(b Tainan, 3 Dec 1950). Taiwanese composer. He holds degrees in composition from Dongwu University, Taiwan (BA 1981), Northern Illinois University (MM 1982) and UCLA (PhD 1987); his teachers have included Shi Weiliang, Ma Shuilong, Paul O. Steg, Elaine Barkin, Paul Reale, Gilbert Reaney and Roy Travis. Upon his return to Taiwan he was appointed professor of composition at Jiaotong Daxue in 1988 where he was responsible for establishing Taiwan’s first computer music studio. Wu’s compositional influences and techniques range widely from Chinese poetry (Qiusi, 1982) and philosophy (Ji, 1991) to pitch-set theory (Wuyue de fanxiang, 1984) and electronically produced sound (Dongzhong zhi jing, jingzhong zhi dong, ‘Calm in Movement and Movement in Calm’, 1990). Oxymoronic titles such as this and Wuzhijin de pianke, ‘The Unending Moment’ (1990–92) are examples of the conjunction of polarities evident in many of Wu’s pieces. A characteristic example is his juxtaposition of long sustained sounds with tremolos and harsh percussive attacks.
(selective list)
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Stage: Gulao de secai [Colours of Old] (children’s ballet), 1975; Hou Yi she ri [Hou Yi Shoots the Sun] (children’s ballet), 1978 |
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Orch: Sym. Poem, 1981; Qiusi [Autumn Thoughts], chbr orch, 1982; Sym. no.1, 1983; Zai Qiufeng zhong de sange renwu [3 Characters in the Autumn Wind], chbr orch, 1984; Wuzhijin de pianke III [The Unending Moment], pf, str, 1991–2; Sound World, Chin. orch, 1997 |
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Vocal: Jia [Home], children’s chorus, 1974; Xunzhao yi ke xing [Looking for a Star], chorus, fl, pf, str, 1974; Ershi de geshu [Songs of Childhood], children’s chorus, 1977; Cuowu [Mistake], S, pf, 1979; Huanghelou [House of the Yellow Crane], T, ens, 1979; San shou ge [3 Songs], female chorus, 1980; Niannu jiao [Charming Niannu], T, orch, 1982; Wuxian [Boundless], S, orch, 1984 |
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Chbr: Dialogue, 2 vn, 1973; Guocheng [Process], fl, pf, 1975; Gu yi [Old Ideas], str qt, 1976; Sonata, vn, pf, 1979; Trio, fl, vc, pf, 1980; Fugue, wind qnt, 1980; Huaijiu de hanxi [Nostalgic Sighs], ens, 3 perc, 1982; Kong [Empty], fl, vc, pf, 1984; Wuyue de fanxiang [Echoes of May], fl, cl, trbn, vc, pf, perc, 1984; Bingdong de hanxi [Frozen Sighs], 10 perc ens, 1989; Mist, fl ens, 1989; Ji [Solitary], Chin. insts, 1991; Echoes from Afar, brass qnt, perc, 1997; Yo, pipa, dizi, huqin, 1998 |
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Pf: Prelude and Fugue, 1973; 9 Poetic Piano Pieces, 1974; Qing Ming [Festival], 2 pf, 1979; Variation, 1980; 9 Pieces in Various 20th-Century Techniques, 1981; Wuzhijin de pianke I, 1990; Wuzhijin de pianke II, MIDI acoustic pfs, 1991 |
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Cptr: Dongzhong zhi jing, jingzhong zhi dong [Calm in Movement and Movement in Calm], 1990 |
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Principal publishers: Council for Cultural Planning and Development, Taibei |
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MSS in C.C. Liu Collection, Institute of Chinese Studies, U. of Heidelberg |
Diao Yuwen: ‘Kan Wu Dinglian zishuo zihua’ [Wu talking about himself], Guantou Yinyue, no.40 (1985), 22–5
Song Yuhua: ‘Renshi women de zuoqujia: Wu Dinglian’ [Get to know our composers: Wu], Yinyue yu yinxiang, no.165 (1987), 110–13
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. 26–7
B. Mittler: Dangerous Tunes: the Politics of Chinese Music in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China since 1949 (Wiesbaden, 1997), 217–21
BARBARA MITTLER