(b Malan, Taidong, 20 Feb 1941). Taiwanese composer, violinist and conductor. Born among the indigenous Amei people, he grew up in Taibei, studying the violin at the National Institute of the Arts (1954–62). After graduation he led the Taibei SO. In 1964 he spent some time teaching among the Amei. He took an active part in the burgeoning of contemporary music in the late 1960s, when many of his early compositions were performed. In 1973 he received a Rockefeller Foundation scholarship to the Center for Experimental Music at the University of California at San Diego. During music festivals which he organized in cooperation with the composer Xu Boyun and the choreographer Lin Huaimin, he introduced the prepared piano, electronic music, the laser and other multi-media stage effects to Taiwanese audiences. At the annual festival of his works which he organized between 1978 and 1983, Chuantong yu zhanwang (‘Tradition and Future’), he presented music ranging from Classical pastiche and experimental music to film and pop music. Li aims to compose ‘new but Chinese’ music. In his early piano trio Lianxing sanbian (1971–3) he uses rhythmic structures and vocal techniques (such as microtonal slides) from the Chinese operatic tradition. He also consciously employs elements from the Amei musical tradition. Many features typical of Amei music, such as a tendency towards minimalism and the use of free counterpoint in polyphonic and antiphonal singing, can be found in such works as Dashenji (1975) and Taixuyin (1979).
(selective list)
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Dramatic: Dashenji [Great Sacrifice to the Gods] (ballet), male v, orch, chorus, 1975; Huanyuan [Redeeming the Vow] (op), pipa, vv, ens, tape, 1978; Da feng qi xi [A Strong Wind Rises] (grand op), 1983; Minsheng bian (A Chaper from the Book of Songs) (ballet), Chin. insts, perc, 8 pf, 1983; Qiwang [King of Chess] (grand op), 1987; many film scores |
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Orch: Chunwang [Spring Hopes], nanhu, orch, 1986; Du Fu meng Li Bai [Du Fu dreams of Li Bai], nanhu, orch, 1986; Jiuge [Wine Song], huqin, orch, 1986 |
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Chbr and solo inst: Sonata, vn, 1962; Str Qt, 1965; Su [Revive], str qt, 1966; Lianxing sanbian [Three Times Connected Movement], pf trio, 1971, rev. 1973; Yu – Chan – Ximending [Rain – Zen – Shopping District], tape, 1975; Qingping yue [Clear and Steady Music], perc, Chin. insts; Taixuyin [Chant of the Great Void] (Lin Lu), ens + vv, 1979; Huanjing: sanzhang [Environment: 3 Pieces], 2 pfmrs, tape, 1981; San shi [3 Patterns], pf qnt, prep pf, elecs, visual effects, 1983; Pf Qt, 1986; Liu shui – Gucuo – Jiujia [Running Water – Remainders of Old – The Bar], 4 xyl |
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Vocal: Prelude and Fugue, chorus, 1965; Dadi zhi ge [Song of Mother Earth], 1v, perc, tape, 1977 |
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MSS in C.C. Liu Collection, Institute of Chinese Studies, University of Heidelberg |
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Principal publisher: Council for Cultural Planning and Development, Taibei |
Diao Yuwen: ‘Yu Li Taixiang qixiang, gong xiang “yinyue shengyan”’ [Enjoy a great banquet of music with Li], Yinyue guantou, no.33 (1985), 34–41
B. Mittler: ‘Mirrors and Double Mirrors: the Politics of Identity in New Music from Hong Kong and Taiwan’, CHIME, no.9 (1996), 4–44, esp. 16–17
B. Mittler: Dangerous Tunes: the Politics of Chinese Music in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China since 1949 (Wiesbaden, 1997), 205–13
BARBARA MITTLER