Since the May Fourth Movement in 1919, Chinese composers have attempted to find a new way for the new music in China. They created Chinese harmonic techniques in the hope of infusing into their music an ethnic atmosphere. In the meantime, they have also been pondering the following questions when learning Western composing techniques. Where Chinese music should head for? What breakthrough can there possibly be? It is exactly this mindset that determined the development of music afterwards.

In the context of choral tradition and modern music composition, Wut Man-chung’s song cycle Four Poems by Li Bai (op. 17) is particularly significant in that it inherits the tradition of creating an ethnic atmosphere and on the other hand, reveals the efforts Wut made to gain new ground and find new direction for the new music in China. His work indeed shows the trajectory of the development of music in the Chinese world. This song cycle is one of the first that Wut wrote after he moved to Hong Kong. Its music matches the poems perfectly and deeply embodies the Chinese culture, thereby making the work such an exemplar of unification of music and poetry that it is still widely performed till this day.

This thesis aims to analyze and explore the choral version of Wut’s Four Poems by Li Bai (op. 17). It begins by mapping out the tradition of music and poetry. Then it proceeds to a thorough analysis of how Wut creates poetic imagery through music idioms and composing techniques from the angle of the unification of music and poetry and that of music and literature. It is followed by a discussion of the researcher’s interpretation in conducting. There are five chapters in this thesis. Chapter one deals with the inheritance and development of modern-day choral music and poetry. Chapter two taps into Wut’s music idioms and Li Bai’s style in poetry. Chapter three contains an analysis of the song cycle and a discussion of the unification of music and poetry. Chapter four details how Wut’s work should be conducted. Chapter five is the conclusion of the thesis.

Concert program：

Te Deum (for the Empress Marie Therese) / Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Dark Night of the Soul / Ola Gjeilo(1978-)

Four Poems by Li Bai (op. 17) / Wut Man-chung(1942-1992)

First Suite in E flat for Military Band / Gustav Holst(1874-1934)

The Hounds of Spring / Alfred Reed(1921-2005)

Sovereign Variants / James Curnow(1943-)

The Fairest of the Fair / John Philip Sousa (1854-1932)