2011
Chinese Association of Higher Education
"The 11th Academic Conference cum 2010/2011 Annual Congress of the CAHE Music Education Division"
Best Paper Award (First Prize)
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This paper analyzes and compares the Chinese aesthetic concept derived from the “Chaos Theory” of Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi in the pre-Qin period and the Impressionistic music created by the French Impressionist Debussy in the nineteenth century. According to Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi’s “Chaos Theory”, beauty is to be regarded as an indivisible whole. This aesthetic concept was characterized by its holistic approach and the confluence of image and sense. In comparison, Debussy emphasized the instant alternation of impressions, celebrated the self-expression of subjective feelings, and accentuated the importance of his favorite nine chords and their derivatives to express the whole harmonic atmosphere for the ambiguous relationship between language and music, symbolizing a spirit of “Serenity”. An accord can be found between Debussy’s theory and the “Chaos Theory” of Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi from some two thousand years ago.
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This paper was first published in Journal of Macao Polytechnic Institute (vol. 14, No.1). |
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Dr Hu Qiping
Professor, Music Programme, School of Arts |
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