New Music in China and The C.C. Liu Collection at the University of Hong Kong

Abstract

University of Hong Kong Libraries Publications, No. 20

This publication is not a standard catalogue. Part A comprises five invited papers, each of which touches on a topic directly or indirectly related to the music of China in the twentieth century: Barbara Mittler provides a brief account of C. C. Liu's life and his researches; Helen Woo writes on the significance of The C. C. Liu Collection; Chan Hing-yan traces and criticizes some of the main trends of the modern Chinese orchestra over the past 60 years; Yu Siu-wah anatomizes Sun Wenming's Liu Bo Qu, painstakingly going through every minute detail to demonstrate the musical logic of this seemingly humble masterpiece; and Harrison Ryker scrutinizes the issue of polytonality, a strategy seen by many Chinese composers in the last 50 years as a way to enhance "Chineseness" in their compositions, though Ryker, by and large, uses works of European composers to explicate his arguments. The inclusion of these articles will no doubt elevate the scholastic value of the current publication.

Part B consists of the catalogue of library materials related to new music of China donated by Liu Ching-chih to the University of Hong Kong.