Customer Reviews

Musical Creativity in Twentieth-Century China: Abing, His Music, and Its Changing Meanings (Eastman Studies in Music)

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This work is a combination of the anthropological and historical study of Chinese society and the musicological analysis of Chinese music. Abing was a key Chinese traditional musician who lived in the city of Wuxi from the 1890s to 1950. Initially a Daoist priest, Abing went blind and became a street musician. It was in this guise that he was recorded by a visiting team of musicologists in 1950. (Recordings from that session are on the CD with this book.)

His music, which analysis shows to have been improvisatory in nature, was then taken up by players of erhu (two-stringed fiddle) and pipa (four-stringed lute) in the Chinese music conservatories. In this process the music became fixed in notation and turned into set compositions to be performed in concert-style renditions, often arranged with the accompaniment of other instruments. Meanwhile, the details of Abing's life have been reinvented several times by the cultural establishment, and he became (after his death) variously a hero of the downtrodden masses, an outspoken class revolutionary, a romantically inspired composer (like Beethoven).

In short, the book shows how one echelon of Chinese musical culture was transformed in the twentieth century, on the one hand by imported Western musical ideas (the composer, the piece), and on the other by the social and political currents of the day.

As a contribution to ethnomusicology, it argues for a greater attention to the analysis of music as a means of unlocking historical clues. It is also one of the first books to fully apply the cross-cultural perspectives of ethnomusicology to Chinese music. (Of course, I have to choose 5 stars!)

In this delightful read, Prof. Stock uses Er-hu (Chinese Spiked Fiddle) and A-bing as two themes within a montage that traces the history of Chinese folk music. Not only does the author present a convincing argument for the lost emphasis upon improv in Chinese music, but he also presents his arguments within the cultural context of A-bing's China.
Yet, this highly academic text is presented in an invigorating manner and grips the reader to finish the book at one sitting. Although some basic knowledge on western music notation is needed to get the most out of the book, the accompanying CD that has the er-hu performance of A-bing are indeed priceless (and worth the price of the book).