Chinese piano concertos from 1936 to 2010

The Chinese piano concerto has only existed since 1936. For much of its existence its cultivation was sporadic, but in the last four decades the Chinese piano concerto has blossomed along with the research of the genre. This study provides a brief history of the Chinese piano concerto. It also presents an overview of existing scholarship on the subject, both in English and Chinese. Finally, this study illustrates the compositional problems faced by Chinese composers writing in a Western genre with analysis of three representative concertos. The three concertos are: (1) Jiang Wenyes Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 16 (1936); (2) Yellow River Piano Concerto (1969), arranged by Yin Chengzong, Chu Wanghua, Sheng Lihong, Liu Zhuang, Xu Peixing, and Shi Shucheng from Yellow River Cantata composed by Xian Xinghai in 1939; and (3) Zhao Xiaoshengs Piano Concerto No. 1, Aphrodite (1985).