On Chorus-conducting From The Perspective Of Reception Aesthetics

Reception aesthetics is an aesthetic genre originated in Germany in the late 1960 s. It was introduced to China in the early 1980 s, and has rapidly drawn great interests from many researchers. Here I attempt to apply the theory of reception aesthetics into the discussion of chorus-conducting. This thesis contains three parts:(1) Main ideas of reception aesthetics. The core concepts of reception aesthetics are expectant horizon, blank and aesthetic experience. Expectant horizon refers to the aesthetic expectation of audience in the process of literary. Blank is the contents which are not clearly described by the author, but can be hinted by the contents. While aesthetic experience refers to various experiences in the process of literature appreciation. These three core concepts of reception aesthetics have contributed to chorus-conducting in certain extents, and are represented as follows:(a) chorus is an art form which requires multiple levels of reception, so reception is more important for chorus than other art forms.(b) In the process of chorus, the director can only express himself by gesture, eye contact, body language and etc., not by language, words, images, or some other media which are more elucidating in the expression of intentions. Thus the effectiveness of reception will be a critical issue.(c) The basic principles of chorus-conducting are concise, accurate and beauty, these principles match the three core concepts of reception aesthetics.(d) Many conducting skills focus on the reception of chorus members, which is correlating to the concept of reception aesthetics.(2) The application of reception aesthetics in chorus-conducting. There are three major aspects in the application of reception aesthetics:(a) the relationship between expectant horizon and chorus-conducting. In the process of chorus, there are three types of expectant horizon fusion, art works and chorus director, chorus director and chorus members, chorus members and audience;(b) The relationship between blank and chorus-conducting. There are three types of blanks in chorus: the blank of chorus skill, the blank of chorus process, and the blank of singing.(c) The relationship between aesthetic experience and chorus-conducting. It is chorus director’s duty to effectively deliver the aesthetic experience and expression to chorus members, and eventually to the audience. This is critical in judging the success of the chorus work.(3) The significance of reception aesthetics in chorus-conducting. There are three major aspects:(a) in the process of chorus-conducting, there are three types of expectant horizon fusion, art works and chorus director, chorus director and chorus members, chorus members and audience. These provide us some important research directions.(b) Good chorus works contain lots of blanks. For a good chorus director, he must know how to create and fill these blanks.(c) The transfer of emotion is very difficult in the process of chorus, compared to other form of arts. As a chorus director, he must take this issue seriously, cherish the expression of the emotion, and measure the whole process by the efficiency of emotion transfer. This is the only way that the musical emotion does not lose its original taste or downgrade its level during the transfer process. By stimulating the emotional initiative of the chorus members, a richer and more shocking work can be performed, which would be more likely to lead to the mental and physical integration and emotional resonance of the audience.