Newsletter No. 163

CUHK Newsletter No. 163 19th April 2000 3 One of 24 Areas of Excellence East and West Converging in Music The University's Department of Music, the oldest of the tertiary music departments in Hong Kong, has upheld its unique tradition of bicultural excellence in research and teaching for three and a half decades. This bicultural characteristic is derived from the University's bicultural heritage, and distinguishes the department from its counterparts in Hong Kong as well as from music departments elsewhere in China mainland. In 1998, this unique strength of the department was given formal recognition by the University, which designated its project, simply and aptly titled, 'Music Eastand West', as one of the 24 Areas of Excellence (AoE) at CUHK. P rof. Chan Wing-wah, chair of the Department of Music and coordinator of 'Music East and West', said being made an AoE means receiving more support from the University, as opposed to being paid lip service. Being in the limelight, so to speak, w i ll not bring about radical changes in policy or direction but will certainly open up doors for some of the department's major endeavours. Music East A case in point is the Chinese Music Archive. Formally established in 1972, the Chinese Music Archive is one of the most comprehensive of its kind in the world. Its collection comprises tens of thousands of printed material, scores, manuscripts, textbooks, audio-visual material, an d musical instruments. Among these are books and scores from the Qing Dynasty, some 10,000 78-rpm gramophone records and tapes primarily of Chinese operatic performances, material on Chinese ritual music, a zither and other instruments from the Ming and Ching Dynasties, instruments o f ethnic minorities in China, Chinese bronze bells, a comprehensive collection of musical material from Asia, such as Balinese Gamelan instruments, and instruments from Indian, Japan, and Korea. Yet, the archive has never been recognized as a library or archive at the University, and hence, has not been allocated the space and financial support that such would be eligible for. With only a part-time clerk on duty, cataloguing and preservation o f the archive has depended largely on the good will and dedication of the department's teaching staff. 'We certainly have enough unique musical instruments for a permanent display but lack the venue and the means. So we put them on temporary display for local tertiary, secondary, and primary students each year as part of their music education, and these displays have been very well received. The 78 rpm gramophone records were dubbed into tapes in the 70s, and now, for the sake of conservation and ease of use, they have to be burnt into compact disks. Since it's all real-time recording, if a full-time staff spends 40 hours on them each week, it would take five or six years to complete the whole collection. And we only have one part-time staff,' said Prof. Chan. The AoE label would help publicize the volume of valuable materials related to Chinese music, which he hopes will be augmented by the addition of awider range of materials related to Asian music and the works of Chinese composers. And eventually a formal Chinese Music Archive that includes an Asian collection and a collection of contemporary Chinese music may be established with a full-time librarian. I f that happens, it w i ll be a leading library of music in China that includes Chinese folk m u s i c , C h i n e se o p e r a s, and contemporary music written by Chinese (including Hong Kong) composers. The AoE status may also attract university funds to enable the department's extensive collection of reading and listening materials to be computerized and put on the World Wide Web with much greater efficiency for access by scholars and students of music the world over. This is actually an ongoing project that has been done by a student helper and with the support of private funds. Previously, due to the lack of resources, the department had to turn down many donations of materials that are actually worth collecting. Music West In the area of Western music, the department already houses a collection of Western music scores and books that is one of the largest, i f not the largest, in Asia. On top of that, it has plans to set up a Western Early Music Collection which will feature, amongst other materials, the replicas of early 15th or 16th century Western musical instruments. And the department w i l l continue to train bicultural students in Western musicology. Music East and West Prof. Chan pointed out that they are the only music department in Hong Kong w i t h a balanced ratio of f u l l - t ime teaching staff of Western and Chinese music who have contributed equally significantly to both fields in terms of research and teaching. 'Our bachelor degree holders are equipped to study either Chinese or Western music at the postgraduate level. They are also the only ones w i th the ability to teach both Chinese and Western music. The majority of graduate masters/mistresses in music at local secondary schools come from our department. Our graduates are also teaching in tertiary institutions such as Baptist University, the University of Hong Kong, and the Academy for Performing Arts, but the situation is not reciprocal,' said Prof. Chan. Some of the department's graduates are also in performance at Hong Kong's Chinese and Western orchestras. From a global perspective, the Department is well poised to finetune its pluralistic approach to train scholars, practitioners, and researchers in music. As Prof. Chan observed, 'In the US, Europe, and mainland China, students in conservatories or universities are trained mainly in Western music. In Japan, modern music schools concentrate on Western music, while traditional schools focus purely on traditional music.' Contribution to Cultural Life The department's music education is not confined to music majors but w i ll extend to students of other departments. In line with the 'One art for life' call of the Arts Development Council, the department has plans to author more Chinese and Western music-related material for the University's students to enhance their personal development through general education. 'Not many people know about music, nor is it strictly necessary to. However ther e should be more people who can appreciate music. Although I ' m of the view that music education should start from the primary and secondary levels, it's beyond our domain of control. Hence we should try to make up for that by putting more effort into general education at the tertiary level. The government is always saying that there are not enough audiences for musical events in Hong Kong. That's because there has not been enough music education for people other than music majors,' said Prof. Chan. In 2001, a new 300-seat concert hall on Chung Chi campus will be added to the department's current performance venues, which will enable the department to stage more large-scale performances and invite overseas groups to perform for the University's staff and students. The department will also expand its research into other Asian music such as Javanese, Balinese, Japanese, Korean, and Indian music. 'We know much about Japan's information technology. Why shouldn't we know more about its music too?' said Prof. Chan. He added that culture, as opposed to IT, does not yield immediate returns, yet without cu l t u r al development to go w i t h economic development, there cannot be any real improvement in the quality of people. Piera Chen Some printed material in the Chinese Music Archive