Search

The article is devoted to the oldest composer of China Du Mingxin, who was among the founders of the new musical culture in the Celestial Empire. He received his musical education at the Composition Department of the Historical and Theoretical Faculty of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He graduated with high honours following an individual study program. The article is the first to publish Du Mingxin's autobiography written back in 1954 when he was a student at the Moscow State Conservatory, as well as the text of an interview given to the author of the article in 2020. At the age of 93, Du Mingxin is creating new compositions and enjoys communicating with younger composers, among whom there are many of his famous students: Shi Fu, Liu Sola, Ye Xiaogang, Qu Xiaosong, Wang Liling, Zhao Giping, Jin Ping and others. It is noted that the personality and work of Du Mingxin are very popular nowadays: about 170 articles were written about him, dozens of dissertations were defended on his work and a voluminous monograph was written. The process of studying the work of the famous Chinese composer is actively continuing.

The article, which has a historical and methodological orientation, focuses on issues that are indicative both for the development of orchestral music in China and for the training of students in conducting. This work reveals the typology of expressive possibilities of mono-timbre and poly-timbre folk orchestras, as well as certain provisions concerning the mutual influence of folk instrument orchestras and symphony ensembles. The conductor's curriculum adopted at The Central Conservatory of China is presented and its specific features are reviewed. It is noted that due to the intensive development of symphony orchestras and symphonic genres, as well as compositions for musical theater, the process of training conductors and composers in conservatories and music faculties of universities in China is being improved. The cumulative world pedagogical experience was selected to develop the conductor training programs in Chinese conservatories, taking into account the positions most important for national pedagogical adaptation. The educational program for conducting was created in China considering the practice of the Saint Petersburg and Moscow conservatories.

The article discusses the stages of the difficult path Chinese students have gone through to meet all the requirements of the European (Russian) music education system. This work is the first publication in Russia and China of archival materials from the personal files of a group of students who arrived in the 1950s–60s to study at The Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Among the first 28 students from China, the absolute majority were composers and conductors, instrumentalists and vocalists. It was during their studies that they were adapted to the European system of music education. Their initial knowledge was classified by the Moscow Conservatory professorship as corresponding to the 1st or 2nd year of the school. Many materials from the archive indicate great difficulties in understanding the newly enrolled Chinese students in harmony, solfeggio, instrumentation and polyphony courses. At the same time, most of them were awarded diplomas with honors from the Conservatory, and for some graduates the result of training was a candidate's dissertation.