One of the most significant cultural, historical, and social achievements of any nation is its unique and distinctive artistic heritage, which in the present qualification research is represented by Chinese traditional instrumental music. In this context, the issue of national and intercultural interaction within Chinese traditional instrumental art acquires particular relevance, as this art form is distinguished by its originality in terms of repertoire, performance practice, preservation of traditional music-making, and their subsequent extrapolation into the global artistic space. The study of the conditions under which traditional musical instruments emerged, their structural characteristics, performance techniques, and functional roles actualizes the problem of musical expressive means, particularly the specificity of rhythm in China’s traditional instrumental musical culture.
In general, the problem of rhythmic specificity in Chinese traditional instrumental music still contains significant potential for further comprehensive investigation. The theoretical and methodological foundation of the dissertation is based on the works of Ukrainian scholars, including V. Hromchenko, O. Zavialova, I. Konovalova, H. Poberezhna, I. Polska, O. Ralo, O. Samoilenko, O. Stakhevych, O. Ustymenko-Kosorich, L. Shapovalova, S. Shyp, I. Yudkin 10 Ripun, among others, as well as Chinese researchers such as Sun Pengxiang, Hu Ping, Huang Chen, Chen Nanpu, Zhang Xiaohua, Zhu Sisi, Yang Zheyui, Yan Zhihao, Liu Bingqiang, Liu Xiaosi, and others.
However, despite the fact that contemporary musicology has already accumulated significant research on various aspects of traditional instrumental performance and instrumental art, the phenomenon of rhythm in Chinese traditional music — as a specific artistic category that evolved over a long period in close unity with the development of the instrumental system itself — remains insufficiently studied. This circumstance determines the relevance and scientific novelty of the dissertation topic and defines its scholarly and practical significance in substantiating methodologically grounded approaches to the comprehensive analysis of Chinese traditional instrumental performance as an integral artistic phenomenon, the development of which is closely linked to cultural-historical processes and transformational changes in performance practice.
The purpose of the study is to comprehend the specificity of rhythm in Chinese traditional instrumental music within the context of the historical and cultural features of the development of the country’s musical art.
The first chapter examines the historical and theoretical aspects of the interaction between traditional and contemporary elements in Chinese instrumental music. Particular attention is paid to Chinese traditional music as a sociocultural phenomenon viewed through the dynamics of cultural and historical change.
The materials of this chapter provide a foundation for examining traditional music as a valuable artistic heritage of the Chinese people in light of processes of transformation, refinement, and contemporary performance realization.
The second chapter, “Rhythm in Chinese Traditional Instrumental Music: a Musicological Perspective,” is devoted to rhythm as a musicological problem and to the role of rhythm in traditional instrumental musical art. Special attention is paid to the sense of musical rhythm as a universal category, considered through the synthesis of the general concept of rhythm (as a universal phenomenon), biological rhythm (as a sensation inherent in the physiological nature of human beings), musical rhythm (as a concept with historical prerequisites for its formation), and the music-theoretical doctrine of rhythm as one of the most important emotionally expressive and form-shaping elements of musical language.
The third chapter, “Traditional Instrumental Art of China as a Phenomenon of Musical Practice,” highlights issues related to the formation and development of musical instruments within the context of Chinese national traditions. In this regard, the evolutionary processes of traditional Chinese musical instruments are considered with attention to external cultural influences. It is emphasized that traditional music occupies a special place in the musical heritage of Chinese composers, evolving alongside general cultural development trends while simultaneously preserving centuries-old national traditions.
