VYTAUTAS MAGNUS UNIVERSITY MUSIC ACADEMY

Piano Department

JINHUI WANG

An analysis of prominent contemporary Chinese pianists’ career

Master thesis

Žymių šiuolaikinių Kinijos pianistų karjeros analizė

Magistro darbas

Title of the study programme: Performing arts (6211PX027)

Field of studies: MUSIC (C001)

Advisor: Assoc. Prof. Justas Dvarionas ___________ 2020 06 09

Defended: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Saulius Gerulis___________2020 06 09

Kaunas, 2020

SANTRAUKA Tyrimo aktualumas: Pastaraisiais dešimtmečiais fortepijono atlikimo meno plėtra

sulaukė vis didesnio dėmesio. Tačiau pianizmo raida Kinijoje nebuvo vienodai sklandi visuose

socialiniuose sluoksniuose ir regionuose, todėl turime nustatyti bei įvardyti esamus trūkumus. Šis

tyrimas analizuos garsių Kinijos pianistų karjerą siekiant suprasti dabartinę fortepijono meno

situaciją ir būsimas Kinijos pianizmo plėtros tendencijas.

Tyrimo problema: Fortepijono mokymas yra pati svarbiausia muzikos švietimo rinkos

dalis Kinijoje, tačiau šioje srityje yra trūkumų. Tiriant garsių Kinijos pianistų karjeros ypatybes, šis

darbas išsiaiškina ir apibūdina Kinijos fortepijono meno socialinės raidos problemas ir fortepijono

kultūros ateities perspektyvos tendencijas.

Tyrimo klausimai:

Kokios yra kinų pianistų karjeros raidos ypatybės?

Kokios yra garsių Kinijos pianistų karjeros patirties pamokos?

Kuo garsių Kinijos pianistų karjeros patirtis reikšminga plėtojant šiuolaikinę kinų pianistų

kultūrą?

Kokios yra kinų fortepijono kultūros plėtros problemos ir galimybės?

Tyrimo objektas: Kinijos fortepijono kultūros raidos būklės ir tendencijų analizė iš

Kinijos pianistų karjeros plėtros patirties perspektyvos.

Tyrimo tikslas: analizuojant Kinijos pianistų karjeros patirties ypatybes ištirti fortepijono

kultūros raidos tendencijas ateities Kinijoje.

Tyrimo uždaviniai:

Apibūdinti sėkmingos kinų pianistų karjeros ypatybes;

Išsiaiškinti dabartines kinų fortepijono kultūros problemas;

Ištirti pianizmo kultūrą ir jos ateities plėtros tendencijas Kinijoje.

Tyrimo metodai:

Literatūros tyrimo metodas;

Anketinės apklausos metodas.

Tyrimo išvados:

Kinijos fortepijono mokyme yra kokybinis atotrūkis dėl nepakankamo aukštos kokybės

kompetentingų pedagogų skaičiaus ir nusistovėjusios švietimo sistemos trūkumo.

Visų Kinijos visuomenės sluoksnių supratimas apie pianizmą ir jo vertinimas pagerės

ateityje.

Raktažodžiai: ateitis, charakteristikos, karjera, Kinija, pianistai, plėtra

SUMMARY Relevance of the research： In recent decades, the expansion of piano performance has

received increasing attention. However, the development of piano art in China has not been equally

smooth in all social strata and regions, and we need to define the existing shortcomings. This study

will analyse the careers of prominent Chinese pianists to understand the current situation of piano

art and future development trends in China.

The problem of the research: Piano teaching is the most substantial part of the music

education market in China, but there are drawbacks in this area. Investigating the career

characteristics of famous Chinese pianists, this work clarifies the problems of Chinese piano art

social development and the future progress trends of piano culture.

The research questions:

What are the characteristics of the Chinese pianists’ career development?

What are the lessons of the career experience of famous Chinese pianists?

How significant is the career experience of Chinese pianists in the development of

contemporary Chinese pianist culture?

What are the problems and opportunities for the development of Chinese piano culture?

The object of the research: analyses the state and trends of the piano culture development

in China from the perspective of Chinese pianists' career development experience..

The aim of the research: throughout the analysis of Chinese pianists' career experience

characteristics to research the development trend of piano culture in future China.

The objectives of the research:

To describe the characteristics of Chinese pianists’ successful career experience;

To find the current problems in Chinese piano culture;

To explore the piano culture and its future development trend in China.

The methods of the research:

Literature research method;

Questionnaire survey method.

Findings of the research:

There is a qualitative gap in Chinese piano education because of an insufficient number of

high-quality, competent teachers and established educational system.

The level of piano art understanding and appreciation of all Chinese society strata will be

improved in the future.

Keywords: China; pianists; career; characteristics; development; future.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................5

1. Famous Contemporary Chinese Pianists Introduction..................................................................7

1.1. Famous Contemporary Chinese Pianists Analysis...................................................................15

1.2. Basic Personal Information Analysis.......................................................................................16

1.3. Career Development Analysis................................................................................................. 21

1.4. Summary of this chapter...........................................................................................................22

2. Questionnaire Analysis of the Acceptance of Piano Culture in China........................................24

2.1. Questionnaire Design...............................................................................................................24

2.2. Survey Results Analysis...........................................................................................................24

2.3. Summary of the Findings.........................................................................................................32

CONCLUSIONS.......... ..................................................................................................................34

REFERENCES................................................................................................................................36

APPENDICES.................................................................................................................................39

Annex 1. Questionnaire example (in English）..............................................................................39

Annex 2. Questionnaire example (in Chinese)................................................................................41

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INTRODUCTION

Relevance of the research: The piano originated in Europe in the 18th century and was

invented by the Italian Bartolomeo Christofori. The clavichord is the forerunner of the modern

piano. It first came to China during the Wanli period of the Ming dynasty (Tao, 2001). During the

reign of emperor Kangxi of the Qing dynasty in the 17th century, Portuguese missionaries brought

Harpsichord to China. Piano is a polyphonic instrument, while Chinese people's traditional aesthetic

habit is single-tone linear thinking. Although western piano music has a strong cultural advantage, it

is difficult for Chinese people to adapt to piano music culturally in a short time due to the inertia

and constraints of traditional aesthetics. The opium war in 1840 tore open the solid door of China,

forcing a large number of foreign missionaries into China, modern piano and modern piano music

began to infiltrate into the life of the Chinese people. The piano really gained a certain social status

in China, which was originated from the development of the "school music" movement at the

beginning of last century, which was also a trend never seen in China's music road. From 1937 to

1949, the war of resistance against Japanese aggression and the civil war of liberation followed,

which made the piano education in China have to slow down the pace of progress. After the

founding of the People's Republic of China, the state attached great importance to music education,

which also made piano music creation rooted in the land. Under the guidance of chairman MAO's

musical policy of "the past serves the present, the foreign serves the Chinese", western instruments

to express the style and characteristics of the Chinese nation became the direction for composers

and pianists to explore. In recent years, due to the sustained and steady growth of China's economy,

the continuous expansion of the education market and the attention of government departments, art

education has gradually been paid attention to (Li, 2019). As the king of Musical Instruments, piano

has its unique charm and is deeply loved by the Chinese people. Piano education as the largest

category in the music education market, occupies the largest share of the market. According to the

China musicians association, at present, the proportion of piano learning in kindergartens is more

than 60 per cent, and that in primary schools is 30 per cent. More than 30 million children are now

learning the piano in China, and the number is growing by 10 per cent a year (Chen, 2019). The

number of people learning piano is increasing, and a number of excellent pianists have emerged in

Chinese society, such as Shikun Liu，Xiangdong Kong, Sa Chen, Lang Lang, Yundi Li, Yujia

Wang, and Wenyu Shen.

Although the development of piano art in Chinese society is very rapid, there are still some

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problems. Piano culture was introduced into China relatively late, piano education resources are

short, and the music system is not complete, resulting in Chinese piano culture behind foreign

countries. The number of people learning piano in China is increasing, and the limited level of

piano teachers, on the one hand, also hinders the development of China's piano level.

By analysing the characteristics of the successful career experience of outstanding

contemporary Chinese pianists, this thesis studies the development trend of Chinese piano art in the

future.

The problem of the research: Piano education as the largest category in the music

education market. But there are shortcomings in development. By studying the career characteristics

of Chinese contemporary pianists, this thesis finds out the problems existing in the development of

Chinese social piano, and explores the development trend of piano culture in the future.

The aim of this study is to analyze the characteristics of the successful career experience

of successful Chinese pianists, this thesis research the development trend of piano culture in China

in the future.

Objectives of the research:

To find the characteristics of successful career experience of Chinese pianists;

To explore the current situation of Chinese social piano culture and its future development

trend in China;

To find the current problems of Chinese piano culture.

The methods of the research:

Literature research methods;

Questionnaire survey method;

The research questions:

What are the characteristics of the career development of Chinese pianists；

What are the implications of the experience of Chinese pianists for the development of

Chinese piano culture；

What are the problems in the development of Chinese piano culture?

The structure of the research: The thesis consists of a summary (in Lithuanian and

English), introduction, two chapters, references, conclusions, appendices,.Thesis consists of 42

pages, 1 table and 14 figures. The bibliography reference consists of 42 sources.

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1. Famous Contemporary Chinese Pianists Introduction

In the middle of the Qing dynasty, the western piano art became popular in the upper class

of China with the promotion and spread of foreign missionaries. Early missionaries tried to use

piano as a carrier, hope to open the door of the Chinese music art, however, the piano to adopt

sound more thinking for the principle of keyboard instruments and traditional Chinese music in a

linear system thinking single tone of music aesthetics exists between hard to fit into the

contradiction, therefore, this communication have not the result at that time. It was this initial

communication that led to the practice of Chinese piano education and enlightened the thinking

concept of Chinese piano education in a small scale. With the opium war in the late Qing dynasty

and a series of political events such as reform and reform, China's feudal ideology was forced to

change, which promoted the reform of the education system at that time, and also promoted the

development of China's piano education. The real social status of piano in China was realized in the

"school music" movement at the beginning of the 20th century. "School music" is an unprecedented

music trend in the history of Chinese music. School is the centre, and its influence extends to the

whole society. As an ideal accompaniment instrument, piano takes root in the land of ancient China

on the wings of "school music". Since then, many music clubs have been set up in Beijing and

Shanghai, most of which teach piano. On this basis, some colleges and universities have also set up

a more systematic and standardized piano teaching. The early Chinese piano figures in the music

world include Youmei Xiao, Zhongzi Yang, Cuizhen Li, Xianmin Li, Shande Ding and so on. In the

Chinese society at that time, their performance activities have played an extremely positive role in

promoting piano education. In modern Chinese society, outstanding pianists include Shikun Liu,

Xiangdong Kong, Sa Chen, Lang Lang, Yundi Li, Yujia Wang and Wenyu Shen, who have made

important contributions to the development of modern Chinese piano culture.

Table.1. Famous Contemporary Chinese Pianists

Name of Pianist Date of birth Representative

works

The main Prize

Shikun Liu 1939.03 《 Youth Piano

Concerto》

First runner-up of

the first

Tchaikovsky

international piano

competition

Xiangdong Kong 1968.10 《 Forever Winner of the 5th

Sydney

8

Friends》 international piano

competition

Sa Chen 1979.11 《 Chopin

Impression》

Fourth prize in the

14th Chopin

international

competition

Lang Lang 1982.06 《 New York

Rhapsody》

Winner of the

Tchaikovsky

international youth

music competition

Yundi Li 1982.10 《 Chopin's

Legendary》

Winner of the 14th

Chopin

international piano

competition

Wenyu Shen 1986.10 《 Rachmaninoff

Piano Concerto

no.3》

Winner of the

Rachmaninoff

international piano

competition

Yujia Wang 1987.02 《 Sonatas and

Etudes》

Gilmore young

artist award

(1) Shikun Liu

Shikun Liu was born into a wealthy merchant family. His father, Xiaodong Liu, was

addicted to music as a young man, after graduating from Shandong University; he enrolled in the

Shanghai national conservatory of music, where he majored in bass singing. However, instead of

entering the music scene, he entered the business world. Out of instinct, he keenly discovered the

musical talents of his son and placed his musical ideals on his son. By instinct, he keenly discovered

Liu Shikun's musical talent, and placed his musical ideal on his son. He bought four imported

pianos and tens of thousands of records at home to cultivate Shikun Liu. He purchased 4 imported

pianos and tens of thousands of records at home, and tried his best to train Shikun Liu. Shikun Liu

began to learn the piano when he was a child, but in his childhood, he was not the kind of obedient

that people imagined. It was his father's stick that forced Shikun Liu to practice the piano. Shikun’s

association with piano is partly influenced by his father.

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Shikun Liu began to learn piano at the age of 3, and performed on stage when he was 5

years old. At the age of 10, he won the national top piano competition for children in Shanghai

Known as "Prodigy". He has successively studied in the Junior Class of Shanghai Conservatory of

Music, the Middle School of the Central Conservatory of Music, and the Central Conservatory of

Music. Due to his outstanding performance in his youth, Shikun Liu was sent to the Moscow state

Tchaikovsky conservatory for in-depth study.

In 1956, Shikun Liu won the third place and the "Hungarian Rhapsody" performance

special prize in the Liszt International Piano Competition held in Hungary. The Hungarian

government made an exception by awarding a strand of Franz Liszt’s hair. In 1958 the first

Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition was held in Moscow. This was recognized as the

world's top and most difficult piano competition at the time, and Shikun Liu won the second place

(Chen, 2004). Soviet leader Khrushchev personally telegraphed congratulations to Chairman

Zedong Mao and Premier Enlai Zhou. Shikun Liu was famous in the world music scene. He

officially launched his career. He is also an outstanding composer, and has composed many

outstanding musical works including "Youth Piano Concerto" and Piano Concerto "Battle

Typhoon". After the reform and opening up to the outside world, the despairing Liu Shikun finally

kindled the hope in his heart and prepared to start his own business, so he improved his popularity

by giving lectures and holding concerts. Due to his professional attainments and fame, he finally

established the first art centre in Hong Kong in 1992. After establishing a firm foothold in Hong

Kong, he decided to return to the mainland to develop his career. At present, there are already

dozens of educational institutions of Liu Shikun art centre in China, which have formed their own

business model.

Shikun Liu playing a momentum for swift and fierce, but also play in the lyrical passages

clear timbre and cantabile characteristics of water, which in Liszt's piano concerto no. 1 in E flat

major behaved most heartily happy, his rapid as disease ray octave can make the person suffocate,

the strong force, wrist, arm and waist force, make the person worry the strings of a piano is going to

be broken, Liszt music connotation is he reveals the incisively and vividly, the profound

philosophical and brilliant skills, rigorous logic between paragraphs to considerable height. Shikun

Liu played the Chopin is also very powerful. The "Polonaise in A flat major" and "Etudes in G flat

major" have complicated fingers, dazzling speed and amazing tone change (Wang, 2015). But when

he plays Mozart's sonatas, people forget the technique and focuses on the childlike innocence, the

fluidity of the sentences, the emotional beauty, and the elegance. Kovalevsky "rondo" is a modern

work that is difficult to express, but Shikun Liu handles it in a natural way. These show that Shikun

Liu not only has profound skills in classical and romantic works, but also has his unique side in

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interpreting modern music.

(2) Xiangdong Kong

Xiangdong Kong was born in a poor family. His mother Youling Lin was fond of music

since childhood. She could play the violin, accordion and flute, and loved many Musical

Instruments (Hua, 2003). However, due to the limited family conditions, she lost the chance to take

the university entrance examination, her life ideal of becoming a musician also failed. So she placed

all her hopes on her son Xiangdong Kong. In order to cultivate his sense of music, Kong's mother

borrowed a violin and accordion and played several pieces of music for him every day. In the case

of financial constraints, Kong Xiangdong's mother borrowed money to buy a second-hand piano to

support Xiangdong's learning, and very strict treatment of Xiangdong Kong, for Xiangdong's

learning paid a huge effort. Xiangdong Kong graduated from the primary school attached to

Shanghai conservatory of music and the secondary school attached to Shanghai conservatory of

music, and then went to the Curtis institute of music in Philadelphia for in-depth study.

In the 1986 Moscow Tchaikovsky international piano competition and the 1987 Spanish

Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition, he twice became the youngest winner,

thus attracted the attention of the world music world, he officially launched his career. He has

recorded solo albums for BMG/RCA records, Walsingham Classics in Australia, Arcadia in the

United States, Wave Motion in Hong Kong, and Chinese record labels. He was the first Chinese

pianist to play at the famous Hollywood bowl. In addition, he also participated in the planning of a

large Chinese singing and dancing music and fireworks evening in Los Angeles. His popularity

increasing, but he never forget to promote Chinese piano art education, in 1997, he founded in

Shanghai "Xiang-dong Kong music art centre", dedicated to the popularization of piano education,

at present, the education institutions has been established in many cities of China, become the

largest domestic music art education institutions.

Xiangdong Kong is one of the best and most active Chinese pianists on the international

music scene. With audiences from more than 40 countries and regions to experience his passionate

performance, he was praised by western media as "only one or two truly exciting talented pianists in

a century" and "the child of a generation". Kong Xiangdong's performance has a powerful power to

conquer people's hearts. When he played Brahms's op. 118, he released the musical energy that

filled his whole body. In this late Brahms's magnum opus, the unspeakable, experienced experience

of life is poured out in a passionate yet solemn style. His rendition of Rachmaninoff's second sonata

(op. 36) gives the audience an integrated whole in a lyrical, passionate and expansive Russian

atmosphere. In terms of skills, he has developed invincible skills; he has mastered an almost infinite

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variety of timbre blending skills. He can stretch the range of sound quality, tone and volume to the

limit. More importantly, his performance is full of individual and artistic emotional power (Wei,

1993).

(3) Sa Chen

Sa Chen was born in an art family that was not rich. Her mother was a dancer and her

father was a horn player. Under her father's enlightenment, she began to learn music at the age of 6.

In order to learn from famous teachers, the mother took Chen sa to take the train to piano lessons,

while the father was responsible for making money. She studied piano at the age of 7 and studied

with Professor Zhaoyi Dan at the affiliated middle school of Sichuan conservatory of Music at the

age of 9. She graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London in 2001, and

won the master's degree in performance. In 2007, she obtained the doctor's degree in performance

from the Hanover conservatory of Music in Germany.

In 1994, she won the first prize in the youth group of the first China international piano

competition and the best performance award of Chinese works. In 1996, she became the youngest

winner in the history of Leeds piano competition. In 2000, she won the fourth prize and the best

performance of polonaise in the 14th Chopin international piano competition. Then she officially

launched her career. Since 2001, she have been invited to perform with many major orchestras. Sa

Chen has held concerts in more than 20 countries and performed in many music cities and centres.

In 2005, she won the crystal award in the American van Cliburn piano competition. She is

becoming more and more famous in the world, and her position in the world music industry is

becoming more and more important. After returning to China, he kept holding his own solo

concerts in various cities and gradually expanded his popularity in China.

In the process of performance, Sa Chen is composed, enthusiastic and generous, exquisite

yet generous and noble, especially in the overall music structure, voice, timbre levels; many places

have lost their subtlety, which makes people look at her with new eyes (Wang, 2017). In the

performance of Debussy's " Les Danseuses de Delphes" (Préludes, Livre I: 1), the internal and

external parts of the motive are carried out separately, highlighting the layers of the interconnecting

parts, which are in harmony and marching together, highlighting a solemn rhythm and slow speed.

In "the twilight voice and smell in the air," Sa Chen playing also showed a high quality touch and

sound, the best use of the effect of harmonic in the sound level in the vertical parts and the

harmonic colour, builds a breeze, make the melody floating in the morning is illusion, sound with a

strong proliferation, pedal with perfect. From the exquisite and unique music expression and sound

level control of Sa Chen, we can fully appreciate and feel her clear observation of music and life, as

12

well as poetic and fanciful characteristics. Her performance is not exaggerated or deliberate,

reflecting her calm and natural quality and style.

(4) Lang Lang

Lang Lang was born into a musical family. Lang's grandfather was a music teacher at a

normal school, while Lang's father was a professional erhu actor. At the age of two and a half years,

Lang Lang was attracted to Hungarian rhapsody by the Tom cat cartoon Tom and mouse, and

became interested in playing the piano with his fingers. Lang Lang's father discovered his musical

talent and began to cultivate him. When Lang Lang first began to learn the piano, his father

accompanied him to study and set a good example for him. In order to urge Lang Lang to learn the

piano, his father asked him to get up at 5 am every morning and seize all the time to practice the

piano. In order to be admitted to the primary school attached to the central conservatory of music,

Lang's father quit his job and took Lang to study in Beijing, while his mother covered all the living

expenses of the family. Parents for him, gave up their own development, especially Lang Lang's

father, in the growth of Lang Lang made contributions.

At the age of 3, Lang Lang formally studied piano under Professor Yafen Zhu of Shenyang

conservatory of music. At the age of 5, he participated in the Oriental children's piano competition

and children's piano competition for the first time, and won the first prize. After the competition, he

gave his first solo concert. In 1989, when he was only 7 years old, Lang Lang took part in the first

Shenyang children's piano competition and won the first prize again. At the age of 9, he was

admitted to the primary school affiliated to the central conservatory of Music to study piano with

the highest score. In 1997, he was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music with honours and

graduated in 2002.

In September 1995, he won the gold medal in the second Tchaikovsky international young

musician competition held in Japan. After returning to China, Lang Lang held a solo concert at the

Beijing concert hall. In 1996, he was invited to cooperate with China national symphony orchestra.

At the opening concert, attended by then-Chinese President Zemin Jiang, the 14-year-old was

assigned a piano solo. In 1997, on Mr. Grafman's recommendation, Mr. Lang passed the test and

IMG signed a contract to become a professional pianist. He officially launched his career. In 1999,

he became famous at the Chicago Ravinia music festival. He has been invited to perform with many

orchestras and held his solo concerts in many foreign countries. Its popularity abroad has been

constantly raised. When he back to China, he made his influence in China more and more popular

with the Chinese people by holding concerts, master classes and appearing on TV programs.

The distinctive feature of Lang Lang's performance is the sharp contrast and huge contrast,

no matter in the processing of speed, fast and slow, or in the processing of strength, strong and

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weak (Deng, 2019). What is more important is that these contrasts and contrasts are not only created

on the surface effect, but are supported by its rich inner experience and abundant emotion after each

strength and speed. In Tchaikovsky's piano concerto no. 1, from the surging momentum at the

beginning of the first movement to the inner lyric of the second part, and then to the aggressive

power at the end and sentence of the fast double octave, there are many unique and distinctive

changes and treatments. This is very personal and has own unique persuasiveness.

(5) Yundi Li

Yundi Li was born in a family with a strong atmosphere of music and art. When he was

one year old, he could already learn to sing a lot of songs with the radio. By the time he was three

years old; singing could no longer satisfy his desire for music. At the age of four, he began to learn

accordion in the children's palace. When he was 7 years old, his mother decided to let him begin to

learn the piano and let him practice the piano at 7 o 'clock every night until 10 o 'clock. His mother

stood behind him, holding a knitting needle in her hand. Whenever Yundi Li made a mistake in

fingering, her mother would tap the knitting needle on the back of his hand (Jin, 2008). Li Yundi's

mother played an important role in his career.

Yundi Li studied piano with the famous professor Zhaoyi Dan since childhood. In 1994, he

was admitted to the high school affiliated to Sichuan conservatory of music with the highest score.

In 2001, he went to the Hanover academy of music and drama for further study. He graduated in

2006, with the highest diploma of performer.

In 2000, Yundi Li participated in the 14th International Frédéric Chopin Piano

Competition in Warsaw. He was the first participant to be awarded First Prize in 15 years. At 18

years of age, he was the first Chinese and the youngest winner in the competition’s history. He

officially launched his career. He has been invited to perform with many orchestras. In 2003, the

album Liszt piano collection was released, which won the German classic echo award and the New

York Times record of the year award. In 2010, he was awarded the cultural medal of honour by the

polish government. In 2012, he re-signed with universal records, returned recording for the

Deutsche Grammophon label Beethoven Sonatas, including the Moonlight, Pathétique and

Appassionata sonatas, later followed by a recording of Beethoven piano concertos, Schumann

Fantasie, The Art of Yundi, Chopin Prelude, and Chopin Ballades, Berceuse and Mazurkas. On

October 17, 2014, he was invited to adjudicate the 17th Chopin international piano competition. In

May 2017, Yundi's personal art gallery opened in Chongqing Huangjueping piano museum. In

November, he and the Dresden national orchestra toured Germany and China with Mozart's Piano

Concerto k488. In April 2018, he was invited to attend the Boao forum for Asia. He gave concerts

all over China and was recognized by the Chinese public.

14

Yundi Li can accurately locate the emotion to be expressed by music in his performance.

His performance is full of the profound sense of history of classical music, but at the same time, he

does not lose his unique personality (Deng, 2019). He has a keen sense of touch, and an equally

impeccable sense of musical body and melodic line. The music he played with his fingertips went

straight to the heart. His music is powerful, flowing like a winding stream.

(6) Wenyu Shen

Wenyu Shen was born in a civilian family. Her father is a postman who likes reading

books, and her mother is a housewife (Li, 2019). His father thought Wenyu Shen had great talent

for music, so he borrowed a piano for his son and invited Jianping Liu, chairman of the musicians

association of Wanxian county and director of Sichuan musicians association, to give him lessons.

Wenyu Shen began to study under Professor Daxin Zheng, director of the piano department of

Sichuan conservatory of music, when he was 7 years old. In 1995, at the age of nine, Wenyu Shen

gave a solo concert at the Sichuan conservatory of music.

On February 7, 1997, Wenyu Shen received a lecture from piano educator Akinski in

South Africa. South African state television did an interview for Wenyu Shen. After the broadcast

of the program, he gave eight consecutive piano recitals at the University of Pretoria, the University

of Johannesburg and the University of Cape Town. South African television also broadcast his

program. After he returned to China, he studied with professor Daxin and performed in Chongqing,

Shenyang, Japan and Hong Kong. After Daxin Zheng recommended, he became a German piano

educator, Germany Karlsruhe national conservatory of music professor hall students. During his

study abroad, he performed Beethoven and Bach's piece many times and cooperated with the bora

orchestra. He won the second place in the queen Elizabeth international piano competition in 2004

and the first place in the Rachmaninoff international piano competition in Los Angeles in 2005.

After returning to China, he performed with the Lanzhou symphony orchestra, held concerts all

over the country, and participated in TV programs, gaining popularity in China. Since 2012, Shen

has been recording free piano playing videos and uploading them to the Internet for piano lovers to

watch and learn so that his status in the domestic music industry continues to improve.

Wenyu Shen is as calm and serious as a philosopher in playing. He objectively faces the

piano music he comes into contact with and gives people the most authentic feedback. His ability to

control his music is equally impressive. "C sharp minor waltz op. 64" by Chopin, this piece of

music is the best piece of outstanding Chopin works for people who have learned the piano, so

when Wenyu Shen plays this piece of music, it can be widely recognized by piano lovers. This

waltz is generally in a melancholy mood, but he has a lot of running eighth notes into the form of

jumping, although it makes people surprised, but also makes the work become cheerful and lively.

15

He combines cool philosophical thoughts, extraordinary playing techniques and excellent changes

in timbre to form his own unique playing style (Li, 2018).

(7) Yujia Wang

Yujia Wang was born into an artistic family. Dad is a percussionist and mom is a ballerina.

When she was born, there was a piano at home, which was a wedding gift from her grandfather to

her parents. After Yujia Wang born, this piano became her most intimate toy (Yang, 2010). When

she was four and a half years old, her mother discovered her musical talent and found a teacher to

teach her to play the piano. She loved the piano to a degree that her mother could not imagine.

Yujia Wang has been very serious and hardworking since she was a child when she was learning

piano. She has her own understanding of music.

Yujia Wang studied in the primary school attached to the central conservatory of music

and the secondary school attached to the central conservatory of music as a child. In 1999, as an

exchange student of the China-Canada "morning music bridge" cultural exchange program, she

went to Canada to study piano at the royal conservatory of music in Calgary, Canada. In 2008, she

graduated from Curtis School of Music.

In 2005, she made his major concert debut, playing Beethoven's piano concerto no. 4 with

the national arts centre orchestra in Ottawa, conducted by Zuckerman Subsequently, she began to

work with many famous orchestras around the world, including Baltimore, Beijing, Boston,

Chicago, Houston, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, St. Petersburg, Tokyo, and Zurich. She

signed exclusive artist contract with German DG Records in 2008. After returning to China, she

successfully held her own solo concerts in many cities in China, and her social influence in China

has been increasing.

Yujia Wang has a rigorous and serious attitude towards music, works and performance.

The music is neat, warm but not wild, and her body movements and facial expressions are moderate.

1.1. Famous Contemporary Chinese Pianists Analysis

According to the 7 Chinese contemporary pianists in this thesis, this thesis will analyze

the basic information and career of pianists.

16

1.2 Basic Personal Information Analysis

Fig.1 Age distribution of famous Chinese pianists

Among the 7 outstanding pianists in China analysed in this thesis, there are 4 pianists in

the range of 30-40 years old, with the largest number, while there are the same number of pianists

in the range of 40-50 years old, 50-60 years old and over 60 years old, with only one pianist.

Fig.2 Gender ratio of Chinese pianists

Among the outstanding Chinese pianists analysed in this thesis, there are 5 males and 2

females. In the current Chinese society, the number of pianists between 30 and 40 years old is large,

while the number of pianists over 40 years old is small.

17

According to the historical development of piano in China, in 1919, "the outbreak of the

May fourth movement brought Chinese society into a new historical stage -- the period of new

democratic revolution". The whole society raised a fierce impact on the concept of feudal thought

and culture, and made efforts to explore new ideas, new knowledge, new culture of the ideological

liberation movement. Under this historical and cultural background, China's modern new music

culture has been established and developed in a real sense. Around the 1920s, piano education in

China developed rapidly. With the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937, the Chinese piano

curriculum entered a period of exploration.

In 1919, "Peking University music research association" was established. The music

teaching of the association improved the amateur music level of the society at that time, enriched

the spiritual and cultural life of the people, and marked the beginning of Chinese piano education.

Due to the chaos of war and the lack of peaceful creation environment, the development of Chinese

piano art was relatively slow, but some works with strong national style also appeared, which

enabled Chinese piano art to move forward. After the founding of the People's Republic of China,

piano art began to be widely communicated in the world. Many foreign pianists came to China to

give lectures and perform, which enabled Chinese piano teaching to quickly master the more

advanced piano performance technology and teaching system at that time. At the same time, the

state also sent pianists to study abroad. This period is an important period for Chinese piano art to

enter the world. In 1966, the outbreak of the cultural revolution, in the field of piano art,

professional music schools were forced to suspend classes. The development of Chinese piano art

has gradually derailed from the international level and the gap has gradually widened. In 1976, the

end of the Cultural Revolution brought vitality to the development of Chinese piano art. With the

great improvement of people's living standard, the popularization of piano education has been

carried out rapidly. In particular, the rise of "Chinese piano craze" in the 1980s led to the rapid

development of domestic piano culture. In turn, in particular, various professional schools and

departments provided a large number of excellent piano talents, which became the driving force for

the development of Chinese piano.

At the same time, international exchanges in Chinese piano art education gradually

increased, and a large number of world-class pianists came to China to perform, which broadened

the vision of the Chinese piano industry, which had been closed for a long time, and promoted the

development of Chinese piano culture to a great extent. Therefore, there are relatively more

pianists in the range of 30-40 years old, while there are relatively few pianists over 40 years old.

Pianists are born with musical talent and show it clearly. As far as piano learners are

concerned, their inherent musical talent is one of the potential conditions for becoming an

18

indispensable pianist. A gift is a talent, a growth characteristic that has already been possessed

before growth. The ability to excel in certain things or fields naturally, so that it can grow faster

than others in the same experience or even no experience, and has its uniqueness, particularity. If a

person's potential and possibilities for growth are already expressed in his or her life, then he or she

has a gift for it. It is often said that learning music requires talent, and musical talent refers to the

innate musical quality of individuals and the part of physical and psychological quality acquired by

human individuals through family inheritance. People with musical talents have an innate sense of

music, especially a strong sense of pitch. When the pianist showed his musical talent in his

childhood, he was discovered by his family in a timely manner and was given musical training,

which brought his musical talent into play in a timely manner and paved the way for his later piano

learning. Musical talent has an important influence on the success of a pianist.

Artistic atmosphere is also a prerequisite for the success of a pianist. A good artistic

atmosphere is very important for a pianist. During the childhood study period of pianists, most of

them were born in an environment full of artistic atmosphere, and their fathers or mothers had their

own love and understanding of art, so the family members could communicate with each other

through artistic knowledge. Psychological research shows that the more care and guidance children

receive from their parents in the family, the more conducive to the formation and development of

personality. In the big family full of strong artistic atmosphere, they communicate with each other

through art, which on the one hand also has a certain degree of influence on the pianist's

performance personality. For the study of the pianist to do more powerful support. To some extent,

a good artistic atmosphere plays a key role in the development of a pianist.

Family support is also a key factor in a pianist's success. In the childhood of a pianist, a

family has a profound and huge influence on piano learners. In the long process of learning the

piano, the family's contribution and support are always indispensable. The degree of dedication

determines the future development of piano learners. The family pays, including the financial aspect

and accompanies aspect. In terms of economy, among the seven pianists analysed above, only Liu

Shikun was born into a wealthy family, while the other six pianists were all born into ordinary

families. Most pianists were not from wealthy families, and their parents had average income. For

children from wealthy families, Liu Shikun's father provided him with a rich material foundation to

facilitate his piano learning, which served as the material support for his piano learning. And six

other pianists family is not rich, as parents, in order to give young pianist create better learning

conditions, at the expense of the development of their own work, don't give up even borrow money

around children's piano learning, ability to do my best on the way children learn piano material help,

all can create conditions, no matter how hard difficulty. In terms of spiritual companionship, parents

19

are not only for life, but also for piano practice. Lang Lang's father accompanied him to practice the

piano every day. During the practice, they would discuss different opinions on music. Similarly, the

parents also played a role in answering questions, which was more helpful for the children to

understand the knowledge and help them digest and absorb the teacher's teaching. Accompanied by

parents, it is easier to understand children's understanding of piano music. Because of the different

growing environment of the family, it is also conducive to the formation of musicians' own musical

style in terms of the formation of their personalities. Accompanied by their families, pianists in their

childhood will work harder and harder in piano learning, and their interest will gradually increase,

making it easier to stick to it. Through the analysis, it can be concluded that in China's current

society, although the piano culture has been developed, the popularity is not too high. In China,

learning an art requires an economic basis, which refers to the sum of the relations of production

determined by the productive forces at a certain stage of social development. The economic basis

determines the superstructure. Art, as one of the superstructures, is determined by economic basis.

Although this way of deciding may not be direct, but in the final analysis, what kind of economic

basis will produce what kind of art, a good economic basis can provide the necessary conditions for

the creation of art production and material security. In combination with China's current social

development, although piano culture has been developed, its popularity is not high enough, which

may be closely related to the economic basis of the family. The production of piano art needs to be

built on the basis of economy, which plays an irreplaceable role as the premise of the development

of piano art.

From the learning experience of a pianist, the success of a pianist is inseparable from

excellent teachers. A good pianist must be inseparable from his teachers who appreciate him on his

way to maturity. The role of the teacher plays a decisive role in the whole learning stage of the

piano learners. A good teacher not only has an important guiding role in teaching methods and

lecturing methods, but also exerts a subtle influence on the learners. Among the seven pianists

analysed in this paper, each pianist asked the piano teacher who was relatively famous at that time

to instruct him when he began to learn piano, so that he could receive professional piano learning

and be admitted to a professional conservatory of music for in-depth study and then go abroad to

study. Therefore, a good piano teacher is very important for a pianist. As a piano teacher, they

should have professional knowledge to satisfy students' thirst for knowledge in the learning process.

All the pianists went abroad for further study after studying the piano at home. It shows that

although piano education has been developed in Chinese society, there is still a certain gap between

it and foreign piano education. Piano is a representative instrument of modern western music. In

foreign countries, piano education is highly valued and piano learning is regarded as a means to

20

promote the all-round development of students' ability and quality. In their teaching philosophy,

they pay attention to the formation of students' thinking system of brain, vision, practice and

creation. Especially in the music education the diversified way, causes the student to achieve the

higher quality accomplishment in the piano study. Foreign countries pay attention to the basic

teaching of piano, in the primary stage of piano teaching does not pursue progress, but in the basic

playing methods and the initial understanding of music requirements are very solid and strict. The

teacher has a very accurate grasp of all kinds of basic playing methods. It also emphasizes the

singing and other musical factors to promote the formation of basic skills, so that students can

understand the piano's sound beauty and rich sense, and fully understand the characteristics of

phrases or melodies, so as to stimulate their interest in learning. Foreign piano educators believe

that the first thing to learn the piano is to cultivate their interest, so that they can feel the charm of

the piano and enjoy it. Cultivate children's creativity and imagination. According to the problems of

children in the process of learning piano, foreign teachers follow the principle of teaching students

in accordance with their aptitude and step by step, teaching piano according to the characteristics of

students, so that students can get the joy of success from every bit of challenge, and strengthen their

interest in piano learning. His way of education makes the arrangement of teaching activities from

simple to difficult in the whole teaching, step by step, so that students can continuously gain

successful experience, avoid detours and setbacks, and form good learning steps and continuous

learning motivation. Foreign countries pay attention to the cultivation of students' ability in piano

training. A perfect person not only needs to compete in social life, but also needs to enrich his

spiritual life. The cultivation of will and quality is very important in any study, and its importance

in the difficult activity of piano goes without saying. In addition to the interpretation of music,

piano education abroad promotes the development of students' abilities such as intelligence,

emotion, perseverance, self-confidence, independence and creativity through piano learning.

The foreign piano education pays more attention to the freedom of strategy and personality

while paying more attention to the popularization foundation. While the forms are rich, it pays

attention to the strict requirements of educators and innovative art. In China's piano education, the

art of piano has developed rapidly in the development history of China and gained popularity, but

there are also some problems. The number of piano learners is increasing, but the corresponding

faculty is relatively weak. The quality of students learning piano is inconsistent and unbalanced due

to the uneven quality of professional educators. At present, the teaching method of piano education

in China still attaches great importance to etudes and skills training, and the communication with

piano teaching in the world is relatively lacking, ignoring the cultivation of musical ability.

Throughout the foreign piano education, solid foundation teaching can bring us enlightenment. This

21

is the weak link of piano teaching in our country. Our country's education level is undeniable,

Chinese society in piano culture development in the future, the development of Chinese piano

education technology space will be more expansion and improvement of the education abroad the

good with the Chinese education good together, create a conforms to China's national conditions

and can make the interest and specification of the new teaching model, for the popularity of the

piano music education in our country to create a new heaven and earth.

1.3. Career Development Analysis

Among the 7 Chinese pianists analysed in this paper, 6 pianists started their careers abroad

after winning international awards, then returned to China for development. To some extent, it

shows that there are some problems in Chinese people's aesthetic and artistic appreciation of piano.

The improving of the people's cultural quality, make the enjoyment of the music in the practical life

becomes a kind of important form of popular entertainment, and with the improvement of living

standards, people demand for music, piano music appreciation gradually became a kind of life

needs, the attention of more and more people.

As an artistic way of conveying emotion and presenting beauty, people can fully perceive,

interpret and enjoy the beauty of art form through the appreciation of piano art, so as to enrich their

spiritual world. In general, the thoughts and emotions expressed by piano music during its

performance can strongly resonate with the audience. In this process of appreciation, the emotional

pleasure and spiritual comfort obtained by people are of great significance. However, in the era of

rapid development, there are some problems in the public's appreciation of piano music. First, the

public lacks the necessary knowledge of music. The necessary music knowledge is the basis for the

appreciation of music works, but in the actual appreciation of piano music, the public lacks the

basic knowledge of music. Not on the basis of the related knowledge of music for the piano works

of appreciation, made public in the appreciation of piano works to spread out under the

specialization of music works the emotional feeling is not clear and even directly not understand,

lost original music for piano art appreciation value and significance.

At the same time, some people on the basis of some music theory knowledge, lack of

necessary knowledge of history, for some pianist and piano works lack of understanding, the style

of each piano art genres also does not have an accurate understanding, make public when listening

to the piano music works and appreciate, just stay on the surface, and can't understand the

connotation of the piano works. Secondly, in the public's appreciation of piano works, too many

specific musical images are sought. In the appreciation of piano music, musical image is a must, to

22

express the image of piano works from one thing, so as to better understand the theme of the works

and bring a kind of visual image to the public. However, this thing is an idea conveyed by the work

itself. Although it is characterized by a musical image, it would be too deliberate to excessively

search for this musical image in the process of specific music appreciation. Influenced by this idea,

the public can even try their best to pursue the existence of musical images when appreciating

music. Thus affects the public to the piano works of art appreciation level. In the future

development of Chinese piano culture, the public's aesthetic appreciation of piano art will be

improved. When appreciating piano works, we should reasonably select music works according to

our own music knowledge level, and we can choose according to our personal preference and music

level. With the improvement of my ability of appreciation and perception of works, they will

gradually transfer and improve themself in the selection and appreciation of piano music works of

further difficulty. On the other hand, when appreciating the piano works to be done, we should

make full preparations. Among them, the basic information and living background of piano music

works and their authors should be understood, which can effectively help the audience understand

the ideas conveyed by piano works and gradually improve their own music appreciation level.

1.4. Summary of this chapter

From the analysis of the career of the above seven Chinese pianists, there are some

similarities among them. From the perspective of the family, the success of a pianist is inseparable

from the strong support and hard work of the family. From the perspective of education methods,

the 7 famous Chinese pianists analysed in this paper all studied with domestic piano teachers when

they were young, indicating that a suitable teacher in the piano learning stage is a key factor for the

success of piano learners. When they reach a certain level, they all choose to go abroad for in-depth

study, which indicates that there is still a gap between China's piano education level and that of

foreign countries. Foreign piano education focuses on the popularization of the basic, but also on

the promotion from the basic to the professional; the teaching form and style pay more attention to

the diversified strategy and the individual freedom; while the forms are rich, it pays attention to the

strict requirements of educators and innovative art. The development of piano art in China is very

rapid. While gaining popularity, we should also see that there is a huge amount of learning

technology but no corresponding faculty, and the level of professional educators is uneven. From

the analysis of career characteristics, the current Chinese public to the piano art of the aesthetic

problems.

Combined with the current problems existing in the piano culture of Chinese society,

23

Chinese society in the future, a popular aesthetic improves, the piano art in piano works to

appreciate, will combine their own music knowledge level, reasonable selection of music works,

can choose according to individual be fond of and their own music levels, so as to enhance the

aesthetic of piano art. The development space of China's piano education technology will be more

expanded and improved, gradually combining the good side of foreign education with the good side

of China's education, creating a new teaching model that is in line with China's national conditions

and can make interest and norms coexist, creating a new world for the popularization of piano

music education in China.

24

2. Questionnaire Analysis of the Acceptance of Piano Culture in China

2.1.Questionnaire Design

In view of the current situation of the development of piano culture in Chinese society, a

questionnaire survey was conducted. The questionnaire was conducted among 140 people. The

questionnaire included three types of questions: the popularity of piano education in China, the

level of piano appreciation in Chinese social groups and the degree of love for piano.

2.2. Survey Results Analysis

Fig.3a the sex ratio of the surveyed population

25

Fig.3b the ratio of male and female students learning piano

Among the 140 people who participated in the questionnaire, the proportion of males was

36.43% and that of females was 63.57%. Among the participants, the majority were women. In the

number of people learning piano, the number of men learning the piano is less, the number of

women learning the piano is more. According to the gender ratio of Chinese pianists analysed in

this paper, there are fewer female pianists. Analysis of the reasons for this situation, it may be that

because of the special gender of women, most of the women in the marriage to undertake daily life

chores, lack of enough time and energy in professional aspects, unable to concentrate on one thing;

In Chinese society, more women choose to become piano teachers and take teaching as their main

job, so there are not many female pianists in China.

26

Fig.4a the proportion of age groups of questionnaire participants (%)

Fig. 4b shows the age range of participants in the questionnaire and the proportion of the

number of people learning piano

Of the 140 people in the survey questionnaire, 12 years old and under the minimum

proportion of the age, at 0.71%, followed by 13 to 1.43% - the number of the age of 18, 36 years old

and above most participants in the survey, up to 62.14%. Second, age between 19 and 25 years old

in high, occupy 18.57%, and ratio between the number of 26-35 in the middle, at 17.14%.

According to the latest world health organization who age division, the majority of respondents

were young and middle-aged.

It can be found within the range of 0 to 35 years old to learn piano overall proportion is

27

larger, the number of instructions in present society in China, for piano culture of middle-aged

people accept ability is poor, weak ability to appreciate level, and the number of young people and

children in the choice to learn the piano is more, on the one hand, shows the piano culture in China

society is more popular among young people and children, young people and children for piano

culture of strong ability to accept, on the other hand also shows that the development of Chinese

piano education, piano culture has certain progress in China's current social development and charm.

Fig.5 distribution of cultural level of questionnaire respondents

Among the respondents, the proportion of those with a bachelor's degree or less was the

same at 43 per cent, while those with a doctorate or above had a minimum of 1 per cent, followed

by 13 per cent with a master's degree. On the one hand, it shows that in the current Chinese society,

the number of people who have received the postgraduate education and doctoral education is small,

accounting for a small proportion, and most of the people have only received the undergraduate

education or below. On the other hand, it also shows that in Chinese society, there is a big

difference in cultural quality and ability, so the ability to appreciate piano art is not balanced.

28

Fig.6 the proportion of participants in the questionnaire who learned piano

In the total number of participants in the questionnaire, the number of people who have

learned the piano reached 28%, and the number of people who have not learned the piano accounted

for 72%. On the one hand, it shows that in the current Chinese society, the popularization rate of

piano education is not particularly high, and the number of people who learn piano only occupies a

small part. On the other hand, it also shows that in the current Chinese society, the public's

acceptance of piano culture is not high, and they have little understanding of piano culture and lack

of knowledge.

Fig.7 the proportion of time spent on piano learning among questionnaire participants

Among the total number of people who participated in the questionnaire this time, those

29

who had been learning piano for 0-2 years accounted for the highest proportion (80.71%),

indicating that piano has a certain charm in Chinese society to some extent. A large part of people

choose to receive piano education for a short time because of their interests. In 3-5 years learning

the piano time ratio reached 2.14%, the number of time in the proportion reached 3.57%, 6-8 years

study time more than eight years the proportion of 13.57%, can be concluded from the data, while

the piano culture in China got a certain development, but the piano education must have

deficiencies in the current Chinese society, from the data point of view, only a few people insist on

down, shows that the popularity of the piano education in China is not too high, on the other hand

also shows in the piano culture development of the society in China, As a result, most people's

interest in piano culture does not last long due to the incomplete teaching system and teaching

methods.

Fig.8 the comparison of educational background and piano learning time

As we can be seen from the figure, the higher the educational level, the longer the time of

learning piano. To some extent, it shows that with the development of Chinese society, Chinese

piano culture is progressing and the level of piano education is constantly improving. In the future

development of Chinese society, the demand of Chinese social groups for piano art will continue to

increase, and the teachers in piano education will also be improved. Learners' knowledge of piano

art will continue to increase, appreciation will be deeper, and they will have a better understanding

of western music culture.

30

Fig.9 how familiar the questionnaire participants are with Chinese pianists

According to the chart, the most popular Chinese pianist in Chinese society is Lang Lang,

followed by Yundi Li. As the older generation, Shikun Liu and Xiangdong Kong are also

recognized by the Chinese public. Although Wenyu Shen, Yujia Wang and Sa Chen, as young

pianists, have achieved excellent results in foreign countries and are well known in foreign music

circles, they are not well known in Chinese society at present.

Fig.10 shows the proportion of all pianists

Among the 140 people who accepted the questionnaire, only 5% of them knew each of the

31

seven pianists analysed in this paper, which to some extent indicated that the popularization degree

of piano culture in China was not high enough. The status of piano culture in Chinese society has

yet to be improved, and there is still enough room for development in the future.

Fig.11 the degree of influence of Chinese pianist's career on the public (%)

On the whole, it is helpful for most people to know the career of a famous Chinese pianist.

To some extent, it shows that the Chinese society does not reject the piano culture and it is

acceptable. It also shows that in the future society, the development of piano culture has more space,

will be more in-depth development.

Fig.12 how much the public likes to be engaged in piano profession?

For piano profession, the number of people who are very willing to take up piano

32

occupation accounts for 19.29%, while the number who are willing to take up piano occupation

accounts for 30%. The proportion of people who have a general feeling about piano occupation

reaches 30%, while the proportion of people who are unwilling or very unwilling to take up piano

occupation reaches 19.29% and 1.43% respectively. On the one hand, it shows that the employment

pressure of piano profession in China is relatively great at present, and the employment situation is

not very optimistic. There are not many suitable positions for piano professionals to find

employment, and the selection is few. On the other hand, it also shows that the current Chinese

society is short of piano education resources and the overall education system is not perfect.

2.3. Summary of the Findings

Based on the survey data in the questionnaire, it is found that in the current Chinese

society, people have different levels of education, leading to differences in understanding of piano

culture. The middle-aged and the elderly have a weak ability to accept piano culture, while the

number of teenagers learning piano is relatively large. Specifically, the higher the education level is,

the longer the piano learning time will be, the stronger the interest in piano culture will be, and the

more willing they are to accept piano culture and take the initiative to understand it. In terms of the

popularity of piano culture, although Chinese society is attaching more importance to piano culture

at present, the popularity is not strong enough. The popularity rate among teenagers is high, while

that among middle-aged and elderly people is low. Because each person has to accept the level of

education at different levels and individual knowledge area covered by different uneven cultural

quality, the piano music appreciation level is not the same. The higher is the manifestation to accept

cultural education level, the easier it is to accept the western music cultural knowledge and to

understand the history of western music. For piano art, culture and appreciation ability,

understanding of music is crucial. From the data, it can be concluded that in the current Chinese

society, the number of people who learn piano accounts for a small number, while the number who

persist in learning piano is even smaller, indicating that there are still some problems in China's

piano education methods and system.

Overall, at present, in China's society, the piano has a considerable development

possibility. In the long run, in the future development of Chinese society, the popularity of the piano

culture will be widened, and the public will more readily accept the piano culture. A long-term

study indicates that the Chinese society for piano art appreciation level increases gradually. Shortly

33

with an increasing demand for piano culture and continuous development of quality education, the

Chinese society will be a talent forge, thus promoting the spread of piano culture in China.

Therefore, the improvement of piano education in China will form a complete education system and

promote the development of Chinese piano culture.

34

CONCLUSIONS

Through the analysis of outstanding Chinese pianists' careers, we can conclude that:

due to historical factors in the development of Chinese society, there are clearly defined

differences in piano music appreciation;

after the founding of new modern China the piano was and is as one of the essential tools to

communicate with the world through cultural means;

currently, we see that young pianists constitute the majority of pianists in China.

In the analysis of 7 pianists' career in this thesis, a pattern of many similar characteristics

could be recognized. Since childhood, each pianist has shown musical talent, and their family

supported them substantially in studying piano. An excellent piano teacher is an essential condition

for successful development. After the initial years of intense study in China, all most prominent

Chinese pianists continued their study abroad (that confirms some gap in the system of Chinese

piano education and lack of competent teachers now). However, all pianists started their careers in

the homeland only after establishing themselves in foreign countries, which indicates that certain

Chinese social groups still have insufficient aesthetic appreciation of piano art and little knowledge

of piano culture.

Through the analysis of the survey data, it can be concluded that the education level of the

current social population in China is different, so there is a gap in the level of appreciation of piano

art. From the perspective of the popularity of piano culture, it has not been entirely popularized to

every social group, especially for the middle-aged and elderly population. The proportion of young

people learning piano is significant, and within this age group, the acceptance of piano culture is

high. The proportion of people who are studying piano for 0-2 years is large, which indicates that

there are problems in Chinese piano education. The teaching method and teaching system of piano

are not perfect enough, which leads to the students' insufficient interest in piano learning.

With the continuous development of Chinese society and the economy, people's living

standard is continuously improving, and art education is highly valued. Piano as a musical

instrument was imported from abroad into China. Through continuous promotion and rapid

development of Chinese piano culture level proliferated. There still is a gap in Chinese piano

education because of an insufficient number of high-quality, competent teachers and established

educational system. It must be stated that a widespread culture of piano art is a prerequisite for a

successful future development. Hereafter in China's future growth and improvement of the Chinese

society, with the establishment of piano education system, a large number of professionals and

music lovers will emerge. The level of piano art appreciation of all Chinese society strata will also

35

be improved.

36

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39

APPENDICES 1

QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear students,

I am a piano performance student at the Vytautas Magnus University Music Academy. I

would like to ask you to fill out this questionnaire. The purpose of the following questionnaire

survey is to find out the current situation and future development trend of Chinese piano culture.

Please use the sign (√) to mark the answer to each question. The questionnaire is anonymous. Thank

you!

JINHUI WANG

1. Gender:

○Male

○Female

2. What is your age?

○Under 13

○13-18

○19-25

○26-35

○36 or more

3. Educational Background:

○Undergraduate degree

○Bachelor degree

○Master degree

○Doctor of Philosophy.

4.Have you ever learned piano?

○Yes

○No

5. How long have you been studying piano?

○0-2years

○3-5years

○6-8years

○more than 8 years

40

6. What do you know about the following Chinese pianists?

○Xiangdong Kong

○Shikun Liu

○Sa Chen

○Lang Lang

○Yundi Li

○Yujia Wang

○Wenyu Shen

7. Do you think that understanding the career of an outstanding Chinese pianist is helpful to the path

of learning piano?

○Strongly agree

○Agree

○ Undecided

○ Disagree

○Strongly disagree

8. Will you continue to work on piano in the future?

○Strongly agree

○Agree

○ Undecided

○ Disagree

○Strongly disagree

9. Are you willing to become a professional pianist?

○Strongly agree

○Agree

○ Undecided

○ Disagree

○Strongly disagree

10. Who is your favorite Chinese pianist? why?

11. How do you think the study of the career of these Chinese pianists will help you?

12. If you are a pianist, what do you want to say to friends who study piano?

41

APPENDIX 2

问卷调查

亲爱的同学们：

我是立陶宛马格努斯大学音乐学院的钢琴演奏系学生。我想请您填写这份问卷。以

下问卷调查的目的是有关于中国钢琴文化目前的现状和未来发展趋势。请使用符号（√）标

记每个问题的答案。问卷是匿名的。谢谢！

王锦卉

1. 您的性别：

○男

○女

2. 您的年龄：

○12 岁及以下

○13-18 岁

○19-25 岁

○26-35 岁

○36 岁及以上

3. 您的学历：

○本科以下

○本科

○硕士

○博士及以上

4. 您学过钢琴吗？

○是

○否

5. 您学习钢琴的时间？

○0-2 年

○3-5 年

○6-8 年

42

○8 年以上

6. 以下中国钢琴家您知道哪些？（多选）

○孔祥东

○刘诗昆

○陈萨

○郎朗

○李云迪

○王羽佳

○沈文裕

7. 您认为了解中国杰出钢琴家的职业生涯对学琴之路有帮助吗？

○非常有帮助

○有帮助

○一般

○帮助不大

○没帮助

8. 您愿意今后继续从事钢琴工作吗？

○非常愿意

○愿意

○一般

○不愿意

○非常不愿意

9. 您愿意成为一名职业钢琴家吗？

○非常愿意

○愿意

○一般

○不愿意

○非常不愿意

10. 您最喜欢的中国钢琴家是谁？为什么？

11. 您觉得研究这些中国钢琴家的职业生涯对你有那些帮助？

12. 假如您是一名钢琴家，您想对学钢琴的朋友们说些什么？