Guqin Playing Now: Re-inventing the Past as a Creative Way of Sustaining an Instrumental Practice

2021 ◽  
pp. 21-34
Author(s):  
Hoh Chung Shih
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Performance Practice ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Music Notation ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Over Time

Guqin (古琴) music, a cultural practice of the Classical Chinese literati which survived and had seen a surge of interest globally in the early 21st century, can be understood as an interactive whole consisting of the instrument and the performer. The musical interface, its music notation focuses heavily on the instrumental spatial-motor relationship with the performer, with sound as product of this psychosomatic interaction. This paper will examine the various layers of this interaction between: a) notation and movement and sound; b) topography of instrument body and physicality of performers’ hand on it; c) physicality and psychology of performance, leading to questions of musicality, authenticity in expression, and intentions or functions of guqin music. By comparing particular works (such as 山居吟 and 潇湘水云) across score collections from different periods (such as 神奇秘谱 1425, 大还阁琴谱 1673, 五知斋琴谱1722), and highlighting certain peculiar fingering position and combinations in earlier music against recent transcriptions of popular music, I will raise questions on possible musical purposes and expressions in relation to the proposed performer-instrument interaction perspective, so as to further understand the evolving nature of this music making over time. This creative interaction in sonic terms as sound and as music, performance practice and musical expression as culture and aesthetics, are some aspects of what I wish to present on an ongoing reinvention of guqin as instrument and music.

scholarly journals Historical Trends in Expressive Timing Strategies: Chopin's Etude, Op. 25 no. 1

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 176-201
Author(s):  
Michael Rector
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Performance Practice ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Historical Trends ◽  
Performance Style ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Expressive Performance ◽  
History Of ◽  
Timing Strategies ◽  
Over Time

Studies of early 20th-century performance practice tend to focus on features that are alien to late 20th- and early 21st-century ears. Empirical analysis of timing in recordings of Chopin's Etude, Op. 25 no. 1—a piece for which performance style has remained relatively static—suggests how some foundational rules of phrasing and expressive nuance have changed over the history of recorded music. Melody note onsets were marked manually in 127 commercial recordings dating from 1909 to 2016. Overall, the data do not show an increase or decrease over time in the amount of tempo fluctuation. Independently of a tendency to use slower tempi, pianists changed the way they employ rubato. Several factors contribute to a trend whereby the fourth beat is lengthened at the expense of the second and third beats: an increase in phrase-final lengthening, an increase in the use of tempo arching for shorter groups of measures, and a tendency to delay the arrival of an accented dissonance or change of harmony instead of lengthening the melody inter-onset interval that contains it. The data illustrate nearly imperceptible shifts in interpretation and suggest that some practices thought to be the bedrock of expressive performance may be historically conditioned.

scholarly journals Supernatural Characters in the Quasi-Historical Discourse of Modern Ukrainian Literature: Specificity and Functions

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-63
Author(s):  
Oleksandra Nikolova ◽  
Kateryna Vasylyna
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Historical Novels ◽  
Historical Discourse ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Global Problem ◽  
The Past ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
Historical Past ◽  
The Early 21St Century

: The article is aimed at the study of Ukrainian quasi-historical novels of the early 21st century, characterized by the renunciation of “objectivity” of the narrative and emphasized the role of imagination. These are the pieces by Bakalets and Yarish (“From the Seventh Bottom”), Vynnychuk (“The Pharmacist”, “Lutetia”), and by Yatsenko (“Nechui. Nemov. Nebach”). The study reveals the features and functions of fantastic characters in the abovementioned novels. These fictional images of modern Ukrainian quasihistorical literary discourse are characterized by infernality, grotesque anthropomorphism, destruction of traditional antinomy “otherworldly– earthly/human”, philosophical and ironic coloring. Interpreting the fantasy in quasi-historical novels is expedient in the context of the global problem of perception of historical past by people of the 21st Century, with an emphasis on significant changes in public consciousness motivating writers to “Re-write/Reimagine the past”. The spread of this phenomenon reveals public distrust of the authorities, offering “correct” answers to the questions about past events, protest against permanent manipulation of historical facts (the tendency of growing consciousness and intellectualization of society).

Diachronic register change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Collins ◽  
Minna Korhonen ◽  
Haidee Kotze ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Xinyue Yao
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
21St Century ◽  
American English ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Differential Effects ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Register Variation ◽  
Diachronic Change ◽  
Six Dimensions ◽  
Over Time

Abstract A number of studies have found that grammatical differences across registers are more extensive than those across dialects. However, there is a paucity of research examining intervarietal register change, exploring how registers change differently over time in different regional varieties. The present study addresses this diachronic deficit, focusing on grammatical developments – from the early 20th to the early 21st century – in corpora representing three written registers and two speech-based registers in Australian, British and American English. We conducted a factor analysis on 68 lexicogrammatical features to identify six dimensions of register variation, and subsequently investigated the diachronic change of the five registers across these dimensions. We interpret our findings in terms of the differential effects of broad social changes on individual registers, in light of existing findings on trends of change in different registers and varieties.

Artificial Languages

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Reed Libert
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
A Priori ◽  
International Communication ◽  
A Posteriori ◽  
Natural Languages ◽  
Personal Projects ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Artificial Languages ◽  
The Past ◽  
Mixed Languages

Artificial languages—languages which have been consciously designed—have been created for more than 900 years, although the number of them has increased considerably in recent decades, and by the early 21st century the total figure probably was in the thousands. There have been several goals behind their creation; the traditional one (which applies to some of the best-known artificial languages, including Esperanto) is to make international communication easier. Some other well-known artificial languages, such as Klingon, have been designed in connection with works of fiction. Still others are simply personal projects. A traditional way of classifying artificial languages involves the extent to which they make use of material from natural languages. Those artificial languages which are created mainly by taking material from one or more natural languages are called a posteriori languages (which again include well-known languages such as Esperanto), while those which do not use natural languages as sources are a priori languages (although many a posteriori languages have a limited amount of a priori material, and some a priori languages have a small number of a posteriori components). Between these two extremes are the mixed languages, which have large amounts of both a priori and a posteriori material. Artificial languages can also be classified typologically (as natural languages are) and by how and how much they have been used. Many linguists seem to be biased against research on artificial languages, although some major linguists of the past have been interested in them.

Measuring pre-service music teachers’ creative identities: a cross-cultural comparison of the United States and Singapore

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (02) ◽  
pp. 197-210
Author(s):  
Clint Randles ◽  
Leonard Tan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Music Listening ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Creative Identity ◽  
Service Music

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to examine and compare the creative musical identities of pre-service music education students in the United States and Singapore. The Creative Identity in Music (CIM) measure was utilized with both US and Singapore pre-service music teacher populations (n = 274). Items of the CIM relate to music-making activities often associated with creativity in music education in the literature, including composition, improvisation and popular music performance. Results suggest, similar to findings of previous research, that while both populations are similar in their degree of creative music-making self-efficacy and are similarly willing to allow for creativity in the classroom, Singaporean pre-service music teachers value the areas of creative identity and the use of popular music listening/performing within the learning environment to a significantly greater extent (p < 0.0001) than their US counterparts.

scholarly journals The meaning of Moscow: “Non-lethal” weapons and international law in the early 21st century

2005 ◽  
Vol 87 (859) ◽  
pp. 525-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. Fidler
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Early 21St Century

AbstractAt the intersection of new weapon technologies and international humanitarian law, so-called “non-lethal” weapons have become an area of particular interest. This article analyses the relationship between “non-lethal” weapons and international law in the early 21st century by focusing on the most seminal incident to date in the short history of the “non-lethal” weapons debate, the use of an incapacitating chemical to end a terrorist attack on a Moscow theatre in October 2002. This tragic incident has shown that rapid technological change will continue to stress international law on the development and use of weaponry but in ways more politically charged, legally complicated and ethically challenging than the application of international humanitarian law in the past.

scholarly journals A Joint Manifesto for Design Studios based on Residuals and Experiences

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hare Kılıçaslan ◽  
Pınar Dinç Kalaycı
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Design Education ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Linear Process ◽  
Architectural Education ◽  
Design Knowledge ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Restructuring Process ◽  
The Universe

Architectural education encompasses different approaches from past to present; it is continuously researched and is both vocational and personality training. An updated manifesto for the current era is essential to ensure that the design approaches and tools updated by the boundless opportunities presented by the 21st century do not overwhelm the proven principles from the past. In the early 21st century, the restructuring process of architectural education is being reawakened through unique education approaches. The studio that constitutes the backbone of design education must also produce the manifesto. Manifesto principles that express the approaches related to the stages and are fictionalised through binary propositions need to provide a paradigm that exceeds a linear process for the studio environment. The proposition for all actors of the design process and learning programmes is based on an independent configuration in which studios focus on learners. Manifestos need to be renewed as long as the epoch is flourishing, while concerns about the internalisation of design knowledge and ways of thinking, skills, and experiences exist. The present manifesto is also a future building block. To rest studio manifestos on a joint manifesto similar to one proposed in this text, because of renewed and diversified practices, it is necessary to maintain an architectural education that does not lose itself and people within the universe of infinite possibilities.

Online Comments and Journalism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. David Wolfgang
Keyword(s):  
Technological Change ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Participatory Journalism ◽  
Online Comments ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Constant Growth

Shortly after its emergence as a tool for participatory journalism, online commenting became a popular format for audience public discourse and a subject of controversy for professional journalists. The early 21st century has seen a constant growth in research considering how online comments have influenced journalism by providing new ways to understand the perspective of the audience, by changing the routines and practices of the newsroom, and by encouraging a reconsideration of how content influences readers. News audiences, generally, have been relatively quiet and passive in the past, but online comments have given them the opportunity to speak alongside journalists on professional platforms. This shift in news-mediated public discourse has the potential to reshape the journalist−audience relationship in substantial ways. The research on commenting has provided new evidence on how journalistic practices are changing, how people perceive and process information online, and how journalists negotiate technological change while trying not to upend the profession. However, there is a need for more research that explores critical questions related to comment quality, changing journalistic norms, and the relationship between journalist identity and technology. Online commenting has the potential to help fulfill the journalistic norms of providing a space for public discourse and promoting diverse views from within the community. This potential, however, is reliant upon journalists who uphold the civic function of journalism’s role.

Heritage and the Use of the Past in East Africa

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Giblin
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Cultural Production ◽  
Heritage Management ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Heritage Studies ◽  
Critical Heritage

This article outlines historical and ongoing uses of the past and academic heritage research into those activities within eastern Africa. The use of the past will be discussed as a deep historical practice in the area that is the EAC in the 21st century, demonstrating how political elites have constructed versions of the past to suit contemporary and future aims for hundreds of years. Then there is an outline of the colonial introduction of formalized Western heritage institutions and legislation in the early 20th century, the subsequent nationalization of these in the mid-20th century, and the late-20th- and early-21st-century internationalization of heritage. These overviews are followed by a discussion of different approaches to heritage research including early studies of museums, traditions, heritage management, archaeological introspections, and more recent “critical heritage studies,” which interrogate the use of the past as a form of cultural production.

Current declines of Pecos River (New Mexico, USA) streamflow in a 700-year context

The Holocene ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 767-777 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant L Harley ◽  
Justin T Maxwell
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Low Flow ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Streamflow Reconstruction ◽  
The Past ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Pecos River ◽  
N 93

The Pecos River provides an important source of water for New Mexico and Texas, US, and Mexico. Severe and prolonged drought combined with increasing temperatures during the early 21st century boosted attention on water resources and allocation management in the American West. We provide a tree-ring-based streamflow reconstruction for the Pecos River for the period 1310–2013 CE for the overarching purpose of placing the current Pecos River streamflow declines in a multi-century context. Over the past ca. 700 years, dry events ( n = 93) that lasted at least 2 years were more common than wet events ( n = 76), wherein flow was below/above the instrumental mean (61.6 m3 s−1). Although more prolonged droughts occurred during the 15th and 18th centuries, the gage record (1930–2013 CE) captures the full range and variability of flow extremes within the context of the past 700 years. The 11-year drought of 1772–1782 was the highest ranked based on magnitude + intensity below the instrumental mean, slightly edging out the 1415–1425 and 1950–1957 events. The driest events that have occurred from the 14th through the 20th centuries are challenged by flow conditions since the turn of the 21st century. The 2000–2006 and 2011–2013 dry periods ranked 6th and 13th, respectively, though the intensity (−40 m3 s−1 yr−1) of the 2011–2013 event exceeded all higher ranked droughts. The lowest single water-year flow in the reconstruction was shared by years 1904 and 2002, during which the flow of the Pecos River was estimated at 8.1 m3 s−1. Other extreme low-flow years were 1685 (9.5 m3 s−1) and 1579 (9.8 m3 s−1), but are eclipsed by 1904 and 2002 when considering the lower bounds of bootstrapped confidence limits of the reconstruction. Increased flow variability combined with projected increased temperatures and decreased precipitation will likely present new challenges to water resource managers, especially given impending anthropogenic climate change.

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