Hong Kong Space Museum | Cross-cultural Music Lecture Series: When Chinese landscape painting meets Western classical music

Description

5 Sep (Fri)

Lecture 1  Connect: The meeting point of Chinese painting and Western music 

Piano Demonstration: Chung Chi-woo

An introduction to the style and character of Chinese landscape painting and Western classical music of different periods.  More importantly, to explore the intersection of the two arts, as well as the similarities of their historical development.

12 Sep (Fri)

Lecture 2  Sublime: Fan Kuan and J.S. Bach 

Piano Demonstration: Chung Chi-woo

Although Fan Kuan and J.S. Bach lived in different eras over 700 years apart, their works whether in macroscopic structure or microcosmic details, have many similarities.  This lecture will explore the intersection of "Travelers Among Mountains and Streams" and "The Art of Fugue", two masterpieces in the history of Chinese painting and Western music.

19 Sep (Fri)

Lecture 3   Transcendent Elegance: Ni Zan and Mozart 

Piano Demonstration: William Ting

Ni Zan was an introvert from the Yuan Dynasty.  His paintings are peaceful, quiet and filled with elegance.  His brushstrokes are simple but profound.  In contrast, Mozart was an extrovert.  His music is energetic, graceful and straightforward on the surface level, but complex and sophisticated on a deeper level.  This talk attempts to uncover the inner world of the two artists and to explore the meanings as well as the aesthetic similarities behind their works.

26 Sep (Fri)

Lecture 4  Visual Melodies: Sound and Music in the Paintings 

Guest Speaker and Qin Demonstration: Chung Siu-sun

One may not aware that in addition to viewing, Chinese landscape painting can also be listened to.  These audible elements include both the “diegetic-sound” belonging to the characters inside the painting and the “non-diegetic sound" belonging to the viewers in front of the painting.  On the other hand, some Western painters are also masters of "drawing sound".  Not only did they write melodies and harmonies, but also integrate musical forms into the painting.

10 Oct (Fri)

Lecture 5  Ancient Worshipping: Dong Qichang and Brahms 

Piano Demonstration: Chung Chi-woo

Dong Qichang and Brahms are great masters who always have the ancients in their mind.  Both of them not only "imitated" the ancients, but also deliberately "misread" their predecessors.  On one hand, their work responded to the art history, and on the other hand, opened up a new path for their descendant.

17 Oct (Fri)

Lecture 6  The Beauty of Ugliness: Shitao and Beethoven 

Piano Demonstration: Chung Chi-woo

Shitao and Beethoven are two artists with strong “self-conscious".  Their works are rebellious and full of tension.  Occasionally, they even regard ugliness as a kind of beauty, subverting the tradition of their time.  As a general viewer or audience, how should we appreciate these "ugly" creations?

24 Oct (Fri)

Lecture 7  Deliberate blank: Silence and Emptiness in Music and Painting 

Piano Demonstration: Chung Chi-woo

"Deliberate blank" is a unique technique in Chinese ink painting.  The blank space not only inject "spiritual energy" into the painting, but also open up infinite imagination for the viewer.  On the other hand, Western composers also demonstrate their mastery of using “empty space”.  They can often express various concepts through different uses of "silence", giving the music a deeper meaning.

31 Oct (Fri)

Lecture 8  Inner Beauty: Fou Ts’ong and Huang Binhong 

Piano Demonstration: William Ting

People often say that Fou Ts’ong’s piano playing is full of oriental interest.  However, most of these discussions are mainly about how the pianist uses Chinese poetry to compare the works of Mozart, Chopin, Debussy, among others.  This lecture will explore how Chinese culture can be reflected in Fou Ts'ong's musical interpretation as well as his performance habits, and in what ways they are related to Huang Binhong’s paintings.