic timbre, and constructs a unique audio-visual language of contemporary Chinese art song. There is a mutual promotion and complementary relationship between the two: tonal ambiguity provides a free space for the exertion of timbre thinking, and the innovation of timbre thinking further highlights the artistic connotation of tonal ambiguity. The research also shows that the application of tonal ambiguity and timbre thinking in contemporary Chinese art song creation has obvious generational characteristics, and the acceptance of the audience also shows differences with the change of times.

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