East Asian and Western Influences in the Piano Music of Chong Kee Yong

Abstract

Malaysian composer Chong Kee Yong’s (b.1971) work represents the assimilation of Eastern and Western culture, values, and ideas within the framework of Western Art Music. This document explores the salient features of an early work, Metamorphosis III (2001, for solo piano), and a more recent work, Time Flows II (2011, revised 2022, for piano, pre-recorded audio, and live electronics), to demonstrate the critical aspects of Chong’s style through the lens of the mingling of Western and Eastern styles across his compositional life.Chong Kee Yong was born into a farming family in the small town of Kluang, in the south of Malaysia, and he has lived and studied in China, Belgium, and the United States. His music has fundamentally evolved through his experiences studying in various locations. His mature style reflects the rich influences of Chinese culture and music, European and American avant-garde techniques, and electronic music. Metamorphosis III is an earlier work, composed in 2001. At this time, Chong’s style was deeply influenced by Ligeti, and micropolyphony was an important characteristic of his style. In this composition, the primary focus is on highlighting the resonance that follows every percussive note. Chong's "sound of silence" idea is about the audience being enveloped by the echoes produced when the performer hits the piano strings, sustained by the damper and sostenuto pedals. Time Flows II was composed in 2011 and revised in 2022. A sentence inspired this piece in ZhuangZi. “人生在世，如白驹过隙，忽然 而已”, which means, according to Chong’s translation in the score, “Living life, such as fleeting, all of a sudden it.” Chong uses the Max/MSP program to process acoustic sounds, and also includes pre-recorded vocal sounds from the Chinese artist Wuping Mo. This is an innovative electroacoustic work in which Chong combines Eastern Culture and aesthetics with Western forms and technology.