Journal Articles by Ko On Chan
Music in Art, Vol. XLIII, no. 1-2, 2018
In dance manga, which emphasizes action and movement, music functions merely as the background an... more In dance manga, which emphasizes action and movement, music functions merely as the background and only the physical properties of sound are represented by musical notations, images of musical sources, and onomatopoeias. In music manga, while the physical properties of sound are represented by similar strategies, time is frequently suspended and a lot of pictorial metaphors of emotions, mostly in the form of natural phenomenon, are used to highlight the emotional content of the piece. In the case of program music, these pictorial representations of music can furthermore be the visualization of the program and that resembles and, in some cases, influences the actual experience of listening to music. The Japanese aesthetic understanding of the relationships between music and nature, nature and emotion, and ultimately, music and emotion, are therefore argued to be effectively condensed into one or a few visual icons, which is unique to the genre of manga.
Conference Proceedings by Ko On Chan
Music/Image: Transpositions, Translations, Transformations..., 2018
August Rush (2007), directed by Kirsten Sheridan, tells the story of an orphaned musical prodigy,... more August Rush (2007), directed by Kirsten Sheridan, tells the story of an orphaned musical prodigy, Evan Taylor, using his gift to find his parents. While the central message of August Rush is how music connects people, it interestingly reveals several complicated connections between music and images. First, the soundtrack of August Rush incorporates everyday “noises” as musical elements, with images addressing their sources. This challenges the audience to constantly relate timbre to its source images, and also induces satisfaction when the unrevealed source is later revealed. Second, music in August Rush tells the narrative before image does. For instance, the fusion of two musical styles in the “Louis/Lyla” scenes pre-establishes the bonding between the protagonist’s parents, while the image of them cuddling is shown afterwards. Imagery thus functions to provide additional information or clarification. Last but not least, music connects “past” and “present” imagery. The music performance of “August Rhapsody” in the final scene recalls previous events, which juxtaposes with the “present” images and hence implies multiple meanings.
In this article, I first illustrate the aforementioned connections in the opening scene, the “City Symphony” scene and the “Louis/Lyla” scenes etc. Then I provide a detailed analysis of “August’s Rhapsody,” particularly on its relation to other scenes to further demonstrate the connections in macroscopic view. I conclude that imagery in August Rush unusually becomes the supporting element and only with music can it be connected, transcending time and space.
Conference Presentations by Ko On Chan
Claiming that the experimental use of silence and chance operations are exceptionally American, J... more Claiming that the experimental use of silence and chance operations are exceptionally American, John Cage presents himself in his published writings as a canonical and authoritative figure in the field of experimental music. While past scholars have interpreted Cage’s musical radicalism (especially his use of silence) as the resistance of a closeted homosexual to society, his publications problematize this oppositional narrative. Instead, I contend that Cage’s act of self-iconization defines his queerness, embracing ambiguity and contradiction, and inviting communication between the queer and the social majority within an open yet controlled space.
Through a new reading of Cage’s published writings, I show that, in his objections to performances that threaten his canonicity, Cage undertakes not opposition, but engagement with society. By negating the socially radical interpretations of his music through his established authority, Cage actively regulates his queerness; and it is this very act of regulation that, more importantly, reflects how his queerness has, in the composer’s view, been misinterpreted by later generations of experimental composers. This recognition, in turn, sheds light on changing notions of queerness in experimental music in recent decades.
In China where Buddhism is commonly practiced, Thai-born singer Langgalamu becomes well known as ... more In China where Buddhism is commonly practiced, Thai-born singer Langgalamu becomes well known as the reincarnation of Teresa Teng, a Taiwanese singer who swept many East Asian countries in the seventies and eighties. Langgalamu stands out among many other impersonators not only due to her physical resemblances to Teng, but also many biographical “miracles” that fuel the reincarnation narrative. For instance, when Langgalamu was seven and had no knowledge of mandarin, she was able to sing more than twenty songs by Teng within three months. In a documentary filmed by Beijing TV, Langgalamu also seemed to recall memories of her “previous life” when she visited the hotel room in Thailand where Teng passed away.
Nevertheless, Teng never set foot in Mainland China due to her disapproval towards PRC, which results in very different interpretations of the evidence of reincarnation by different groups of audience. While some believe that Langgalamu is fulfilling Teng’s dying wish to perform in China, some assert that the whole reincarnation narrative is a scam staged by the PRC. Meanwhile, Langgalamu’s performance fulfills many fans’ fantasy in hearing Teng in modern-day context with new songs or renditions of songs by other singers. Nuances and changes in Langgalamu’s vocal style become interestingly welcomed as part of the creative process in developing a new personal style that corresponds to the change of the social-cultural environment. Applying Wolfgang Iser’s theory of interpretation as translation, and Ernst Gombrich’s theory of “scheme and correction”, I thus demonstrate how the political and personal factors, as well as the imaginary nature of the represented object, contribute to the listening experience and the appreciation of the musical impersonation that can lie beyond the performer’s own intentions. With this vibrant case of Langgalamu as Teng, I argue that through the reincarnation narrative, the image of the deceased musician can be actively modified by the livings through the dynamic interaction of acting and listening. In this respect, Langgalamu is no longer what Teng was, but what Teng could be, opening possibilities in the very act of music impersonation.
Shostakovich’s involvement with the cinema has always been considered as his source of financial ... more Shostakovich’s involvement with the cinema has always been considered as his source of financial stability since his career as a piano accompanist for silent films in his conservatory years. His 30+ original film scores captured the transition of silent to sound film, and demonstrated the close association of the cinema with Soviet politics and socialist realism, which provided him the pathway for ideological rehabilitation in different stages of his life.
Surprisingly, there is little research done on Shostakovich’s film music. Egorova’s survey on Soviet film music (1997) and John Riley’s biographical account of Shostakovich’s film music (2005) are able to address in detail the stylistic significance of a few film scores only. Fortunately, Titus (2016) recently provides some new insight with a more in-depth discussion on six of Shostakovich’s earlier film scores from The New Babylon to Girlfriends, in relation to the composer’s definition of “symphonism,” the use of musical codes, their political context and gender representations. Nonetheless, the dramaturgy and narrative function of diegesis, which is central to Western film scholarship, is only briefly discussed.
In fact, Shostakovich often blurs the boundaries of diegetic and non-diegetic music, which in effect emphasizes the significance of a musical number when it is featured clearly as a diegetic performance. While his underscoring functions as commentary or reinforcement of the imagery, diegetic performances of musical numbers draw more attention from contemporary critics and general public, fulfilling the needs of political propaganda. This paper hence explores the diegetic performances in Shostakovich’s major films, including The New Babylon, The Counterplan, Girlfriends etc. in order to illustrate how these diegetic performances have frequently become the climax and the embodiment of the film’s key messages, reflecting the composer’s narrative strategy in cinema under the big flag of socialist realism.
This paper examines the contribution of street performances in Hong Kong to the process and our u... more This paper examines the contribution of street performances in Hong Kong to the process and our understanding of cosmopolitanism. Hong Kong is a multi-ethnic city where traditional Chinese culture and Western culture collides. In 2010, the victory of Andrew So’s court case led to a bloom of street performances until 2014, when the government restricted the pedestrian zone usage and street performers subsequently adopt new strategies. During the umbrella movement, a civil disobedience protest of blocking traffic in 2014, street performance also functions to express political thoughts. Within the course of five years, the public conception of this urban culture dramatically changes from the labeling of low social rank to the positive symbol of cultural diversity. In fact, the culture of street performances demonstrates several cosmopolitan qualities, including the diversity and mobility of performers, the ability to engage different social classes, the emergence of cosmopolitan class performers, and most importantly, the quick response to changing environment. These qualities contribute to a form of public pedagogy, which citizens of different backgrounds are educated about new sound and new ideas in a complex and interactive way.
While contemporary research focuses on the relation of street performances to public space-time and regulations (Simpson, 2011), technology and construction of urban soundscape (Bennett & Rogers, 2014), few scholars point out its linkage to cosmopolitanism. Drawing from fieldwork and documentaries about street performances, I first provide a case-study on the bloom and development of street performances in Hong Kong since 2010. Then, I compare with related scholarly writings to reveal the mechanism behind the suggested connections between street performance and cosmopolitanism. I argue that street performance, being vibrant and highly-adaptive, facilitates the transmission and internalization of “foreign” culture, and hence boosts the process of cosmopolitanism.
MPhil Thesis by Ko On Chan
In 1885, Tchaikovsky finished Manfred, a program symphony that is based on Lord Byron’s dramatic ... more In 1885, Tchaikovsky finished Manfred, a program symphony that is based on Lord Byron’s dramatic poem of the same title. The program depicts a tragic hero seeking redemption from his crime by various means, including supernatural power, religion, authority, and his ideal – memories of his beloved Astarte. Although the convoluted genesis of the work suggested the influences of several contemporary figures, many scholars have offered biographical readings of the symphony, in particular focusing on the composer’s lifelong “despair” over his homosexuality. Yet, Richard Taruskin and Alexander Poznansky have already proved it to be a myth constructed by earlier biographers. My research attempts to offer a new perspective by relating Tchaikovsky, with reference to his Manfred Symphony, to the aesthetics of realism in Russia in the second half of the nineteenth-century. Meanwhile, I also seek to demonstrate the composer’s mastery of style topics, motivic transformation and the manipulation of musical time in creating an effective musical narration.
Chapter 1 reviews the concept of realism as an aesthetic trend in Russia and its realization in different art forms. It also puts an emphasis on the characterization of the “superfluous man” in Russian realist literature and its significance in advocating conformity to social norms.
Chapter 2 provides a biographical account of Tchaikovsky’s connection with the leading figures of Russian realist literature, and proposes that the writers’ interest in psychological portraiture and their advocacy of conformity contributed to the dramaturgy in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.
Chapter 3 focuses on Tchaikovsky’s instrumental music, beginning with an examination of the Fourth Symphony, which demonstrates a similar dramaturgy to Eugene Onegin. It then argues, with additional reference to the lesser-known piano piece, Dumka, that the composer’s signature use of musical stasis, distinctive sectional structures and three-part forms, function as style topics to depict dreams, episodes of memories, as well as other mental activities. A formal and topical analysis of Manfred Symphony follows to exemplify Tchaikovsky’s techniques in constructing complex macroscopic structure. It also shows how the composer effectively narrates the psychological development of the protagonist while contributing to a form of social commentary that is relevant to the tradition of Russian realist art, literature, and to a certain extent, Tchaikovsky’s increasing affiliation with the Romanov family in the 1880s.
My research reveals Tchaikovsky’s position as a realist composer who actively engaged with his environment and the contemporary musical traditions. It also offers a new perspective on the composer’s musical dramaturgy and stylistic innovations that could benefit future analyses of his other compositions.
Book Chapters by Ko On Chan
The Intersection of Animation, Video Games, and Music, 2023
The Japanese anime School Days tells a gruesome story of sex, trauma, and violence. Using minor k... more The Japanese anime School Days tells a gruesome story of sex, trauma, and violence. Using minor keys and dissonance, its instrumental accompaniment pinpoints unethical sexual activities in the narrative as sources of trauma. It also imitates the suppression of trauma; the general lack of musical voice throughout the series contrasts with the use of vocal music in the finale, which in turn depicts the release of trauma.
Yet, the anime was adapted from an erotic visual novel that aimed to fulfill sexual fantasies. The original game asks players to make decisions between provided options to lead the narrative to different pornographic animations and endings as the rewards. There are also violence and horror elements, but they serve to create fantastical melodramas and trigger the strong emotional and physical response of moe. Accordingly, the sound design of the game differs from the anime adaptation and plays with the ambiguity of the musical symbolism in various ways. By comparing the sound design of the game and of the anime adaptation, this case study illustrates how sound may shape our perception of sex, and more specifically points to the factors that change our perception from sex as fantasy to sex as trauma.
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Journal Articles by Ko On Chan
Conference Proceedings by Ko On Chan
In this article, I first illustrate the aforementioned connections in the opening scene, the “City Symphony” scene and the “Louis/Lyla” scenes etc. Then I provide a detailed analysis of “August’s Rhapsody,” particularly on its relation to other scenes to further demonstrate the connections in macroscopic view. I conclude that imagery in August Rush unusually becomes the supporting element and only with music can it be connected, transcending time and space.
Conference Presentations by Ko On Chan
Through a new reading of Cage’s published writings, I show that, in his objections to performances that threaten his canonicity, Cage undertakes not opposition, but engagement with society. By negating the socially radical interpretations of his music through his established authority, Cage actively regulates his queerness; and it is this very act of regulation that, more importantly, reflects how his queerness has, in the composer’s view, been misinterpreted by later generations of experimental composers. This recognition, in turn, sheds light on changing notions of queerness in experimental music in recent decades.
Nevertheless, Teng never set foot in Mainland China due to her disapproval towards PRC, which results in very different interpretations of the evidence of reincarnation by different groups of audience. While some believe that Langgalamu is fulfilling Teng’s dying wish to perform in China, some assert that the whole reincarnation narrative is a scam staged by the PRC. Meanwhile, Langgalamu’s performance fulfills many fans’ fantasy in hearing Teng in modern-day context with new songs or renditions of songs by other singers. Nuances and changes in Langgalamu’s vocal style become interestingly welcomed as part of the creative process in developing a new personal style that corresponds to the change of the social-cultural environment. Applying Wolfgang Iser’s theory of interpretation as translation, and Ernst Gombrich’s theory of “scheme and correction”, I thus demonstrate how the political and personal factors, as well as the imaginary nature of the represented object, contribute to the listening experience and the appreciation of the musical impersonation that can lie beyond the performer’s own intentions. With this vibrant case of Langgalamu as Teng, I argue that through the reincarnation narrative, the image of the deceased musician can be actively modified by the livings through the dynamic interaction of acting and listening. In this respect, Langgalamu is no longer what Teng was, but what Teng could be, opening possibilities in the very act of music impersonation.
Surprisingly, there is little research done on Shostakovich’s film music. Egorova’s survey on Soviet film music (1997) and John Riley’s biographical account of Shostakovich’s film music (2005) are able to address in detail the stylistic significance of a few film scores only. Fortunately, Titus (2016) recently provides some new insight with a more in-depth discussion on six of Shostakovich’s earlier film scores from The New Babylon to Girlfriends, in relation to the composer’s definition of “symphonism,” the use of musical codes, their political context and gender representations. Nonetheless, the dramaturgy and narrative function of diegesis, which is central to Western film scholarship, is only briefly discussed.
In fact, Shostakovich often blurs the boundaries of diegetic and non-diegetic music, which in effect emphasizes the significance of a musical number when it is featured clearly as a diegetic performance. While his underscoring functions as commentary or reinforcement of the imagery, diegetic performances of musical numbers draw more attention from contemporary critics and general public, fulfilling the needs of political propaganda. This paper hence explores the diegetic performances in Shostakovich’s major films, including The New Babylon, The Counterplan, Girlfriends etc. in order to illustrate how these diegetic performances have frequently become the climax and the embodiment of the film’s key messages, reflecting the composer’s narrative strategy in cinema under the big flag of socialist realism.
While contemporary research focuses on the relation of street performances to public space-time and regulations (Simpson, 2011), technology and construction of urban soundscape (Bennett & Rogers, 2014), few scholars point out its linkage to cosmopolitanism. Drawing from fieldwork and documentaries about street performances, I first provide a case-study on the bloom and development of street performances in Hong Kong since 2010. Then, I compare with related scholarly writings to reveal the mechanism behind the suggested connections between street performance and cosmopolitanism. I argue that street performance, being vibrant and highly-adaptive, facilitates the transmission and internalization of “foreign” culture, and hence boosts the process of cosmopolitanism.
MPhil Thesis by Ko On Chan
Chapter 1 reviews the concept of realism as an aesthetic trend in Russia and its realization in different art forms. It also puts an emphasis on the characterization of the “superfluous man” in Russian realist literature and its significance in advocating conformity to social norms.
Chapter 2 provides a biographical account of Tchaikovsky’s connection with the leading figures of Russian realist literature, and proposes that the writers’ interest in psychological portraiture and their advocacy of conformity contributed to the dramaturgy in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.
Chapter 3 focuses on Tchaikovsky’s instrumental music, beginning with an examination of the Fourth Symphony, which demonstrates a similar dramaturgy to Eugene Onegin. It then argues, with additional reference to the lesser-known piano piece, Dumka, that the composer’s signature use of musical stasis, distinctive sectional structures and three-part forms, function as style topics to depict dreams, episodes of memories, as well as other mental activities. A formal and topical analysis of Manfred Symphony follows to exemplify Tchaikovsky’s techniques in constructing complex macroscopic structure. It also shows how the composer effectively narrates the psychological development of the protagonist while contributing to a form of social commentary that is relevant to the tradition of Russian realist art, literature, and to a certain extent, Tchaikovsky’s increasing affiliation with the Romanov family in the 1880s.
My research reveals Tchaikovsky’s position as a realist composer who actively engaged with his environment and the contemporary musical traditions. It also offers a new perspective on the composer’s musical dramaturgy and stylistic innovations that could benefit future analyses of his other compositions.
Book Chapters by Ko On Chan
Yet, the anime was adapted from an erotic visual novel that aimed to fulfill sexual fantasies. The original game asks players to make decisions between provided options to lead the narrative to different pornographic animations and endings as the rewards. There are also violence and horror elements, but they serve to create fantastical melodramas and trigger the strong emotional and physical response of moe. Accordingly, the sound design of the game differs from the anime adaptation and plays with the ambiguity of the musical symbolism in various ways. By comparing the sound design of the game and of the anime adaptation, this case study illustrates how sound may shape our perception of sex, and more specifically points to the factors that change our perception from sex as fantasy to sex as trauma.
In this article, I first illustrate the aforementioned connections in the opening scene, the “City Symphony” scene and the “Louis/Lyla” scenes etc. Then I provide a detailed analysis of “August’s Rhapsody,” particularly on its relation to other scenes to further demonstrate the connections in macroscopic view. I conclude that imagery in August Rush unusually becomes the supporting element and only with music can it be connected, transcending time and space.
Through a new reading of Cage’s published writings, I show that, in his objections to performances that threaten his canonicity, Cage undertakes not opposition, but engagement with society. By negating the socially radical interpretations of his music through his established authority, Cage actively regulates his queerness; and it is this very act of regulation that, more importantly, reflects how his queerness has, in the composer’s view, been misinterpreted by later generations of experimental composers. This recognition, in turn, sheds light on changing notions of queerness in experimental music in recent decades.
Nevertheless, Teng never set foot in Mainland China due to her disapproval towards PRC, which results in very different interpretations of the evidence of reincarnation by different groups of audience. While some believe that Langgalamu is fulfilling Teng’s dying wish to perform in China, some assert that the whole reincarnation narrative is a scam staged by the PRC. Meanwhile, Langgalamu’s performance fulfills many fans’ fantasy in hearing Teng in modern-day context with new songs or renditions of songs by other singers. Nuances and changes in Langgalamu’s vocal style become interestingly welcomed as part of the creative process in developing a new personal style that corresponds to the change of the social-cultural environment. Applying Wolfgang Iser’s theory of interpretation as translation, and Ernst Gombrich’s theory of “scheme and correction”, I thus demonstrate how the political and personal factors, as well as the imaginary nature of the represented object, contribute to the listening experience and the appreciation of the musical impersonation that can lie beyond the performer’s own intentions. With this vibrant case of Langgalamu as Teng, I argue that through the reincarnation narrative, the image of the deceased musician can be actively modified by the livings through the dynamic interaction of acting and listening. In this respect, Langgalamu is no longer what Teng was, but what Teng could be, opening possibilities in the very act of music impersonation.
Surprisingly, there is little research done on Shostakovich’s film music. Egorova’s survey on Soviet film music (1997) and John Riley’s biographical account of Shostakovich’s film music (2005) are able to address in detail the stylistic significance of a few film scores only. Fortunately, Titus (2016) recently provides some new insight with a more in-depth discussion on six of Shostakovich’s earlier film scores from The New Babylon to Girlfriends, in relation to the composer’s definition of “symphonism,” the use of musical codes, their political context and gender representations. Nonetheless, the dramaturgy and narrative function of diegesis, which is central to Western film scholarship, is only briefly discussed.
In fact, Shostakovich often blurs the boundaries of diegetic and non-diegetic music, which in effect emphasizes the significance of a musical number when it is featured clearly as a diegetic performance. While his underscoring functions as commentary or reinforcement of the imagery, diegetic performances of musical numbers draw more attention from contemporary critics and general public, fulfilling the needs of political propaganda. This paper hence explores the diegetic performances in Shostakovich’s major films, including The New Babylon, The Counterplan, Girlfriends etc. in order to illustrate how these diegetic performances have frequently become the climax and the embodiment of the film’s key messages, reflecting the composer’s narrative strategy in cinema under the big flag of socialist realism.
While contemporary research focuses on the relation of street performances to public space-time and regulations (Simpson, 2011), technology and construction of urban soundscape (Bennett & Rogers, 2014), few scholars point out its linkage to cosmopolitanism. Drawing from fieldwork and documentaries about street performances, I first provide a case-study on the bloom and development of street performances in Hong Kong since 2010. Then, I compare with related scholarly writings to reveal the mechanism behind the suggested connections between street performance and cosmopolitanism. I argue that street performance, being vibrant and highly-adaptive, facilitates the transmission and internalization of “foreign” culture, and hence boosts the process of cosmopolitanism.
Chapter 1 reviews the concept of realism as an aesthetic trend in Russia and its realization in different art forms. It also puts an emphasis on the characterization of the “superfluous man” in Russian realist literature and its significance in advocating conformity to social norms.
Chapter 2 provides a biographical account of Tchaikovsky’s connection with the leading figures of Russian realist literature, and proposes that the writers’ interest in psychological portraiture and their advocacy of conformity contributed to the dramaturgy in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.
Chapter 3 focuses on Tchaikovsky’s instrumental music, beginning with an examination of the Fourth Symphony, which demonstrates a similar dramaturgy to Eugene Onegin. It then argues, with additional reference to the lesser-known piano piece, Dumka, that the composer’s signature use of musical stasis, distinctive sectional structures and three-part forms, function as style topics to depict dreams, episodes of memories, as well as other mental activities. A formal and topical analysis of Manfred Symphony follows to exemplify Tchaikovsky’s techniques in constructing complex macroscopic structure. It also shows how the composer effectively narrates the psychological development of the protagonist while contributing to a form of social commentary that is relevant to the tradition of Russian realist art, literature, and to a certain extent, Tchaikovsky’s increasing affiliation with the Romanov family in the 1880s.
My research reveals Tchaikovsky’s position as a realist composer who actively engaged with his environment and the contemporary musical traditions. It also offers a new perspective on the composer’s musical dramaturgy and stylistic innovations that could benefit future analyses of his other compositions.
Yet, the anime was adapted from an erotic visual novel that aimed to fulfill sexual fantasies. The original game asks players to make decisions between provided options to lead the narrative to different pornographic animations and endings as the rewards. There are also violence and horror elements, but they serve to create fantastical melodramas and trigger the strong emotional and physical response of moe. Accordingly, the sound design of the game differs from the anime adaptation and plays with the ambiguity of the musical symbolism in various ways. By comparing the sound design of the game and of the anime adaptation, this case study illustrates how sound may shape our perception of sex, and more specifically points to the factors that change our perception from sex as fantasy to sex as trauma.