Frost Bitten Lotus

My orchestral work "FROST BITTEN LOTUS" (苍菡吟) draws inspiration from the first piece in the Yuan dynasty's song collection "Gan He Ye (dried lotus) Eight Pieces." This is a set of sanqu (散曲, a form of classical Chinese poetry written to be sung) created by Liu Bingzhong, a Yuan dynasty writer. It's considered an excellent work that combines sanqu and folk songs, where the author creates meaning from the subject matter itself. This Yuan dynasty song is structured into seven distinct phrases, featuring a sophisticated rhyming pattern that includes four level-tone rhymes and two special "xié" rhymes (叶, pronounced in the second tone). These "xié" rhymes represent a unique feature in classical Chinese poetry where syllables share the same rhyme category but differ in tone. I designed the structure of my orchestral composition based on the tonal system of the Yuan dynasty, which had a fascinating linguistic characteristic: during this period, the traditional four-tone system was undergoing transformation. The entering tone (rusheng) was being merged into other tonal categories, creating a simplified system where syllables were broadly classified as either "level" or "oblique" tones. This tonal pattern creates a natural musical rhythm that I've incorporated into the piece's structure, translating these linguistic features into melodic and rhythmic elements that Western listeners can appreciate as a unique fusion of Eastern poetic structure and Western orchestral expression. Additionally, the musical mode marking for this Yuan song is Nan Lü (南吕). Although the pitch standards for ancient modes kept changing (showing a declining trend), the yin-yang division within the twelve lülü (律吕, Chinese twelve-tone musical system) remained constant. I created my pitch collections based on the level tones (平声) and oblique tones (仄声), which are fundamental to classical Chinese prosody, combined with the six yang lü and six yin lü, further incorporating post-tonal methods. Through transposition and inversion between different pitch sets, I achieved timbral transformations while avoiding repetition and overly consonant progressions. Finally, I used the varying character counts in the seven phrases of this Yuan song as the foundational template for my rhythmic design, which I then developed further. This approach translates the original poem's textual rhythm—where each Chinese character typically represents one syllable—into musical patterns that honor the source material's natural flow. I aim to portray a lotus that, though frost-bitten and withered, stands resilient and continues to emanate vitality against the harsh elements—a metaphor that resonates across cultures as a symbol of endurance and inner strength despite external challenges.

Name thesis:degree_name

D.M.A. (Doctor of Musical Arts)

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Music Composition (UMKC)

Grantor

University of Missouri--Kansas City

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Li, Haitian (Composer)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Chen, Yi, 1953-

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10355/108783

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mospace.umsystem.edu:10355/108783