Memory and Obliviousness in the Creation of Music: Re-examining the Musical Language of Qigang Chen’s Yuan by his Composition Notes

Musical works, as with forms of literature such as poems and novels, are without exception the results of deliberating ideas, searching for inspirations, organizing material, and arranging structure, as well as industrious writing and revision. In a composer’s early years of creation, his manuscripts or notes always casually reveal his analysis, memory or even obliviousness of the chefs-d’oeuvre of his admired masters. These psychological experiences and creative processes may even consciously or unconsciously become elements of his personal style. This paper focuses on the musical language of Yuan （Origins）, an early orchestral work of the Chinese composer Qigang Chen. By examining the manuscripts and composition notes created during the work’s genesis, we analyze and present how Chen transformed his rudimentary motives and material into his work, whether he was influenced by Messiaen and Boulez, two giants in the contemporary history of French music, and the forming of Chen’s aesthetic views and characteristic style.