Composing Taiwan

Hsiao Tyzen, one of the most important contemporary Taiwanese composers, firmly established the status of Taiwanese art songs in the twentieth century. Although Hsiao s compositional style is strongly influenced by romantic composers such as Rachmaninov, and by nationalistic composers such as Bartók, his musical style is also strongly associated with Taiwanese tradition. He has created his own individual style by adopting native Taiwanese folk elements and combining them with western compositional techniques. This book presents a brief historical background of Taiwanese art songs, introduces Hsiao s biography, discusses Hsiao s compositional style and characteristics, addresses diction in Taiwanese art songs, and analyzes four of his Taiwanese art songs with regard to diction and musical expression.