| In the development of new music in China, Luo Zhongrong (born 1924) is unquestionably a central figure. A composer, theorist, and pedagogue, Luo has been recognized as the "spiritual father of modern Chinese music by many young composers in Beijing and Shanghai." Luo rightly deserves such a privileged designation. Following the turbulent years of the Cultural Revolution, he has been instrumental in helping to disseminate Western music theories and techniques, significantly the twelve-note technique of the Second Viennese School and George Perle's twelve-tone tonality, and has employed these methods in his own compositions. Luo's music incorporates both "new" Western compositional techniques and elements drawn from Chinese music traditions, in particular pentatonicism and a genre of percussion music called shifan luogu. He has inspired contemporary composers and musicians and will continue to do so for generations to come. In this thesis, I examine how Luo developed new techniques in the domains of pitch and rhythm in the post-Cultural Revolution era and argue that his twelve-note music draws on an innovative exploration of numbers. |
