(b Taibei, Taiwan, 11 June 1910; d Beijing, 24 Oct 1983). Chinese composer. Originally named Jiang Wenbin, he moved to Japan in 1923 to pursue his studies of music. Particularly influential was the composer Kōsaku Yamada with whom he studied from 1932 after completing an electrical engineering degree. Some early works were published in Japan under the Japanese pronunciation of his name, Bunya Koh. In 1938 Jiang moved to Japanese-occupied Beijing (then Beiping), where he took a post at the Beiping Normal University. He continued composing works in a wide variety of Western genres, and also provided music for Japanese propaganda films, which led to a ten-month prison sentence at the end of World War II. In 1947 Jiang joined the teaching staff of the National Arts Specialist School, and in 1950 he became a member of the composition department of the newly formed Central Conservatory of Music (founded in Tianjin but soon relocated to Beijing). Classified as a rightist in the political campaigns of 1957, his work as a teacher and composer was severely restricted, and broadcasts and performances of his music were prohibited. During the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) he was again a target, spending much time under arrest or labouring on farms, and although he was cleared in 1978, his health was ruined and he produced little before his death in 1983. Despite recent research, many of his works are lost or incomplete owing to their destruction or confiscation in 1957 and 1966. Typically, Jiang wrote in a Romantic and nationalist idiom, blending Chinese pentatonicisms with Debussian chord streams, classical Western structures such as sarabande, rondo and ternary forms, and polyrhythmic effects.
(selective list)
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Ballets: One against Six, op.12, c1936; Xiangfei zhuan [The Story of Xiangfei], op.33, 1942 |
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Orch: Taiwanese Dance no.1, op.1, 1934; Beijing diandian [Aspects of Beijing], op.15, 1939; Sym. no.1, op.34, 1940; Sym. no.2, op.36, 1943; Sym. no.3, op.61, 1957; Sym. no.4, 1962 |
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Chbr and solo inst: 3 Dances, op.7, pf, 1935; Sonata, op.14, vc, pf; Sonata, op.17, fl, pf, 1936; Pf Sonata no.3 ‘Scenes of Jiangnan’, op.39; Happy Childhood, op.54, qnt, 1952; Zai Taiwan Gaoshan didai [In Taiwan's Gaoshan Territory], pf trio, 1955; Ww Trio, op.63, 1960 |
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Vocal: 4 Songs of the Gaoshan People, op.6, S, chbr ens, 1934; A Collection of Chinese Folksongs, op.21, 1v, 1938; 9 Tang Dynasty Poems, op.27, 1v, 1939; 9 Chinese Folksongs for Chorus, op.29, 1939; Taiwan Folksongs, 1975–8 |
KdG (Schu-chi Lee)
Han Kuo-huang and Lin Hengzhe, eds.: Xiandai yinyue dashi Jiang Wenye de shenping yu zuopin [The life and works of the modern music master Jiang] (Monterey Park, CA, 1984)
Hu Ximin: Zhongguo jiechu yinyuejia Jiang Wenye [China’s outstanding composer Jiang] (Hong Kong, 1985)
Kuo Tzong-kai: Chiang Wen-yeh: the Style of his Selected Piano Works and a Study of Musical Modernization in Japan and China (DMA diss., Ohio State U., 1987)
Wu Lingyi: Jiang Wenye de yinyue shijie [The musical world of Jiang] (Taibei, 1990)
Jiang Wenye yantaohui: Hong Kong 1990
JONATHAN P.J. STOCK