Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Weipeng Liu

Date

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Musical Arts

Department

Music

Committee Chair

Janet Page

Committee Member

Kimberly Patterson

Committee Member

Mahir Cetiz

Committee Member

Timothy Shiu

Abstract

This dissertation explores Tan Dun’s cross-cultural synthesis in contemporary music, focusing on his work Elegy: Snow in June (1991) to illuminate his role in redefining global musical dialogues. Situating Tan Dun within the broader trajectory of Chinese-Western musical encounters, the research addresses gaps in existing scholarship by integrating historical, analytical, and performative perspectives. Through meticulous score analysis, cultural-historical contextualization, and insights from performance practice, the study reveals how Tan Dun hybridizes Chinese pentatonic modes with Western harmonic frameworks, subverts orchestral hierarchies through unique timbres (such as stones and paper), and synthesizes Beijing opera’s jinda, manchang (“hasty stroke with slow singing”) with extended cello techniques. Drawing on frameworks of heteroglossia and cultural fragmentation, the research demonstrates how Tan Dun’s early exposure to rural Hunanese rituals and Beijing opera dramaturgy informed his subversion of orchestral hierarchies. Tracing his evolution—from rural Hunan rituals to mentorship at Columbia University under Chou Wen-Chung—the work underscores his contributions to the “New Wave” generation of Chinese composers and offers performers a roadmap for interpreting transcultural complexity. This research deepens understanding of Tan Dun’s artistic innovation and reframes cross-cultural composition as a dynamic, heteroglossic process of negotiation and reinvention.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest.

Notes

Open Access

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