Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2001

G r a d u a l L o c a l i z a t i o n o f C o m p o s i t i o n s Chairman of the Department of Music, Prof. Chan Wi ng - wah points out that musical composition i n Hong Kong can be traced back to the early 50s, yet its heyday began in the late 70s. The Ho ng Ko ng Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hong Kong Chinese Music Orchestra came into being in 1974 and 1977 r e s p e c t i v e l y . A r o u n d t ha t t i m e , h o m e - g r o w n composers started to return from their further studies abroad, and there was a burst of creativity on the local music scene. However ， as most music teachers in the early days were f o r e i gne r s , wh o used t ea c h i ng ma t e r i a l derived ma i n l y f r om the W e s t , a n d as students tended t o study abroad after graduation, their wo r k was greatly influenced by the Western musical tradition. In the 50s and 60s, many musicians fled to Hong Kong from the mainland. Their compositions reflected the shortage of material provisions in society at the time — with scanty or no instruments available, such works were largely written for the voice (solo or in group) and the piano. This also explains the proliferation of amateur choirs at the time. Following the economic take-off in the 70s, studying music became more widespread. The Department of Music was founded at The Chinese University to provide local young people with formal training in music. Most of Prof. Chan Wing-wah's compositions are symphonic works. He has completed six so far, and they have been performed by orchestras and broadcast by radio stations in mainland China, Japan, Russia, Poland, Canada, Hungary, South Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, Australia, and the US. A few years before 1997 ， P r o f . Chan detected a t r e nd among composers to r e t h i nk t he ir i d e n t i ty and r e p o s i t i on t h em s e l v e s . S e a r c h i n g f o r i n s p i r a t i on an d ma t e r i al i n t r ad i t i ona l Chinese music for composition, their works marked a 'return to China'. Prof. Chan w e l c o m e s the t r e n d as he believes that Hong Kong is the only place i n southeast Asia whose people have equal exposure to and experience of Eastern and Western cultures since primary school. This cross-cultural quality is very much a Hong Ko n g quality. His view is that i f the musicians can bring out such a quality in their compositions, they w i l l be able to start a new chapter in Hong Ko ng music, and give new meaning to Hon g Kong culture. Prof. Chan says, 'Technology advances rapidly. It also becomes outdated rapidly. Culture , on the other hand, w i l l only deepen as time passes . It is something refined ， something at the level o f the soul. Teachers in our department write music not only out of their own interest, they are trying to give a voice to this generation.' Ove r the years, the teachers o f the department Hong Kong Culture: A Multiplicity of Colours 11