Taiwanese Composers and Piano Works in the XX Century: Traditional Chinese Culture and the Taiwan Xin Yinyue

Abstract

The paper will try to prove how piano music can be considered a main tool for understanding the evolution of XX century Taiwanese New Music. Starting from the first generation of Taiwanese composers and on the basis of their piano works, the meaning of "xin yinyue" will be analysed; the paper will then try to identify the influences of both so-called "traditional culture" and western music in the development of the new music written by the subsequent generations of composers. The role of Xuanyin yaji (Atelier de creation musicale "Formusica") in the spreading of new piano works in the 90s will be also taken into consideration, as it allows us to draw out an outline of present-day piano music trends in Taiwan.