Selected Solo Piano Works by Three Living Asian Female Composers

ABSTRACT Alexina Louie (b.1949), Chen Yi (b.1953), and Vivian Fung (b.1975) are three highly respected Asian female composers in the contemporary classical music world. This written document concentrates on three works by these composers: I Leap Through the Sky with Stars (1991), Guessing (1989), and Glimpses (2006, rev. 2016), exploring their overall structures and influences of the pieces. It also includes brief biographies of each composer and the stylistic characteristics of their solo piano compositions. The first chapter provides a general description of the changing role and importance of female composers in musical history, as well as in the present day. In addition, this chapter offers a brief comparison of these three composers’ musical languages. The three subsequent chapters offer a deeper exploration of each individual composer and discuss a major work written by each. Through these works, a fusion nature of Western and Eastern music is revealed. Chen Yi composed Guessing based on a Chinese folk song and employed the form of theme and variations; Alexina Louie demonstrates different timbres of Asian instruments and adopts the Asian philosophy of Yin Yang in her composition, I Leap Through the Sky with Stars; and Vivian Fung composed Glimpses as a prepared piano work to imitate the many timbres of Gamelan and Oriental instruments. Finally, the fifth chapter summarizes these elements and demonstrates the need for female voices in the male-dominated Western classical tradition. Additionally, my interpretative suggestions and practice notes are included, in order to help those who are learning these pieces or pieces in similar styles. Overall, this document offers some approaches for understanding this music and pieces in similar styles and examines their potential as pedagogical and performance works.