THE SAXOPHONE IN CHINA: HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE AND DEVELOPMENT

Jason Pockrus

Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS

August 2018

APPROVED:

Eric M. Nestler, Major Professor

Catherine Ragland, Committee Member
John C. Scott, Committee Member
John Holt, Chair of the Division of
Instrumental Studies
Benjamin Brand, Director of Graduate
Studies in the College of Music
John W. Richmond, Dean of the College of
Music
Victor Prybutok, Dean of the Toulouse
Graduate School
 Pockrus, Jason. The Saxophone in China: Historical Performance and Development.

Doctor of Musical Arts (Performance), August 2018, 222 pp., 12 figures, 1 appendix,

bibliography, 419 titles.

The purpose of this document is to chronicle and describe the historical developments of

saxophone performance in mainland China. Arguing against other published research, this

document presents proof of the uninterrupted, large-scale use of the saxophone from its first

introduction into Shanghai’s nineteenth century amateur musical societies, continuously through

to present day. In order to better describe the performance scene for saxophonists in China, each

chapter presents historical and political context. Also described in this document is the changing

importance of the saxophone in China’s musical development and musical culture since its

introduction in the nineteenth century. The nature of the saxophone as a symbol of modernity,

western ideologies, political duality, progress, and freedom and the effects of those realities in

the lives of musicians and audiences in China are briefly discussed in each chapter. These topics

are included to contribute to a better, more thorough understanding of the performance history of

saxophonists, both native and foreign, in China.

Copyright 2018

By

Jason Pockrus

ii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am indebted to a number of wonderful musicians and educators without whom this

paper would not have been possible. I would first like to thank Dr. Eric Nestler for his continued

support throughout my course of study and the duration of the research for this paper. I would

also like to thank the members of my committee, Dr. Catherine Ragland and Dr. John Scott, for

their assistance in completing this project. I also extend special thanks to Professor Li Yusheng

of the Sichuan Conservatory of Music for his encouragement in studying the saxophone in China

and providing the opportunity to study with him in Chengdu.

Finally, I wish to thank several musicians and educators for their assistance in providing

valuable insight into the saxophone in China: Professor Li Manlong, Professor Zhang Xiaolu, Dr.

Wu Chih-Huan, and Director Chen Fangyi for providing interviews and valuable information on

the current state and history of the saxophone in China, Mr. Paul Wehage for his wonderful

insights into the life and compositions of Ali Ben Sou Alle, and Wang Guangming and Liang

Siyu whose knowledge and friendship contributed greatly to the success of this project.

Appreciation is extended to Musique Fabrique Publishing and the Dabu City Cultural

Board. Excerpts from Souvenirs de la Chine and Gold Coins Dropping were reproduced with

their permissions respectively. Portions of the Cantonese Music and Song Troupe concert

program were reproduced with permissions from the Cantonese Music and Song Art Troupe.

iii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii

LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1

Purpose................................................................................................................................ 1
Significance......................................................................................................................... 3
Literature Review................................................................................................................ 4
Method ................................................................................................................................ 8
Scope ................................................................................................................................... 9
A Note on Translations and Transliterations .................................................................... 10

CHAPTER 2. ALI BEN SOU ALLE AND THE EXPAT COMMUNITIES: 1856-1911 .......... 11
Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 11
The Foreigners Waiting for Sou Alle’s Arrival: Historical Background .......................... 11
The First Westerners in China .............................................................................. 11
The Foreign Concessions ...................................................................................... 13
Ali Ben Sou Alle ............................................................................................................... 17
The Musical Activities of Foreigners in China ..................................................... 17
Biographical Sketch .............................................................................................. 18
Ali Ben Sou Alle in China .................................................................................... 20
Sou Alle’s Souvenirs from China ..................................................................................... 26
Shanghai Redowa Waltz ....................................................................................... 27
Souvenirs de la Chine ........................................................................................... 29
Air Chinoise et Rondo ........................................................................................... 31
Loc Tee Kun Tzin (Origin of the Folk Song) ........................................................ 32
Significance of Sou Alle’s Visit ....................................................................................... 39
The Saxophone in China after Sou Alle ........................................................................... 44

CHAPTER 3. CHINA IN THE JAZZ AGE: 1911-1937 .............................................................. 49

Historical Background ...................................................................................................... 49
Jazz.................................................................................................................................... 50

iv
 Period Songs: Shidaiqu ..................................................................................................... 55
Perceptions of the Saxophone ........................................................................................... 58
Vaudeville ......................................................................................................................... 67
Military and Classical Saxophone Performances ............................................................. 68

CHAPTER 4. CANTONESE OPERA: 1920s AND PRESENT .................................................. 72

Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 72
Historical Outline .............................................................................................................. 73
Cantonese Music Saxophonists......................................................................................... 78
Why Saxophone? .................................................................................................. 78
Cantonese Musical Groups ................................................................................... 81
How to Become a Cantonese-Music Saxophonist ................................................ 82
Role of the Saxophone in the Cantonese Music Ensemble................................... 84
Saxophone Selection and Equipment.................................................................... 85
Freelancing............................................................................................................ 89
Technique .............................................................................................................. 90
Tonal Considerations ............................................................................................ 90
Improvisation ........................................................................................................ 91
Notation................................................................................................................. 93
Significance of the Saxophone in Cantonese Music ......................................................... 98
Ethnography of Cantonese Opera Performances in Guangzhou..................................... 100
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 100
Liuhua Lake Park (流花湖公园, Liú huā hú gong yuán) ................................... 101
Fangcun Park (芳村公园, Fāng cūn gong yuán) ................................................ 107
CMSAT Cantonese Opera Performance ............................................................. 110
Fruitless Endeavors ............................................................................................. 113
Ethnography Conclusions ................................................................................... 114

CHAPTER 5. THE TRANSITION YEARS AND THE TURBULENT 60s: 1931-1976 ......... 115
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 115
The Second Sino-Japanese War and WWII .................................................................... 115
Music in the “New China” .............................................................................................. 125
The Fate of the Saxophone Under Mao Zedong ............................................................. 128
The Saxophone under Fascist and Communist Regimes ................................................ 140
v
CHAPTER 6. THE 1980s AND BEYOND ................................................................................ 145
Historical Background .................................................................................................... 145
Pop Music ....................................................................................................................... 146
Cantopop ............................................................................................................. 147
Taiwanese Pop .................................................................................................... 148
Teresa Teng (邓丽君, Dèng lìjūn) ...................................................................... 149
Kenny G .............................................................................................................. 153
Cui Jian (崔健, Cuī jiàn) and Liu Yuan (刘元, Liú yuan) .................................. 156
The Semiotics of Chinese Pop Music ................................................................. 158
Jazz.................................................................................................................................. 160
The Saxophone in Chinese Conservatories..................................................................... 164
Jazz and Pop........................................................................................................ 164
Classical Saxophone ........................................................................................... 166
Wind Bands ..................................................................................................................... 172
Wu Chih-Huan .................................................................................................... 173
Dunshan Symphonic Wind Orchestra ................................................................. 175
Conclusions and the Future of the Saxophone in China ................................................. 177

CHAPTER 7. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................. 179

Opportunities for Further Research ................................................................................ 181

APPENDIX: LIST OF CHINESE TERMS AND NAMES ....................................................... 183

BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 194

vi
 LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 1: Souvenirs de la Chine Dedications ................................................................................ 29

Figure 2: Gold Coins Dropping Score .......................................................................................... 36

Figure 3: Gold Coins Dropping Scale Pattern; As written for Bb soprano saxophone ................ 37

Figure 4: Excerpt from Souvenirs de la Chine, Rehearsal Figure A. ........................................... 38

Figure 5: Excerpt from Turandot, Rehearsal figure 39, Act 2, scene ii. ....................................... 39

Figure 6: CMSAT March 15, 2018 Concert Program .................................................................. 87

Figure 7: CMSAT March 16, 2018 Concert Program ................................................................... 88

Figure 8: Liuwan Lake Park Stage Diagram............................................................................... 103

Figure 9: Fangcun Park Stage Diagram ...................................................................................... 108

Figure 10: CMSAT Stage Diagram ............................................................................................ 111

Figure 11: Improvisatory Rhythmic Simplification Example .................................................... 112

Figure 12: Improvisatory Simplification by Resting Example ................................................... 113

vii
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Purpose

Since the premiere performance of a saxophonist in 1856 Guangzhou, the number of

settings and styles in which the saxophone has come to be used in China are abundant.1 The

purpose of this document is to chronicle and describe the historical developments of saxophone

performance in mainland China and thereby show the importance of the saxophone in China’s

musical history and development.

As a non-native instrument, the saxophone has often been used in China to perform non-

native music. Military bands, jazz music, western pop music, and modern conservatory programs

are just some of the historical performance avenues for saxophonists in China. However, the

saxophone has also been utilized in musical genres that are unique to China: Chinese pop music,

originating in jazz-derived shidaiqu (时代曲, Shídài qū), and the native genre of Cantonese

opera. Although performance practice for saxophonists in modern Chinese pop music varies little

from its Western equivalents, the importance of the genre in reintroducing the instrument to the

Chinese people after the Mao era cannot be understated and is presented in detail. As the only

native music into which the saxophone has been fully incorporated, Cantonese opera holds a

significant and important position within the performance history of Chinese saxophone. As

such, the role of the saxophone in Cantonese music ensembles, performance practice within the

ensemble (including performance styles, improvisation techniques, and musical notation) and

origin of the inclusion are covered in depth.

1
China Mail, “The Canton Community,” August 7, 1856.

1
 Also described in this document is the changing importance of the saxophone in China’s

musical development and musical culture since its introduction in the nineteenth century. The

nature of the saxophone as a symbol of modernity, western ideologies, political duality, progress,

and freedom and the effects of those realities in the lives of musicians and audiences in China are

discussed briefly in each chapter. These topics are included to contribute to a better, more

complete understanding of the performance history of saxophonists, both native and foreign, in

China.

Finally, this document discusses the place of the saxophone within modern China and

recent history. This includes new performance opportunities for saxophonists like recently

established private wind bands,2 as well as the establishment of saxophone majors at the major

conservatories within China.3 The many saxophonists that have traveled to China since the 1980s

as well as the number of Chinese saxophonists that have traveled abroad have all helped to shape

the performance styles and genres of saxophone in the country.4

Politics often affect art. For example, as result of the political policies of the Great Leap

Forward and the Great Proletariat Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, saxophones all but

disappear from the hands of average citizens.5 They are then slowly reintroduced only as

political policies changed in the early to mid-1980s.6 With this in mind, each chapter in this

document begins by setting the performance scene within its historical and political contexts.

2
Chih-Huan Wu吴志桓, interview by Jason Pockrus, Telephone, April 30, 2018.
3
Yusheng Li, “The Saxophone In China,” Saxophone Journal 24, no. 3 (February 2000).
4
Sheldon Jerome Johnson Jr., “The Political Suppression of the Saxophone and Its Subsequent Pedagogical
Development in Select Non-Democratic Countries” (DMA diss., University of South Carolina, 2017).
5
Richard King, Art in Turmoil: The Chinese Cultural Revolution, 1966-76 (Vancouver:
University of British Columbia Press, 2010).
6
Li, “The Saxophone In China.”

2
 Significance

The story of the saxophone in China is one with which even Chinese saxophonists are

rarely familiar. Public knowledge and published research describe the performance history of the

saxophone in China as a series of stops and starts: first appearing in Robert Hart’s nineteenth

century brass band, disappearing until the warlord period and jazz age, being pushed out during

the Mao era and the cultural revolution, and finally reintroduced in the 1980s via foreign

musicians.7 The information in this paper proves all of these inaccurate.

The use of the saxophone within the Cantonese opera ensemble is of special importance

because of its incorporation into a native musical style. Here, the saxophone often acts as an

accompaniment or reinforcement of houguan (喉管, Hóuguǎn), an oboe-like instrument native to

southern China. Due to a lack of available sources on the development of the saxophone within

Cantonese opera and important saxophonists in the genre, a strict chronology is impossible.

Instead, this paper presents interviews with currently performing saxophonists and provides first-

hand accounts of Cantonese opera performances as they exist in China today.

Discussions on modernity, political-cultural crossover, or semiotics in the course of each

chapter are significant in their usefulness in providing a broader understanding of the

performance scenes in which the saxophone came to be used. By discussing the symbolism of

the instrument, changing attitudes towards it, and the different perceptions of different audiences,

a more complete picture of the historical timeline of the saxophone in China can be obtained.

7
See: Cheng Naishan 程乃珊, Hǎishàng sàkèsī fēng 海上萨克斯风 [Saxohone on the Sea] (Shanghai: Wén huì
chūbǎn shè 文汇出版社 [Wenhui Press], 2004); Mo Leng冷默, “Qiǎn Xī Sàkèsī Zài Zhōngguó de Fǎ Zhǎn Xiàn
Kuàng Jí Cúnzài de Wèntí 浅析萨克斯在中国的发展现况及存在的问题 [Analysis of the Development and
Current Problems for the Saxophone in China],” Húnán Shīfàn Dàxué Yīnyuè Jiàoyù 湖南师范大学音乐教育
[Hunan Normal University Music Education], Yīnyuè shíkōng 音乐时空 [Musical Time and Place], 11 (July 9,
2014): 101; Li, “The Saxophone In China.”

3
 This document will also serve as a basis for further research on the use of saxophone and

other western instruments within mainland China and the greater China area (including Hong

Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). By creating a cohesive timeline of the development of performance

opportunities for saxophonists within mainland China, the chronology of related musical

activities can be engaged in with greater ease.

Literature Review

The use of a chronology to describe the role of the saxophone within the larger musical

contexts of a given locale has many precedents. The first and mostly widely-known research to

approach the topic of historical performance and pedagogy on the saxophone was undoubtedly

that of Frederick Hemke in his doctoral document The Early History of the Saxophone at the

University of Wisconsin in 1975.8 The purpose of his document is to chronicle Adolphe Sax’s

invention of the instrument, its inclusion in (or exclusion from) various musical ensembles,

performance history, mechanical developments, and pedagogical history in Europe and the

United States. This is done by presenting multitudes of primary sources and tying them together

in narrative style. To show the role of the saxophone in shaping a new paradigm, as with the

inclusion of the instrument in the existing marching band tradition of the time, Hemke provides

multiple sources of primary evidence that reveal the timeline of events and the public reactions

to them via critiques and personal accounts.9

Outside of the direct lineage of Europe and the United States, research has also been

advanced on the history and historical performance opportunities for the saxophone in other parts

8
Fred Hemke, “The Early History of the Saxophone” (D.M.A. Thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1975).
9
Ibid., 191.

4
of the world. In her 2010 DMA document, The Influence of Japanese Composers on the

Development of the Repertoire for the Saxophone and the Significance of the Fuzzy Bird Sonata

by Takashi Yoshimatsu, Chiaki Hanafusa describes the history of saxophone in Japan.10 In order

to better understand the importance and impact of The Fuzzy Bird Sonata, (the main focus of the

paper) Hanafusa traces the lineage of the saxophone through the first introduction of foreign

music in 1854, to the pioneering work of Arata Sakaguchi, and beyond. This understanding of

the musical heritage of saxophonists and composers lends itself to the understanding of modern

compositions in Hanafusa’s work.

In a similar approach, Stacy Maugans’ D. Mus. dissertation, The History of Saxophone

and Saxophone Music in St. Petersburg, Russia, describes the chronology of the saxophone in

Russia. Since the history of the saxophone in Russia is deeply entwined with political events,

Maugans organizes her paper chronologically following the events of the political history of the

Soviet Union. This is done in order describe the “historical context within which the musicians

and their music existed.”11 Finally, Daniel Michaels Bell’s DMA document, The Saxophone in

Germany, begins with a general political and cultural history of Germany and a description of the

saxophone within the country including a survey of of prominent saxophonists, before arriving at

a substantial chapter entitled “The Social Meaning of the Saxophone”. This chapter discusses the

various performance contexts for the saxophone and public perceptions of the instrument in

terms of national identity, sexuality, and race by providing primary sources including newspaper

10
Chiaki Hanafusa, “The Influence of Japanese Composers on the Development of the Repertoire for the Saxophone
and the Significance of the Fuzzy Bird Sonata by Takashi Yoshimatsu” (University of North Texas, 2010),
http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc28426.
11
Stacy Maugans, “The History of Saxophone and Saxophone Music in St. Petersburg, Russia” (Indiana University,
2000).

5
editorials, personal correspondences, and popular literature.12 These sources reveal how the

public reacted to the saxophone as a symbol of American-ness, how the viewed the prominent

place of the instrument in overtly-sexual performance settings, and how the instrument fit in to

the contemporary narrative of racial hierarchies.

With the increased presence of Chinese musicians in the international saxophone

community, new research is also being undertaken to better understand the place of saxophone

within Chinese musical culture. Chief among these are articles published in China by Li

Yusheng (李雨生, Lǐ yǔshēng). In 1997, Professor Li established the first major degree program

for saxophone in China at the Sichuan Conservatory.13 The process of establishment and

Professor Li’s background have been extensively researched; several interviews, both English

and Chinese, have been published and will be drawn upon as part of this study.14 His published

articles, including “The Saxophone in China,” “The Formation of the Saxophone Quartet in

China,” and “The Development of the Saxophone in Modern Instrumental Music Departments”

are seminal works in the field and represent some of the very few publications on the subject by

a Chinese researcher.15

12
Daniel Michaels Bell, “The Saxophone in Germany 1924-1935” (University of Arizona, 2004), 47–68.
13
Ibid.
14
John Robert Brown, “A View from China,” John Robert Brown (blog), 2005, http://www.john-robert-
brown.com/yusheng-li.htm; “Li Yusheng (China),” Clasax (blog), May 12, 2011, https://www.clasax.org/festival-
2011/international/li-yusheng/; Songkang 张颂康 Zhang, “Sìchuān Yīnyuè Xuéyuàn Sàkèsī Jiàoshòu Lǐyǔshēng--
Sàkèsī Zhōngguó Wǎng Zhuānfǎng 四川音乐学院萨克斯教授李雨生--萨克斯中国网专访 [Sichuan
Conservatory Saxophone Professor Li Yusheng - An Interview with SaxChina],” SaxChina, July 9, 2015,
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5NTE1NTcyMA==&mid=209368428&idx=1&sn=77f57fd51413b2cc89d3
5065fe34500a&pass_ticket=6qSvKGT4ooWaDBg05Gk0QhGIWwVJsj2XyGyb63Vr6CZDGka83l%2ByqrAIPEE7
9r8B.
15
Li, “The Saxophone In China”; Yusheng 李雨生 Li, “Zài Zhōngguó Zǔjiàn Sàkèsī Guǎn Sìchóngzòu de
Gòuxiǎng 在中国组建萨克斯管四重奏的构想 [Conception of the Formation of the Saxophone Quartet in China],”
Yīnyuè Sōusuǒ 音乐搜索 Music Search 4 (1998): 73–75; Yusheng 李雨生 Li, “Lùn Sàkèsī Guǎn Zài Xiàndài
Qìyuè Tǐxì Zhōng de Dìngwèi Hé Fāzhǎn 论萨克斯管在现代器乐体系中的定位和发展 [On the Place and

6
 Finally, sinologists (those that study China and its environs) have been studying the

intricacies of Chinese politics, history, music, and culture for centuries. Understanding the

research undertaken by these various historians and social scientists and the methods by which

they conduct that research are crucial to this project. In his book chapter “The Pipe Organ of the

Baroque Era in China” David Urrows makes use of primary and secondary sources, and a

narrative style of description, to present the early interactions between Western and Chinese

musicians. By showing not only the direct timeline of the building and display of an early pipe

organ in the Portuguese colony of Macao, but also describing peripheral events, Urrows is able

to make connections between the early construction and the later adoption of the pipe-organ by

the Qianlong emperor.16

Andrew F. Jones’ Yellow Music: Media Culture and Colonial Modernity in the Chinese

Jazz Age is a work that not only chronicles Chinese musical happenings within a given time-

frame (the 1920s-40s) but relates those events to sociological perspectives. In discussing the

jazz-derived Chinese music known as Shidaiqu, Jones describes a complex kind of colonial

modernity in which the new musical form is not competing against its predecessor but is

considered alongside it as a transnational rearticulation.17 The use of a chronology as a recurring

theme to discuss topics including modernity, politics, westernization, and semiotics proved

useful in this paper’s own aims to incorporate similar ideas.

Development of the Saxophone in Modern Instrumental Music Departments],” Yīnyuè Sōusuǒ 音乐搜索 [Music
Search] 2 (2007): 100–103.
16
Hon-Lun Yang and Michael Saffle, eds., China and the West: Music, Representation, and Reception (Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press, 2017), 21–41.
17
Andrew F. Jones, Yellow Music: Media Culture and Colonial Modernity in the Chinese Jazz Age (Durham: Duke
University Press, 2001), 10.

7
 Method

Data collection for this research is based on archival research, interviews, and live

performance attendance. The majority of the data that has been gathered in regards to musical

events before 1980 has come from archival research. This includes newspapers, magazines,

photographs, musical scores, ethnographies, published interviews and academic journals.

Newspapers have proven a good resource for concert reviews and an insight into the

musical happenings within smaller communities. For instance, The North China Herald reviews

one of the first ever performance of a saxophonist in 1856 Guangzhou, China18 and, just a few

years later, details the instruments ordered, including a saxophone, by the local music society

orchestra.19 China has several periodicals dedicated to the study and/or appreciation of music.

With an intended audience of average music enthusiasts, these magazines have proven

invaluable to understanding the musical situation for average people throughout China. The

study of personal accounts has also proved useful. These take the form of journals from early

residents of China’s foreign settlements, autobiographies of soldiers that performed with military

bands stationed in China, or accounts of life and musical activities in Japanese prison camps

during WWII and provide valuable insight.20 Finally, academic journals and other secondary

sources help to set this study within the greater context of existing research.

Data regarding performance practices of Cantonese opera has also be gathered from

interviews and attendance of live performances. Musician Chen Fangyi (陈芳毅, Chén fāngyì),

18
North China Herald,“Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle,” September 20, 1856.
19
North China Herald,“Shanghai Philharmonic Society: Report of the Season 1888-1889.,” October 4, 1889.
20
See: Caroline P Keith and William C Tenney, The Conflict and the Victory of Life: Memoir of Mrs. Caroline P.
Keith, Missionary of the Protestant Episcopal Church to China (New York: Appleton, 1864); Donald LeRoy
Versaw, The Last China Band (Online: Self Published, 2001), http://lastchinaband.com/versaw.htm; Desmond
Power, Little Foreign Devil (West Vancouver: Pangli, 1996).

8
principal saxophonist with the Cantonese Music and Song Art Troupe, was interviewed to

discuss performance practices, specialized education, and the uses of the saxophone within the

genre. In order to compensate for the lack of primary sources on the chronology and performance

practices of saxophonists in Cantonese music ensembles, ethnographic work was undertaken at

several performances of Cantonese opera throughout the city of Guangzhou. The aspects of

performance described by Chen Fangyi and observed by the author are, whenever possible,

corroborated with other ethnographies and historical notes taken by other researchers of the

genre to verify authenticity.

After 1980, newspapers, journals, etc. still continue to play a valuable role. At the same

time, since the majority of the musicians and teachers involved in the development of the

saxophone during this era are still living, interviews also play a significant part. These interviews

with saxophonists such as Li Manlong (李满龙, Lǐ mǎnlóng), of the China conservatory, and

Zhang Xiaolu (章啸路, Zhāng xiàolù) of the Shanghai conservatory, include the

performer/teacher’s personal experiences with being introduced to the saxophone after the

economic and political liberalization policies of the 1980s, allow them to describe the performers

that influenced them, and describe the process of establishing a new performance scene for

saxophonists in China.

Scope

This study is limited to descriptions and discussions of the saxophone, saxophonists, and

saxophone performances in mainland China. This is due primarily to largely divergent histories

and historical influences throughout the Sino-sphere. Hong Kong, for example, experienced a

different musical history, sometimes drastically so, from mainland China due to its status as a

9
British colony for much of the timeline that intersects with the saxophone. It will sometimes be

necessary to discuss places and musical events outside of mainland China, i.e. pop music in

Taiwan, but only as they pertain directly to the historical development of the saxophone on the

mainland.

A Note on Translations and Transliterations

This document makes use of Pinyin romanization and simplified Chinese characters as is

currently standard in mainland China. For words and names of Chinese origin, the first iteration

of the term will be followed by the Chinese character and pinyin romanization immediately

following the term i.e. pipa [琵琶, Pípá]. Subsequent iterations will include only the English

realization, the reader having been provided a list of Chinese terms and names (Appendix A) for

further reference if necessary.

As romanization systems have changed over time, and different systems being used in

different parts of the Sino-sphere, it will sometimes be necessary to present the original

romanization of a word or name for the sake of clarity or historical context. In such cases the

modern romanization and/or English name will be given after the first iteration i.e. Canton

[Guangzhou, 广州, Guǎngzhōu], Treaty of Nanking [Nanjing, 南京, Nánjīng].

10
 CHAPTER 2

ALI BEN SOU ALLE AND THE EXPAT COMMUNITIES: 1856-1911

Introduction

In the mid-nineteenth century the saxophone had just been born and the first generation

of saxophonists were endeavoring to make a place for themselves in established musical

circles.21 These early saxophonists had to create performance opportunities wherever they could,

and none ventured further than Charles Jean-Baptiste Soualle. During his travels throughout the

colonized world, his performances were often the premier performance of the saxophone in the

locales he visited. This was surely the case in China, where even the foreign communities

themselves had only just been established.

The Foreigners Waiting for Sou Alle’s Arrival: Historical Background

The First Westerners in China

Contact with the West has meant many things in China over the centuries: In China, “the

West” defined anything west of China before the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), India and Arabia

after Zheng He’s voyages of 1405-1433, and Europe and the Americas during the Qing Dynasty

(1644-1911);22 and contact meant anything from itinerant merchants like Marco Polo to

kowtowing heads of state like the Sultan of Malacca.23 However, what can be considered the

modern age of exchange between China and a colonially-minded Europe began with the first

21
Fred L. Hemke, "The Early History of the Saxophone," (D.M.A Thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1975).
22
Yang and Saffle, China and the West: Music, Representation, and Reception, 2.
23
Tomé Pires, The Suma Oriental of Tome Pires (Asian Educational Services, 1990), 242.

11
permanent weigh-point in China established by the Portuguese, who leased the small island of

Macau (澳门, Àomén) from 1557 to 1999.24

The city of Macau quickly became the chief trading port in China and the main gathering

point for those Europeans wishing to travel into the continent.25 These travelers were also

instrumental in introducing western music onto the Chinese landscape. As early as 1600 a pipe

organ had been built at the College of St. Paul,26 leaving a lasting impression on the Chinese

people that witnessed its grandeur. It was described by Wang Linheng (王臨亨, Wáng línhēng),

a Ming dynasty official:

The foreigners in Macau are good craftsmen, and they have constructed well- made
objects such as the organ and the carillon. They made a case with hundreds of pipes
inside (or with hundreds of “strings”). It is operated by a machine: when one person
blows the bellows, then all the pipes will sound. When one person plays the machine,
then all the tones will sound. The music is well moderated and can be heard from afar.
The carillon is made of copper; it rings at noon and then it rings every two hours, twelve
times in a day.27

In the same year, 1600, the famed Jesuit priest and accomplished sinologist Mateo Ricci

presented a clavichord to the imperial court in Beijing.28 Ricci chose the instrument because, as

he pointed out, “…the use of the organ and the clavichord is unknown and the Chinese possess

no instrument of the keyboard type.”29 This had two consequences, first, the Wanli emperor, on

hearing of the new type of instrument that had no relative in Chinese music, would become

24
Joshua Mingchien Bau, The Foreign Relations of China: A History and Survey, Second Edition (New York:
Fleming H. Revell, 1921), 4.
25
Ibid.
26
Yang and Saffle, China and the West: Music, Representation, and Reception, 23.
27
Ibid., 22.
28
de Saldanha and Antonio Vasconcelos and Artur K. Wardega, In the Light and Shadow of an Emperor: Tomás
Pereira, SJ (1645-1708), the Kangxi Emperor and the Jesuit Mission in China (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK:
Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012), 537.
29
Sheila Melvin and Jindong Cai, Rhapsody in Red: How Western Classical Music Became Chinese (Algora
Publishing, 2004), 46.

12
excited and be more likely to give an audience. Secondly, since there is no Chinese equivalent to

the clavichord, there would be no musicians to perform on it. Therefore, if the Emperor wanted

to hear a performance, he would have no choice but to invite Jesuit priests. Ricci even went so

far as to compose several pieces for the instrument, but there was an unfortunate break-down of

communication when it came to music:

In his journals Ricci wrote of Chinese music that it “seems to consist in producing a

monotonous rhythmic beat as they know nothing of the variations and harmony that can be

produced by combining different musical notes. However, they themselves are highly flattered

by their own music which to the ear of a stranger represents nothing but a discordant jangle.”30

On the other hand, Chinese listeners tended to feel the same about European music: “European

music cannot be heard with pleasure by Chinese audience except it is one single voice

accompanied by instruments. But what is strange for them to hear is a part with two different

voices, deep ones together with high ones, halftones, fugues and syncopes. This does not fit their

taste and they feel an intolerable confusion.”31 It seems both parties would have to wait a few

hundred years for an instrument to be invented that would help to bridge the gap.

The Foreign Concessions

Prior to 1842, foreigners in China (all non-Chinese) were relegated to the Portuguese

island of Macau or consigned in Guangzhou to small ‘factory’ buildings in what was known as

the Canton system. The events that would lead to the First Opium War, and thereby the opening

of Shanghai, Hong Kong, and other ports to foreign settlement, began with Chinese-British

30
Saldanha and and Artur K. Wardega, In the Light and Shadow of an Emperor: Tomás Pereira, SJ (1645-1708),
the Kangxi Emperor and the Jesuit Mission in China, 537.
31
Ibid.

13
unrest in June, 1839 in Humen (虎门镇, Hǔmén zhèn), a town just south of present day

Dongguan (东莞, Dōngguǎn).32

The recreational use of opium had been made illegal by imperial edict in as early as

1729,33 but that did little to stop the flow of the substance into China for the more than 100 years

leading up to the 1839 incident. The large amounts of money to be made on the illicit trade of

opium made Chinese maritime borders incredibly porous at the best of times, but local merchants

and businessmen saw even more profitability in the selling of an illegal substance and the

protection of said product.34 It is estimated that between the issuance of imperial edicts in the late

1700s and the beginning of the Anglo-Chinese war of 1839, the British imported approximately

400,000 chests of opium in to China and netted a profit of three to four billion dollars’ worth of

silver.35

The conflict that led to the establishment of foreign concessions in Shanghai and

Guangzhou began in earnest at the appointment of a new Imperial High Commissioner of

Canton, Lin Zexu (林则徐, Lín zéxú), in 1838.36 Lin was also directly commissioned by the

emperor to completely eliminate the opium trade that was being carried out by the British, with

the aid of local merchants and unscrupulous Chinese officials; a task he executed with extremely

hardline policies. In early 1839, Lin Zexu demanded the release of all opium held by the foreign

32
Lang Ye, Zhenggang Fei, and Tianyou Wang, eds., China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization
(Kowloon, Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press, 2007), 109.
33
Joshua Rowntree, The Imperial Drug Trade: A Re-Statement of the Opium Question, in the Light of Recent
Evidence and New Developments in the East (Memphis, Tenn.: General Books, 2010), 12.
34
Richard Harvey Brown, “The Opium Trade and Opium Policies in India, China, Britain, and the United States:
Historical Comparisons and Theoretical Interpretations,” Asian Journal of Social Science 30, no. 3 (September 1,
2002): 10, https://doi.org/10.1163/156853102320945420.
35
Ye, Fei, and Wang, China, 109.
36
Bau, The Foreign Relations of China: A History and Survey, 7.

14
communities in the Canton region, including Hong Kong. When they refused to comply, Lin

enacted marshal law and laid siege to the offending factories. Within a few days the factory

workers had run out of provisions and relinquished their opium stores.37 By June of 1839, Lin

Zexu had confiscated over 2.4 million pounds of opium from British and American store and, in

a public ceremony, destroyed all of it with lime salt or fire in the port town of Humen.38

Disturbed by the loss of capital and seeing the opportunity to gain advantage by military

means, England declared war on China in 1840 and sent more than forty battleships to the Pearl

River.39 These steam-powered, paddle wheel war ships were the latest in military technology and

quickly made their way along the coast of China.40 In August of 1842, the British war ships

reached Nanjing and threatened to attack the city.41 The Qing government quickly acquiesced

and signed the Treaty of Nanking (Nanjing, 南京, Nánjīng) on August 29, 1842.42 The treaty

conceded five trading ports to the British: Canton (Guangzhou, 广州, Guǎngzhōu), Amoy

(Xiamen, 厦门，Xiàmén), Koo-chow (Fuzhou, 福州, Fúzhōu), Ningpo (Ningbo, 宁波, Níngbō),

and Shanghai.43 In addition, the Qing court was required to pay a restitution of 21 million

dollars, allow for fair tariff, and cede Hong Kong in perpetuity to the British.44 Finally, the 1842

Treaty of Nanking opened China to foreign settlement: The United States and France in 1844,

37
Ibid.
38
Ye, Fei, and Wang, China, 109.
39
Ibid.
40
John King Fairbank and Merle Goldman, China: A New History (Cambridge (Mass.) [etc.: <> Belknap Press of
Harvard University Press, 2006), 200.
41
Ye, Fei, and Wang, China, 110.
42
Bau, The Foreign Relations of China: A History and Survey, 8.
43
Ibid.
44
Ibid.

15
Belgium in 1845, Sweden and Norway in 1847, and Russia in 1858;45 and led to a succession of

trade deals and land concessions commonly known today as the first of the “Unequal Treaties”.

Foreigners wasted no time in setting up their new trading post in Shanghai. The first to

arrive were forced to live in the existing Chinese walled city of nearby while the new buildings

made in a western image were built.46 By 1843 there were 11 foreign mercantile houses, and by

1847 the city was home to 24 mercantile firms, 25 private residences, five stores, and a hotel and

clubhouse.47 By 1848 all of the major British and American trading firms had moved their

headquarters from Canton to Shanghai.48

European investors and thrill seekers, however, were not the only new immigrants into

the new established concessions. In his 2004 article, Tang Yanting recounts the large numbers of

Jewish immigrants that would come to call Shanghai home.49 One such example was Elias David

Sassoon, an Iraqi-Jewish businessman that sought to establish a new branch of his family’s

Bombay-based business.50 His arrival added to the melting pot that was the foreign concessions

of Shanghai. The Chinese citizens, that were officially banned from the settlement, frequently set

up shops and business to trade with the foreign residents. The Small Sword Uprising (an

outgrowth of the Taipings) in the early 1850s, sent tens of thousands of the Chinese residents of

45
Ibid., 9.
46
Edward Denison and Guang Yu Ren, Building Shanghai: The Story of China’s Gateway (Chichester, UK: John
Wiley & Sons, 2006), 40.
47
Ibid., 67.
48
Stella Dong, Shanghai: The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City (New York: Harper Collins, 2001), 11–12.
49
Yanting Tang, “Reconstructing the Vanished Musical Life of the Shanghai Jewish Diaspora: A Report,”
Ethnomusicology Forum 13, no. 1 (2004): 101–18.
50
Ibid., 104.

16
the old walled city fleeing into the foreign settlement where they quickly constructed lodgings.51

And so, it was into these societies that Ali Ben Sou Alle arrived and plied his trade.

Ali Ben Sou Alle

The Musical Activities of Foreigners in China

Musical activities of the foreign communities throughout China were varied, with not

infrequent visits from foreign musicians. In the Canton region, musical activities were

undertaken by many of the Christian sects spread throughout the region, especially Macau.52

Macau also had a number of military units, including the Macau Regiment, which included

bands and had been stationed in the Portuguese settlement of Macau since at least 1818.53 The

band gave regular public performances and played at special ceremonies like the King’s birthday

or important funerals.54 Foreign performers were known to give concerts in the foreign

settlement, including a performance by Swiss watchmaking heir Fritz Bovet, whose violin

performances and musical collection would later play an important role in the movement of

Chinese music into Europe.55

The early years of Shanghai also saw a great deal of social and musical activity. As early

as 1850, musicians were called upon to perform for the inaugural “Bachelors of Shanghae [sic]”

Ball at the British Hotel.56 Amateur musicians and music lovers were able to purchase

51
Denison and Ren, Building Shanghai: The Story of China’s Gateway, 40.
52
Yang and Saffle, China and the West: Music, Representation, and Reception.
53
Neto Oswaldo Da Veiga Jardim, “The Role of the Military and Municipal Bands in Shaping the Musical Life of
Macau, ca. 1820 to 1935” (University of Hong Kong, 2002), 48.
54
Ibid., 52–54.
55
W. Anthony Sheppard, “Puccini and the Music Boxes,” Journal of the Royal Musical Association, April 30, 2015,
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02690403.2015.1008863.
56
North China Herald, “Tuesday the 26th instant…,” November30, 1850.

17
instruments shipped from Europe and sold in local shops: advertisements in the North China

Herald list accordion, flutina, concertina, and an assortment of sheet music and method books for

sale at P.F. Richards.57

In her memoirs, Episcopal missionary Caroline Keith describes lazy afternoons on the

waterways of Shanghai listening to her good friend play melodies on the concertina. 58 There are

also listings for ‘brass for musical instruments’ on tariff and import scales, from which it can be

surmised that instruments for foreign customers were being made within China’s borders.59 In

Thalia on the Terpsichore,60 J.H. Haan lists performances given by professional,

semiprofessional, and amateur musicians, actors, and even military musicians of all sorts in

Shanghai. These local and traveling performers gave nearly 130 performances between 1850 and

1865 alone. Musicians, it would seem, were plentiful in the early years of the many different

foreign settlements. It is these very musicians, in fact, that would play host to the very first

saxophone performance in China.

Biographical Sketch

The man that would become Ali Ben Sou Alle was born Charles Jean-Baptiste Soualle on

July 14, 1824 in Arras, France.61 His exact origins and life story are a bit of an enigma, a fact that

cannot be helped when one travels extensively under an alias in the mid-nineteenth century.

57
———, “On Sale” July 5, 1851, Accessed January 8, 2018.
58
William C Tenney, Memoir of Mrs. Caroline P. Keith: The Conflict and the Victory of Life (New York: D.
Appleton Compnay, 1864), 173.
59
North China Herald, “Chinese Tariff of 1786: Scale of Duties,” January 11, 1851.
60
J.H. Haan, “Thalia and Terpsichore on the Yangtze: A Survey of Foreign Theatre and Music in Shanghai 1850-
1865,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch 29 (1989): 158–251.
61
Bibliotechque National Francais, “Ali Ben Sou Alle,” June 23, 2014.

18
Many attempts at a biographical sketch were made during his lifetime and by various sources.

The fact that no recorded interview with the enigmatic figure exists, seems to indicate that his

mysterious nature was, at least in part, an intentional subterfuge.

It was reported that he was the son of the Secretary of the Turkish Legation in Paris62 and

a ‘French lady’,63 and entered the Paris conservatory in the class of the famed Klosé, obtaining

the first prize in clarinet in 1844.64 Upon graduation, he was appointed director of the Marine

Band in Senegal where he stayed until sometime in 1846.65 By 1846 he was first clarinet at the

Opera Comique in Paris,66 but stayed there only a short time, fleeing to England during the

February Revolution of 1848.67 Once in London, he performed as first clarinet player at the

Queen’s Theatre for two years before joining on with Louis Jullien to play a series of concerts. 68

It was Jullien, in fact, that encouraged him to take up the saxophone.69 He performed throughout

London through 1852, but while performing under the name Soualle, he listed his instrument as

the corno muso.70

The when, why, and how of his world tour is not entirely clear, nor is the transition to the

pseudonym and orientalist costume known as Ali Ben Sou Alle. However, by June 10, 1853, he

was performing in Melbourne, Australia under the name ‘Ali Ben Sou Alle and his

62
The China Mail,“We Observe the Return by Steamer Shanghae,” October 16, 1856.
63
Straits Times,“M. Ali Ben Sou Alle,” November 13, 1855.
64
Paul Wehage, “Ali Ben Sou Alle: A 19th Century Frenchman in Mysore,” Serenade, November 14, 2016,
https://serenademagazine.com/features/ali-ben-sou-alle-19th-century-frenchman-mysore.
65
Trove,“People and Organisations: Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle,” accessed March 7, 2018, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-
780052.
66
Wehage, “Ali Ben Sou Alle.”
67
Ibid.
68
Ibid.
69
Ibid.
70
The Examiner, November 16, 1850.

19
turkophone’.71 Over the next seven years, he traveled and performed extensively, giving concerts

(often more than one) in Hobart Tasmania, Nelson New Zealand, Singapore, Calcutta India,

Madras India, Guangzhou China, Shanghai China, Hong Kong, Mauritius, Durban, Paris, Cape

Town South Africa, Port Elizabeth SA, Grahamstown SA, Natal SA, and Pietermaritzburg SA.

By 1860 he returned to France, reportedly for health reasons. Once there, he continued his

concertizing activities for some time. On September 21, 1860, he filed a patent for improved

key-work on the saxophone.72 In 1864 he performed for the Prince of Wales and gave him a

book of his composed works, presumably including the two pieces composed in China.73 After

an 1865 performance at Tuileries Palace for Napoleon III and his family, and a reviewed concert

in Paris the following year, the details of Soualle’s life all but disappear from the records.

One of the final mentions of Soualle appears in an 1875 article in Figaro.74 It gives a

dramatized account of his life before going on to describe an orientalist herbal shop that Soualle

opened, based on the skills acquired in his travels. No mention of Soualle’s life or activities is

listed beyond this date. The national library of France lists his death date as August 16, 1899 in

Paris France.

Ali Ben Sou Alle in China

In the middle of the busiest years of his world tour, and after having just performed for

71
Argus, “Advertising,” June 10, 1853.
72
Bulletin des Lois de L’Empire Française [Bulletin of the Laws of the French Empire], “386: Le brevet d’invention
de quinze ans [386: The Fifteen-year Patent],” 11, no. 19 (June 1, 1862),
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9736347n.
73
Wehage, “Ali Ben Sou Alle.”
74
Figaro: Journal Non Politique, “Une Future Celebrite Parisienne,” December 12, 1875, 2; ibid.

20
Lord Harris, Royal Governor at Madras, India,75 Ali Ben Sou Alle arrived in Guangzhou, China

around July 31st, 1856.76 Ever the performer, within a week’s time he had given two

performances, and for the first time in history the saxophone was performed on Chinese soil.77

Although using the affected name of turkophone and turkophini for his instruments

(corresponding to alto and soprano saxophone respectively), the correspondent for the China

Mail recognized Sax’s instruments and was pleased with their sound:

This gentleman has studied upon two newly invented instruments by the celebrated M.
Sax, called Turkophone, and Turkophini. Both are of silver; but instead of the usual
mouth-piece for horns, one very similar to a clarionet’s is substituted78, which adds much
to the softness of tone. As a musician, M. Ali must rank high in the opinion of all
connoisseurs; while immense compass and power of the Turkophone especially, afford
every opportunity for the display of an artist’s abilities.79

The same edition indicates that Sou Alle’s next intended stop was Hong Kong, where he

would perform the following Monday. However, before arriving in Hong Kong, an

announcement advertising his upcoming performance in Shanghai was posted in the local paper.

It gives good insight into the type of reception he received, and the expectations of the audience

in anticipation of his concert. The advertisement reads:

To Enliven the dull monotony of our life in Shanghai, we are authorized to promise a
musical treat in the performances of the Celebrated Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle on the Turkophone
and Turkophini, instruments of his own invention from which we are assured the sweetest
music is produced by this accomplished artiste. He is now at Hongkong [sic] giving a
series of Concerts and it is his intention to visit us at the end of the month when, the heat
of the Season having somewhat abated, we shall delight in the entertainment.

75
Paul Wehage, “The Forgotten Voyager,” Serenade Magazine, July 30, 2017,
https://serenademagazine.com/features/the-forgotten-voyager/.
76
China Mail. “The Canton Community.” August 7, 1856.
77
China Mail. “The Canton Community.”
78
Note: Clarionet was the oft-used period term for the clarinet
79
China Mail. “The Canton Community.”

21
 Since writing the above we have been requested to insert an Advertisement which
appears in our first column announcing another entertainment for the lovers of Music;
little did we think the Muses held such favors in store for us80.

It would seem that the residents of Shanghai had long been waiting for a concert such as this,

despite the number of musical activities occurring around the same time.81

After his week of concertizing in the Guangzhou settlement, Sou Alle traveled to Hong

Kong and performed for the foreign residents on August 11, 1856.82 Unfortunately, his first

concert in the newly acquired colony met with some difficulties. The pianist that had been

engaged to accompany Sou Alle was called away on urgent business at the last moment, and so

the turkophonist was left to perform unaccompanied. The journalist reviewing the concert was,

overall, left with a good impression of the new instruments, but was not entirely convinced of

their usefulness. They reported:

…[Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle] introduced his two newly-invented instruments the Turkophone

and Turkophini. We shall convey to our readers the best idea of the nature of these
instruments by informing them shortly, that they are of the usual class of brass
instruments, save that they have a reed instead of the ordinary mouth-piece. The former is
an instrument of great compass and of excellent tone, combining the qualities of the
bassoon and French horn, and would, we conceive, be a great addition to the orchestra.
Of the other we cannot say much more, than that it is a silver Clarionet; and we are not so
out of conceit with the old instrument (especially as Mr Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle on the same
occasion gave us an opportunity of comparing the two) as to discard it for the new rival.
The imitation of the Scottish bagpipes we cannot at all approve of. Why attempt
imitations, when the real instrument can be easily procured, and may, we are sure, be
mastered as easily as can the imitation!83

The reporter of this concert was left with a good impression of Sou Alle, stating “We were

greatly pleased with the execution of the artist… [his performance] was calculated to please the

80
The China Mail, “On Monday Evening Last.” August 14, 1856.
81
Haan, “Thalia and Terpsichore on the Yangtze: A Survey of Foreign Theatre and Music in Shanghai 1850-1865.”
82
On Monday Evening last, 1856, https://dds.crl.edu/item/303265.
83
Ibid.

22
audience, prove the resources of the instruments, and display the execution of the performer, -

three very important items in a musical entertainment.”84 Unfortunately, that would be the last of

the warm reviews that Sou Alle or his turkophones received in China.

His second concert in Hong Kong once again had to be undertaken alone, as no pianist

could be made available. In spite of this set-back, and a less-than-full performance hall85, Sou

Alle “…went through his programme with infinite spirit and courage.”86 On this occasion,

however, the reporter saw the turkophone and turkophini in a less enthusiastic light. He stated:

Of his newly invented instruments, the Turkophone and Turkophini, combining both the
horn and the reed, we cannot speak in very warm terms of praise, at least as regards their
suitability for solo performances. There are sundry much more agreeable instruments in
the orchestra, whose resources have not yet been fully developed, though they would, we
fancy, better repay the labour. The performances on the Grand Clarionet were the most
successful of the evening, and served to establish (in our mind at least) the superiority of
the legitimate instrument over its compound brethren.87

Ali Ben Sou Alle’s next port-of-call was the less than two-decades old settlement at Shanghai.

His arrival aboard the eponymous steamer Shanghai was announced in the September 13 issue of

the North China Herald, and a call was put out for amateur musicians to “lend their aid” to a

performance that would be presented early the next week.88

On September 19, Sou Alle made good on the promises, and performed a concert,

assisted by various amateur musicians to a receptive audience. The local music critic, however,

stated “altogether the performance passed off very creditably, though the programme was not

84
Ibid.
85
China Mail, “M. Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle,” August 21, 1856.
86
Ibid.
87
Ibid.
88
North China Daily News, “Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle.” September 20, 1856.

23
very inviting, and promised no music of a high class.”89 He then describes the concert and his

reactions to the new instrument:

The first part was introduced by one of the Rossini’s favorite Overtures, very brilliantly
played on the Piano forte by Amateurs; after which followed a Solo on the Turkophone
by the Artiste himself, the subject selected form Bellini’s opera of “Sonombula” was
dexterously played on this remarkable Instrument, which has more the appearance of a
large “Meerschaum” [(a smoking pipe)] than of a horn – the compass of the instrument is
very great, but we confess to some disappointment as regards its quality of tone, and
correctness of tune also, in some few notes, and altogether we think it an imperfect
instrument – it may, however, improve on further acquaintance, but we had no other
opportunity of judging, during the evening. Mendelssohn’s song “The fairest flower” was
very creditably sung by and Amateur, but we think it would have been better a little faster
– it was followed by a Solo with variations on the “Turkophini” on which Ali-Ben-Sou-
Alle, produced a much more pleasing effect than on the Turkophone, and we think it by
far the most perfect and pleasing instrument of the two. After a song by Ali-Ben-Sou-
Alle which was creditably performed, the first part concluded with “Recollections of
Scotland” upon an instrument, which we trust our Scotch friends will pardon us for
pronouncing, something worse than the Bagpipe – the imitation, however was admirable,
though at the same time, it reminded us most forcibly of a Chinese instrument, used at
Marriages and Funerals.
The second part was opened by another of Rossini’s Overtures, performed by the same
gentlemen, and in the same able manner – after which, came the treat of the evening, a
German air with variations on clarionet (somewhat improved upon) by Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle,
which he played with most admirable taste, and to every lover of good music, it must
have afforded great pleasure – his execution of the variations was perfect, and the
accompaniment played in beautiful style.
A german [sic] song by an Amateur succeeded admirably, and was loudly applauded –
after which Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle performed the “Shanghai Redowa Walse” [sic] (composed
expressly for this Concert and dedicated to the Ladies of Shanghai, as the programme
informed us), but of which we cannot speak very highly, as it lacked both originality and
variety – it was performed upon the Turkophonini, and convinced us that the instrument
is well adapted for that class of music. “Les Canotiers de Paris” was sung by Ali-Ben-
Sou-Alle, who concluded his concert with a Medley of English, Scotch and Irish Airs, on
our favorite Clarionet, which we presume has been improved by him.
We congratulate Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle upon the success of the first public concert (properly
so called) that has ever been given at Shanghai, and trust that other Artists visiting the
East may extend their travels to our port, where we doubt not they will meet with equal
support and assistance, for without the kind and efficient aid of the Amateurs who
performed last night, much would have been wanting – and especially are the thanks of

89
“Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle,” September 20, 1856.

24
 the audience due to one gentleman who so ably assisted and accompanied the Artiste, on
the Piano Forte.90

Despite the critical review, Sou Alle ventured to present another concert the following

week. It would seem that the general public enjoyed the premier performance much more than

did the music critic, as indicated by the comments accompanying the announcement of Sou

Alle’s second concert:

We are glad to see the announcement of another Concert to be given by Ali-Ben-Sou-

Alle on Monday next. The critique of our Reporter on the last performance has been
much discussed in fashionable circles and the correctness of his judgement as to the
perfection of the new instruments questioned. Knowing his high attainments as a
musician, we defer to his opinion. Matters of taste do not admit dispute, De gustibus non
est disputandem. [In matters of taste, there can be no disputes/ there is no accounting for
taste] We may all enjoy our own and as a second glass of wine enables us to pronounce
better judgment as to its quality, so will this second performance by familiarizing us with
the instruments enable us better to decide upon their excellence, and we doubt not the
result will be a hearty encore at the close of it although it is advertised as his Farewell.91

No further review was given of Sou Alle’s second performance, and indeed his final

performance in China. The China Mail of October 16th indicates that Sou Alle had returned on

the steamer Shanghai from the port of the same name. Perhaps embarrassed by their previous

review, The China Mail implored Sou Alle to give another recital before his departure from

China, assuring that this time there would surely be amateur musicians willing to offer aid rather

than make Sou Alle go through the “arduous task…to undertake single-handed the task of a

whole evening’s entertainment.”92 There is no record of any concert in China following this

article, so it seems unlikely that he obliged.

90
Ibid.
91
North China Herald, “We Are Glad to See the Announcement…,” September 27, 1856.
92
China Mail, “We Observe the Return by Steamer Shanghae.” October 16, 1856.

25
 The China Mail appeared to step back from earlier negative critiques of Sou Alle’s

performance and instruments in a later review:

By men of cultivated taste, M. Ali’s talents are fully appreciated; and it will be long ere
those who have had the pleasure of listening to his performances will forget the sweet but
powerful tones of the Turkophone, or the dulcet melody of the Grand Clarionet and
Turkophini, in his able hands, and managed by his accomplished musical judgment.93

The China Mail then gave a brief biographical sketch of the artist, giving us insight into his life,

as well as giving an account of his travels and a final review of Sou Alle’s prowess: “He started

for Australia, and assembling all the musical resources in that quarter, he was enabled to give the

first Grand Concerts ever held in our southern Colonies. In composition as well as in execution,

constant practice has perfected his powers, and an extended tour through Java to Singapore,

Manila, and our ports in China, has spread a wide reputation which is the sure precursor to

success.”94

Sou Alle’s next port-of-call after Hong Kong, or how long he stayed in that port city at

all, is not clear. His next recorded appearance is two concerts in Pondicherry, India, reviewed in

the May 1, 1857 issue of Musical Gazette de Paris.95

Sou Alle’s Souvenirs from China

Throughout his tour, Sou Alle wrote several pieces in honor of the various locals he

visited. Titled “Souvenirs of…” these pieces would often be dedicated to local officials and

could often incorporate local folk melodies or musical idioms. In China, Sou Alle composed

Shanghai Redowa Waltz and Souvenirs de la Chine.

93
“We Observe the Return by Steamer Shanghae.”
94
North China Herald, “We Are Glad to See the Announcement….”Ibid.
95
Revue et gazette musicale de Paris,“Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle,” May 1, 1857, 204.

26
Shanghai Redowa Waltz

Shanghai Redowa Waltz was written for Sou Alle’s premier performance in Shanghai on

September 19, 1856.96 Unlike other compositions which were often dedicated to prominent

figures in the locales he visited, Sou Alle chose to dedicate this composition to the ladies of

Shanghai. There is no record of an organization by that name existing at the time of Sou Alle’s

performance, and so it can be assumed that the performer was merely acknowledging the

prominent place of the women that lived in Shanghai just a decade after its opening up to foreign

residents.

Unlike some other compositions from his travels, including Souvenirs de la Chine,

Shanghai Redowa Waltz does not include musical elements taken from local tradition; no part of

the composition employs Chinese musical idioms in any way. Instead, Sou Alle invokes a

popular dance of the time in the composition.

The Redowa is a dance of Czech origin that was popular throughout Europe and America

by the 1840s and 50s.97 According to John Tyrrell,98 the music would often be split into two

parts, a moderate triple-meter first half, and a faster duple-meter polka in the second half. The

original style, however, would seem to have fallen out of favor by the time of Sou Alle’s

composition as his work and other similar pieces of the time feature no such variations.99 The

dance is described as “…precisely the same as the first three movements of the Polka, the fourth

96
North China Daily News, “Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle,” September 20, 1856.
97
John Tyrrell, “Redowa.” Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press, 2018.
http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2173/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-
0000023038.
98
“Redowa | Grove Music,” accessed March 15, 2018,
http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2173/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-
0000023038.
99
Malcolm Hoffman, The Shanghai: A Redowa Waltz (Lewis H. Embree, 1854).

27
step or interval being omitted; and is danced in three-four time, the same as a Mazourka, which

makes a more graceful and easy dance than the Polka, and one that is a great favorite.”100

Sou Alle’s Shanghai Redowa Waltz is a 170-bar, triple meter rondo in Bb major. After an

8-bar piano introduction the saxophone enters at rehearsal A with the main theme, an 8-bar rising

melody. The C section in mm 60, rehearsal letter C, moves to the subdominant, Eb major, as can

be expected. The original theme and key center return at rehearsal D, mm. 92, while rehearsal E,

mm. 131, is a flourish-filled piu-animato section that does not seem to develop the theme per-say

but does feature the same chordal-movement underneath. The theme is briefly restated at

rehearsal F, mm. 155, before the end.

The premier performance was met with a less than enthusiastic response. The critic from

the North China Herald noted:

Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle performed the “Shanghai Redowa Walse” [sic] (composed expressly

for this Concert and dedicated to the Ladies of Shanghai, as the programme informed us),
but of which we cannot speak very highly, as it lacked both originality and variety – it
was performed upon the Turkophonini, and convinced us that the instrument is well
adapted for that class of music.101

The piece was likely performed again several times throughout Sou Alle’s time as a performer.

For example, he performed several of his ‘Souvenir’ pieces and the Shanghai Redowa Waltz,

during a concert in Pondicherry, India in 1857. A reporter in attendance wrote “…Ali-ben-sou-

alle [performed for us] Souvenirs of Ireland, Souvenirs of Java and Shanghai, redowa-waltz,

which is a souvenir, because this beautiful piece was composed on the arrival of our artist in

100
Thomas Hillgrove, A Complete Practical Guide to the Art of Dancing: Containing Descriptions of All
Fashionable and Approved Dances, Full Directions for Calling the Figures, the Amount of Music Required; Hints
on Etiquette, the Toilet, Etc (Dick & Fitzgerald, 1888), 171.
101
North China Daily News, “Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle,” September 20, 1856.

28
Shanghai, after escaping a frightful typhoon.”102 The piece was also officially registered, along

with the other pieces Sou Alle composed during his travels, in 1861.103

Souvenirs de la Chine

In his various “Souvenir” pieces, Sou Alle had a habit of composing in dedication to

prominent figures of the communities he visited. This can be seen in his dedication to Lord

Harris, governor of Madras in Souvenirs de L’Inde, to John Cubitt in Souvenir de Natal, for “my

friend Armand Bergsten” in Souvenirs de L’Ile Maurice, to the ladies of Shanghai in Shanghai

Redowa Waltz above, and to Walkinshaw, J. Scarth and B. F. Thornburn, esq. in Souvenirs de la

Chine.

The three dedicatees of Souvenirs de la Chine are not famous names that have made their

way into modern history. Instead, they were prominent businessmen and government

functionaries in the foreign settlements of China (see Figure 1):

Figure 1: Souvenirs de la Chine Dedications

There is no record of a B. F. Thornburn in the foreign settlements of China. Instead, it

seems likely that name was a misprint of R. F. Thorburn. At the time of Sou Alle’s arrival in

102
Revue et Gazette Musicale de Paris. “Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle,” May 1, 1857.
103
Journal General, “De L’Imprimerie et de La Librairie,” 12, no. 5 (1861): 574.

29
1856 Thorburn was listed as a resident of Shanghai,104 having just been recognized as a partner

of the Turner & CO merchant house of Canton in 1855.105 Although his exact relationship with

the colonies and Sou Alle is unknown, his prominence within the community continued to

increase, as he was listed as Secretary of the Municipal Council by 1884.106

The second dedicatee, J. Scarth, seems to be a character that wore many hats. He is not

listed in existing records (including those that enumerate all foreigners living in the foreign

settlements throughout Asia) in 1847, 1850, or 1856. In an 1859 record of Hong Kong residents

and government officials, however, several references are made. John Scarth and family are

residents of Queen’s Road, Hong Kong. He is registered as a member of the “Educational

Committee for Superintending Government Schools on the Island of Hong Kong”.107 However,

in the same document he (or another of the same name) are recorded as “Consul for Belgium at

Shanghae [sic]” as well as a merchant with Turner & CO. Unfortunately, the way in which one

might be simultaneously engaged in all of these activities is not clear in the records. By 1884 he

has once again disappeared from the archives.108

Finally, we come to Walkinshaw. Since no other identification is given, some guess work

is necessary in identifying this dedicatee. “The Desk Hong List”, a record of foreign residents of

the colonies throughout East Asia, shows a merchant of Turner & Co by the name A.W.

Walkinshaw in 1884 Foochow but, given other evidence, there is a better candidate for the

104
Shanghae Almanac for the Bissextile or Leap Year 1856, and Miscellany (Shanghai: North China Herald, 1856),
http://archive.org/details/Shanghaialmanac1856.
105
China Mail, “The Canton Community.”
106
“The Desk Hong List: A General and Business Directory for Shanghai and the Northern and River Ports”
(Shanghai: North-China Herald, 1884).
107
“The Hongkong Directory: With List of Foreign Residents in China” (Printed at the “Armenian press,” 1859),
http://archive.org/details/hongkongdirecto00unkngoog.
108
“The Desk Hong List: A General and Business Directory for Shanghai and the Northern and River Ports.”

30
‘Walkinshaw’ mentioned by Sou Alle. 109 There is a listing for a W. Walkinshaw in 1859,110

where he is documented as the Consul for Belgium at Canton, a position certainly worthy the

dedicating of a composition. He first appears in an 1847 listing of Hong Kong residents, though

no position or job title is given.111 In the same 1859 document, however, he is also registered as

working under Turner & Co, though no job title is given.

It seems the one factor tying the gentlemen together (other than the fact they live and

work in China’s foreign settlements) is an association of some kind with Turner & Co. However,

little remains of that company and their association with it is also lost. As Dan Waters wrote:

There are many other once successful organisations that fell by the wayside. Names like
Burd; Holliday and Wise; Humphreys; Lyall and Still; Murrow; and Turner; are no
longer with us. Bard, in his 1988 report, lists 37 enterprises with English sounding names
(some could have been American) of which, although listed in directories between 1845
and 1900, little is known.112

Air Chinoise et Rondo

Sou Alle’s composition begins with a brief introduction that does not make use of any

later melodic material in particular. Instead, it is just a general building of dynamic and rhythmic

intensity. At rehearsal A, mm 8, the Chinese folk song is performed in its entirety (or the fullest

available version). The harmonic setting and the origins of the Chinese folksong is discussed

below. The folk song, performed in a legato 4/4, is followed by a 3/4 Allegro moderato

beginning in mm. 24. The rondo theme begins properly at mm. 33, rehearsal B, with refrains at G

109
Ibid.
110
“The Hongkong Directory.”
111
“Anglo-Chinese Calendar for the Year 1847: Corresponding to the Year for the Chinese Cycle Era 4484, or the
44th Year of Teh 75th Cycle of Sixty” (Canton: Office of the Chinese Repository, 1847).
112
Dan Waters, “Hong Kong Hongs with Long Histories and British Connections,” Journal of the Hong Kong
Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 30 (1990): 254.

31
and melismatic episodes at D, E, F, and H. A fragment of the Chinese folk song is reprised at the

Andantino in mm 170 before a concise subito vivo, subito fortissimo ending.

Unfortunately, there can be found no record of Ali Ben Sou Alle ever performing this

piece. However, in 1861 after a concert in London, he presented a book of his published pieces

to the Prince of Wales.113 This book would have included pieces that were published the same

year and recorded in the Biliographie de la France.114 Another source we have that shows

Souvenirs de la Chine may have been performed again, though, is the changing repertoire in

other concerts. For example, in a concert given for the foreign community of Pondicherry, India,

Sou Alle performed a number of his previously composed pieces including Souvenirs of Ireland,

Souvenirs of Java, and Shanghai Redowa Waltz.115 The journalist covering the event noted

“Hearing Souvenirs of Java, we found it reminiscent of Indian songs. Certainly, there is some

common source in the music of the Malay peoples and the Malabar peoples [of southern

India].”116 From this we can glean that his audiences around the world would have heard a wide

selection of music, including those composed during his travels. The inclusion of Souvenirs de

Java also indicates that he expected his audiences to be receptive to music that included musical

idioms of non-western origins.

Loc Tee Kun Tzin (Origin of the Folk Song)

The folk song recorded as Loc Tee Kun Tzin in Sou Alle’s composition is itself

somewhat of a mystery. As is discussed below, the song was documented at least twice by two

113
Wehage, “Ali Ben Sou Alle.”
114
“Bibliographie de la France [Bibliography of France],” Journal Général de l’imprimerie et de la Librairie
[General Journal of Printing and Bookstores] 2 (1861), http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k867093.
115
Revue et Gazette Musicale de Paris, “Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle,” May 1, 1857.
116
Ibid.

32
different and unrelated western musicians, presumably in the same area of China. There exists

today in China a folk song by the same name, but it is melodically unrelated to the collected folk

song.

Prior to Sou Alle’s arrival in China, the folk song Romanized as Loc Tee Kun Tzin had

already been collected by a western musician. In 1845 Frederic Bovet, member of the Bovet

watch making family, transcribed several Chinese melodies while in the Canton region of China.

The Bovet family were well regarded Swiss watch makers with offices in Canton and Macao.117

Bovet was an amateur violinist and composer that collected the melodies specifically to be used

to make music boxes for the Chinese market. One of the music boxes created was later heard by

Giacomo Puccini and its melodies utilized in his opera Turandot. This music box, known as the

Guinness music box, was made in 1877,118 and taken from China by Baron Edoardo Fassini-

Camossi during his time with the Italian Expeditionary Force in their 1900 campaign to suppress

the Boxer Rebellion.119

The melody on the Guinness Music Box (which can be heard on the Morris Museum

website)120 is nearly identical to that used in Sou Alle’s composition. This could lead one to the

conclusion that Sou Alle heard the melody on the music box and reproduced it rather than

transcribing a performance himself. The technology utilized in the Guinness Music Box was

common by the 1850s,121 and the 11-year interval from its collection to the time of Sou Alle’s

117
Sheppard, “Puccini and the Music Boxes.”
118
Ibid.
119
Ibid.
120
“The Murtogh D. Guinness Collection,” Morris Museum, May 22, 2012, http://morrismuseum.org/mechanical-
musical-instruments-automata/.
121
Arthur W. J. G. Ord-Hume, Musical Box: A History and Collector’s Guide (Crows Nest, NSW Australia: G.
Allen & Unwin, 1980), 134–35.

33
arrival could have been enough time for the music to be made into a music box and shipped to

China, its intended market. There is also the fact that the man that transcribed the melody in

1845, Fritz Bovet, was acting as Vice Consul for France in Guangzhou in 1856, the same year as

Sou Alle’s performances.122

However, in his article on the Guinness Music Box, Sheppard notes that while the

melody utilized by Sou Alle is melodically close to that of the music box, it is not exact, which

could point to a live performance or other published work being the source for his composition.

There is also the fact that the Guinness music box was made just before 1880, c. 1877 according

to Sheppard’s research. Finally, the Romanized title ‘Loc Tee Kun Tzin’ is logged as ‘Loc Tee

Kun Stin’ on the Guinness music box.123 This difference of just two letters may seem

insignificant, but it is enough of a difference to suggest that Sou Alle did not copy directly from

Bovet’s notes or the music box itself.

The history of the folk song itself is also a mystery. The Romanized ‘Loc Tee Kun Tzin’

is an approximation of the Cantonese pronunciation of the Chinese characters written in the

Guinness music box, and its most likely transliteration, 落地金钱 (Gold Coins Dropping, Luòdì

jīnqián). This fact, combined with the location of the two independent collectors of the folk song,

would indicate that its origin is the Guangzhou area.

There exist in China today two known cultural sources related to the name Gold Coins

Dropping, both from China’s Guangdong province, but unfortunately neither of them are related

to the melody used in Sou Alle’s composition. The first cultural reference to Gold Coins

122
Sheppard, “Puccini and the Music Boxes.”
123
W. Anthony Sheppard, “Puccini Opera Echoes a Music Box at the Morris Museum,” The New York Times, June
15, 2012, sec. Music, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/arts/music/puccini-opera-echoes-a-music-box-at-the-
morris-museum.html.

34
Dropping is a traditional dance practiced by the Hakka (客家, Kèjiā) people known as Gold

Coins Dropping Dance (落地金钱舞, Luòdì jīnqián wu). The Hakka people are a distinct subset

of the Han ethnic group that are delineated by their shared culture, traditions, and especially

language.124 They are spread out in groups throughout Guangdong and Fujian provinces, being

more or less centered around Meizhou and Mei county in eastern Guangdong province.125 Gold

Coins Dropping Dance is a traditional Hakka dance that originated in Meizhou, Pingyuan

county, eastern Guangdong province.126 Since the Hakka people originated in northern China

before migrating south during the Ming dynasty, the dance is said to retain many elements of

northern imperial court dance.127 Unfortunately, no remnants of its accompanying music can be

found. Traveling to Meizhou in January of 2018, the author was able to find no trace of the song.

The local cultural bureau of Meizhou (a government bureau) sponsored a performance of Gold

Coins Dropping Dance in the fall of 2017, but the dance was performed to newly composed

music. No records of any song by the name could be found in the libraries or government records

of the city of Meizhou.

The second cultural artifact bearing the name Gold Coins Dropping also comes to us

from the Hakka people of eastern Guangdong. In the 1930s He Yuzhai (何育斋, Hé yùzhāi),

born in Dabu county near Meizhou, collected folk songs from Shanghai through southern China

124
Suman Gupta and Tope Omoniyi, eds., The Cultures of Economic Migration: International Perspectives (New
York: Routledge, 2007), 32.
125
Ibid., 33.
126
Dewei Ye叶恴薇, “Kèjiā Chuántǒng Mínjiān Wǔdǎo: ‘Luòdì Jīnqián’ Sùyuán Jí Wénhuà Nèihán Chūtàn 客家传
统民间舞蹈: ‘落地金钱’溯源及文化内涵初探 [Traditional Folk Dance of the Hakka: A Study on the Origin
and Cultural Connotation of ‘Gold Coins Dropping’],” Jiā Yīng Xuéyuàn Xuébào (Zhéxué Shèhuì Kēxué) 嘉应学院
学报 （哲学社会科学） [Journal of Jiaying University (Philosophy and Social Sciences)] 29, no. 12 (December
2011): 9–11.
127
Ibid.

35
and edited them into two books for guzheng (古筝, Gǔzhēng) called Zhongzhou Classics (中州

古调, zhōngzhōu gǔdiào) and Hangao Chronicle (汉皋旧谱, hàngāo jiùpǔ). About the collection

process or the editing process little information remains. Even which songs come from which

books we do not entirely know. However, one of the songs collected and edited was none other

than Gold Coins Dropping. This song for guzheng (a traditional Chinese zither) can still be heard

performed in China today, and the sheet music is relatively accessible. Unfortunately, its melody

and that used in Sou Alle’s composition are not related.

Figure 2: Gold Coins Dropping Score

As can be seen from Figure 2, the opening few bars of this version of Gold Coins Dropping do

bear a slight resemblance to the melody presented in Souvenirs de la Chine. It is also worth

mentioning that Chinese music, especially folk music, is meant to be embellished upon by the

performer, as part of typical performance practice. It is therefore possible that the melody

collected in the mid-nineteenth century by the two intrepid adventures may be significantly

36
different from its modern variant, performed with over 150 years of natural change.

Unfortunately, the piece presented in the Hangao Chronicle bearing the name Gold Coins

Dropping is too different to fall into this category.

As part of this research, the author contacted many colleagues at prominent music

conservatories throughout China, including the China Conservatory in Beijing, whose primary

mission is the education and perpetuation of Chinese traditional music. Hakka cultural

associations throughout China, Taiwan, Malaysia, and North America were also contacted. No

experts contacted by the author were able to identify the folk song in Sou Alle’s composition nor

describe its possible origins.

Next, the way that Sou Alle made use of the melody should be discussed. As described

above, the main body of the composition does not use any elements of the folk song. When it is

used, Sou Alle sets it in a way that would not be typical in its native setting. Firstly, Chinese

music, and especially folk songs, are rarely harmonized in the western sense. This folk song

would most likely have been performed as a single-line composition or, if performed on a

plucked string instrument, harmonized occasionally with notes in 4ths, 5ths, or octaves.128

Secondly, the key center would seem to be incorrect, from a Chinese understanding of

music theory. Sou Alle sets the folk song against a G-minor accompaniment. This would be

incorrect for two reasons. First, Chinese theorist would likely identify the folk song as F宫G徵六

声音阶[F root, G re, hexatonic scale] with清角 [added natural 4th scale tone] (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Gold Coins Dropping Scale Pattern; As written for Bb soprano saxophone

128
J. A. Van Aalst, Chinese Music (Statistical Department of the Inspectorate General of Customs, 1884), 24.

37
 Figure 4: Excerpt from Souvenirs de la Chine, Rehearsal Figure A.

This analysis is based on the typical theoretical approach for Chinese music in which

scales are described by the way in which they relate to natural pentatonic scales.129 The second

reason Sou Alle’s setting would seem to be incorrect, is that, based on the above analysis, the

folk song uses a major pentatonic scale. Assuming F is the root of the scale, the repeated

instances of A natural would indicate a major sonority.

Finally, it is interesting to note that this same folk song utilized by Sou Alle was also

incorporated into Puccini’s Turandot. The melody is written almost identically to that used by

Sou Alle (see Figures 4 and 5) but the harmonic setting is quite different. In Turandot, the

melody can be found at rehearsal 39 and is typically analyzed thematically as ‘the Emperor’s

theme’.130

129
Van Aalst, Chinese Music.
130
Sheppard, “Puccini and the Music Boxes.”

38
 Figure 5: Excerpt from Turandot, Rehearsal figure 39, Act 2, scene ii.

Significance of Sou Alle’s Visit

For saxophonists reading this document, the importance of Sou Alle’s performances in

China is obvious: the first saxophonist to ever perform in China. Not even two decades after its

invention, Sou Alle was traveling the world disseminating the sounds and possibilities of the new

instrument. 131 For Chinese saxophonists, a lack of information on Sou Alle’s performances and

the place of those performances within the historical timeline of China’s saxophone history make

his inclusion in this paper vital. As discussed in the next section, published articles relating this

history typically begin with military or military-style bands at the turn of the nineteenth century,

making no mention of Sou Alle.

In the minds of mid-nineteenth century music lovers, the saxophone was a representation

of all things modern. The industrial revolution led to revolutions not only in manufacturing

131
Fred L Hemke, “The Early History of the Saxophone” (D.M.A. Thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1975).

39
technologies but had a lasting impact on the musical world as well. The invention of valves

quickly found their way to brass instruments which allowed for notes outside the natural scale

and new compositional techniques.132 By the 1840s, pianos were constructed using a single iron

frame, rather than the wooden frames in years past.133 This, paired with new steel strings that

were originally invented for use on high-tensile suspension bridges, increased the volume of the

piano and thereby the ensembles in which it could be used. The now ubiquitous foot pedal for

timpani tuning was invented in 1881 by Carl Pittrich and employed new gear technology that

was only made possible by the industrial revolution.134

The saxophone was invented during this time employing the newest techniques and

technologies. The instrument was invented, in part, to overcome obstacles of existing

instruments as well as to bridge the gap between the wood-wind and brass-wind sections of the

orchestra. As Stephen Cottrell points out “[Sax’s] solution was made possible in part because of

nineteenth-century advances in engineering – particularly in the manipulation of sheet metal such

as brass – and through increased understanding of acoustics and the musical possibilities such

understandings afforded.”135

For audiences worldwide hearing and seeing the saxophone for the first time, then, it was

surely a symbol of the innovations taking place around them. Cottrell says “From its inception,

132
Christian Ahrens and Irene Zedlacher, “Technological Innovations in Nineteenth-Century Instrument Making and
Their Consequences,” The Musical Quarterly 80, no. 2, (1996): 334.
133
Edmund Bowles, “The Impact of Technology on Musical Instruments,” Cosmos Journal, 1999,
http://www.cosmosclub.org/journals/1999/bowles.html.
134
Ibid.
135
Stephen Cottrell, The Saxophone (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013), 306.

40
therefore, the instrument has been identified with modernity, innovation, and a sense of

exploration and enquiry, and this reputation has in many ways remained with it since.”136

Sou Alle’s performances and his persona, and the use of the name Turkophone, are also

significant in their symbolism of orientalism, exoticizing and essentializing the people and

cultures of the near and far east, that was common at the time.137 Although there were reports of

Sou Alle possibly having true Turkish heritage, the fact remains that the foreign sounding

moniker and outlandish clothing were a well thought out marketing strategy. As explained

above, the use of the pseudonym did not happen until well into Sou Alle’s performing career.

Also, there are differing reports as to the nature of the costume itself and his conversion to Islam.

All of these point to the name and costume being nothing more than a façade.

The use of an appearance and name derived from an indeterminant Middle-Eastern

locale, fed directly into the popular orientalist culture of the time. As Said points out, orientalism

and orientalist art in Europe at the time, was often much more fascinated with the near East,

rather than the far.138 Wherever he was reviewed, the unusual appearance of both him and his

instruments was mentioned, and there are several mentions of Sou Alle as a ‘mysterious figure’.

These all seem to indicate that Sou Alle was using the exotic notions of ‘the Orient’ to peak the

imaginations of his audience. As Cottrell writes:

The responses of these audiences were not unrelated, perhaps, to similar responses arising
from the wonder and astonishment with which they would have greeted circuses,
international exhibitions, and freak shows, where they would also have been presented
with unfamiliar shapes, sizes and sounds from a wide range of animate and inanimate
objects that lay outside their customary realm of experience.139

136
Ibid.
137
Edward W. Said, Orientalism (New Dehli: Penguin Books India, 2006).
138
Ibid.
139
Cottrell, The Saxophone, 306.

41
Next, the repeated mention of the saxophone’s timbral flexibility cannot be over looked: From

flute, to bagpipes, sonorous to harsh, and even (and most profoundly for the purposes of this

paper) sounding distinctly like suona (唢呐, Suǒnà). A concert given in South Africa is perhaps

the best example of the way in which concert reviewers described the timbral possibilities of the

saxophone:

The great musical Turk, Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle, has given two concerts recently at the Cape,
which are thus described by a correspondent of the Cape Monitor: -
Both of the concerts were well attended – and, if one may judge from the clapping of
hands and stamping of feet, I may safely say that Graaff Reinet was highly delighted and
satisfied with his performance. The sounds produced by that wonderful instrument, the
turkophone, seemed to astonish his audience, for we hear the deep tones of the bassoon
gradually changing into the soft mellow tones of the flute. His performance on the grand
clarionet, in which he introduced some old, familiar, English, Irish, and Scotch airs, was
really a treat, and gave us some better idea of what can be done with that reedy
instrument than that we had formed from hearing our Rifle band execute some favourite
airs with the same instrument. His imitation of Scotch bagpipes was also excellent, and
seemed to awaken the enthusiasm of some of our Scotch friends. In all the pieces he
played he was most ably accompanied on the piano by Mr. H. Mosenthal, who kindly lent
his assistance to add to the charms and amusements of the evening…140

Comparing the saxophone, especially the soprano or turkophini, to a flute was also

written about in The Colonial Times of Hobart Tasmania “…the high [notes] [resemble] a

powerful flute, or rather of the flute-stop of an organ.”141 In the same concert the low notes of the

saxophone were compared to the ophicleide, a multi-keyed brass instrument that was popular at

the time. On several occasions, Sou Alle performed Scottish Airs in imitation of bagpipes. The

imitation, in every review, was considered extremely accurate, even if it was not always

appreciated. The Courier of Hobart, Tasmania wrote:

The imitations of the Scotch bagpipes were irresistible. We could not have believed that
an instrument capable of discoursing such sweet music could have sent forth sounds as

140
London Stratford Times and South Essex Gazette, “A Concert at the Cape,” January 7, 1859.
141
Colonial Times, “The Turkophone,” October 14, 1854.

42
 harsh and shrill as those which proceed from the Scotch bagpipe, an instrument which to
our ears produces about as pleasant music as the scream of a steam whistle.142

One review relating the timbre of the saxophone is especially pertinent to this paper and

subsequent chapter. At his premier performance in Shanghai the North China Herald wrote:

After a song by Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle which was creditably performed, the first part
concluded with “Recollections of Scotland” upon an instrument, which we trust our
Scotch friends will pardon us for pronouncing, something worse than the Bagpipe – the
imitation, however was admirable, though at the same time, it reminded us most forcibly
of a Chinese instrument, used at Marriages and Funerals.143

The Chinese instrument described here is undoubtedly suona. Suona is a double-reed Chinese

instrument similar to oboe. It has a piercing, reedy sound, not unlike bagpipes, and is most often

used in large outdoor ceremonies, such as marriages and funerals.144 Although there is no

evidence that any Chinese musicians or music lovers heard Sou Alle perform, the timbral

similarities between saxophone and suona were later recognized by Chinese musicians as well.

As is shown in chapter 4, by the 1920s the saxophone was incorporated into the Cantonese Opera

ensemble, replacing or playing together with houguan, the southern variant of suona.

A final note on the timbral flexibility of the saxophone, as described by saxophonist

Larry Teal, when Puccini set the saxophone in his opera Turandot, he did so because of the

saxophone’s ability to blend with the human voice:

An example of the similarity of the saxophone tone to the voice is demonstrated in the
opera Turandot, where Puccini used the alto saxophone to keep a chorus of girls’ voices
on pitch. The chorus is off-stage, so far removed from the pit orchestra that the singers
cannot hear the accompaniment. The alto saxophone blends so well with the female
voices that its presence is not heard in the audience.145

142
Courier, “Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle’s Farewell Concert,” November 8, 1854.
143
North China Daily News, “Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle,” September 20, 1856.
144
Richard Gunde, Culture and Customs of China (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002).
145
Larry Teal, The Art of Saxophone Playing (Alfred Music, 1963), 48.

43
 A final significance of Sou Alle’s activities in China is in the collection of the folk song.

Although no record of a performance exists, as described above, it can easily be assumed that the

piece was performed outside of its premier. The significance here is simple: since 1856 the

saxophone has been used to perform and spread Chinese music.

A direct correlation between Sou Alle’s visit and the start of use of the saxophone by

musicians in China cannot be drawn. However, what can be seen is a very rapid increase in the

numbers of musicians and types of situations in which the saxophone came to be used well

before China’s jazz age.

The Saxophone in China after Sou Alle

Several Chinese sources list the first appearance of the saxophone in China as a part of

Robert Hart’s band in 1886 Beijing. Any search on Baidu (a Chinese equivalent to Google), will

reveal this answer, as will popular texts like Cheng Naishan’s Saxophone on the Sea,146 and even

academic articles like “Analysis of the Development and Current Problems for the Saxophone in

China” by Mo Leng.147 None of these, however, provide a primary source and they can all be

proven incorrect. Robert Hart was Inspector General of Imperial Chinese Customs from 1863 to

1908, and an avid amateur violinist.148 In 1886 Hart purchased instruments from Europe and

established a 14-person band made up of young Chinese amateurs.149 Unfortunately, Hart’s

146
Cheng, Hǎishàng sàkèsī fēng 海上萨克斯风 [Saxohone on the Sea].
Leng, “Qiǎn Xī Sàkèsī Zài Zhōngguó de Fǎ Zhǎn Xiàn Kuàng Jí Cúnzài de Wèntí 浅析萨克斯在中国的发展现
147

况及存在的问题 [Analysis of the Development and Current Problems for the Saxophone in China].”
148
Melvin and Cai, Rhapsody in Red, 84.
149
Sir Robert Hart and James Duncan Campbell, The I. G. in Peking: Letters of Robert Hart, Chinese Maritime
Customs, 1868-1907 (Harvard University Press, 1975), 26.

44
correspondence and other documents from the period make no mention of the saxophone.150

Instead, Hart’s band is regularly referred to as a brass band, and in his correspondence, he

regularly mentions instruments including cornet, trombone, ventil horns, and tenor, baritone, and

bass horns.

Saxophonists would not have to wait long, though, for more performance opportunities.

The next written record of the saxophone in China appears in 1889, when the Shanghai

Philharmonic society discussed ordering the instrument from abroad. Its intended use is not

entirely clear, but from the way that it’s spoken about, it can be surmised the instrument was

wanted for quite a long time:

With the funds accruing…the Committee have been enabled to buy new music stands
which were very badly wanted, several instruments, including a cornet, clarionet in A.,
horn, saxophone and euphonium, instruments absolutely necessary; to renovate and
complete our collection of music which had become very much dilapidated and defective,
and to order a quantity of new music from home. With all these improvements the
Society has now one of the finest repertoires of orchestral music in the East.151

The first avenue through which Chinese musicians came to perform on the saxophone, though,

was in newly formed military bands. By the end of the nineteenth century, Chinese officials and

warlords began incorporating western style military bands into their regiments, of which

saxophone must have been a part. For Governor-general of Hunan and Hubei Zhang Zhidong

and military commander Yuan Shikai (袁世凯, Yuán shìkǎi), western-style military bands served

as a tool for both modernization and discipline in their ranks.152 Feng Wenci (冯文慈，Féng

wéncí) writes:

150
Hart and Campbell, The I. G. in Peking.
151
“Shanghai Philharmonic Society: Report of the Season 1888-1889.”
152
Melvin and Cai, Rhapsody in Red, 84–85.

45
 ... around July 1898, one of the earliest military bands founded by Chinese people was
formed. At the time, Yuan Shikai, a court official of the Qing Dynasty, was training as a
supervised training member of the "New Army" at a small station near Tianjin. As it was
modeled on the "new army" established by the Western military, it abandoned the
traditional “Drum and Wind” bands and built a new Western-style military band. In Yuan
Shikai's preface to "The Warrior's Record Keeping," of July 1898 and October of the
same year, he noted the number of military and musical soldiers, special encounters, and
the number of military instruments to be prepared.”153

He also noted that

... In the culmination of the Xinhai Revolution, there was a wide range of social
influence. The military in various places gradually canceled the old-fashioned “Drum and
Wind" band and replaced it with a new style military band. In succession after the Xinhai
Revolution, institutions, universities, and middle schools in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin,
Wuchang, Suzhou, Changzhou, and Qingdao also formed about a dozen military bands.
For example, folk music composer Liu Tianhua (1895-1932) entered the Changzhou
Middle School to study in 1909, and took part in the school's military band activities; the
Tianjin Private First Middle School formed a 27-person student brass band in 1910;
etc.154

The University of Bristol’s “Historical Photographs of China” collection contains a photograph

depicting just such a Western-style military band.155 Taken as European forces enter Beijing in

1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, the photograph shows a western-style band made up of

Chinese musicians. Viewable in the photo are a sousaphone, a snare drum, and a soprano

saxophone. The Chinese bandsmen wear dark, knee-length tunics that were common dress at the

time, and typical Chinese-style conical hats. To the rear of the band is a similarly dressed armed

regiment and, to the side, European (presumably English) and Sikh men in suits.

As with most of Europe and the United States, for the next 60 or more years after Sou

Alle’s departure the saxophone found its home in the military bands that began spreading

Wenci Feng冯文慈, Zhōngwài Yīnyuè Jiāoliú Shǐ中外音乐交流史 [The History of Chinese and Foreign Musical
153

Exchange] (Beijing: Rénmín yīnyuè chūbǎn人民音乐出版 [People’s Music Publishing, 2013), 281.
154
Ibid., 281–82.
155
“Chinese Band, Civilians and Allied Forces Marching,” Historical Photographs of China, 2011,
https://www.hpcbristol.net/visual/na04-56.

46
throughout the country. By the end of the nineteenth century, military bands were becoming

common not only in the foreign communities, but amongst Chinese musicians as well. For the

military bands that had been in Macau since 1818, by the end of the nineteenth century, the

French model became the standard; a large band of 30 or more musicians including

saxophone.156 Around the same time, the saxophone had become a mainstay in the military and

regimental bands of Macau. We know this because in 1896 Melchor Vela wrote Hymno a Macau

for the Police Guard Band of Macao. The composer wrote for instrumentation including alto

saxophone in Eb.157

As a final note on instrumentation in these early bands, Feng Wenci’s “The History of

Chinese and Foreign Musical Exchange” (中外音乐交流史, Zhōngwài yīnyuè jiāoliú shǐ) is

selective in its terminology, describing four different types of bands: symphonic bands 管弦乐队

(Guǎnxián yuèduì) – with winds and strings –, the old Chinese style military bands 鼓吹 (Gǔ

chuī) – drums and winds –, the new military bands fashioned on the western style New Military (

新军, Xīn jūn) or Military Bands (军乐队, Jūn yuèduì), and brass bands, often for schools or

other smaller organizations 铜管乐队 (Tóngguǎn yuèduì) – brass winds –.158 Although all of

these will often be translated into English as military-style bands or even brass bands, the

specific terminology used in the original language gives insight into the types of ensembles and

the different instruments that might have been used. Although no lists enumerating these

different bands or their instrumentation exist, the fact remains that 1. Saxophones were available

156
Da Veiga Jardim, “The Role of the Military and Municipal Bands in Shaping the Musical Life of Macau, ca.
1820 to 1935.”
157
Ibid., 182.
Feng, Zhōngwài Yīnyuè Jiāoliú Shǐ中外音乐交流史 [The History of Chinese and Foreign Musical Exchange],
158

281–82.

47
for purchase in China (since 1889 saxophones were able to be ordered and were being ordered in

Shanghai, and therefore it can be assumed that the instrument was readily available for use by

different musical ensembles.);159 2. Military bands of many different styles were present in

China; and 3. Since the famous ‘Battle of the Bands’ in France, the French model of military

bands, including saxophone, became prominent throughout Europe and the United States.160

Therefore, from the information provided above, although few direct links can be found, it can

be said with some certainty that saxophones were present in military or military-style bands in

China since the turn of the nineteenth century.

159
“Shanghai Philharmonic Society: Report of the Season 1888-1889.”
160
Hemke, "The Early History of the Saxophone."; Da Veiga Jardim, “The Role of the Military and Municipal
Bands in Shaping the Musical Life of Macau, ca. 1820 to 1935.”

48
 CHAPTER 3

CHINA IN THE JAZZ AGE: 1911-1937

Historical Background

After the ill-fated Boxer Rebellion of 1900 and a decade of failed reforms, the Qing

dynasty fell to a series of rebellions that began October 10, 1911 in the central Chinese city of

Wuhan.161 China was quickly plunged into a civil war that raged between competing warlord

factions, puppet rulers, and the hostile ideologies of the nationalists and communists.162 In quick

succession, Yuan Shikai, warlord-general of vast remnants of the Qing army, declared himself

the president in 1913 and emperor in 1915.163 His death just 6 months later left a power vacuum

that resulted in large-scale battles being fought over control of Beijing for the next 10 years and

involving, in some cases, more than 600,000 Chinese soldiers.164 In the south, Sun Yat-Sen

attempted to establish a democratic government. Even with a large national following, however,

he lacked the military power to maintain control and so had to restart three times between 1917

and 1923.165 When Sun died in 1925, Chiang Kai-shek assumed command, this time with

Russian military backing.166 By 1928 his military campaigns to the north created a tenuous peace

amongst the warlord clans but did little to quell the ideological and military skirmishes between

the nationalists and Mao Zedong’s communists.167 After several years of chasing and purging the

161
Fairbank and Goldman, China, 242.
162
S. C. M. Paine, The Wars for Asia, 1911–1949 (Cambridge University Press, 2012), 109–20.
163
Ibid., 112.
164
Ibid.
165
Ibid., 113.
166
Ibid.
167
Ibid., 113–15.

49
communists, Chiang was forced to focus solely on the new wave of Japanese encroachment.168

The civil war was put on hold, but by no means finished, by the invading Japanese Empire, and

the beginnings of World War II in 1937.169

Jazz

Jazz first entered into the lives of the foreign communities of China via the scores of

records that could be purchased from overseas. In fact, the first mention of jazz in print in the

foreign settlements came in the form of an advertisement for Victor Records in a December,

1917 edition of the North China Daily News:

How would you like to hear Sousa play his inspiring patriotic marches; laugh with Harry
Lauder; dance to the fascinating Jazz Band other famous organizations; finish the evening
by listening to the latest comic-opera ‘hits’? You can enjoy all this and more, every
evening, with a Victorola and Victor Records170.

Just a year later, the first wave of jazz musicians like “Harry Kerry (who arrived in

Shanghai in 1918) and fellow Americans Raymond Breck on banjo and Russell Ellis on

saxophone” formed the first orchestras and began performing in the city’s cafes and

ballrooms.171 By 1919, popular dances like the one-step and fox-trot had made their way to the

foreign settlement at Shanghai, but amateur jazz bands were still needed to “[reinforce] the

strains of the gramophone.”172 In the same year, jazz was being written about for the first time in

Hong Kong’s English language publications. A report from the China Mail June 13, 1919 titled

168
Ibid., 115–18.
169
Ibid., 123–29.
170
North China Daily News, “What Are You Doing To-Night?,” December 11, 1917.
171
James Farrer and Andrew David Field, Shanghai Nightscapes: A Nocturnal Biography of a Global City
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015), 119.
172
M.E.T, “Shanghai in a Looking Glass: Taketh Joy in the Little Things,” North China Herald, September 20,
1919.

50
“The Right Real Jazz” recounts the first performances of “authentic” jazz bands in London and

gives its readers a short background on jazz music and the word jazz itself.

In 1923, interest in jazz had grown enough that, on January 23 of that year, the first radio

broadcast in China (Shanghai) included a jazz performance by the Charlie Band and a saxophone

performance by George Hall.173

By 1924, interest in the saxophone has increased dramatically. The North China Daily

News ran a classifieds section for personal buying and selling of various items, including

saxophones. The October 22 edition of the paper included a listing, selling a “…Conn silver

plated C-melody saxophone in leather velvet lined case. Practically new. Cash $225.”174 And just

a few months later, December 17 of the same year, there was a wanted advertisement for “…a

saxophone in C melody.”175 These two advertisements provide valuable information as to the

private market for saxophones at the time.

First, the advertisement shows that saxophones, and high-quality, name-brand

saxophones at that, were being imported into Shanghai for private use. It also gives insight into

the price of second-hand saxophones in 1924 Shanghai: the price of saxophones was quite a bit

higher than those that could be purchased abroad. The 1922 catalogue listing for Conn silver-

plated C-melody saxophones in was $135-$165, depending on the model.176 Also, listings of this

type tell us that there was indeed private ownership and trading of saxophones. Finally, these two

advertisements show that demand for saxophones must have been relatively high at the time. The

173
John Fangjun Li, “The Development of China’s Music Industry During the First Half of the 20th Century,”
Journal for Higher Degree Research Students in the Social Sciences and Humanities 4 (2011): 15–16.
174
North China Daily News, “For Sale - Miscellaneous,” October 22, 1924.
175
North China Daily News, “Wanted to Purchase,” December 17, 1924.
176
Conn C.G., C.G. Conn New Wonder Saxophones (C.G. Conn, 1922),
https://www.saxophone.org/museum/publications/id/486.

51
wanted ad appearing just two months after the for-sale ad would seem to indicate that the former

was in search of a similar instrument because the latter had been successful in selling the

instrument.

This trend in private ownership continued over the next several years at least and gives

insight into the types of saxophones available for Shanghai performers including Holton Bb

Soprano, Eb Alto and Bb tenor saxophones,177 and Buescher alto saxophones.178 Finally, these

advertisements also show private business catering to private owners. These include an

instrument repair shop where saxophones would be repaired by expert workmen,179 and an

authorized dealer of Conn instruments on the famed Nanking Road.180

There also would seem to have been some misunderstandings about the instrument and a

need for good teachers as well. In an article titled “The Deadly Saxophone” a Shanghai

enthusiast writes in to ask for advice from his fellow readers:

Sir, being eager to learn clarinet, saxophone and other wind-instruments, I wonder if they
are liable to do any harm to the lungs, as a consequence to a permanent player. Would
someone through the paper inform me as to the above, and also where I can get a good
instructor with a moderate charge?181

While the perception of the saxophone and jazz in general was a deeply divisive issue,

which will be discussed below, by the time the first jazz clubs began appearing in the mid-1920s,

it would seem that some musicians were regarded as respected members of the community. The

March 21, 1925 edition of the North China Herald regretfully announces “the death of Mrs.

177
North China Daily News,“For Sale - Miscellaneous,” April 2, 1925.
178
North China Daily News,“For Sale - Miscellaneous,” April 16, 1932.
179
North China Daily News, “Have Your Musical Instrument Repaired by Expert Workmen,” June 11, 1927.
180
North China Daily News,“Indisputably the Best,” September 7, 1929.
181
North China Daily News,“The Deadly Saxophone,” October 2, 1924.

52
Lloyd Frost Harmon, the wife of the popular saxophone player at the Carlton Café.”182 It would

seem that saxophonists, and jazz musicians in general, could be of high-enough stature to rate

condolences in the colony newspaper.

Although Shanghai was first, jazz quickly spread throughout China. In South China, the

British colony of Hong Kong served as the gateway, when “in 1926, the Hongkong & Shanghai

Hotels Ltd., imported two Filipino Bands under Julian Silvero and Andres from Manila, and that

is how jazz was introduced to Hongkong.”183 The introduction of jazz via Filipino musicians

should come as no surprise. Throughout its history, the jazz scene in China was a multi-national,

multi-ethnic affair.

The jazz clubs were well known for their mix of local and foreign patrons, but the bands

in Shanghai followed a hierarchy of prestige. Even as late as the 1940s the musical hierarchy in

the jazz scene still existed with “white and black American musicians on top, Russians second,

Filipinos below them, and at the bottom of the heap, the Chinese musicians.”184 Due to these

segregations, Chinese bands were only permitted to perform during afternoon hours, reserving

the prime evening times for foreigners. Japanese musicians only earned a fraction (often as low

as one-thirtieth) of what musicians from “nationalities with better ‘musical reputations,’ such as

Filipinos and Americans’ would earn. This was only compounded by the fact that musicians

would typically only work in groups that shared their same ethnicity or nationality.”185

For some musicians, though, this inherent unfairness came as a welcome change. For

many black American musicians, Shanghai offered a respite from the racial hardships they faced

182
“Obituary,” North China Herald, March 21, 1925.
183
Tony Lopes, “The History of Jazz in South China,” Blue Rhythm, May 1953, 10.
184
Farrer and Field, Shanghai Nightscapes, 133.
185
Ibid.

53
at home. Early Whaley, a San Francisco-born, Seattle-based saxophonist and band leader

assembled one of the first swing bands on the west coast, known as The Red Hot Syncopators. In

1934 he took his group to Shanghai to perform at clubs like St. Anna’s Ballroom and “personally

convinced his band members to move for the excitement, the steady pay ($150-200 a month),

and because, in Shanghai, African American musicians were treated with greater respect than

they received in most American venues outside the black community.”186 Buck Clayton and his

group noticed the differences as well. As Andrew F. Jones writes “Clayton and his band

members became beneficiaries of the same sorts of colonial privileges enjoyed by other

foreigners in Shanghai (and routinely denied them back home).”187

The jazz scene in South China continued to grow. Amateur groups “who played mostly

by ear” and were “drawn mainly from the Portuguese Community,”188 were replaced with

professional groups and touring acts. Earl Whaley’s band, that later included Filipino pianist

Pomping Villa and also played at the Yellow Dragon Dance Hall in Shanghai, made touring

performances in Hong Kong in the 1930s. And by the 1940s “jazz grew and approached

manhood in Hongkong, Macao, Canton and Kwong Chau Wan (Guangzhou Bay, 广州湾,

Guǎngzhōu wān).”189

The first indication of jazz invading Manchuria was in 1928 Mukden (Shenyang, 沈阳,

Shěn yáng), which had been ceded to the Japanese during the Russo-Japanese war in 1904.190

186
“Earl Whaley Band,” Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed, 2007, http://www.blackpast.org/aaw/earl-whaley-
band.
187
Andrew F. Jones, Yellow Music: Media Culture and Colonial Modernity in the Chinese Jazz Age (Duke
University Press, 2001), 3.
188
Lopes, “The History of Jazz in South China,” 10.
189
Ibid.
190
Paine, The Wars for Asia, 1911–1949.

54
The Manchuria Daily News out of Dairen (Dalian, 大连, Dàlián) wrote:

The Bachelors’ Ball given at the Moukden [sic] Club last Saturday night was one of the
gayest parties given in Mukden for many years. The Club was very tastefully decorated
in jazz colours and posters. The regular Club orchestra had been augmented with
saxophone and banjo players and the music left nothing to be desired.191

As discussed in chapter 5, just a few short years later, after the Mukden incident of 1931, the

whole of Manchuria would come under Japanese rule and start off the Second Sino-Japanese

war.

Period Songs: Shidaiqu

Li Jinhui (黎錦暉, Lí jǐnhuī) (1891-1967)192 started the ‘Period Song’ movement with his

1929 song “Drizzle” (毛毛雨, Máomao yǔ) (recorded in Shanghai and released in gramophone

record format in 1926 by the Pathé Records Company at Shanghai, China) combining traditional

Chinese folk idioms with the newly imported jazz styles.193 Li launched the careers of some of

the biggest names in Chinese pop music, oversaw the establishment of the first all-Chinese jazz

band at an upscale nightclub, and recorded over 100 songs and recorded over a dozen film scores

in the new genre.194 His celebrity in tabloids from the day could match any modern start, news of

his divorce from actress and singer Xu Lai (徐来, Xú lái) running in no fewer than five Hong

Kong newspapers for more than two years.

191
Manchuria Dail News, “Mukden Notes,” March 8, 1928.
192
Hong-Yu Gong, “Music, Nationalism and the Search for Modernity in China, 1911-1949,” New Zealand Journal
of Asian Studies 10, no. 2 (December 2008): 64.
193
Szu-Wei Chen, “The Rise of and Generic Features of Shanghai Popular Songs in the 1930s and 1940s,” Popular
Music 24/1 (2005): 108.
194
Jones, Yellow Music, 2001, 73.

55
 For his efforts, he was constantly derided from all sides throughout his career. The

supporters of the May 4th movement, which sought to modernize China, chastised his use of folk

songs and popular song forms. His music was labeled decadent and unpatriotic by the fascist

Kuo MinTang (Chinese Nationalist Party, 国民党, Guó mín dǎng) and the invading Japanese

Empire. When the communists took power in 1949, his music was labeled yellow,

pornographic,195 a charge that would ultimately lead to his death in1967 during the horrific

purges of the cultural revolution.196

The ‘Modern’ or ‘Period’ Song movement197 was at its core a blending of traditional

Chinese idioms with newly introduced forms of foreign music. As Andrew F. Jones writes, the

Modern Song genre incorporated “Hawaiian style guitar embellishing melodies drawn from the

surrounding southeastern Chinese countryside, Soviet-style accordion accompanied by Chinese

clappers, scat singing crossed with melismatic vocal production typical of late Qing dynasty

courtesan houses. There are blues vamps, Cuban rhythms, and episodes of New-Orleans style

polyphony as well as European waltzes.”198

As might be expected, the saxophone had a part to play in this story as well. The earliest

recording of Li Jinhui’s “Drizzle”, and the song that thrust the Period Song genre into public

attention, displays many of the features of the cross-over genre. The opening section of the song

features the saxophone performing the melody with sparse accompaniment, much like the role of

the erhu in Chinese opera. The saxophone fades out just as the woodblock signals the singer, Lin

195
Note: yellow has long been a euphemistic way to describe pornographic materials or acts, both literally and
metaphorically
196
Jones, Yellow Music, 2001, 73–74.
197
Note: 时代 shidai is directly translated as period, as in period of time, but precisely what time is unclear; it is
likely that at the time the songs were introduced the name would be best translated as ‘Modern’ songs, but now,
nearly 100 years after the fact, ‘Period’ would likely be the best translation.
198
E. Taylor Atkins, ed., Jazz Planet (Jackson, Miss: Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2003), 233.

56
Jinhui’s daughter, Li Minghui (黎明辉, Lí mínghuī), to enter; again, very much a Chinese opera

form. Other cross-over elements can be seen in the use of a clarinet to accompany the singer’s

pentatonic melodies in unison, not unlike the role of erhu in Chinese opera. In addition to the

singer’s distinctly Chinese timbre (a very forward, nasal tone-color typical of Chinese folk

singing), the cross over aspects can be heard at the very opening of the recording when the

announcer proclaims, in a mix of English and Chinese “But I hope, 可请李明辉女士唱毛毛雨”

[But I hope we can invite Miss Li Minghui to sing “Drizzle”].

Another representative piece is Li Jinhui’s 1935 “Very Fast Train”. The first thing one

hears on listening is the saxophone section imitating a train whistle, very reminiscent of Billy

Strayhorn’s “Take the A Train”. Except, of course, that this was recording was released 4 years

before Strayhorn’s composition. However, as Andrew F. Jones points out a direct comparison is

neither necessary nor very useful, but instead, it serves to

assert [that] the functional simultaneity of this sort of musical innovation ought to signal
to us the extent to which both composers were participating in a globalized musical idiom
for which the speed of modern transport (trains and ocean-going vessels) and modern
communications (gramophones, radio, cinema) were a fundamental condition of
possibility. And interestingly enough, both songs go beyond mere mimesis; they are,
instead, self-conscious attempts to represent those conditions in musical terms.199

In terms of style, the song displays many of the same aspects of the cross-over Period

Song genre: a long instrumental introduction, melodies doubled between instruments in unison,

the singer’s timbre, and the fact that the singer is accompanied in unison by the piano in a very

simplified right-hand-only style that was also described by other musicians at the time.200

199
Ibid., 227.
200
Note: See excerpt from Whitey Smith’s memoir quoted below

57
 Finally, it should be noted that it was not only Chinese musicians like Li Jinhui that were

marketing new song forms to Chinese audiences. Famous jazz trumpeter Buck Clayton, who

after a two year stay in Shanghai went on to become a member of the famed Count Basie

Orchestra, took work in a lower-class club called the Casa Nova Ballroom. In his memoir,

Clayton said that he and his group “were obliged to play Chinese music so [they] began to learn

how.”201

Bandleader and jazz drummer Whitey Smith also sought to attract Chinese customers by

combining different forms of music. Speaking of Smith’s memoir, Farrer and Field write

The Majestic Hotel’s manager James Taggart persuaded [Smith] to find a way to attract
Chinese customers to the ballroom, since there were not enough foreigners in the city to
supply the enormous clover-leaf-shaped ballroom with a steady business. After trying
various visual gimmicks, all to no avail, Smith took the advice of an American-educated
Chinese friend and began to incorporate Chinese folk melodies into his repertoire, thus
making his music more easily recognizable to Chinese listeners. Smith and his orchestra
worked hard to simplify their compositions in order to bring out the melody more clearly.
Much to his distaste, the pianist was forced to play one note at a time. Ultimately the
strategy worked, and soon Chinese revelers began to patronize that ballroom and others
in record numbers…202

Perceptions of the Saxophone

When considering the place of the saxophone within China’s jazz age, the perception of

the instrument by those interacting with it must be considered. A recurring theme for the

saxophone in China’s jazz age is the diametric nature of its acceptance. While one will describe

the sound as “revolting” another will describe it as “gorgeous and playful”. Several editorials in

English-language Chinese newspapers and artistic interpretations of saxophone appear during

this time that give varying opinions on the instrument.

201
Buck Clayton, Buck Clayton’s Jazz World. (London: Continuum International Pub. Group, 1995), 76,
http://www.myilibrary.com?id=320771.
202
Farrer and Field, Shanghai Nightscapes, 119–20.

58
 Interestingly, one of the earliest mentions of the symbolic nature of the saxophone is as a

symbol for the city of Shanghai itself:

It has been said that one can judge a city by its public monuments but until the time
comes when we who dwell in Shanghai can proudly display a silver saxophone shining
aloft on its Carrara pedestal, I fear a stranger’s judgement of our own will be amiss.203

The flamboyant nature of such a scene, the Carrara being a popular night club at the time,

describes not only the perception of the saxophone as an ostentatious instrument, but also the

ostentatious nature of the entertainments of Shanghai. The representation of the saxophone as a

symbol of the city of Shanghai appears again in Saxophone on the Sea, a narrative memoir by

Shanghai native Cheng Naishan (程乃珊, Chéng nǎishān). She writes

If you wanted to use musical instruments to describe Hong Kong and Shanghai, I think,
Hong Kong is a piano: dynamic, rhythmic, an even cluster of chords, the personality of
each note distinct. Shanghai, is a saxophone: spoiled like an old aristocrat, whether it is
among new densely enclosed glass towers or old walls and narrow lanes, it will have on it
layers upon layers of ‘past’, a ‘past’ that is no longer empty, but with details that are true
and lasting. Just like the saxophone, the importance of the past is not only its tone color,
but its creative mood.204
I believe that the fragrance of Shanghai at that time was “Parisian Nights” perfume, and
that is the saxophone’s fragrance as well.205

Another recurring theme in discussions on the saxophone at the time is that it is

considered nothing more than an extremely noisy and altogether unpleasant-to-listen-to

instrument. There are several accounts, mostly tongue-in-cheek, that describe the horrible fate of

being forced to listen to a saxophonist and that in such cases violence might be the best answer.

An article in a 1924 edition of the North China Daily News titled “Oh! Those Saxes!” explains

that

203
Bruce Lockhart, “Southward Ho!,” North China Herald, August 30, 1924.
204
Cheng, Hǎishàng sàkèsī fēng 海上萨克斯风 [Saxohone on the Sea], 1–5.
205
Ibid., 7.

59
 Even in those happy far off days before jazz music was invented…the utter hopelessness
of the present day was unknown. Even the greatest optimist in the world could never
regard a saxophone solo in any light except as a penance. At least different instruments,
when played together, give an impression of rhythm and tune. Do you ever think of the
trials of those who live next door to performers in jazz bands? If you are lucky you may
live next a jazz pianist, or even the gentleman who undergoes those contortions with his
violin. If you are not afraid of thunderstorms jazz drums are not really so bad. If,
however, a saxophone player has moved in next door, then indeed, like me, you have
touched the bottom level of bad luck. It is useless to blame Mr. Sach [sic], who invented
the instrument over 70 years ago. Like the inventor of the guillotine, he would have died
of a broken heart if he could have seen the misuses his invention had been put to. For
although no modern masonry is strong enough to withstand the mournful blare of a
saxophone, heard through a muffling of blinds and curtains, it may have a lethargic
instead of insomnatic effect.206

Similar sentiments were felt in Southern China, where a restaurant-goer wrote that there is

“…great difficulty in finding a restaurant where meals can be eaten without the disadvantage of a

depressing saxophone and other weird and noisy instruments.207

News regarding saxophones all the way from Trenton, New Jersey even reached the

papers of the Shanghai based North China Daily News where they reported

Enactment of a bill to permit throwing of hand grenades at saxophones, was urged in the
assemble to-day by Assemblyman Muir of Union, during a debate which led to the repeal
of the bill requiring three months’ notice before tenants may move or landlords may
increase rents. “I am exhibit A,” Assemblyman Muir announced. “I was living in a house
comfortably with goldfish and canaries and steam-heated doormats and though I was
settled for life. Then a gentleman with a mean disposition and a saxophone moved next
door. I could not move for three months. They are poisoning our liberty at Washington. I
know, but I hope some day [sic] we may have the right to hurl hand grenades at
saxophones disturbing our peace.208

There also appear, in the North China Daily New Magazine Supplement, several jokes that speak

to the annoyance felt towards saxophones:

206
Sybil Vincent, “Oh! Those Saxes!,” North China Daily News, September 19, 1924.
207
Landon Ronald, “Why Do We Eat to Jazz Music?,” North China Daily News, October 23, 1924.
208
“From Day to Day,” North China Daily News, April 5, 1927.

60
 Sir, would you give five dollars to bury a saxophone player? Here’s thirty dollars; bury
six of em.209

An instrument has just been invented which is said to be an improvement on the

saxophone. Well, it couldn’t be worse.210

This, though stands in contrast to other descriptions of the saxophone’s tone, such as that

portrayed in Saxophone on the Sea:

The saxophone's timbre is gorgeous and playful, from the tender romance overflows a
touch of desolate melancholy. The saxophone is like an old gentleman who has
experienced the vicissitudes of life, but still maintains a cynical demeanor. On the
backside of a neon light with a red flag in the night, in his own empty courtyard, he alone
holds a non-existent one. The imaginary ideal partner dances and rotates through Waltz in
his own world!211

There are also many articles and even artwork in which the saxophone is portrayed as a

tool for immorality, a degradation of the minds of young people, and even a breakdown of

society. Though it seems attitudes in America may be changing, the author here still notes that

jazz was a social deterioration and that, even now, the American affinity for the artform cannot

be explained by the seductive qualities of the saxophone:

If you had said to the average American a year or two ago that jazz was rubbish from an
artistic point of view, and demoralizing or pernicious from a social point of view, he
would have agreed with you. It was, from the continuing Puritanical standpoint, a bit
scandalous; its growing popularity an indication of social deterioration. The average
Americans could not deny that he enjoyed it just the same; but he did not dream of
rationalizing his enjoyment by long explanations about the promise of American musical
art contained in the luring life of the saxophone.212

In an interview, London based composer Mascagni was asked what he thought about

jazz. His response is that he does not like it and that it is a “degeneration of negro music.”

209
North China Daily News, “Sir, Would You Give...,” September 28, 1930, Magazine Supplement edition.
210
North China Daily News, “An Instrument Has Just Been Invented,” June 7, 1931, Magazine Supplement edition.
211
Cheng, Hǎishàng sàkèsī fēng 海上萨克斯风 [Saxohone on the Sea].
212
North China Standard, Virgil Jordan, “Jazz and American Life,” October 3, 1924.

61
Further, about saxophone he says “I cannot conceive a worse instrument than a modern

saxophone; the sound of such an instrument is revolting, and to say that modern generations are

enraptured with it is, to my mind, an insult to modern mentality.” The author from the North

China Herald did not agree with his view on saxophones but did agree about a return to “old

plain melodious music.”213 Here, then, we see a wish to return to ‘the good days’ of music, and

those days did not include saxophone.

In that same vein, reminiscing about the past, a North China Herald editorial describes

the youth culture surrounding jazz, with saxophone as its representative, as a break-down of

societal conventions:

Those were the days of leisure, when one drank one’s wine in peace and took chocolate
in bed. But to imagine men in fripperies in an era of undergrounds and subways, in the
bustle of the time clock and the efficiency expert, who measure the number of strokes a
clerk makes with his pen to determine the cost of overheads of an enterprise is almost as
jazz as ‘Yes, we have no bananas,’ and its equally grotesque successor…Jazz broke down
some of these conventions. For who could really jazz in a long tail or with starched
shirts…Therein lies the moral of the thing: jazz is not so much a song or a dance as it is a
habit of mind.
In the latest expression of jazz, the Charleston, one just whirls and twirls away in a
Dervish sort of way, and in the hope, perhaps, that the saxophone will end its pitiful
wail.” “For this too is a very jazzy business, a world of much make-believe in which
those who so seriously confer with each other know that on the morrow some machine-
guns, piping to the tune of some civil warrior or renegade subordinate, will upset it all,
only for another start, just as when the saxophone is laid down to give the mandolin a
chance.214

Finally, one of the most profound depiction of the supposed degrading effect of jazz and

the saxophone on western society comes in the form of a painting shown in London and

described and discussed in Shanghai newspapers. The painting in question is J.B. Souter’s

“Breakdown”. The scene depicted is a black man in a tuxedo and top hat playing a saxophone

213
North China Herald,“Mascagni on Jazz,” July 31, 1926.
214
North China Herald,“The Age of Jazz,” December 5, 1925.

62
while seated on a large, broken and toppled marble statue. In the foreground, a nude woman,

who is white, is shown dancing.

The reviewer in the June 19, 1926 North China Herald notes that “the scandal of touring

revue companies run by bogus managers and the ever-debatable colour question are admirably

expressed.”215 The article also provides the artist’s remarks in which he states that “the fallen

statue of Minerva typifies the breaking down of the Western tradition.” He also describes the title

of the piece as the name of “a negro dance, vigorous more than graceful, where the dancer makes

much noise with her feet.”

The article also includes a review from an art critic in the London Times which reads

Mr. Souter’s picture is a truckling to the less admirable journalism. It represents a nude
lady dancing to the tune of a saxophone played by a nigger who is seated on the head of a
fallen colossal statue it may be Britannia or it may be Minerva. Now it is not true that any
civilization worth a cent has succumbed to the saxophone, and if it were it would not be a
pictorial subject. Though, indeed, even here a certain symbolism might be claimed, and
the green shoe in the foreground, brings the picture aptly into the category of social
verisimilitude represented by a certain hat. But, if it stands for artistic truth, and not for
scare-lines, the Academy should not encourage pictures like ‘The Breakdown.’216

This painting and the reactions to it show some very interesting things about the perception of

the saxophone at the time. First, why did the artist choose the saxophone over any other possible

instrument? It must surely be because of its inseparable associations with jazz. Trumpet,

trombone, or piano, these instruments have a history that predates jazz,217 but the saxophone

does not have that long of a past. The fallen statue signifies western culture, as the artist states,

and so it must have been brought down by jazz. The critic rebuffs this idea though, stating that

civilization has not yet given in to jazz and its harbinger, the saxophone. Finally, it is possible

215
North China Herald, “Journalese and the Big Headings,” June 19, 1926.
216
Ibid.
217
Cottrell, The Saxophone.

63
that the artist was trying to convey something of power narratives, that ‘black’ music now held

the power; imagine the same painting but with a clothed white-man playing for a dancing black

woman.

Some Chinese authors have also written narrative short stories that include mentions of

the saxophone. One of the most famous authors of Shanghai’s jazz age was Mu Shiying: a

modernist, a self-styled ‘new sensationalist’, and a writer whose works reflected the time in

which he lived. Two of his most famous works include mentions of saxophone and give us

insight into the perceptions of the saxophone by Chinese artists at the time. First, a passage from

his short story Shanghai Fox-Trot:

Azure dusk envelopes the space completely, a saxophone reaches its neck, opens up a
pair of lips, whoowhoo pounds them shouting. In the middle of that polished floor,
whirling skirts, whirling cheongsam slits, exquisite shoe heels, shoe heels, shoe heels,
shoe heels, shoe heels. Fluffed hair and male faces. Male white shirt collars and female
smiles. Arms reach out, jadeite earrings swing down to shoulders. The round tables in
ordered ranks, but the chairs in disarray. Waiters in white stand in darkened corners. The
smell of alcohol, smell of perfume, smell of English ham and eggs, smell of
cigarettes…singles sit in corners taking hits of black coffee to shock their nerves.

The scene takes place as the young male protagonist is tasked with keeping his father’s mistress

entertained for the evening. They arrive at the club and the anthropomorphized saxophone is a

woman scat-singing, bellowing out an improvised melody. Here, the saxophone is an instrument

of the night, an instrument that signals the sexuality of whirling skirts and cheongsam slits. The

saxophone is the instigator, the harbinger. As the night wears on at the club “the story becomes

more and more dreamy, tangled and disjointed, much as a night on the town involving dancing,

bar-hopping and copious amounts of alcohol might feel. The cabaret takes on the qualities of a

Chagall painting, with dancers ‘floating in air’ as they waltz to the music.”

The second passage comes from The Man Who Was Treated as a Plaything, a story of

young love and jealousy, thought to be perhaps semi auto-biographical:

64
 “I fell in love with you the first time I saw you!” She put her lovely head into my arms,
giggling. “It’s only you who I am searching for! What a lovely masculine face you have,
such a strong jawline, so modern looking . . . such gentle eyes, a knowing mouth . . .” I
let that lying mouth of hers spill forth words like frothy beer foam. “This mouth may not
be telling the truth.” At the dorm, I thought this again. From the window upstairs
somebody was blowing on a Saxophone. The spring breeze blew on my face, curling up
my collar. “Heavens! Heavens!”
The four lamps on the bridge, their dim yellow light floated on the surface of the water,
as I sat there quietly. One by one, cars drove past on the road, their lights shining on the
trees and casting shadows, only to pass by. None of them took a turn and headed into the
campus, in the end, all of the lovers walking in the night entered the campus; they all
knew me, and their surprised eyes shone pair by pair as they passed me. From the
window of the dorm a Saxophone charged me—I opened my mouth wide and yelled:
“When one is lovable, love one! Women’s hearts, like the plum rains, are
unpredictable—" Thinking of Rongzi in another man’s embrace, I felt as if my heart had
been dug out. When all the lights on campus had gone out, treading on the desolate
moonlight, like the rustling of leaves in the autumn wind, I walked back alone,
dejected…

In these two scenes the use of the saxophone as a symbolic device is perhaps less clear. In

both cases the instrument was chosen, of any instrument or sound that could have been chosen,

when describing doubts and melancholy about love. Words like sorrowful,218 heartrending,219

mournful,220 depressing,221 and pitiful222 appear frequently in writings of the time to describe the

sound of the instrument and so this cannot be a coincidence. There is also the changing nature of

the saxophone’s sound or effect. In the first passage, thinking of burgeoning love and

uncertainty, the saxophone is blowing, just like the spring breeze that follows it. In the second

passage however, the narrator thinks of his lover in another man’s arms and is charged by the

saxophone. In both cases, the instrument causes him to exclaim.

218
North China Daily News, “The Listener,” April 24, 1932.
219
Ibid.
220
Vincent, “Oh! Those Saxes!”
221
Ronald, “Why Do We Eat to Jazz Music?”
222
North China Daily News, “The Age of Jazz.” December 5, 1925.

65
 This is not the only time a Chinese author has spoken of the saxophone in relation to love

either. In Saxophone on the Sea the author refers to saxophone as the “playboy” of western

instruments:

If, amongst western instruments, the violin is a poet, then the saxophone, amongst
western instruments, is a playboy. It is the soul of Broadway music, the protagonist of the
ballroom, the rhythm of metropolitan life. Its color is intense and eye-catching. If you
wanted to describe the texture of scarlet velvet to a blind man, I would recommend
listening to the saxophone.223

For those Chinese artists that became enamered with the saxophone, then, the instrument

represented a move away from convention. The sound of the saxophone, the velveteen sonority

entwined with sexuality and the individualistic nature of jazz music, stood in opposition to the

traditional conservatism and Confucian piety of Chinese society. In these contexts, moving away

from Chinese traditionalism meant moving toward a form of colonial modernity in which

moving away from tradition meant moving toward the West. However, it is important to see this

modernity “in a manner responsive to both the irreducible specificity of the local and the

immense complexity of the global.”224 This can be seen in the responses to Li Jinhui’s Period

Songs. A mix of folk music, Chinese opera, and Western jazz, his style was labeled decadent and

unpatriotic by the nationalists, pornographic by the communists, and revealed the music of

China’s jazz age as “a larger and infinitely more complex process whereby national cultures are

rearticulated within the new global framework of colonial modernity.”225 As with much of the

world, the jazz age in China saw the saxophone become an inseparable and even representative

member of the new genre. Although this representation would take saxophonists to new heights

223
Cheng, Hǎishàng sàkèsī fēng 海上萨克斯风 [Saxohone on the Sea], 1–5.
224
Jones, Yellow Music, 2001, 9.
225
Ibid., 10.

66
and across cultural barriers during the jazz age, just a few short years later those same

associations would see the downfall of many of its practitioners.

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a style of stage shows – comedy acts, singing, dancing, circus acts, etc –

that was among the most popular forms of American entertainment from the late nineteenth

century until the early days of talking pictures.226 The vaudeville craze never truly caught on in

China,227 but throughout the 1920s there were vestiges of minstrel shows and vaudeville acts

including saxophone.

On March 14, 1924 the Beijing North China Standard reported on a vaudeville act called

“Goofus Feathers”. Pictured in the article is a SATB saxophone quartet in clown costumes and

painted faces. The caption reads “The Athletic Association of the 15th U.S. Infantry of Tientsin

[Tianjin].”228

Also in 1924, a set of saxophone records could be purchased through advertisements in

the North China Daily News. For $1, interested parties could purchase a saxophone sextet record

titled “Ghost of Saxophone”. Although no further information is given, it is likely that this is the

famous Six Brown Brothers’ “Ghost of the Saxophone – Fox Trot” by F. Henri Klickmann

226
D. Travis Stewart, No Applause--Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous (New York:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006), 3–4.
227
See: Christopher Rea, The Age of Irreverence: A New History of Laughter in China (Univ of California Press,
2015); Melvin and Cai, Rhapsody in Red; Gail Hershatter, “The Hierarchy of Shanghai Prostitution, 1870-1949,”
Modern China 15, no. 4 (October 1989): 463–98.
228
North China Standard, “Goofus Feathers,” March 7, 1924.

67
released by Victor Records in 1917.229 Further evidence of this is given by the fact that the

records are being sold at half price, which might be expected of a record that is 7 years old.230

In 1926 Manchuria, the Dairen Ladies’ Amateur Dramatic society put on a performance

of “The Naughty Duchess in a Snowdrift” accompanied by “Mr. Dening on piano and Mr.

Larkins on saxophone.”231 Information on “The Naughty Duchess” could not be found, but the

name, time period, use of the saxophone, and lack of a mention of jazz, would seem to indicate

that this was a vaudevillian event.232

The final Vaudevillian remnant involving the saxophone in China comes in the form of a

minstrel show in 1929 Shanghai. The reviewer writes “an altogether novel entertainment was

provided by the C.B.A. on Thursday last. By arrangement with Mr. J.M. Guterres ‘A Minstrel

Revue’ together with ‘The Cotton Pickers Band’ constituted a most delightful concert...[with]

two violins, a saxophone and drummer [ ] part of the Minstrel compliment…”233

Military and Classical Saxophone Performances

The 1920s and 30s also offered performance opportunities for saxophonists outside of

jazz and vaudeville. The first evidence of this comes from a 1925 review in the North China

Herald of an amateur performance in Shanghai. The review reads:

The musical programme which followed the tiffin was arranged by Mrs. C. J. Huber who
also played most of the accompaniment with sympathetic ease. The popular Harmony
Quartette composed of Messrs. W.W. Peter, O.R. Magill, R.S. Hall and H.H. Cameron
sang a group of negro spirituals – Babylon’s ‘Listen to the Lamb,’ and ‘Standin in the

229
Bruce Vermazen, That Moaning Saxophone : The Six Brown Brothers and the Dawning of a Musical Craze: The
Six Brown Brothers and the Dawning of a Musical Craze (Oxford University Press, USA, 2004), 219.
230
North China Daily News, “Phonograph Records at Half Price,” March 13, 1924.
231
Manchuria Daily News,“Ladies’ Amateur Dramatic Society,” March 11, 1926.
232
Ibid.
233
North China Daily News,“Minstrels and Cotton Pickers Band,” May 11, 1929.

68
 Need of Prayer’ – with excellent effect; Mr. J. Sommers, accompanied by Mr. J. Elder
demonstrated the possibilities of the saxophone…234

Since the event was presented at the Rotary Club and jazz was not mentioned directly, it can be

assumed that this was a ‘classical’ performance of the instrument. Also, given how jazz was

spoken about at the time it is likely that a concert involving jazz would not have been referred to

as “An Attractive Programme of Music”.

Outside of Shanghai, we find evidence of saxophone being featured in orchestras in the

Manchurian city of Dairen. In a 1926 advertisement for the Cabaret Babylon, several musicians

are listed to entice audience members to attend a series of concerts. Among the musicians listed

is “Mr. Iwasheynikoff” playing in a “Grand Classical Concert” on saxophone and flute. Since

there is a separate listing for a jazz orchestra (unnamed) directly below, it seems quite certain

that Mr. Iwasheynikoff was not engaged as a jazz musician.235

Early the next year, the Municipal Orchestra in Shanghai held a “concert for young

people” that featured soloists on flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, and bassoon with orchestral

accompaniment.236 The exact repertoire is not given, but it can be readily concluded that the

performance was not related to jazz.

Several months later, the Manchuria Daily News features an article about the disbanding

of the Yamato Hotel Orchestra. The orchestra is disbanding, it is explained, because several of its

members, including the conductor, a flutists, saxophonists, and pianists are retiring but intend to

continue giving lessons in the city of Dairen.237 Again, in this period and especially Manchurian

234
North China Herald, “Ladies’ Day at the Rotary Club: An Attractive Programme of Music,” August 29, 1925.
235
“Cabaret Babylon,” Manchuria Daily News, September 4, 1926.
236
“Municipal Orchestra - Town Hall,” North China Daily News, February 22, 1927.
237
Manchuria Daily News, “Yamato Hotel Orchestra,” November 22, 1927.

69
newspapers, an orchestra whose main focus was jazz would have been listed specifically as

such.238

The majority of performance opportunities for saxophonists outside of the jazz realm,

though, came in the form of the military bands stationed in China. In 1910 the First Marine

Regiment established the first Marine band, and indeed the first US Military band, in Beijing

China. Initially staffed by volunteers from the regular regiment, the band was, shortly after

establishment, filled by regular band members.239 As Chester M. Biggs writes in The United

States Marines in North China:

In 1919, the Marine Band introduced the first saxophone to North China…the band not
only played at all Marine parades, but also held weekly concerts during the summer in the
bandstand in the center of the Marine Compound…they played at Catholic University,
Yen Ching and the Yu Ying Academy, various churches and missions, several foreign
embassies and some funerals.240

The Fourth Marine band, stationed in Shanghai in 1927, gave several performances and is

one of the best documented military bands of which records still exists from the time. 241 One of

the functions of this band was performing for church services for the Fourth Regiment Church

every Sunday. The services regularly featured a saxophone group, often a quartet or octet, of

which mentions are made in the North China Herald regularly from 1929 on. One such mention

was on February 9, 1929, where “the deep organ-like tones of the saxophone octette [sic], in a

238
See Manchuria Daily News 1926-1930
239
“The United States Marines in North China, 1894–1942 - Chester M. Biggs, Jr. - Google Books,” 147–48,
accessed April 19, 2018,
https://books.google.com/books?id=S8YtE0SIDq0C&pg=PA148&dq=saxophone+chinese+civil+war&hl=en&sa=X
&ved=0ahUKEwisqtDTxcXaAhUI4oMKHWRpBwEQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=saxophone%20chinese%20civil
%20war&f=false.
240
Ibid., 148.
241
Versaw, The Last China Band, 7-.

70
selection arranged by Pte. Weeks of the band, were particularly appreciated” by the

congregation.242

The saxophonists of the 4th marine band would also perform in settings such as popular

minstrel shows. An advertisement for one such event includes a photograph of a saxophone

quartet from the band. Wearing tuxedos and bowties with a large cummerbund and sash, the

quartet consists of two altos, a tenor, and a bass saxophone.243

Finally, there were also opportunities for saxophone soloists within the Marine band. As

the North China Daily New describes:

Honouring the U.S. Naval Transport Chaumont, now in port, the bandmaster, Tech Sgt.
Leon Freda, arranged a special all-marine programme for the concert which followed the
service. Pfc. Milton W. Potter, a newcomer to the Marines’ Band, was the guest soloist,
playing with the band accompanying, two beautiful saxophone solos, Wiedoft’s [sic]
‘Waltz Mazanetta’ and Drdla’s delightful ‘Souvenir.’ Both solos were generously
applauded by the appreciative congregation.244

In addition to the established regimental bands, individual members of other military

regiments included saxophonists as well. Evidence of this comes from a March 14th, 1924

Minstrel Show performance of a saxophone quartet from the “Athletic Association of the 15th

U.S. Infantry of Tientsin” called “Goofus Feathers.”245

242
North China Herald,“Fourth Regiment Church,” February 9, 1929.
243
North China Daily News,“Before the Camera This Week,” April 9, 1933, Easter Greetings edition.
244
“Judge Not, That Ye Be Not Judged,” North China Daily News, July 19, 1937.
245
“Goofus Feathers.”

71
 CHAPTER 4

CANTONESE OPERA: 1920s AND PRESENT

Introduction

Since the 1920s, one of the most important performance opportunities for saxophonists in

China has been in Cantonese opera ensembles. These groups, which are the ‘pit orchestras’

accompanying Cantonese Opera stage performances, are one of the unique performance

opportunities for saxophonists in China because, unlike other imported genres where saxophone

has been used, this one is native to China. Unfortunately, records enumerating instrumentation or

orchestral performers that would give insight into the timeline of saxophone performance in the

genre are all but non-existent. All that remains are clips of famous orchestra leaders being

innovative by adding saxophone,246 or famous multi-instrumentalists that were known for their

abilities on saxophone.247 This means that a list of primary sources presenting a cohesive

timeline of saxophone performance within the genre, as is the focus of other chapters in this

document, is impossible.

Instead, this chapter deals with the saxophonists involved in the genre: how they study

the art form, the performance opportunities available to them, and the knowledge necessary to be

proficient in their craft. Finally, performance practice, especially as it pertains to improvisation,

246
Paul Clark, Laikwan Pang, and Tsan-Huang Tsai, Listening to China’s Cultural Revolution: Music, Politics, and
Cultural Continuities, 2016, 140.
247
Guǎngdōng Yìshù 广东艺术 [Guangdong Arts],“Wǒmen Shì Bànzòu, Ér Bùshì Yǎnzòu: Fǎng Yuèjù Yīnyuè
Rén Huángzhuàngmóu 我们是伴奏，而不是演奏: 访粤剧音乐人黄壮谋 [We Are Accompanists, Not
Performers: Interview with Cantonese Opera Musician Huang Zhuangmou],” August 11, 2017.

72
has been well documented by researchers like Yung and Chan,248 and will be reviewed as relates

specifically to saxophonists.

Historical Outline

The history of Cantonese Opera stretches back nearly 400 years to China's Ming

Dynasty.249 It's earliest beginnings as part of the larger story of Chinese opera, however, stretch

back at least as far as the Song and Yuan Dynasties,250 and includes stories of foreign influence,

changing trade centers, regional folk traditions, and national political movements.

Cantonese Opera is a regional style of Chinese opera that was born and continues to

thrive in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) area251 of China’s Guangdong province. Regional

variations of Chinese opera are incredibly diverse and numerous, Cantonese opera being just one

of the 14 genres of opera performed in Southern China's Guangdong province alone.252 These

opera genres have always been strongly rooted in religious rituals and local traditions of folk

music.253

Shamanistic rituals involving singing and dancing to invoke the gods have existed in

Chinese traditions since antiquity. By the Spring and Autumn period, court jesters would act out

248
Bell Yung, Cantonese Opera: Performance as Creative Process (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2009); Sau Y Chan, Improvisation in a Ritual Context: The Music of Cantonese Opera (Hong Kong: Chinese
University Press, 1991).
249
WING CHUNG NG, The Rise of Cantonese Opera (Urbana; Chicago; Springfield: University of Illinois Press,
2015), 12.
250
Ibid.
251
Note: the PRD area is a rough triangle, the points of which are Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Macau, that share a
closely related cultural and socio-economic history
252
Chan, Improvisation in a Ritual Context, 1.
253
Yung, Cantonese Opera, 1.

73
stories as they spoke them to better appease their audience.254 The first form of classical opera

took the form of zaju (variety play, 杂剧, Zá jù) during the Song and Yuan periods.255 These

variety plays were for "social satire, moral advice, and entertainment"256 and included many of

the elements seen in later, formalized Cantonese opera including "singing and dancing, musical

accompaniment by percussion and melodic instruments, recitation and dialogue, make-up and

costume, acrobatics and clowning. Skits with narrative content were often interwoven with

segments of dance, acrobatic display, martial arts, slapstick, and other forms of non-narrative

entertainment."257

The Ming dynasty saw the rise of three important styles of Chinese opera that marked the

first major national dissemination of formerly regional styles. The yiyang style originating in

Jiangxi and the bangzi style originating the northern provinces of Shanxi (山西, Shānxī),

Shaanxi (陕西, Shǎnxī), and Hebei (河北, Héběi) became a dominant force in the establishment

of local musical drama style.258 The more "versatile and dynamic yiyang and bangzi styles were

particularly susceptible to a process of artistic amalgamation, picking up folk tunes, expressions,

and dialects specific to that region, even as the imprints of their musical structure and plot

designs remained apparent on the local stage."259

By contrast, the kunqu style that developed in the lower Yangzi region of Jiangnan was a

more constrained style that appealed to and was patronized by the literati elites.260 Kunqu

254
Ibid.
255
NG, The Rise of Cantonese Opera, 12.
256
Yung, Cantonese Opera, 1.
257
Ibid.
258
NG, The Rise of Cantonese Opera, 12.
259
Ibid.
260
Ibid., 13.

74
(associated with the literati classes) and Peking opera (performed at the royal court) came to be

performed throughout China. Professional script writers and performers could receive great

financial reward in return for their talents in these two genres.261 In contrast, the regional operas

performed throughout the country were a form of social entertainment, as well as an integral part

of religious ceremonies and mass communication.262

By the early Qing dynasty, scores of northern government officials were dispatched to

Guangzhou to oversee the influx of trading with foreign merchants. By 1757, foreign trade was

limited to only the inland city of Guangzhou and thus followed a stream of merchants, and

servicemen and artists to cater to them.263 The opening of the port to foreign trade and the

subsequent flow of wealth led to an influx of wealthy merchants from throughout China. This

influx brought about the performance of what came to be known as waijiangban, troupes from

different provinces. The wealthy merchants would pay good money to hear opera from their

respective homelands, and so the opera troupes followed.264 This influx of foreign troupes

supported by wealthy foreign patrons, though, excluded the local troupes from the most lucrative

venues inside Guangzhou.265 In response, the local troupes chose Foshan (佛山, Fóshān), a

commercial center and historical cultural nexus just twelve miles west of Guangzhou, as their

new epicenter for Cantonese Opera.266

261
Yung, Cantonese Opera, 8.
262
Ibid.
263
NG, The Rise of Cantonese Opera, 14.
264
Ibid., 13.
265
Ibid., 16.
266
Ibid., 17.

75
 The establishment of Cantonese opera as an independent entity, as opposed to a simple

amalgamation of other regional varieties, is often attributed to famous actor Zhang Wu (张五,

Zhāngwǔ), who performed for the Qing court until he was expelled for subversive attitudes.267

Fleeing the capital, he traveled south eventually arriving in the city of Foshan, a city that is still

today considered the birth place of Cantonese opera. As Chan writes “Zhang Wu established an

opera company in Foshan, accepted pupils, and established a guild-hall for actors that became

extremely influential.”268 Cantonese opera had arrived.

In 1892 a new guildhall for Cantonese opera was established in Guangzhou’s downtown,

economic-hub area of Huangsha. Although Cantonese opera had been flourishing for years by

this time, sanction by the local government to build a guildhall in the city center marked a

distinct change in official attitudes. As Ng writes, though it would be “an exaggeration to

compare the situation with the privileged position of Peking opera in North China,” the

establishment of the guildhall in the provincial capital symbolized a new legitimacy to Cantonese

opera and a move from rural to urban performance venues.269

In the same period, the late Qing, the famed ‘red boats’ began appearing throughout the

PRD region. These flat-bottomed barge-like boats were mobile concert halls for the staging of

Cantonese opera performances. Below deck, the boats housed wardrobe chests for the actors,

work space for management, an altar for patron deities, and a pantry. There were also sleeping

quarters, arranged in bunk compartments, for the numerous actors, musicians, management,

267
Marjorie K.M. Chan, “Cantonese Opera and the Growth and Spread of Vernacular Written Cantonese in the
Twentieth Century,” in Proceeding of the Seventh North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, ed. Qian Gao
(North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, University of Southern California: GSIL Publications, 2005),
8.
268
Ibid., 8–9.
269
NG, The Rise of Cantonese Opera, 27.

76
stagehands, runners, cooks, sailors, and apprentices. By the late Qing dynasty, a full-size opera

troupe would often consist of 130 or more members and require two such red boats for their

operations.270

The early twentieth century is known as the Golden Age of Cantonese opera,271 and the

beginning of Cantonese opera as we know it today. This period that saw Cantonese opera at its

most popular272 and witnessed rapid changes in the format and staging of Cantonese opera273

began with the rapid urbanization of the genre.274 The change to urban based opera troupes was

likely due to the political upheaval that China was undergoing after the fall of the Qing dynasty.

By the 1920s the Warlord Period was fully underway and the country side that had once been the

main locale for Cantonese opera performances became unsafe.275 Ng writes

While negotiating their terms of employment with the troupe [ ], several lead actors asked
Hongshun, an opera business house, to delimit the performing circuit to the city theaters
of Guangzhou and Hong Kong, in light of the deteriorating social conditions and
alarming lawlessness in the surrounding cou nties and countryside…according to [Liu
Guoxing], Hongshun granted these requests, and the decision heralded a new kind of
Cantonese based opera troupe, city-based and city-bound.276

This urbanization also had the effect of placing Cantonese opera troupes in close

proximity to, and in direct competition with, foreign forms of entertainment. Faced with this

competition, enterprising troupe leaders adopted musical instruments, tunes, stories, costumes,

270
Ibid., 28–29.
271
Chan, “Cantonese Opera and the Growth and Spread of Vernacular Written Cantonese in the Twentieth Century,”
13.
272
Yung, Cantonese Opera, 9.
273
Chan, Improvisation in a Ritual Context, 1.
274
NG, The Rise of Cantonese Opera, 31.
275
Rea, The Age of Irreverence, 260.
276
NG, The Rise of Cantonese Opera, 31.

77
and staging from European and American plays and cinema.277 In fact, most of what we know of

as the distinguishing features of modern Cantonese opera originated in the 1920s and 1930s. As

Sau Chan describes, “During these two decades drastic changes took place in the genre, among

them the introduction of the Cantonese dialect in both sung and spoken passages, the

incorporation of Western melodic instruments, the creation of new aria types, and the

employment of traditional Cantonese fixed tunes and singing narratives in the vocal music.”278

Cantonese Music Saxophonists

Why Saxophone?

As early as the beginning of the 1920s Cantonese opera ensembles began incorporating

western instruments into their ranks. The reasons behind this decision take two distinct, but

equally pragmatic paths.

The first main reason for incorporating western instruments into the Cantonese opera

ensemble was to complement the mid and low registers that were missing from the orchestra. As

Chen Fangyi, saxophonist and director of the Cantonese Music and Song Art Troupe (CMSAT),

revealed, the traditional instruments of Cantonese opera are yangqin, houguan, gaohu, dizi, and

zhuhu. All of these have quite a high register.279 The introduction of western instruments like

tenor saxophone and cello allowed for a fuller range of octaves to be expressed in the orchestra.

The saxophone, specifically, works well in Cantonese-music groups because, as Chen

points out, its natural register and timbre complement but do not interfere with the singers’

voices. Zhang Weihua of the Guangdong Cantonese Opera Troupe writes “the saxophone has the

277
Yung, Cantonese Opera, 9.
278
Chan, Improvisation in a Ritual Context, 1.
279
Fangyi Chen陈芳毅, interview by Jason Pockrus, March 22, 2018.

78
reputation of being one of the musical instruments that most closely resembles the human voice,

while the character of Cantonese opera accompanying instruments is extremely bright.”280 Also,

the range of the saxophone is well suited to composition in Cantonese musical ensembles. Zhang

Weihua goes on to write “the original range of the saxophone, two octaves and a fifth, lends

itself well to use in the accompanying orchestra, presenting no limitations of range, and can be of

great service in operatic groups.”281 The timbral flexibility is also one of the reasons the

saxophone has enjoyed success in Cantonese musical groups. Chen Fangyi related that the

saxophonist could change the timbre of the instrument to suit the needs of the composition:

mimicking the erhu in some places, acting as a bass houguan in others, or even adopting a jazz-

influenced timbre for more modern compositions. Again, Zhang writes “In addition, the

plasticity of the saxophone’s timbre is truly great; not only capable of expressing beauty,

sadness, or passion, but can also be intricate, sentimental, agitated, aesthetically moving, and

mellifluous.”282

Yeung also confirms Chen’s information, writing “During the 1930s, Western

instruments such as the violin, saxophone, cello, banjo, and jazz drums were introduced to

support the orchestra. Traditional orchestras lack instruments in the low register for

support…Following the adoption of Western instruments of this period, equal temperament was

achieved in Cantonese opera music.”283

Weihua Zhang张伟华, “Sàkèsī yǔ yuèjù bànzòu 萨克斯与粤剧伴奏 [Saxophone and Cantonese Opera
280

Accompaniment],” Běifāng yīnyuè 北方音乐 [Northern Music] 11 (2016): 84.

281
Ibid.
282
Ibid.
283
Loretta Siuling Yeung, “Red Boat Troupes and Cantonese Opera” (University of Georgia, 2010), 50.

79
 The timbre of the saxophone is also important in the way that it can relate to the houguan.

The timbral flexibility of the saxophone is such that it can mimick that of the houguan, the only

reed instrument of the traditional Cantonese opera ensemble. Because of this, the saxophone will

often replace the houguan altogether (as was seen and described in various performances

discussed in the Ethnography of Cantonese Opera Today section below), or, as described by

Chen Fangyi, serve a supporting role as a substitute for bass houguan (an instrument which does

not exist).284

The other reason that the saxophone and other western instruments were adopted during

the Golden Age of Cantonese opera was as a marketing strategy. In the 1920s, a newly urbanized

Cantonese opera had to compete with many different genres of music within the city, both

Chinese and foreign.285 These western instruments were often adopted and put onstage alongside

other foreign cultural imports like popular music, Broadway theater, Hollywood scores, and

jazz.286 As Loretta Yeung writes “To attract spectators…Western instruments such as the

saxophone, violin, cello, jazz drum, and guitar were also introduced into the orchestra.”287

Although railed against by many traditionalists, these new changes were a sensation amongst the

lower, working classes. Xu writes that “the style of these Cantonese songs was largely

sensationalism but also served as an escape for the common people. In the teahouses, dances

halls, and even radio broadcasts of the era, it was these Cantonese songs that attracted many

284
Chen, interview.
285
NG, The Rise of Cantonese Opera, 74.
286
Clark, Pang, and Tsai, Listening to China’s Cultural Revolution, 140.
287
Yeung, “Red Boat Troupes and Cantonese Opera,” 64.

80
middle and lower-class citizens.”288 In these early years of the adoption of western instruments,

they even more ubiquitous than can be seen today. Bell Yung writes

Occasionally certain Western instruments may be substituted for the melodic instruments:
the violin, the saxophone, the electric guitar, the banjo, and the cello. For an explanation
of this curious anomaly, one must look into the recent history of the opera. During the
1920s and 1930s the general influx of Western culture exerted a great influence over
performance practice of Cantonese opera, including the introduction of Western musical
instruments. For two or three decades traditional Chinese melodic instruments were
completely replaced by Western ones.289

As is discussed more in later chapters, the trend of using western instruments in Chinese

opera ensembles changed dramatically during and after the Mao era. However, since the 1980s,

instruments like the saxophone and cello have made a comeback in the Cantonese musical

ensembles of Guangzhou and represent some of the most oft-used western instruments.290

Finally, Chen Fangyi noted that one of the other reasons the saxophone became popular

at the time was one of the reasons it remains popular for musicians today: it is an instrument that

can perform both western and Chinese music. This allows free-lance musicians a much broader

range from which to collect gigs.

Cantonese Musical Groups

Performance opportunities for saxophonists involved in Cantonese music take two

generalized forms. The first, most common, and most influential form is that as an

accompanying musician for Cantonese opera performances of various kinds. However,

Huixi Xu许锡挥, “20 Shìjì 20 Zhì 40 Niándài de Yuè Gǎng Wénhuà Hùdòng 20世纪20至40年代的粤港文化互
288

动 [The Cultural Interaction Between Guangdong and Hongkong 1920s to 1940s],” 当代港澳 2 (2000): 40.
289
Yung, Cantonese Opera, 31.
290
Chen, interview.

81
professional and amateur groups that perform Cantonese music outside of the operatic tradition

also exist in the form of Chinese Traditional Orchestras and their associated chamber groups.

Chinese Traditional Orchestras came into existence after the first National Music

Association in 1956 Beijing.291 As part of an impromptu speech with the leaders of the event,

Mao Zedong advised musicians to “apply appropriate foreign principles and use foreign musical

instruments.”292 In response, the first traditional Chinese orchestras, modeled after western

symphony orchestras, were created.293 Some regional variations of these Traditional Chinese

Orchestras exist, of which the Cantonese Music and Song Art Troupe (CMSAT), tasked with

performing and preserving Cantonese music, is one.

For saxophonists performing in these orchestral or chamber groups, performance practice

is derived from and directly follows that of Cantonese opera tradition.294 Because of this, the

focus of this chapter is Cantonese Opera and its direct traditions. However, since other

performance opportunities exist within the genre, the sections discussing performance practice

will describe these saxophonists as Cantonese-music performers, Cantonese musical ensemble

saxophonists, etc., rather than a strict definition as a Cantonese opera musician.

How to Become a Cantonese-Music Saxophonist

Although the traditional way for musicians to join a Cantonese musical ensemble would

be through an apprenticeship program, studying with older members of an of an opera troupe,

291
Melvin and Cai, Rhapsody in Red, 206.
292
“Chairman Mao’s Talk to Music Workers,” Marxists.org, 2004,
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-7/mswv7_469.htm.
293
Melvin and Cai, Rhapsody in Red, 209.
294
Chen, interview.

82
modern musicians will follow a much more scholastically minded path.295

Chen Fangyi began studying houguan as a child. His first teacher was a relative of his, a

respected Cantonese Opera musician from Tai Shan. He began performing with the CMSAT

shortly after, but at that time the organization was more of an educational organization. He

studied at the Guangdong Cantonese Opera School (广东粤剧学校, Guǎngdōng yuèjù xuéxiào),

graduating in 1988. About the same time, he became interested in saxophone, hearing it being

performed in popular music of the era, especially that from Hong Kong. In the late 80s and early

90s he would perform in dance halls or accompanying singers to make money. He then began

working in accompanying ensembles for Cantonese opera. Here, he was expected to be able to

perform all of the winds: suona, houguan, dizi, and saxophone. He continued to perform with the

CMSAT and took on more responsibilities as he advanced within the ensemble. Currently, he is

the Director and Head cum President of the Arts Office of the CMSAT and also serves as the

Director of the Guangdong Musician Association and Vice-chairman of the Guangzhou City

Musician Association, an Exponent of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Cantonese Music of

Guangzhou City.

Chen notes that the typical path for students today interested in becoming Cantonese

Musical Ensemble musicians is to begin performing in Cantonese musical groups in school,

begin studying with a private teacher, pursue Cantonese opera performance at the university

level, and then to join an ensemble upon graduation. 296

In this way, the majority of saxophonists performing in Cantonese-music ensembles will

typically be houguan or suona specialists, that are proficient doublers on saxophone.

295
Ibid.
296
Note: this can only be undertaken in suona and houguan, since there is no saxophone Cantonese Opera major

83
Role of the Saxophone in the Cantonese Music Ensemble

In Cantonese-music ensembles, the saxophonist can play the role of accompaniment,

melodic instrument, or even a solo instrument. These roles can be performed on any saxophone

and even switch in the middle of a single piece. However, it is most typical to see certain

saxophones perform certain roles based on their range/size (see saxophone selection below).

As Chen Fangyi pointed out, the traditional instruments of the Cantonese musical

ensemble are all relatively high-pitched soloistic instruments: erhu, gaohu, yangqin, houguan,

etc. One of the main functions of the saxophone, and the reason it continues to be integrated into

ensembles where other western instruments such as violin, trumpet, or guitar have been phased

out, is because it fills the role of a middle to lower pitched instrument. In performance, the

saxophone will often mimic the cello line and play in the same or a similar range. This also

points to the reason why the tenor saxophone, rather than high pitched members of the

saxophone family, are popular in Cantonese musical ensembles. Also, the range of the

saxophone complements that of erhu, so that few adjustments need to be made in performing

from the same score.297

Another reason the saxophone is often used in Cantonese musical ensembles is the ability

to shift timbre to match different situations as needed by the performer. In different

performances, or sometimes even within the same performance, a saxophonist may be called

upon to match timbres and vibrato styles with the erhu, the higher winds such as houguan, or

even play with a more-jazz influence timbral and vibrato style. The ability of the saxophone to

297
Huarui Chen陈华瑞, “Tán Sàkèsī Yǔ Yuèjù Yīnyuè de Guānxì 谈萨克斯与粤剧音乐的关系 [A Discussion on
the Relationship Between Saxophone and Cantonese Opera Music],” Yīnyuè Sōusuǒ 音乐搜索 [Music Search] 22
(2015): 78; Zhang, “Sàkèsī yǔ yuèjù bànzòu 萨克斯与粤剧伴奏 [Saxophone and Cantonese Opera
Accompaniment].”

84
perform these different functions is extremely important for the use of the saxophone in

Cantonese musical ensembles.298

Finally, several sources note that the tone of the saxophone is well suited to

accompanying singers. Chen notes that the saxophone, especially the range and timbre of the

tenor saxophone, accompanies singers quite well without getting in the way of their voices.299

As to the use of saxophone at all or situations in which it might be used in place of

houguan, Chen Fangyi relates that it is primarily up to the discretion of the musicians. However,

in concerts or select pieces that are meant to display a more ‘traditional’ feeling, the saxophone

(and other western instruments) will be purposely left out entirely. Chen Fangyi said of a recent

recording produced by the CMSAT, Cantonese Style (粤风), there are many pieces in which the

saxophone could easily have been incorporated. However, since the goal of that particular set of

recordings was a ‘traditional’ approach, the houguan was chosen in every situation.

Saxophone Selection and Equipment

Since the first inception of the saxophone into Cantonese musical ensembles, the tenor

saxophone has been the overwhelmingly most used instrument of the saxophone family.300 As

described above, this is due mostly to the ways in which the saxophone is utilized within the

ensemble. In the 1920s and 30s, the C-melody saxophone (tenor saxophone pitched in C) was the

most common and most popular choice.301 This is primarily due to the fact that the C-melody

298
Chen, interview; Chen, “Tán Sàkèsī Yǔ Yuèjù Yīnyuè de Guānxì 谈萨克斯与粤剧音乐的关系 [A Discussion
on the Relationship Between Saxophone and Cantonese Opera Music]”; ibid.
299
Chen, interview; Chen, “Tán Sàkèsī Yǔ Yuèjù Yīnyuè de Guānxì 谈萨克斯与粤剧音乐的关系 [A Discussion
on the Relationship Between Saxophone and Cantonese Opera Music].”
300
Chen, interview.
301
Chan, Improvisation in a Ritual Context, 47; Chen, interview.

85
saxophone was the most commonly used type of saxophone in use at the time that the instrument

was first being incorporated into Cantonese musical ensembles, spurred on by popular players

like Rudy Weidoft.302 Although the use of the C-melody has since fallen out of fashion, likely

due to its relative unavailability, saxophonists today describe it as the ‘traditional’ choice,

compared to the Bb model commonly used today.303 In all but one of the performances the

author attended, the tenor saxophone was the only member of the saxophone family in use.

Chen Fangyi, however, describes the use of the alto and soprano saxophones as well in

the modern Cantonese music ensemble. Referring to a recent concert given in Hong Kong, Chen

Fangyi listed several compositions that made use of the alto saxophone, soprano, and tenor

saxophones, or switched between instruments depending on the needs of the composition and/or

the inclinations of the performer. Unless specifically called for by a composer (a very rare

occurrence) the choice of the saxophone is in itself a type of improvisation and is at the

discretion of the performer. Chen says that compositions that require a lower or smoother voice,

those that call mainly for accompaniment will be performed on tenor saxophone. In their March,

2018 Hong Kong concert, these pieces included Sky with Falling Petals and portions of Spirit

Music (see Figure 7). For lines that need additional ‘presence’, to be more obvious, or those that

have a further soloistic quality, the alto saxophone will be used. Pieces using the alto from the

recent concert included the majority of Spirit Music (see Figure 7). The soprano, Chen Fangyi

related, is used mainly in songs or melodic passages that are faster, rhythmically driven, and

have a certain ‘style’ (风格). Pieces using the soprano saxophone in the recent concert include

Lion Dance (Figure 7) and Thunder in a Drough (Figure 6). Saxophones can also occasionally be

302
Cottrell, The Saxophone, 165.
303
Chen, interview; Chen, “Tán Sàkèsī Yǔ Yuèjù Yīnyuè de Guānxì 谈萨克斯与粤剧音乐的关系 [A Discussion
on the Relationship Between Saxophone and Cantonese Opera Music].”

86
utilized in concerto settings with Cantonese opera musical ensembles. In such cases, the

performer can again decide which instrument is best suited to the piece, but alto or soprano

would be most common.

Figure 6: CMSAT March 15, 2018 Concert Program

87
Figure 7: CMSAT March 16, 2018 Concert Program

88
 As to the actual equipment itself, there is not much consensus. Chen Fangyi performs on

King,304 Conn,305 and occasionally Chinese brand saxophones. He said that other saxophonists he

knows use similar instruments and this corresponds with what the author observed at various

performances.

Chen Fangyi currently uses Selmer C* series mouthpieces for all of his saxophones,

though also mentioned owning and previously experimenting with other mouthpieces including

those by Vandoren. Chen notes that the C* and similar ‘classical’ mouthpieces are better suited

to the needs of Cantonese music saxophonists. He states that jazz mouthpieces are too difficult to

control in terms of timbre, pitch, and especially volume. The brand or types of reeds he uses is

not a distinct concern, using “whatever is most convenient.” Chen stated that he uses reeds

varying in strength from 1-3 depending on the instrument, using softer reeds for tenor, harder for

soprano.

Freelancing

There is an ever-dwindling market for the types of freelance performances I observed in

the parks (see below). Chen Fangyi noted that, at one time, musicians could be full time

freelance performers in the Cantonese music genre. Time would be split between teaching

private students, performing with various smaller Cantonese-music ensembles, and playing for

amateur or semi-professional singers in parks or for private performances. These types of

performance opportunities are fairly rare however, as both the singers and musicians supporting

them age, with very few younger replacements interested in the genre.

304
Note: he called this instrument a king, but it wasn’t clear from quick inspection, the front had engraving that read
“The New King”
305
Note: his alto is a conn 20m

89
Technique

Saxophonists performing in Cantonese music ensembles typically utilize the common

single-lip embouchure (wherein the bottom lip covers the teeth while the upper teeth rest lightly

on the mouthpiece), and Chen Fangyi noted that this was the correct form. Despite performing

primarily on a double-reed instrument, and thereby using a double-lip embouchure (wherein both

the top and bottom lip cover the teeth), saxophonists seemed comfortable switching to the

standard saxophone embouchure.

Finger technique for the saxophone in Cantonese musical ensembles is similar to typical

technique in western schools of thought – a comfortably arched hand and keys being depressed

by the fingertips. This is in contrast to the techniques utilized on houguan, in which the holes are

covered by the pad of the finger further in from the tips, creating a somewhat flat-fingered shape.

When performing houguan, performers will often be called upon to perform advanced

techniques including circular breathing, double tounging, and several sound-effects produced via

reed-manipulation (i.e. replicating the chirping of birds by pinching the reed tightly with the lips

and quickly expelling air). Despite this, when performing on saxophone, these techniques are

never utilized. According to Chen, this is a result of the size of the saxophone and the relative

difficulty in producing these effects. It seems likely that it is also due to the fact that the

performers are primarily houguan specialists, doubling on saxophone.

Tonal Considerations

In listening to a number of performances and speaking with Chen Fangyi, saxophonists

performing in Cantonese opera groups will often change the timbre of the instrument to suit the

needs of the ensemble and/or the piece. When playing accompaniment or secondary lines,

90
saxophonists will tend to perform without vibrato. In the various performances the author

attended vibrato was used very sparingly. Chen noted that this was common practice to allow the

sound of the saxophone to better blend in with the other instruments. In these situations, the

saxophonist, Chen notes, has to be careful not to overpower the lead instruments (usually erhu).

In practice, this meant that saxophonists would often play sotto-voce in very exposed sections

and would utilize sub-tone technique in the lower register in nearly every situation. The only

exception would be louder, full-ensemble sections in which case the saxophonist would be able

to perform full-tone. As noted by the author in performances (and confirmed by Chen), vibrato is

used only in situations in which the saxophonist doubles or carries the main line and in a register

similar to that of the melodic instruments. In these cases, the saxophonist will match the vibrato

style of the lead player, typically erhu.

Finally, Chen Fangyi noted that timbre could be changed based on the needs of the

composition. If a piece were more modern and/or jazz influenced, especially if the saxophonists

was performing alongside drum set and bass, a more jazz-like timbre would be adopted. If the

song drew from more traditional idioms, the saxophonist would likely perform in the manner of

houguan so as to better fit the style.

Improvisation

As Sau Chan states “…the essence of Cantonese opera performance lay in the fact that

the same script, if performed by two different troupes, or even by the same troupe in two

different performances, would be rendered very differently.”306 The kind of extended

instrumental improvisation described by Sau Chan in chapter 7 of Improvisation in a Ritual

306
Chan, Improvisation in a Ritual Context, 81.

91
Context, which is to say intricate improvised melodic patterns based on the singer’s line, was not

observed by the author, nor was it described by saxophonists with whom the author interviewed.

Instead, the kind of improvisation in wide-spread use throughout the amateur and professional

performances witnessed by the author was that of the ornamentation style improvisation. Chen

Fangyi described this as the performer using the provided score as a skeleton melody onto which

ornaments can be added. Sau Chan states this as well, writing

The concept of ornamentation is based on recognition of a ‘skeletal melody,’ with ‘extra

notes’ added to it either in writing or improvisation. The study of ornamentation in
Cantonese operatic music is difficult because the ‘skeletal melody,’ if such a concept
does exist in the genre, is often impossible to obtain in any type of vocal or instrumental
music.307

In the author’s interview with Chen and in listening to performances, improvisation is utilized,

but in a somewhat simplified approach. This use of a simplified form of improvisation is not

entirely surprising. As Sau Chan notes

Actors who adopt the use of [improvisation] tend to be extensively read in books on
theatrical theories both Eastern and Western, and often know something about the
different stylistic characteristics of Western theatre and Cantonese opera and of Peking
and Cantonese opera. Their reading has led some of them to believe that Western opera
and Peking opera are more ‘sophisticated’ because they employ less improvisation.308

The first consideration as to improvisation on the part of the performer will often be the

notation used. As described below, several different types of music notation are used by

Cantonese musical groups. Chen notes that when a piece is notated using five-line notation it is

an implied notification that the music is to be strictly followed, with no use of improvisation at

all. When simplified notation is given, the performer has more leeway to improvise small

ornaments, but the written notation is still given precedent. On occasions where the gongche

307
Ibid., 153–54.
308
Ibid., 81–82.

92
notation is used, this is an indication to the performer that the piece is meant to be performed in a

more traditional way, including the more liberal use of improvisation. These are all of course not

hard-and-fast rules, but rather guidelines in which exceptions will also be encountered.

According to Chen Fangyi, and as heard at several performances, the most common type

of improvisation encountered in modern performances of Cantonese music in Guangzhou are the

exclusion or inclusion of ornaments not indicated in the score. For saxophonists, this often takes

the form of omitting notes from the written score to perform a more ‘bare-bones’ version of the

melody (see figures 11 and 12). This style of improvisation is what is utilized most often and

allows the lead voices, typically erhu, to be heard while the saxophone plays a supporting role.

Notation

Saxophonists performing in various Cantonese music ensembles regularly encounter and

are expected to be familiar with five forms of musical notation:

Five-line/Western Notation: Five-line notation was introduced to China by Jesuit

missionaries in the seventeenth century.309 It has been used by saxophonists in Cantonese

musical groups since their first introduction into the ensemble, but on the whole, it is rarely used

in Cantonese opera and related ensembles, and only used in larger Cantonese musical groups

when the composer writes for a large ensemble that will utilize several western instruments.310

Chen Fangyi notes that pieces demanding a large number of performers, an ensemble

large enough to require a conductor, will often use five-line notation. This notation system was

Qi Yi 齐易, “Wǔxiànpǔ -jiǎnpǔ de chǎnshēng-fāzhǎn jí xiàng zhōngguó de chuán rù 五线谱_简谱的产生_发展

309

及向中国的传入 [Five Line Notation - Production of Simplified Notation: Development and Appearance in
China],” Héběi dàxué chéngrén jiàoyù xuéyuàn bào 河北大学成人教育学院报 [Journal of Adult Education of
Hebei University] 5, no. 2 (June 2003): 27.
310
Chen, interview.

93
also present at park performances that the author witnessed, like those at Fangcun Park. Since the

singers distribute the music as they step on stage, the performers must be ready to play from any

score that is given to them. Although simplified notation is the most common, followed by

gongche notation, five-line notation still made an appearance. It is not unusual for even

university educated musicians specializing in traditional instruments to be uncomfortable reading

from a five-line notation staff. They will be able to read it of course, but it will be much more of

an analytical process rather than an ingrained or automatic one. Sight reading from a five-line

score for them might be nearly impossible, depending of course on their previous experiences.311

Simplified/Numbered Notation: Simplified notation (简谱, Jiǎnpǔ), often known in the

west as numbered or cipher notation, was introduced to China relatively recently.312 The earliest

example of the publication of jianpu can be found in Jiangsu (江苏, jiāngsū) province in a

magazine published in 1903, by a Chinese student who had studied in Japan (where the notation

system had been introduced by an American scholar in 1882). The notation system gradually

spread throughout the country, but only became a staple notation system after WWII.313

Simplified notation has been adopted so readily in China because it mixes the easy to read

solfeggio-based system of China’s traditional gongche notation, and the rhythmic accuracy of

western five-line notation.

Simplified notation is quite similar to five-line notation but is based on solfege numbers

rather than a graphical notation system. Time signature, measured bars, accidentals, dynamic

markings, etc. will all be familiar to readers of five-line notation. The simplified notation system

311
Based on the author’s own experience studying Chinese music at the China Conservatory of Music in 2015-2016
Qi, “Wǔxiànpǔ -jiǎnpǔ de chǎnshēng-fāzhǎn jí xiàng zhōngguó de chuán rù 五线谱_简谱的产生_发展及向中国
312

的传入 [Five Line Notation - Production of Simplified Notation: Development and Appearance in China],” 28.
313
Ibid.

94
has two main advantages that make it popular in China compared with five-line notation. The

first is that, making use of a numbered solfege system, it is easier for amateurs to learn than the

graphical representation of five-line notation. Because of its solfege system, there is also no need

for different clefs, as the tonal center and range is indicated at the top of the page (or determined

by the performer based on common performance practice). The second advantage offered by the

simplified notation system is the ability to easily change the tonal center of the entire piece.

Since the key is indicated by a marking at the top of the music (i.e. 1=F), the performer can

quickly change keys by simply ‘thinking’ in the new key. There is no need to change the notation

on the page. It also has an advantage over the traditional gongche notation in that rhythm is

clearly indicated.

For musicians throughout China, especially those dealing with traditional Chinese music,

this is the most common form of musical notation. Amateur musicians and students are more

likely to be able to read simplified notation than five-line notation. Cantonese-musical ensembles

are no different. The vast majority of music published for use in the ensembles utilizes simplified

notation. Books of recently composed or adapted music by the CMAST use simplified notation

in their publications. Chen Fangyi notes that simplified notation often is the most practical

notation system to use not only because it is most easily read by all performers, but because it

allows the entire orchestra to change keys easily, without the need to reprint music.

Gongche Notation (工尺谱, Gōngchě pǔ): In the years following the Song Dynasty,

Chinese opera became a dominant, prestigious musical form within China.314 It was also during

314
Hongfeng Li李宏锋, “Míng Qīng Xìqǔ Chuánchéng Zhōng Gōng Chě Pǔ de Zuòyòng Jí Shǒu Diào Chàng Míng
Fǎ Dí Quèlì 明清戏曲传承中工尺谱的作用及首调唱名法的确立 [The Establishment and Use of Qing and Ming
Dynasty Traditional Opera’s First Solfege System Gongche Notation],” Xīnghǎi Yīnyuè Xuéyuàn Xuébào 星海音乐
学院学报 [Journal of Xinghai Conservatory of Music] 1 (2014): 53–53.

95
this time, the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, that performers turned to a new way of preserving

and transmitting the music. Previously, the performance of Chinese opera, like the folk music

upon which most of it is based, was passed on as an aural tradition. However, the widespread

popularity of the genre to far-spread reaches of China and the increasing length and complexity

of the art form gave rise to the need for a notational system.315 This system became known as

gongche notation.

Gongche notation derives its name from the reading of two characters within the scale: 上

尺工凡六五乙仩 (shàng chě gōng fán liù wǔ yǐ shàng). This corresponds to solfege syllables Do

Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do respectively. Therefore, the name of this notation system would be

directly translated to MiRe notation. It is a ‘moveable Do’ notation system and is written in the

traditional style of Chinese literature, from top to bottom and from right to left. In its early

incarnations, gongche was a memory tool for experienced musicians that were already familiar

with the melodies. Early styles would not have indicated any rhythmic value at all and often

times may not have even made clear delineations in octave placement.316 There were many

different regional variations that varied in terms of the characters used, the ways in which or

extent to which rhythm and range were indicated, and the realization practices of the performers.

In all, saxophonists performing in Cantonese musical groups must be able to read from

three types of gongche notation. Modern gongche notation, based on the northern variant,

delineates octaves via slightly modified Characters: 工，凡，合四一上尺工凡六五乙仩伬 (Mi,

315
Li, “Míng Qīng Xìqǔ Chuánchéng Zhōng Gōng Chě Pǔ de Zuòyòng Jí Shǒu Diào Chàng Míng Fǎ Dí Quèlì 明清
戏曲传承中工尺谱的作用及首调唱名法的确立 [The Establishment and Use of Qing and Ming Dynasty
Traditional Opera’s First Solfege System Gongche Notation].”
316
Alan Robert Thrasher, Sizhu Instrumental Music of South China: Ethos, Theory and Practice (Leiden,
Netherlands: BRILL, 2008), 89.

96
Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do, Re). As can be seen, a lower octave is indicated

first by a tail added to the corresponding character (here represented by a comma) and an octave

higher will be indicated by the addition of 亻(rén). Should additional octaves be need, additional

tails or 亻can be added i.e. 工 or 𢓁𢓁.317

While it does not contain a rhythmic-notation component, modern gongche notation does

give ‘beats’ known as banyan (板眼). These beats are either strong (x) or weak (o). These

indications give a rudimentary sense of meter and tempo, but more importantly, provide an

important tie-in with what the percussionists will perform.318

Saxophonists performing with Cantonese music ensembles will, unsurprisingly, most

often encounter the Cantonese variant of gongche notation. This is, in many respects, in keeping

with the northern styles, save for a few important differences. First, the characters used are

slightly different, including those indicating octaves: 仜仮合士乙上尺工反六五𢒼𢒼生鿈𢓁𢓁𢓁𢓁

(Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do, Re, Mi, Fa).319 It is also important to note

that these variants would be realized with their Cantonese rather than Mandarin pronunciation.

Another key difference is the indications for the rhythmic outline banyan, where ‘\’ will often be

used to indicate the weak beats.320

Finally, saxophonists performing in Cantonese music ensembles must be proficient in,

though not necessarily be fluent in, other regional or older styles of gongche notation.321 These

would include older or unedited versions of gongche where no octaves or rhythmic indications

317
Ibid., 90.
318
Ibid., 91.
319
Ibid., 90.
320
Ibid.
321
Chen, interview.

97
are given, Chaozhou and Hakka style gongche notations where higher octaves are not indicated

and strong beats are instead indicated by ‘o’, and others.322

Cheng Fangyi describes the use of gongche notation as being utilized only in the most

traditional of pieces, or in situations where the performers are expected to perform in a more

‘traditional’ style. gongche notation is somewhat rare in the modern Cantonese musical

ensembles of Guangzhou, though Chen notes that it is more popular in Hong Kong. However,

the use of gongche notation can be seen quite readily in the groups accompanying amateurs in

the park. In these groups, simplified notation was the most common, but gongche notation was

by no means unusual.

Significance of the Saxophone in Cantonese Music

Those involved with the performance of Cantonese music, be it as performers,

composers, audience members, or otherwise, take a special pride in the unique place that

Cantonese opera holds within the spectrum of Chinese Opera as a whole. This special place is in

the incorporation of many different forms of Chinese and foreign music and, most importantly,

the use of folk traditions, everyday idioms, and the language (both literally and metaphorically)

of the street. In this way, the incorporation of the saxophone into Cantonese musical ensembles

is not an addition to the traditions of Cantonese music, but a direct representation of those

traditions.

As described in Listening to the Cultural Revolution “Cantonese opera has always been

proud of its inclusiveness, welcoming distant topics, novel visual designs, Western musical

322
Thrasher, Sizhu Instrumental Music of South China, 90.

98
instruments, and even foreign words.”323 This sentiment, a pride in being open to outside

influences, was remarked upon by Chen Fangyi in our conversation together as well. The use of

saxophone, cello, or marimba, he noted, is a reflection of the ways that Cantonese-music

performers are always looking for new forms to incorporate into their music. The inclusion of

these instruments, and the sounds and styles that Cantonese-music groups are able to achieve as a

result make Cantonese opera a truly unique genre of Chinese opera. Pang Laikan writes

The intimate relationship between local dialect and operatic music was particularly
important after the 1920s when foreign cultural influences grew considerably. In the
Republican era, not only were saxophones, violins, banjos, and guitars used profusely on
Cantonese opera stages but also were lines and arias with English terms such as ‘sorry’
and ‘bye-bye’. These terms were incorporated into the opera because they were already
part of the Cantonese vernacular, and could be heard in everyday life.324

Finally, the incorporation of the saxophone and other western instruments into

Cantonese-music groups represented a trend sweeping China at during the ‘Golden Age’ of the

genre which has come to be known as the New Culture Movement. Musicians, poets, novelists,

and artists of all kinds were trying to “make use of Western techniques and to locate distinctively

Chinese music as a national marker…”325 There was a general consensus amongst these artists

that Chinese art, including music, had fallen behind that of the rest of the Western world.326 The

only remedy, as they saw it, was to find a blend of Chinese and Western ideals, a new cultural

direction. As Gong Hong-Yu writes

few of the reformers of Chinese music believed that the problem could ‘be solved by
borrowing all these things from foreign sources.’ …most proponents of the [National
Music] ideal maintained that traditional Chinese values and aesthetics were relevant, even

323
Clark, Pang, and Tsai, Listening to China’s Cultural Revolution, 140.
324
Ibid.
325
Gong, “Music, Nationalism and the Search for Modernity in China, 1911-1949,” 55.
326
Ibid., 57.

99
 in a rapidly changing environment, and all their efforts were aimed at finding a way to
create music that was both modern and Chinese.327

Cantonese opera, then, with its mix of Western and Chinese, modern and traditional, national and

regional, was a model product of this movement. As to why the saxophone was chosen as one of

the emissaries of this movement, perhaps the best explanation can be summed up by Michael

Segell when he writes “The saxophone’s ability to insinuate itself into the classical music of

cultures whose traditional music predates the instrument by hundreds of years might be the most

striking example of its flexibility.”328

Ethnography of Cantonese Opera Performances in Guangzhou

Introduction

In preparation for the discussion on performance opportunities for saxophonists in

Cantonese musical ensembles, I attended several Cantonese-music concerts and interviewed

professional musicians performing with Cantonese musical groups. Performance practice and

performance opportunities within professional organizations or structured troupes has been well

documented,329 but in order to better understand these practices from the saxophonist’s

perspective, concert attendance was a necessary step. These observations also serve to

compensate for a lack of primary sources on the subject and chronicle when, where, and how the

saxophone is utilized in Cantonese opera performances in modern Guangzhou.

This ethnography also serves to describe the presence, albeit a small market, of freelance

Cantonese music performance. I began exploring this aspect of performance opportunities and

327
Ibid., 60.
328
Michael Segell, The Devil’s Horn: The Story of the Saxophone, from Noisy Novelty to King of Cool (New York:
Picador, 2005), 35.
329
See: Yung, Cantonese Opera; Chan, Improvisation in a Ritual Context; NG, The Rise of Cantonese Opera.

100
seriously examining parks as performance spaces on the advice of a colleague with whom I

interacted while we were both based at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing (2015-2016).

Originally from Hong Kong, she related information about freelance Cantonese-music

performers, including saxophonists, that were paid per-service to accompany amateur or semi-

amateur performers; a better alternative to the ubiquitous boombox of the public squares

throughout China. Since this performance venue for Cantonese-music saxophonists is an

important and overlooked one, I made multiple visits to eight different parks in Guangzhou,

China over the course of one year.

Liuhua Lake Park (流花湖公园, Liú huā hú gong yuán)

• March 19, 2017; (April 8, 2017); April 9, 2017; Multiple times passing by

My first time witnessing a live Cantonese opera performance (or performance including

Cantonese opera) was at Liuhua Lake Park, a 5-minute walk from my apartment in Guangzhou. I

would often go there on weekends to walk, enjoy the views, and watch the various amateur

musicians that would set up in small groups about the park to perform music together. Parks in

China are an important meeting place and leisure area for Chinese city-dwellers that, living in

high-rise apartments, have no outdoor space to call their own. Instead, public parks are a place to

for friends and families to gather, have tea, play cards, play sports of various kinds, join the local

photography club, join in with an excercise group, or play music.

The Liuhua Lake Park has a small stage situated at the center of the park, overlooking

one of the smaller lakes. Every weekend on this small stage, volunteers come together to lead

passersby in group singing, karaoke style. These volunteers take turns leading the impromptu

orchestra and chorus by standing on the stage themselves, facing the audience and orchestra

101
seated or standing facing the stage. Next to the volunteer director is placed an over-sized easel on

which rests an over-sized notebook, on which is written the song, in simplified notation with

lyrics, for the audience and often orchestra to follow.

The orchestra consists of an assortment of instruments: whomever happens to arrive that

day and whatever instrument they carry is what is accepted. On the three occasions that I

attended the sing-a-longs (and the other numerous times passing by), the orchestra regularly

consisted of 2-3 electric keyboard players, 4-5 erhu players, a saxophonist (alto), one jazz drum-

set played by a rotating staff of 2-3 drummers, a pipa player, an electric guitar player, an

accordionist on one occasion, a trumpet player on one occasion, and 2-3 dizi players. The chorus

usually numbers around 30-40 singers, of which 15-20 are regulars that will stay for the entire

event. The other 15-20 singers are onlookers that will stay for one or two songs before moving

on with their walk.

The sing-a-longs at the park are by no means an ioperatic performance in the traditional

sense. Songs called by the volunteer conductors range from patriotic songs like “I Love You,

China” (我爱你中国, Wǒ ài nǐ zhōngguó) to popular folk-inspired tunes like “Road in the Sky”

(天路, Tiān lù) but would occasionally include popular songs from taken from the Cantonese

opera cannon. The audience, conductors, and orchestra were all retirees, judging by appearances.

The only time someone under the age of 60 could be seen at these events is if they were

accompanying an older family member, and even then, they only constituted the passersby, not

the regulars.

Living so near to the park, I witnessed these sing-a-long sessions numerous times,

probably around 20 in all. However, as an observer looking for detailed information, I attended

three times over the course of two months.

102
 • March 26, 2017; May 14, 2017; May 21, 2017

My next park foray took me to Liuwan Lake Park on the west side of Guangzhou city.

This park truly lives up to the name as a lake park, as the majority of the area is taken up by a

large lake with three smaller off-shoots connected by large canals. The east side of the park

features a moderately-sized performance area where Cantonese opera performances are staged

(see Figure 8).

Figure 8: Liuwan Lake Park Stage Diagram

The stage area is a slightly misshapen half-circle that can be entered from a walkway on

the right that skirts the shoreline of the lake or accessed by a bridge on the left that leads to a row

of shops selling everything from street snacks to scented candles and homemade jewelry. The

stage itself backs against a small man-made river or culvert that, if accessed by a bridge on the

far side of the stage area, separates the stage from a touristy old-town area that includes, amongst

103
other attractions, the Guangzhou Puppet Theater Troupe. The area just in front of the stage and

around the tree is, like most of the pathways in the park, set with brick. It is a large area where

audience members had spread out blankets to sit on or, for the better prepared, set up folding

chairs. Continuing directly away from the front of the stage is a series of covered benches that

hug the shore-line of the lake. The area is big enough (and the tree so large) that most of the

covered bench seating at the back of the stage area does not actually provide a very good view of

the action on stage.

The stage in total is a rectangular building with two, small, right-triangle shaped corrals

on either side of the front for the orchestra. The performance area is a square in the middle of this

building, with the sides serving as the offstage/backstage area. The back of the performing area

is open and looks over the small river and onto the old-town area.

The performance was already underway as I arrived, and I saw that the performers were

in full costume, but there was no backdrop or scenery per say. The orchestra consisted of a

percussionist, erhu player, dizi player, and saxophonist (tenor), on the left side of the stage (from

the audience perspective), and a yangqin player on the right. There were plenty of empty seats

and room for more musicians on both sides of the stage. The orchestra members were all in their

40s to late 50s.

The musicians each had their own music stand,330 and as I walked around different

vantage points I could see they were all reading from the same jianpu score. The scores were set

into 3-ring binders which they would leaf through before each new singer took the stage; the

music order obviously pre-arranged. The use of the tenor saxophone in the small orchestra added

330
See: Chan, Improvisation in a Ritual Context., discussion on orchestra layout

104
to the overall sound of the group, the lower sonority contributing a depth that was otherwise

lacking.

While I was there, having arrived just after intermission I believe, the singers consisted of

four women and one man all in their 50s or 60s. As I watched the performance, inconsistencies

in pitch, a general stiffness on stage, and the occasional glance at lyrics written onto hands made

it apparent that the singers are amateurs, competent amateurs, but amateurs nonetheless. The

orchestra on the other hand, while small, seems much more confident and rehearsed. The

yangqin player seems to be the principal chair in the orchestra, leading the group via body

language, facial expressions, and small hand gestures. Interestingly, it was also obviously that

she, and by extension the orchestra, was leading the singers through their performances as well; a

distinct change from the typical singer-orchestra musical relationship.331

As one performance ended, I saw that this was not a full opera production, but rather a

series of scenes from various operas. The name of each song was announced at the beginning of

each performance. However, it being in Cantonese, I could not understand what was being said.

Instead, the fact that these were individual scenes was revealed by the lack of a strong story line

which comes through in full productions even if the lyrics are not entirely understood. During

three of the performances I noticed a few audience members walking to the front of the stage

(while the performance was still going) and bowing. From my vantage point I couldn’t see what

exactly what they were doing, but it seemed a strange behavior.

The performance ended with little fanfare and I saw some money being passed around to

the instrumental performers by an older woman that appeared from backstage. I couldn’t see the

exact amount, but the flash of a bright green note indicated an amount of over 50RMB. The

331
See: Ibid., discussion on actor-orchestra interaction

105
performance ended just before 4:00pm so I decided that the next time I should arrive around

2:30pm, the typical start time for most events and government offices, especially in Southern

China where mid-day naps are strictly observed.

On May 21, 2017 I made my way back to the stage area, arriving around 2:00pm. The

audience and musicians began arriving and, by the start of the show, there was once again a

crowd of 50-60 people. The orchestra, however, was a bit sparser this time, short a dizi player.

The saxophonist, interestingly, brought an alto saxophone to this performance. I did not see any

other saxophones with him, so it must have been a pre-arranged choice. The performances went

on much as before, and, also like last time, the saxophonist as well as other melodic instruments

didn’t engage in any extra ornamentation that I heard, performing strictly from the score.

The third performance consisted of a man in his late 30s or so and a girl of about 8 to 10

years old. The man, though, sang in falsetto, imitating a woman’s role, which has a long history

in Cantonese Opera.332 Just like I had seen at the previous performance, during several

performances, and especially for this performance with the man and young girl, I saw patrons

going to the front of the stage and bowing. This time, however, I was in a position to see that

they were not paying their respects, but rather, paying: there was a small wicker basket set at the

front of the stage that patrons would place money into for, presumably, performances they

especially enjoyed. The money was usually 2-4 RMB, with the largest contribution being

10RMB for the aforementioned duet. The basket was emptied and replaced by a worker sitting

directly in front of the stage who would hurry backstage if money had been deposited. I did not

see the orchestra receive any money at the end of this event. Perhaps the agreed upon amount is

only paid once per month or only on select performances.

332
Yeung, “Red Boat Troupes and Cantonese Opera,” 71.

106
 I made one other attempt on May 14th, 2017, to observe performances at Liuwan Lake

park, but was rained out.

Fangcun Park (芳村公园, Fāng cūn gong yuán)

• June 5, 2017; June 6, 2017; June 12, 2017

Fangcun park is by far the smallest park I visited, but also one of the most active for

Cantonese Opera performances. On Monday June 5, 2017, I made my first trip to observe the

performances. The park is relatively small, just a local community park as opposed to the large

lake parks I had been to before that are meant to serve huge swaths of the city. It only takes

about 5 minutes to walk along the main path across the park from north to south. Along the side

paths, small paved open areas, rock gardens, covered seating areas and gazebos. It was in one of

these covered seating areas, on the east side of the park, where I saw the performance taking

shape.

The covered gazebo area is not large, so the musicians set up tightly with a small space in

the middle for the singer (see Figure 9). The percussion section was set up on the left side

(audience perspective) with one of the two percussionists taking turns playing while the other

would sit behind and not play at all. Opposite the percussionist was the orchestra composed of

dizi, tenor saxophone, two cellos, yangqin, 2-3 erhu players (explained below), and a pipa/guitar

player (see below).

I arrived around 9:00am and the music was already underway. The musicians were setup

in an arc around the singer, each with their own music stand. Behind the singer was a large

speaker with a microphone plugged in, that served as both amplifier and monitor for the group.

The orchestra was made up of musicians in their early 40s to 50s, younger than the singers by ten

107
years or more. The various singers that came to the stage also made up a majority of the

audience. Represented equally in both men and women, the singers would perform scenes from

operas, recitative sections included, in solos and occasionally duets.

Figure 9: Fangcun Park Stage Diagram

As a singer took the stage, they would distribute sheet music to the musicians. Almost as

soon as the scores were on the stands, the music would start. The whole process was quite fast

and seamless. Moving around the side of the gazebo, where several other audience members

were observing the orchestra as well, I could see the scores being used. Every musician read

from the same score and, on this day all of the scores given utilized jianpu notation. When the

singer was done, they would collect the scores and give way to the next performer. The

performances continued until around 10:30am, which appeared to be the pre-arranged time to

finish.

Occasionally after a performance I would see a performer slip some money to the

percussionist or erhu players. At the end, several of the singers, the ones that hadn’t paid already,

108
presumably, paid money as well, again only to the erhu or percussionist. The musicians packed

up their instruments, one of the singers from before took the portable speaker and the gazebo was

cleared.

The next morning, I wanted to make sure I was there in time for the full event, so I

reached the park around 8am. By 8:30 the first music score was being passed out and

performances under way. Walking around during the various performancers as they played, I

once again saw that the majority of pieces used jianpu notation. However, one piece used

gongche notation and one was even given in five-line notation. Interestingly, when the five-line

score was given out the singer made small apologies saying “this is the only version in my

book.” The musicians, however, seemed unbothered by it.

The woman that brought the speaker, and had been one of the singers last time, joined the

orchestra in the beginning playing pipa. She took to the stage for the 3rd performance of the

morning and then returned to the orchestra. For the last 3 or so songs, she switched to acoustic

guitar to finish out the morning. Throughout the event and at the end payments happened as

before.

The next day, on June 12, I arrived at the park early once again. The performances went

on as before, this time however, one of the erhu players, one that I didn’t recognize from my last

visits, left the orchestra to sing a song before returning once again to the orchestra. Payments

happened as before, but this time at the conclusion of the event, around 10:30am, the yangqin,

percussionists (2), one erhu player, and the saxophonist stayed back as the audience dispersed.

After, I saw the percussionist and erhu player pool their money together, presumably the week’s

earnings, and then distribute it amongst the musicians present.

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 In terms of performance practice at the three events I attended, the saxophonist, and

indeed the entire orchestra, played mostly directly from the score, with very little improvisation.

Even though I was not watching the score intently throughout the mornings, when the entire

group is performing the melodic line in unison, it is quite easy to determine when, where, or if

improvisation and/or ornamentation is being utilized. When the saxophonist performed

ornamental improvisation, he did so by simplifying the melody somewhat. This approach was

obvious from listening alone because the other melodic instruments, erhu, dizi, and yangin,

would continue playing in unison. The saxophonist’s simplification of the melody in these cases

served to make the written melody appear more ornamented by comparison.

CMSAT Cantonese Opera Performance

• March 24, 2018

I arrived at the Cantonese Music and Song Art Troupe (CMSAT) building around 7:15 in

preparation for their 7:30 performance. The performance hall is a small but well-equipped

auditorium consisting of 15 total tiered-rows of seating. The first three tiers of seating are rows

of typical wooden tables and high-backed chairs that would be found in any tea shop or

traditional restaurant throughout China. The first row where I was seated had four tables each of

which had four chairs, one on each side left and right, and two on the side opposite the stage.

Behind me was a row of 6 tables and chairs and behind that a row of 8 tables and chairs. The 4th

row and up consisted of traditional theater seating, with red, folding, cushioned seats.

The stage itself was set up for a Cantonese opera performance (see Figure 10).

110
 Figure 10: CMSAT Stage Diagram

The center of the stage was open, while the back-left corner (from the audience

perspective) was corralled off with a very short wooden fence for the percussion section. I saw

timpani, an assortment of Chinese gongs, and a bangu (板鼓), a small Chinese drum that is

similar in appearance to a small conga. On the right was another, larger, corral for the melodic

musicians, about 10 musicians total. The room had a large sound system, very large considering

the size of the room. There were two small wedge monitors at the front of the stage pointed

toward the performers, two huge speakers suspended from the ceiling on either side of the stage,

directly below the suspended speakers were two smaller but still quite sizeable speakers held

aloft by large poles set on the stage, directly below these were two more large speakers (likely

subwoofers). The only microphones that could be seen were a few interspersed throughout the

orchestra. The saxophonist’s position was in the row closest to the front of the stage, but nearly

off stage to the right. In fact, it seems that he was just behind the curtain, and if I were at a

slightly different angle I probably wouldn’t have been able to see him at all.

111
 As the performance began, it was obvious that the singers were professionally trained, all

performing excellently. The orchestra on the whole was good but sounded unrehearsed. I could

hear improvisation as well, but this just had a rather unrehearsed quality about it.

The performances, except that they were obviously professionals, reminded me of so

many other performances I’ve seen around Guangzhou (at the Cantonese opera museum, or with

the retirees in the park) where selected scenes from various operas were performed.

The saxophonist was utilized for every song in the concert. Performing the tenor

saxophone throughout the evening, his performance style was largely contained to the written

score. This can be ascertained by the fact that the entire orchestra was playing from the same

score in unison. In the vast majority of instances, the saxophone and cello played together, in

similar octaves, ornamenting in similar ways, performing at similar times. This is in line with

many of the performances I saw in the parks, when cello was present. When there was deviation,

it took the form of simple ornamentation as described by Sau Chan,333 wherein the saxophonist

will deviate slightly from the ‘bare-bones’ melody. In most cases, this took the form of the

saxophonist performing a simpler version of the melody while the other instruments, erhu and

yangqin in particular, played the more ornamented full version. This was often performed as

rhythmic simplification (Figure 11) or by simply inserting rests and entering the melodic figure

already in motion to create contrasting timbres. (Figure 12)

Figure 11: Improvisatory Rhythmic Simplification Example

333
Chan, Improvisation in a Ritual Context.

112
 Figure 12: Improvisatory Simplification by Resting Example

Timbrally, the saxophonist played with a fairly neutral tone color and, most of the time,

without vibrato. The orchestra was fairly small and filled with mostly smaller stringed

instruments and, as a result, there were times when it seems the saxophonist was struggling to

control his volume, in order to blend with the rest of the group. This often presented itself

through the use of sub-tone in the lower range of the instrument. In one piece, the saxophone and

erhu performed a duet alone, the only two instruments accompanying the singer, for a short

melodic phrase. In this instance, the saxophone employed vibrato and matched that of the erhu in

both speed and pitch. When, on a few, very rare occasions, the saxophonist stopped playing

altogether, the change in the depth of the orchestra’s sound was very noticeable. When the

saxophonist began performing again, the difference was remarkable, and could even be

perceived when the saxophone’s voice could not be heard distinctly. The performance came to a

close around 9:30.

Fruitless Endeavors

In addition to the above, I also visited Yuexiu Park (越秀公园, Yuèxiù gōngyuán),

Shamian Park (沙面公园, Shāmiàn gōngyuán), and Central Lake Park (中心湖公园, Zhōngxīn

hú gōngyuán) 3 times each, the Cantonese Opera Museum and Cultural Park (文化公园,

Wénhuà gōngyuán) twice, and Nansha Tianhou Park (南沙天后, Nánshā tiānhòu gōngyuán)

113
once, at varying times and on different days of the week when possible. Although music was

being performed at all of these, from pre-recorded accompaniment at professional performances

at Cultural Park and amateur performances at the Cantonese Opera Museum, to a lone trumpet

player in a quiet corner, or a group of hulusi (葫芦丝, Húlusī) players facing each other in a

circular gazebo, and even a healthy showing of karaoke lovers, no other instances of

saxophonists perfroming Cantonese opera were found.

Ethnography Conclusions

This ethnography was undertaken to better understand the performance styles and

situations that exist for Cantonese-music saxophonists today, both those that work outside of the

established Cantonese opera troupes and those that are full-time employees. Since the goal of

this document is to chronicle the developments in historical performance of the saxophone in

China, this ethnography was necessary to fill-in the gaps left by a lack of primary sources on the

subject. In this sense, the ethnography was a success. I was able to find opportunities at both

established ensembles and freelance groups and interview with Chen Fangyi who understands all

aspects of Cantonese-music performance. Working conditions within the established

organizations or the troupe system are well documented, but information specific to the

saxophone is scarce. Discussing the freelance saxophonists’ performance conditions, however, is

also important. On the whole, the free-lance market for saxophonists is very small. Out of the 9

total possible venues I searched for free-lance Cantonese opera performances, only 2 were found.

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 CHAPTER 5

THE TRANSITION YEARS AND THE TURBULENT 60s: 1931-1976

Introduction

The years of and surrounding the Second Sino-Japanese War were a transitional and

unstable time for the cultural elements of China. What had been a golden age for jazz, Chinese

pop music, and Cantonese opera came to a crashing halt with the onset of World War II. Instead

of the rapid advancements that had been seen just a few years prior, musicians throughout China

were forced to just hold on and wait until the situation calmed. When it did finally settle down, it

settled into a radically different path, one deliberately charted by Mao Zedong and his political

beliefs toward the arts.

The Second Sino-Japanese War and WWII

The Second-Sino Japanese War is traditionally noted as starting with the Marco Polo

Bridge Incident of 1937. However, for musicians living in the city of Harbin and throughout the

rest of the northeastern region known as Manchuria, the trouble began in 1931. In September of

1931 the Japanese Empire began its invasion of Manchuria under the pretext of an explosion

near Shenyang, or the city of Mukden in Japanese.334 The invasion continued swiftly and by the

end of February 1932 Japan controlled all of Manchuria with the deposed Qing emperor Henry

Puyi sitting on the throne of the puppet-state Manchukuo.335

For musicians in the Russian-cultural stronghold of Harbin, the majority of musical

334
Paine, The Wars for Asia, 1911–1949, 13.
335
Ibid., 14.

115
activities were allowed to continue, albeit under new economic and military restrictions.336 For

saxophonists in the city, some new opportunities even presented themselves. In 1934 Russian

students studying at the Harbin Institute of Technology established the city’s first jazz band. Led

by Oleg Longstrom, the 6-member band performed in dance halls, large restaurants, and even

recorded at the Harbin Radio station.337

By 1936 however, with war looming, Longstrom and his band moved on. As Liu writes
“In 1936, Japan completely took over the Harbin Institute of Technology and renamed
the university "Harbin Advanced Industrial School." The six student musicians left
Harbin and traveled to Yantai, Qingdao, Shanghai and amongst other places. They
became one of the leading bands of the “Paramount” hotel in Shanghai and were selected
as the first-class band by the Shanghai-based English-language magazine “Olympia”.”338

Newspapers in Harbin continue to report on Russian jazz bands performing in other

Chinese cities. In a 1937 issue of The Rubesk News of Harbin, Manchuria, Sergei Ermolaeff and

His Russian Jazz Orchestra, including saxophone, are pictured performing at the Qingdao

Café.339 The same newspaper also pictures the band performing in 1937 Shanghai, again with

saxophones, this time noting that Ermolaeff was collaborating with band leader Alexander

Vertinsky.340

Although Japanese encroachment had already begun after the Mukden incident in

1931,341 the Second Sino-Japanese war, and what would become WWII, began in earnest on July

28, 1937 with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident.342 For the Chinese people living in Beijing and

336
Liu Xinxin 刘欣欣, Hā’ěrbīn xīyáng yīnyuè shǐ 哈尔滨西洋音乐史 [The History of Western Music in Harbin]
(Rénmín yīnyuè chūbǎn shè 人民音乐出版社 [People’s Publishing], 2002), 130.
337
Ibid., 174–75.
338
Ibid., 175.
339
Tatiana Pentes, “Shanghai, Harbin, Russian Jazz,1930s, Sergei Ermolaeff,” Strange Cities (blog), July 9, 2007,
http://strangecities.blogspot.com.au/2007/07/shanghaiharbinrussian-jazz1930s-sergei.html.
340
Ibid.
341
Paine, The Wars for Asia, 1911–1949, 2.
342
Wolfram Eberhard, A History of China (University of California Press, 1977), 329.

116
Shanghai, the effects were almost immediate. By the end of the same day, Beijing was under

Japanese control, and the nearby city Tianjin to the south, fell just two days later.343 Nanjing and

Shanghai fell by the end of same year and by 1938 both the inland central city of Wuhan and the

southern economic powerhouse of Guangzhou came under Japanese rule.344

For better or for worse, the saxophone was present for at least one of these events as well.

A special report in the form of a film clip from the Asahi News titled “Entering Nanjing

Ceremony” (南京入城式, nánjīng rùchéng shì) shows hundreds of Japanese troops marching

through war-torn Nanjing. At the 1 minute 22 second mark a large marching band of the

Japanese army is shown parading down the street. Three tenor saxophones can be seen in the

band.

In Shanghai and the rest of China, the foreign settlements and their jazz clubs remained

untouched. Even as the rest of the city suffered under Japanese control the Fourth Marine Band

(whose main mission was protection of the embassy and other foreign holdings345) presented one

of their regular musical performances for church services; the North China Daily News reported:

Chaplain Frank R. Hamiltion of the Fourth Marines will conduct the Service, delivering
the Sermon on the subject ‘The Art of Hearing.’ A special musical feature is a Saxophone
Quartet rendered by four members of the band personnel. Selection by the band in the
worship include the Prelude ‘Indilio’ by Lack and Tobani’s ‘Hearts and Flowers’ for the
Offertory.346

As late as February 1941 advertisements for saxophone teachers were appearing in Shanghai’s

North China Daily News: “Professional teacher (State Conservatory Vienna), teaches accordion,

343
Paine, The Wars for Asia, 1911–1949, 131.
344
Ibid., 135.
345
Chester M. Biggs, The United States Marines in North China, 1894–1942. McFarland, 2003.
346
North China Daily News,“Today’s Church Services,” January 16, 1938.

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saxophone, flute to beginners and advanced.”347

As Melvin and Cai put it “because they were ruled by nations with whom Japan was not

at war, Shanghai’s International Settlement and French Concession together escaped the scourge

of the invasion but were largely cut off from the rest of China and the world, an ‘orphaned

island’ afloat in a sea of suffering and devastation.”348 Unfortunately the same couldn’t be said

for local Chinese activities, and this fact could be deeply felt amongst the Cantonese opera

communities of Guangzhou.

The Japanese occupation of Guangzhou in 1938 and later Hong Kong in 1941, led to

dramatic changes in Cantonese opera performances. Many popular forms of the genre, especially

those enjoyed by the lower classes like all female troupes of singers, suffered dramatic

decline.349 One of the first Cantonese opera victims to the war was the famed Red Boat troupes

that had long toured the water ways of the Pearl River Delta with their traveling shows. These

Red Boats, large enough to conceal troops or be converted for military use, were destroyed,

many by air bomb. Those that remained were seized by the Japanese for other uses.350 Yeung

writes “The [Red Boat Troupe] practice began flourishing in the 1910s. More than 30 Red Boat

Troupes coexisted. Each troupe used two to three boats that toured the waterway of the Pearl

River. The practice ended in 1938 when Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong, was seized

by the Japanese.”351 The Cantonese opera guild building in the Huangsha district, that served as

347
North China Daily News, “Educational,” February 25, 1941.
348
Melvin and Cai, Rhapsody in Red, 136.
349
Yung, Cantonese Opera, 38.
350
Yeung, “Red Boat Troupes and Cantonese Opera,” 35.
351
Ibid., 4.

118
de-facto headquarters for the Cantonese opera community was destroyed early on in the Japanese

invasion.352

The Japanese occupation of Guangzhou led to a creative drain from the area. Seeking

shelter in the British controlled, and as-yet unoccupied Hong Kong, many of the best-known

Cantonese opera stars fled. Loretta Yeung notes that “because of fear of being used as tools for

propaganda of the Japanese, both Sit [Sit Kok Seen] and Ma [Ma Sze Tsang] fled to China from

Hong Kong.”353 Sau Chan also states that “during the Sino-Japanese War, [Ben Loeng] fled from

Guangzhou to Hong Kong, worked as an office boy for the famous Cantonese opera playwrights

Lei Siu-Wen and Tong Dik-seng.”354

In some other ways, Cantonese opera performances continued on much as they had

before the war. Loretta Yeung notes that “the Japanese occupation in 1941 did not stop staging

these operas. In fact, the Japanese encourage entertainment in order to promote a peaceful

atmosphere.”355 Later, she also notes that western instruments were still in common use by

Cantonese opera orchestras during the occupation,356 of which saxophone was an inseparable

member.357

December 7, 1941 was not just the day the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, but also

when the Imperial Military declared war on of the Allied Nations. The foreign settlements

throughout China that had been islands of peace in the sea of chaos surrounding them were

suddenly under Japanese control. Within hours of the Pearl Harbor attack, international

352
NG, The Rise of Cantonese Opera, 27.
353
Yeung, “Red Boat Troupes and Cantonese Opera,” 64.
354
Chan, Improvisation in a Ritual Context, 62.
355
Yeung, “Red Boat Troupes and Cantonese Opera,” 64.
356
Ibid., 82.
357
Chen, interview.

119
settlements like Shanghai and others throughout China were overrun by Japanese troops, and by

December 25 Hong Kong was also under Japanese control.358 Within months, under pressure

from their Nazi allies, Japan established a Jewish ghetto in the Hongkou (虹口, Hóngkǒu) area

where more than 18,000 stateless Jewish refugees from Central and Eastern Europe were

relocated. European Jews that had arrived after 1937 were forced into, as Tang describes, “…a

run down district in north east Shanghai at that time. The Hongkew [sic] Ghetto period lasted for

two and a half years from February 1942 until the Japanese surrendered and the ghetto was

liberated in 1945.”359

The Japanese occupation of Shanghai dampened the cultural aspects of that city in

significant ways. In Rhapsody in Red, Melvin and Cai note that “Since the autumn of 1942,

foreigners deemed ‘enemy nationals’ had been required to wear numbered armbands and were

frequently refused entry to public places of amusement, including cinemas and concert halls.”360

As the occupation continued, Japanese censorship was applied to performances in occupied

areas. Speaking of Shanghai, Tang writes

As the Japanese occupied the city centre and most shops were closed, it was hard for
musicians to go there to give regular performances. Programmes had to pass Japanese
censorship to meet the occupiers’ interest and taste. Even if a concert were approved, it
was subject to interference by Japanese patrols of police. However, the demand for
musical life persisted in in the face of such restrictions, with musicians often volunteering
their services.361

As to what was permitted by Japanese censors in China, not much can be certain, but policies

present in Japan and thereby the rest of the Empire shed some light. Just two years after the

358
Paine, The Wars for Asia, 1911–1949, 187.
359
Tang, “Reconstructing the Vanished Musical Life of the Shanghai Jewish Diaspora,” 111.
360
Melvin and Cai, Rhapsody in Red, 150.
361
Tang, “Reconstructing the Vanished Musical Life of the Shanghai Jewish Diaspora,” 111.

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Marco Polo Bridge incident (The China Incident as it was known in Japan) jazz was banned from

Japanese radio.362 For a short time, occupied Shanghai still employed jazz clubs, stocked with

ever increasing numbers of Japanese musicians. Until 1941, when even the remaining Japanese-

owned dance halls were shut down, “[Shanghai] was sanctuary from the suppression of jazz

culture in the homeland [Japan].”363

In 1941 Tokyo, an anonymous police report detailed the types of jazz that might be

permitted in the city in order to effectively censor the unwanted elements. This included limiting

the number of saxophones.364 And just two years later, as Kasza notes “the CIB compiled a list

of one thousand songs, both foreign and Japanese, to be banished from entertainment, and after

April 1944 music played on the banjo, ukulele, and steel guitar was outlawed altogether, while

use of the saxophone was narrowly restricted.”365

Despite obvious suppression of jazz and even saxophone specifically in Japan and, likely,

occupied China, there is evidence that the saxophone, in its classical form, was still allowed.

Radio broadcast listings in Dairen, which give time and program information for upcoming

broadcasts, continue to provide saxophone performances in their line-up from 1932, with a

saxophone solo by Dimitrieff,366 to as late as 1940, with an unnamed saxophone solo.367 In a

1939 edition of the Manchuria Daily News, there are even advertisements for the purchase of

records including saxophone performances: “Agitato (Mendelssohn, arr. Meyet), Theme et

362
Hector Berlioz, “Soire de M. Massart,” Journal Des Débats Politiques et Littéraires, April 13, 1851, 256–57.
363
E. Taylor Atkins, Blue Nippon: Authenticating Jazz in Japan (Duke University Press, 2001), 89.
364
E. Taylor Atkins, “The War on Jazz, or Jazz Goes to War: Toward a New Cultural Order in Wartime Japan,”
Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique 6, no. 2 (1998): 361–63.
365
Gregory J. Kasza, The State and the Mass Media in Japan, 1918-1945 (University of California Press, 1993),
256–57.
366
Manchuria Daily News,“Radio Programme,” June 25, 1932.
367
Manchuria Daily News,“Radio Program,” February 13, 1940.

121
Scherzo du Quatuor (Glazounow [sic]) by Quartet of the Garde Republicaine (Mule, Romby,

L’homme, Chauvet), 10-inch Black [record] 1.65yen” and “La Cinquantaine (Marle) Saxophone

Solo by Marcel Mule with Piano, 10-inch Black [record] 1.65yen.”368

Within a year of the 1941 occupation, foreigners from ‘enemy nations’ were rounded up

and corralled into internment camps spread throughout China.369 One of the largest and best

documented camps was the Weihsien Internment Camp (潍县集中营, Wéixiàn jízhōngyíng)

opened in 1943. Located Shandong province, the camp was home to foreigners from around

China until the end of the war in 1945. Here, the 1,400 internees were responsible for their own

schooling, cooking, cleaning, and entertainment.370 Here, too, saxophonists could be found

performing. Tyrer writes

Among the internees in Weihsien were some entertainment groups which had formed part
of the Western community in the big cities of north China. This included a black jazz
band, which provided a vibrant contrast to the largely religious music favoured by the
choir…many of the newer internees brought musical instruments in with them and
eventually a twenty-strong orchestra was formed. [One teenaged internee] palled up with
a musically gifted Jewish lad who played the guitar, saxophone and accordion, and he
taught him the basic chords so that he could join in and strum along with the band.371

Among the musically inclined internees was saxophonist Early Whaley, who had been

one of the top billed jazz musicians in Shanghai before the war, performing in clubs like St.

Anna’s Ballroom.372 When the Japanese invasion began in 1937, many foreign jazz musicians

took the cue to return to America. Whaley and several other musicians, though, had stayed on. In

368
Manchuria Daily News, “New Columbia Records,” February 23, 1939.
369
Mary Taylor Previte, “A Song of Salvation at Weihsein Prison Camp,” Weisein Paintings (blog), August 25,
1985.
370
Nicola Tyrer author, Stolen Childhoods the Untold Story of the Children Interned by the Japanese in the Second
World War (Charnwood, Leicester., 2011).
371
Ibid.
372
“Earl Whaley Band.”

122
the following years he continued to tour throughout the foreign communities of northern China,

especially Tianjin.373

When the Japanese declared war on the United States and other Allied powers in

December of 1941, Whaley and his band were remanded to the confines of the Tianjin foreign

settlement. In 1943 he was moved to the Weihsien camp where he met up with other prominent

jazz musicians including Lope Sarreal, Reggie Jones, Wayne Adams, and Earl West. Guitarist

Earl West became the leader of the new jazz band at Weihsien, where they performed at dances

for fellow internees. In 1945, after the end of the war, the internees including the band members

sailed back to the US via Qingdao aboard the USS Lavaca.374

After Japanese surrender, musicians in formerly Japanese Manchuria, now under Stalinist

Soviet control, were subject to Soviet law. Political policies in Russia at the time meant that jazz

was outlawed and so, in 1945 “…the KGB arrested the entire jazz orchestra of young musicians

right at the end of their performance, sent them in their tail-coats straight into one of the Siberian

concentration camps.”375

Little is known about musical opportunities for Chinese saxophonists during the war

years, but one location would seem to have been as a member of the Chinese Nationalist Army

band. On October 10, 1945 John Stanfield, then a Major in the Royal Signals, photographed the

official surrender of the Japanese Armies in the Forbidden City, Beijing. Appearing in the photo

373
Ibid.
374
Desmond Power, “Jazz in Occupied China: Black Jazzmen at the Japanese Prison Camp in Weihsien, China
During World War II,” Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed (blog), 2007,
http://www.blackpast.org/perspectives/jazz-occupied-china-black-jazzmen-japanese-prison-camp-weihsien-china-
during-world-war-.
375
Tatiana Erohina, Growing up Russian in China: A Historical Memoir (Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, 2011), 47.

123
is a Nationalist Army band including two baritone saxophones, situated next to the sousaphone

section.376

The effects of WWII were also felt in a creative drain from China. Military bands like the

United States 4th Marine Band that had been in Shanghai since 1927 and listed saxophone

amongst its ranks were forced to leave as tensions began to escalate just before December

1941.377 Donald Versaw, a French hornist with the band, recalls marching one last time on the

way to the transport ships. He wrote “We stopped playing then and listened to a jazz band from

one of the favorite cabaret haunts in the “Paris of the Orient”, play us off from the back of a

truck.”378

Musicians like Oleg Longstrom, who had established the first jazz band in Manchuria,

returned to the Soviet Union with his band in 1947,379 Cantonese opera stars and rivals Sit Kok

Seen and Ma Sze Tsang moved to Hong Kong permanently, and all of the foreign performers

and audiences that were forced to withdraw from the now dissolved foreign settlements left a gap

in cultural activities.

This gap, however, also created opportunities for local musicians. The racial divides that

once kept Chinese and other musicians from performing opportunities dissolved. In Shanghai

Nightscapes, Chinese saxophonist Bao Zhengzhen relates how the exodus of foreign residents

allowed Chinese musicians to finally “take center stage”.380 There’s also the story of Fan

Shengqi (范圣琦, Fàn shengqí) who was able to purchase a saxophone from a Japanese-owned

376
“Chinese Band, Civilians and Allied Forces Marching.”
377
Versaw, The Last China Band, 7-.
378
Ibid.
379
Liu, Hā’ěrbīn xīyáng yīnyuè shǐ 哈尔滨西洋音乐史 [The History of Western Music in Harbin], 175–76.
380
Farrer and Field, Shanghai Nightscapes, 133.

124
shop, that was “urgently trying to settle accounts” in 1945 Harbin. This saxophone would later

carry him to perform in the China Railroad Art Troupe in 1951 and be one of the few

saxophonists allowed to perform during the cultural revolution, performing at Mao Zedong’s

private parties. 381

The joy that must have been felt with the ending of WWII would surely have been short

lived, as the Chinese civil war resumed in earnest. In 1949, the communists won, and almost

immediately began implementing their new cultural values on the musical communities of

China.

Music in the “New China”

Long before October 1, 1949 and the establishment of the People’s Republic of China,

Mao Zedong had already cemented his ideology about the use of music and art. In his Forum on

Literature and Art in 1942 Yenan, Mao stated:

To defeat the enemy we must rely primarily on the army with guns. But this army alone
is not enough; we must also have a cultural army, which is absolutely indispensable for
uniting our own ranks and defeating the enemy…[we] must ensure that literature and art
fit well into the whole revolutionary machine as a component part, that they operate as
powerful weapons for uniting and education the people and for attacking and destroying
the enemy, and that the help the people fight the enemy with one heart and one mind.382

When, seven years later, he defeated his enemy, Mao and his followers wasted no time in

establishing new cultural guidelines. Almost immediately model plays like The White-Haired

Girl, and compositions by communist composers like Xian Xinhai (冼星海, Xiǎn xīnghǎi) and

381
Zhou 远洲 Yuan, “Běijīng Yǒu Gè ‘Lǎo Shù Pí’ 北京有个‘老树皮’ [Beijing Has an ’Old Tree Bark’],” Jīnqiū
金秋 [Golden Autumn], 2002, 5; JOSEF WOODARD, “East-West Jazz Link : Chinese Reed Player, Visiting UCSB,
Will Perform with the Campus Band,” Los Angeles Times, April 16, 1998,
http://articles.latimes.com/1998/apr/16/entertainment/ca-39687.
382
“Chairman Mao’s Talk to Music Workers.”

125
Nieer (聂耳, Niè ěr) became popular, state sponsored, and the only works that could be

performed without restriction.383 In Jazz and Totalitarianism Bruce Johnson describe it as:

…nearly every aspect of China’s popular culture, art and urban lifestyle was changed,
and its music industry was nationalized and reorganized accordingly, to serve the needs
and disseminate the ideology of the new communist state. The consequence for
cosmopolitan Shanghai and its bubbling jazz scene was immediate, and in a few years its
legendary reputation as the ‘Paris of the East’ was no more than a memory.384

Early additions of the People’s Music Journal (人民音乐, rénmín yīnyuè) were very

critical of all types popular music, jazz in particular, because of their immoral and corrupting

influences. “In February 1951, for example, Wu Yongyi published his article ‘Comments on

American Jazz’ in the People’s Music Journal 6-7, in which he condemned jazz as an unrefined,

vulgar dance music, a symbol of immorality and an artefact of the hedonist capitalist class.”385

By 1956, jazz was labeled ‘unhealthy’ for young people and authors of the People’s Music

Journal recommended readers to “Fight against the appearance of American jazz music in our

lives.”386 Tony Lopez’s 1955 article “The History of Jazz in South China” also gives some

insight into the fate of jazz in the 1950s writing:

Peking: There exists a shortage of instruments but a few night clubs are still open. The
musicians are mostly Chinese with a sprinkling of White Russians and Filipinos.387

Shanghai: A Jazz Concert which was to be held at the French Club did not materialize
through lack of support. The most famous night-club is the once-owned-by American
CAT pilots, Airlines, now owned and operated by the waiters of the Club…American
music was banned last year, but the waiters complained that they were losing out, and the
compromise was that Imperialistic music could be continued by no vocals in English
were to sung. Because of the American and Hongkong Government bans on the export of
records to China, no new music is heard and played, outside of the music heard and
383
Mao Yu Run, “Music Under Mao, Its Background and Aftermath,” Asian Music 22, no. 2 (1991): 105.
384
Bruce Johnson, Jazz and Totalitarianism (New York: Routledge, 2016).
385
Ibid.
Zhang Jin 章璡, “Fǎnduì juéshì yīnyuè zài wǒmen shēnghuó zhòng chūxiàn 反对爵士音乐在我们生活中出现
386

[Opposing Jazz Music as it Appears in Our Lives],” Rénmín yīnyuè 人民音乐 People’s Music, 1956.
387
Lopes, “The History of Jazz in South China,” 11.

126
 transcribed from the Voice of America in China today. Some of the musicians here, write
in letter-form, sheet music the latest songs and send these to their friends in China which
sometimes get through. The arrangements made are, of course, local arrangements. These
are the only loop-holes in the Bamboo Curtain.388

Chinese opera also began to change under Mao Zedong thought as early as 1942. After

his “Talks at Yenan”389 yanggeju (秧歌剧, Yānggē jù) style opera was created with song and

dance based in folk traditions.390 Between 1949 and 1955 government agencies actively

encouraged the writing of new operas with revolutionary themes and actively banned others for

their reactionary content. These government policies were relaxed somewhat during the Hundred

Flowers movement of 1956 and continued to allow more popular and traditional forms of opera

to be performed until 1963.391 As a result of Mao’s “Address to the Music Workers” in August of

1956 many musical government organizations were established throughout the country. One

such organization was the Cantonese Music and Song Art Troupe. 392 As stated in their program

from a 2018 performance in Hong Kong:

Cantonese music continued to develop after the establishment of the People’s Republic of
China in 1949. In 1958, the Cantonese Music and Song Art Troupe was formed according
to the government’s culture and art policy. The Troupe is a state unit of music
organization, and is responsible for the creation, performance and research of Cantonese
music and song. It is also designated the preservation unit for safeguarding the properties
of Cantonese music and Cantonese operatic songs, two representatives of national
intangible cultural heritage. This is the artistic and professional mission of the Troupe.

From 1963 to 1965 the escalation to what would become the Cultural Revolution was

388
Ibid., 11–12.
389
“Talks at the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art,” Marxists.org, 2004,
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-3/mswv3_08.htm.
390
Bell Yung, “Model Opera as Model: From Shajiabang to Sagabong,” in Popular Chinese Literature and
Performing Arts in the People’s Republic of China, 1949-1979, ed. Bonnie S. McDougall (Los Angeles: University
of California Press, 1984), 146.
391
Ibid., 147.
392
“Chairman Mao’s Talk to Music Workers.”

127
under way. Operas that did not follow Jiang Qing’s model were denounced as “feudalistic,

superstitious, and vulgar.”393 Starting in 1966, with the beginning of the Cultural Revolution,

only Jiang Qing’s model operas were allowed to be performed throughout the country. These

operas used a mix of western and Chinese instruments, usually relying heavily on the former;

saxophone, however, was not to be seen. Though these operas continued to be performed until

Mao’s death and the subsequent fall of the Gang of Four, during the height of the cultural

revolution, all performances stopped.394 As Laikwan Pang writes “In the case of Cantonese

opera, a blackout period resulted from this extreme politicization: all the opera troupes were

disbanded in the years 1967 and 1968, and no operas were staged.”395 Forcing adherence only to

the approved model operas and aggressively eradicate regionalized opera, Jiang Qing described

Cantonese opera and Cantonese folk songs as a “decadent and obscene sound, a sound that won't

make people progress, but will make people regress.”396 As a result, during the height of the

Cultural Revolution “not a single person associated with Cantonese music was spared the ‘cow

shed’ or sent to reeducation.”397

The Fate of the Saxophone Under Mao Zedong

Common knowledge tells us that the saxophone came under intense scrutiny at the

establishment of the People’s Republic of China and, after years of sharp decline, disappeared

393
Yung, “Model Opera as Model: From Shajiabang to Sagabong,” 147.
394
Ibid., 148.
395
Clark, Pang, and Tsai, Listening to China’s Cultural Revolution, 131.
396
Weiming Liu刘炜茗, “Wénhuà Zài Mínjiān·yuè Qū: Guǎngzhōu Rén Chuàngzào de Shìjiè Míngqǔ 文化在民间
粤曲: 广州人创造的世界名曲 [Cantonese Song, Culture Amongst the People: The World Famous Songs Created
by the People of Guangzhou],” Guǎngzhōu Túshū Guǎn 广州图书馆 [Guangzhou Library] (blog), September 28,
2006, http://www.gzlib.gov.cn/gzms/47402.jhtml.
397
Ibid.

128
completely during the cultural revolution, only to be re-introduced as the country opened to

foreign investment and culture under the ‘Opening Reforms’ of Deng Xiaoping.

In Listening to the Cultural Revolution Pang states that the inclusion of saxophone, which

had once shown “a tacit respect for the local audience’s everyday life was radically destroyed by

the Cultural Revolution.”398 She also mentions that although the combination of western and

Chinese instruments became a necessity of the Model Operas “the saxophone was not allowed to

be used during the Cultural Revolution.”399 Likewise Professor Li Yusheng, professor of

saxophone at the Sichuan Conservatory, in his interview with John Robert Brown states that the

saxophone was forbidden during the years of the Cultural Revolution as an “unhealthy”

instrument. 400 There is also the fact that many modern Chinese saxophonists describe the first

time the saw or heard the saxophone in person was in the 1980s and 90s from musicians outside

of China.401 All of these statements would tell us that the saxophone disappeared in 1966 only to

be seen again after the reforms of 1978. The truth, however, is a bit more complicated.

The first indication that this story might not be in line with actuality came in the form of

interviews with two prominent Chinese musicians. Li Manlong, professor of saxophone at the

China Conservatory of Music, mentioned that the saxophone was not to be found in the hands of

ordinary citizens during the Cultural Revolution, but that it could still be heard in the military

bands throughout the period.402 The other interview challenging conventional assertions was that

with Chen Fangyi, leader of the CMSAT. He stated that, although the saxophone disappeared

398
Clark, Pang, and Tsai, Listening to China’s Cultural Revolution, 140.
399
Ibid.
400
Brown, “A View from China.”
401
Chen, interview.
402
Manlong Li李满龙, interview by Jason Pockrus, Telephone, March 21, 2018.

129
throughout the rest of the country during the Cultural Revolution, it could still be heard in

Cantonese opera ensembles throughout Guangdong.403

The first allegation is most easily answerable, due to the existence of some remnants of

archival video and photographic evidence. The history of the saxophone in military bands in

China, as discussed in Chapter 1, dates to as early as Robert Hart’s 1886 Shanghai-based band.404

This tradition did not dwindle but continued in Mao’s China, where saxophonists were a part of

some of the most important moments in CCP history.

On October 1, 1949 Mao Zedong declared the People’s Republic of China officially

established. The events of that day, the speeches, the festivities, and the ensuing parade were

caught on film and presented in a 40-minute presentation called the Founding of the Nation

Ceremony (开国大典, kāiguó dàdiǎn). The first 12 minutes of the film are dedicated to the first

CCP meeting wherein the plans for the celebration are discussed. The video then cuts to the

opening ceremony itself, beginning with public speeches by the key members of the newly

established PRC. After the committee meeting and public speeches, where-in Mao Zedong

officially declared the establishment of the PRC, Mao took to an open top car to make the first

ever inspection of the troops. Many different divisions were represented including the 199th

infantry division, the temporarily established 4th artillery division, the 3rd panzer division, and

the 3rd cavalry division. In total, 16,400 soldiers, 119 cannons, 152 tanks and armored vehicles,

222 cars, 2,344 warhorses, and 17 planes paraded by for two and a half hours.405 Also in

attendance was a People’s Liberation Army band, though the exact detachment is not given.

403
Chen, interview.
404
Cheng, Hǎishàng sàkèsī fēng 海上萨克斯风 [Saxohone on the Sea].
405
“1949: Highlight of the PRC Founding Ceremony,” CPC China, accessed April 15, 2018,
http://cpcchina.chinadaily.com.cn/2010-12/03/content_13917361.htm.

130
Several cut-away shots feature the band, from which we can see that it includes a full contingent

of trumpets, trombones, baritone horns, snare drums, bass drums, crash cymbals, and at least one

saxophone. In fact, on first pass, it would seem that the saxophone is not represented in the

ensemble. However, during one of the shortest shots of the video, at 19 minutes 44 seconds and

lasting just over a second, the faint outline of a saxophone can be seen on the far right of the

screen, standing in-front of and to the right (from the audience perspective) of the right-most

sousaphone player. The image is quite low quality and very dark in that area, but after digital

enhancement, the contrasting lines and colors of the saxophone are quite clear. The saxophone

would appear to be a tenor, judging by the proportions compared to the musician, and is likely

one of a full section of saxophones that never made it onto the film reel.

On October 19, 1950 Mao Zedong sent troops into North Korea, crossing the Yalu

River.406 As can be seen on a Chinese-produced documentary called “Crossing the Yalu: The

Korean War”, Chinese troops cross a narrow land bridge into north Korea.407 At the 2 minute 54

second mark, a conductor can be seen in the bottom left corner of the screen. Directly in front of

the conductor is a line of saxophones, tenors judging by their size relative to the performers and

the curve of the neck. No further context is given by the film, but it would seem that these

musicians were sent as part of a ceremonial send off for soldiers heading to fight for North Korea

in the war.408

406
Xiaobing Li, The Cold War in East Asia (New York: Routledge, 2018), 86.
Cháoxiǎn Zhànzhēng: C Máozédōng Kuàguò Yālǜjiāng Kàngměiyuáncháo 朝鲜战争: C毛泽东 跨过鸭绿”抗
407

美援朝 [The Korean War: Chairman Mao Zedong Crossing the Yalu River to Resist America and Aid Korea],
accessed April 16, 2018, http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_ca00XMTc3OTU5OTY=.html.
408
Note: the same shot can be seen in a BBC produced documentary called One Man’s Revolution: Mao’s China,
and still frame of the same area at the same time, no band visible, on the People’s Daily website

131
 As to the types or origins of the saxophones in use by the PLA bandsmen, little is known.

However, as early as 1953 there is evidence that China was producing its own saxophones for

export. In December of that year, the Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao newspaper reported that the city

of Tianjin was exporting several types of instruments and that the saxophones in particular were

of quality comparable to foreign-made violins:

[Headlines:]Supplies of Violin and Accordion Can’t Meet Demand.

Tianjin Making Large Quantities of Musical Instruments
[Text:] The quality of the saxophone is comparable to that of imported high-quality
violins. These, along with 120 large bass accordions that have been transported to foreign
exhibitions, have also been produced.409

Instrument production continued at least until 1959. In this year an export schedule collected by

the United State Central Intelligence Agency notes that Chinese factories were exporting a

number of different instruments, among them four alto and four tenor saxophones in wooden

cases.410 This would seem to indicate that the saxophones being used in China at this time were

being produced locally.

In October 30, 1960 saxophones again make an appearance, this time at a music festival

in Shenyang, Liaoning China. Pictured in Musical Life (音乐生活, Yīnyuè shēnghuó), the

saxophones are performing as part of the Shenyang Garrison at an event called ‘Liaoning

Province and Shenyang City Literary and Art Circles Remembrance concert’ held in honor of

composers Xian Xinghai and Nie Er. The photo accompanying the article shows the military

409
“Supplies of Violin and Accordion Can’t Meet Demand,” Ta Kung Pao 大公报, December 2, 1953.
410
“Exports from Communist China Handled by the China National Sundries Export Corporation” (China: U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency, January 1959).

132
ensemble consisting of western instruments and includes a row of saxophones, both alto and

tenor.411

By the summer of 1966 the Cultural Revolution was fully under way.412 In order to

bolster the fervent worship of the Red Guards, Mao invited them to visit Tiananmen square,

traveling for free, in a series of rallies held from August 18 to November 3, 1966. These rallies

were filmed and shown as propaganda. At the fifth or sixth rallies (the footage was edited into a

single propaganda film) on October 18 and November 3 saxophones can clearly be seen in the

PLA band present for the festivities. At the 28 minute 58 second mark, a whole row of

saxophones is front and center in the camera shot.

This is significant for two reasons. First, the fact the saxophone is present at all when the

Red Guard are actively engaged in attacking the ‘Four Olds’413 with a special penchant for

attacking all things western of which the saxophone, with its ties to jazz and other unhealthy

music, may be seen as representative.414 The second reason it is significant is the way in which it

is presented. The row of saxophones, at least 11 visible on screen ranging from alto to tenor,

takes up nearly the entire camera frame and the shot itself last for an incredible 5 seconds. This

shows that the saxophone was not only present at the meeting of the Red Guard, but when the

footage was edited into this propaganda film later on, the saxophone was not just shown, but

411
Jianhua Guan管建华, “Měiguó juéshìyuè jiàoyù gōngzuò zhě xiéhuì 美国爵士乐教育工作者协会 [American
Jazz Music Educators’ Association],” Yīnyuè shēnghuó 音乐生活 [Musical Life] 11, no. 218 (1990): 24–26.
412
Li, The Cold War in East Asia, 145–46.
413
Note: the four olds ‘old ideology, old culture, old customs, and old habits’ were first published in the People’s
Daily newspaper on June 1, 1966 and restated by Lin Biao in August the same year during a Red Guard rally
414
Xing Lu, Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution: The Impact on Chinese Thought, Culture, and
Communication (Columbia, SC: Univ of South Carolina Press, 2004), 61; Cottrell, The Saxophone.

133
featured. This must indicate that, in this carefully crafted propaganda film, the saxophone

represented more than its earlier associations with jazz, sex, and all things bourgeois.415

In order to regain control of the Red Guard movement as the Cultural Revolution wore

on, Mao and the remaining leadership instituted Revolutionary committees to mediate between

the people, the PLA, and the CCP staring in 1967.416 On February 20, 1968 the Revolutionary

Committee of Guangzhou and Guangdong was established, in an event that included large-scale

celebrations and of which archival video-footage exists. Here again, even at the height of the

cultural revolution, the saxophone is present. The band is again a PLA detachment, though no

identifying information is available. The band is packed tightly into a very large crowd and

consists of around 20 musicians that can be seen in the shot, of which 4 are playing saxophones,

alto estimating by the size of the instruments and shape of the neck.

Judging from the video quality alone, it may seem that this video is too old to be

authentic. It is a very poor quality, black and white, silent film; nowhere near to the quality of

other similar productions in the late 1960s. However, the availability of high-quality camera

equipment at this time in China was likely very constrained. As late as 1980 Frances Fremont-

Smith, one of the first foreign English teachers in the newly opened China talks about her first

group photo at a school in Changchun being taken a camera, in her words, “like the wild west,”

wherein the camera operator has to duck under a black cloth to view the image and take the

photo.417 If there was any doubt as to authenticity, the clothes of the PLA Band, the ubiquitous

415
Note: See Chapter 3, China in the Jazz Age
416
Maurice Meisner, Mao’s China and After: A History of the People’s Republic, Third Edition (New York: Simon
and Schuster, 1999), 331.
417
Peng Sun孙鹏, “Fànwǎnzhēn 范婉珍 [Frances Fremont-Smith],” Bié Jiào Wǒ Lǎowài 别叫我老外 [Laowai Not]
(China: China Daily, 2014), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZCKVQ6YKjc.

134
presence of little red books, and the clearly legible banners naming the event place this clearly as

the founding of the Revolutionary Committee of Guangzhou.

National Day parades were one of the main events for the CCP and several films were

produced for them over the years. At the 1969 National Day parade, the saxophone again makes

an appearance. In this clip, the band is shown performing the Chinese national anthem near the

beginning of the 2 hours 15-minute-long film. This time, the French horn section is featured

prominently in the shot, but behind them a tenor saxophone, and likely a row of saxophones, can

be clearly seen.

In 1972, the saxophone was present for yet another important political event in China: the

official state visit of President Richard Nixon. Following the events of the famed ‘ping-pong

diplomacy’ trip in 1971, President Nixon traveled to China on February 21, 1972 to open

relations between the two countries418. The foreign press was granted unprecedented access to

the entire proceedings, and it is because of them that a great deal of archival footage is available.

Greeted by Premier Zhou Enlai, Nixon was treated to a formal dinner at the Great Hall of

the People in Beijing on February 21. The musical ensemble in attendance, set up at the back of

the hall, was a PLA detachment, no identifying information shown, that included saxophones.

Given the video quality and camera angle, the exact details are hard to determine, but it appears

to be two alto saxophones, positioned between the bassoon and clarinet sections. The band is

performing (if the overlaid soundtrack is to be believed) America the Beautiful.

After several years of failing health, Mao Zedong died in 1976. His funeral was a large,

formal event to which the saxophone was a party. Standing in formation in Tiananmen square, a

large PLA band detachment performs the national anthem. At 1:17:44 the camera gives a close-

418
Li, The Cold War in East Asia, 153.

135
up shot of a line of snare drum players. Behind them stands a row of saxophonists, 2 altos and 2

tenors, visible in the shot. Behind them a row of trombonists followed by sousaphones.

In the other years and at other events where a military band can be seen, the saxophone is

not seen. However, that is likely due to the fact that the saxophone section just was not featured

in that particular camera angle on that particular year. Despite several gaps in available archival

material, the presence of the saxophone in several instances of military processions at many

different events and over many different years seems to serve as proof that the saxophone was

indeed in continuous use during the Mao years, including the Cultural Revolution.

As to the other claim, that saxophone was present in Cantonese opera ensembles

throughout the Cultural Revolution, no evidence can be found. Given the political situation at the

time, this is not unexpected. However, there are some pieces of evidence which may lend

credence to Chen Fangyi’s assertion.

The first piece of evidence comes from a video mentioned earlier. At the establishment of

the Guangzhou Revolutionary committee in 1968, saxophonists can be seen in the band present

for the ceremonies. What is also noteworthy during this event is the use of some very traditional

elements of Chinese culture including the lion dance and the use of firecrackers. At the 00:27

mark, next to a group of young girls dancing with streamers is a group of 6 traditional lion

dancers. Though none of the traditional instruments that would typically accompany the dance,

such as large drums, cymbals, or woodblocks, can be seen next to the dancers at first, at 3:23

they are shown quite clearly. Then, at 3:26, the smoke and flashes from a large number of

firecrackers can be seen. Not only are these traditions significant for being allowed during the

136
height of the Cultural Revolution, when the ‘Four Olds’ were actively destroyed,419 but these

traditions are specifically associated with Chinese New Year Celebrations.420

In 1967 Chinese New Year Holidays and celebrations were banned nationwide by the

CCP. This included the traditional celebrations like firecrackers, exchanging gifts, or any other

aspects of traditional culture that might be seen as counter-revolutionary.421 The establishment of

the Revolutionary Committee took place January 30th, just over a month after the Chinese New

Year celebrations would have been held that year, and so it is not difficult to believe that the

citizens of Guangzhou decided to transplant their long-held traditions onto a politically

acceptable mold. Guangzhou has always been removed from the capital, both geographically and

politically. “Due to its economic strength, cultural and linguistic uniqueness, and physical

distance from the central administration, Guangdong province has always exercised a certain

degree of autonomy beyond state control, from the imperialist ear to the present.”422 Therefore, it

can be surmised that a sense of independence was felt amongst private musicians at the time, and

that the saxophone may have continued to be used.

The second piece of evidence comes from the fact that the saxophone could still be found

in the hands of private citizen during the cultural revolution. In a 2017 interview in the New

Straits Times, 76-year-old Shanghai saxophonist Li Minsheng states that he got his saxophone

during the 1960s and has been playing it ever since, stating “We were not able to play before the

opening-up due to the political situation then…back then I would play at home a little bit and

419
Lu, Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, 61.
420
Gunde, Culture and Customs of China.
421
Wei Huang and Ying Xie, “The New Year That Wasn’t | NewsChina Magazine,” News China Magazine, January
2012, https://web.archive.org/web/20150224083413/http://www.newschinamag.com/magazine/the-new-year-that-
wasnt.
422
Clark, Pang, and Tsai, Listening to China’s Cultural Revolution, 133.

137
enjoy it by myself. I didn’t play outside.”423 Another example is Bao Zhengzhen who began

playing saxophone in Shanghai’s nightclubs and dance halls just before the communist era.424 In

Shanghai Nightscapes Bao reports that he and other jazz lovers would get together to play jazz in

secret even during the height of the Cultural Revolution. Only the apartment being high enough

from street level and like-minded neighbors kept Bao and his friends out of forced labor in the

countryside.425

Finally, there are records of prominent Cantonese opera musicians that were known to

perform on saxophone travelling to and performing in the Guangzhou area. Huang Zhuangmou

(黄状谋, Huáng zhuàngmóu), member of the ‘Three Huangs’, (皇家三杰, Huángjiā sānjié) a

Cantonese opera performing family from Hong Kong, fled to Guangzhou after the Japanese

invasion of Hong Kong in 1941.426 A multi-instrumentalist, he performed regularly on gaohu,

zhuhu, and saxophone. Arriving in mainland China at the age of 15, Huang found that the city of

Guangzhou was also unsafe and politically unstable, but the countryside surrounding the city

offered opportunities. Huang recalled “The surrounding countryside area was wide, at the very

least there was enough to eat.”427 Huang Zhuangmou remained in China after the establishment

of the People’s Republic of China, an event he referred to as ‘a turn for the better’.

423
“A 97-Year-Old Trumpeter? Meet World’s Oldest Jazz Band in Shanghai,” South China Morning Post,
September 7, 2017, http://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2110028/worlds-oldest-jazz-band-shanghai-rare-
constant-amid-chinas-breakneck.
424
Farrer and Field, Shanghai Nightscapes, 134.
425
Ibid., 134–35.
“Wǒmen Shì Bànzòu, Ér Bùshì Yǎnzòu: Fǎng Yuèjù Yīnyuè Rén Huángzhuàngmóu 我们是伴奏，而不是演奏:
426

访粤剧音乐人黄壮谋 [We Are Accompanists, Not Performers: Interview with Cantonese Opera Musician Huang
Zhuangmou].”
427
Ibid.

138
 Huang continued performing in Guangzhou and the surrounding countryside throughout

the Cultural Revolution period. When asked about difficulties faced during that time, he noted

that he did have to perform pieces like Sha Family Creek (沙滨家, Shābīn jiā) (one of the model

operas). He also revealed an episode in which the Red Guard invaded his home to ‘Clear out the

Four Olds’. Although it was a terrifying incident, the family was only forced to destroy

decorative fans given to the family from the famous Ma Sze Tsang but survived otherwise

unscathed. This episode is interesting in that he made no mention of his instruments being in

peril, which a musician surely would have noted. This would seem to indicate that his

instruments, including saxophone, remained intact and he was able to continue performing.

Although no hard evidence can be provided, given all of these disparate factors, it seems

quite possible that the saxophone may still have been used to perform Cantonese opera

throughout the Cultural Revolution. Rural communities especially seemed to vary in their

participation in the movement. A CIA report on the 1968 Cultural Revolution noted that, while

much of the country was in chaos, the destruction associated with the movement was largely an

urban phenomenon.428 Even in rural communities where gruesome acts of violence were carried

out during the time, as described in Yang Su’s Collective Killings in Rural China during the

Cultural Revolution, the destructive acts were largely based on old vendettas and perceived

slights rather than a top-down initiated, fervent belief in Maoist ideology.429

428
“The Chinese Cultural Revolution,” National Intelligence Estimate (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, May 25,
1967), 10.
429
Yang Su, Collective Killings in Rural China during the Cultural Revolution (New York: Cambridge University
Press, 2011).

139
 The Saxophone under Fascist and Communist Regimes

The fascist governments of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, and the communist

regimes of Stalinist Russia and Maoist China all had a special relationship with music and a

profound understanding of its use as a cultural and propaganda tool. Japan and China, as could

be suspected, had regulations and ideas about the use of foreign instruments that would not have

been experienced in Germany or Russia. However, all of these countries had ideologies against

jazz, and most against the saxophone specifically, even if no such policies existed for other

western instruments or their music. These ideologies would have directly impacted saxophonists

in China, both under Japanese occupation from 1931-1945, and in Maoist China from 1949-

1976.

Japanese attitudes towards jazz and all foreign music began to change almost

immediately after the invasion of Manchuria. The Manchurian Incident, as it was known in

Japan, saw a sudden shift toward nationalism. Young writes “suddenly the languorous jazz

rhythms which had been the rage only weeks before were replaced by a boom in gunka (war

songs).”430 As the war raged on policy restrictions became tighter and tighter. By 1941 the last of

the famed dance halls of Shanghai were closed.431 In the same year Tokyo police began cracking

down on jazz performances, and saxophone in particular. A 1941 police report detailed the

permissible forms of jazz for residents and how to effectively censor. Atkins writes “the police

report went on to elucidate how this might be accomplished, first by outlining the structure and

instrumentation of jazz (including the “lascivious” sound of the saxophone), then by specifying

430
Louise Young, Japan’s Total Empire: Manchuria and the Culture of Wartime Imperialism (Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 1999), 72.
431
Atkins, Blue Nippon, 89.

140
the elements to eliminate to create healthy light music.”432 He writes how further restrictions

were placed as the war drew to a close:

By 1944, in response to the changing tide of the war in favor of the Allies, the various
patriotic music organizations tried to make it hard for Japanese to play jazz. In April, the
Japan Music Culture Association issued detailed guidelines for the instrumentation and
sound of light-music orchestras to “rid light music of the stink of jazz.” A ban on jazz and
Hawaiian-style band setups was instituted; the banjo, steel guitar, ukulele, and jazz
percussion instruments were banned; the number of saxophones in a band was limited;
the trumpet mute was outlawed…433

In Mao Zedong’s China especially during the Cultural Revolution decade, Chinese

attitudes towards western instruments and music were distinctly diametric. On the one hand there

are numerous accounts of western music of all kinds be violently attacked:

…Red Guards in particular, first turned their attention towards any public display of the
so-called old world. They vandalized shops. They turned over street signs with names
that come from the past or invoke a feudal culture. They will vandalize churches, tear
down temples, overturn tombstones, burn books in public - massive bonfires. But also, bit
by bit, they start raiding homes of people suspected of still having sympathies for the old
regime - of playing piano, of reading bourgeois literature, of harboring capitalist
thoughts.434

He Luting, who had drawn fire from a proletarian-minded critic for defending the music
of Debussy, was subjected to a physically abusive interrogation but refused to
apologize.435

In 1981, in response to [a] visit, for the first time musicians from the People’s Republic
were invited to Berlin: the conductor Huan Yijun, the composer Wu Tsu-Chian, and the
piccolo player Liu Teh-Hai. When the manager Peter Girth invited these guests to his
home after the concert, the conductor – and former pianist – told him that all of his
fingers had been broken during the Cultural Revolution and that he had been held
prisoner for a long time in a cellar.436

432
Atkins, “The War on Jazz, or Jazz Goes to War,” 362.
433
Ibid., 378.
434
Frank Dikötter, Newly Released Documents Detail Traumas Of China’s Cultural Revolution, interview by Terry
Gross, Radio Interview, May 5, 2016, https://www.npr.org/2016/05/05/476873854/newly-released-documents-
detail-traumas-of-chinas-cultural-revolution.
435
Alex Ross, The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007), 564–65.
436
Annemarie Kleinert, Music at Its Best: The Berlin Philharmonic: From Karajan to Rattle (Norderstedt,
Germany: BoD – Books on Demand, 2009), 81.

141
 Criticizing the bureaucratization of art, Orovio cited the hair-raising story of how a
Chinese pianist, during the time of the Cultural Revolution, had his hand cut off in public
for refusing to stop playing that ‘decadent western music’ (meaning jazz).437

As Li Yusheng pointed out, saxophone was described as unhealthy during the cultural

revolution, and those that dared play the instrument never did so in public.438 In Stalinist Russia,

where Mao had strong ties, saxophone was specifically targeted when:

…proletarian ideologues succeeded in closing [Krenek’s Jonny spielt auf ] and then
launched a campaign to ban saxophones from the Soviet Union. Although this first
attempt to proscribe the saxophone was unsuccessful, when the campaign against jazz
and the saxophone became particularly acute in the Stalinist purges after World War II a
second attempt did briefly succeed. Many jazz and light-music players were arrested,
imprisoned or exiled. Saxophonists, obviously identified as specializing in the instrument
most closely associated with the officially despised jazz tradition, were particularly
persecuted. In 1949–50 all the saxophonists in the Radio Committee Orchestra were
summarily fired. On a particular day in 1949, every saxophonist in Moscow was ordered
to bring his instrument and identity card to the office of the State Variety Music
Agency…The determined persecution of jazz and its players by the Soviet authorities had
the unintended effect of transforming them into something resembling cultural martyrs;
jazz became a symbol of resistance and non-conformity in the face of the State’s heavy-
handed authoritarianism. By association, the saxophone also became a symbol of such
resistance and of what was taken to be an ideologically dangerous individualism that was
otherwise frequently circumscribed.439

However, at the same time that 500 pianos were being destroyed at the Shanghai conservatory,440

“western classical music playing was a crime,”441 and saxophone couldn’t be played outside,442

437
Paquito D’Rivera, My Sax Life: A Memoir (Evanston, Il: Northwestern University Press, 2005), 88–89.
438
Brown, “A View from China.”
439
Cottrell, The Saxophone, 326–27.
440
Madeleine Thien, “After the Cultural Revolution: What Western Classical Music Means in China,” the Guardian,
July 8, 2016, http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jul/08/after-the-cultural-revolution-what-western-classical-
music-means-in-china.
441
Alissa Wang, “Western Artistic Influences in the Cultural Revolution (Primary Source Analysis of ‘Creating the
Socialist New, Fostering Proletarian Originality’ in the Peking Review, 1968),” Synergy: The Journal of
Contemporary Asian Studies Synergy Online (March 2, 2017), http://utsynergyjournal.org/2017/03/02/western-
artistic-influences-in-the-cultural-revolution-primary-source-analysis-of-creating-the-socialist-new-fostering-
proletarian-originality-in-the-peking-review-1968/.
442
South China Morning Post. “A 97-Year-Old Trumpeter? Meet World’s Oldest Jazz Band in Shanghai.”
September 7, 2017.

142
playing violin or piano in Jiang Qing’s model operas was seen as the height of revolutionary

expression. Mao Zedong himself, in his 1956 talk with the music workers, stated that “We must

learn from foreign countries and absorb the good things from the foreign countries…”443

Why then was there this political duality wherein some instruments were targeted and

others weren’t or some instruments targeted in certain situations and allowed at other times?

There are perhaps two considerations. The first is that an important aspect to understanding the

Cultural Revolution and its most extreme measures, especially those carried out during the peak

1966-68, is that they may have been government sanctioned, but were by no means government

controlled. The Red Guard directive to destroy the ‘four-olds’ was purposely and dangerously

ambiguous. As Xing Lu writes “The slogan ‘Destroy the four olds and establish the four news’

was vague and ambiguous…even indoor plants and pet birds fell under scrutiny and were

considered threats to the new order.”444 Therefore while no official policies existed in China

against the saxophone or other western instruments, to be seen with one was to risk being labeled

bourgeois or anti-revolutionary, and those ambiguous charges could be deadly.

Secondly, writing on the use of the piano in model opera The Red Lantern, Alissa Wang

states that “the mere appearance of piano music in this iconic Peking opera is sufficient irony to

question the general contention of China’s rejection of all foreign influence…This sentence

suggests cultural exchange rather than cultural rejection.”445 The use of the piano in The Red

Lantern was explained as “successfully assimilating the fine elements of foreign piano music,

critically [using] the traditional means of expression of the piano and [sweeping] away the

443
“Chairman Mao’s Talk to Music Workers.”
444
Lu, Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, 62.
445
Wang, “Western Artistic Influences in the Cultural Revolution (Primary Source Analysis of ‘Creating the
Socialist New, Fostering Proletarian Originality’ in the Peking Review, 1968).”

143
decadent, demoralizing, formalistic or corrupting elements of bourgeois piano music.”446 This

statement could explain why instruments that were anti-revolutionary in private hands were

model instruments in government hands. While, in the hands of the government, the bourgeois

elements of western instruments could be swept away, in the hands of ordinary citizens the mere

hint of bourgeois elements was a dangerous and possibly deadly prospect.

446
Peking Review, “Creating the Socialist New, Fostering Proletarian Originality,” 38 (1968): 28–32; Wang,
“Western Artistic Influences in the Cultural Revolution (Primary Source Analysis of ‘Creating the Socialist New,
Fostering Proletarian Originality’ in the Peking Review, 1968).”

144
 CHAPTER 6

THE 1980s AND BEYOND

Historical Background

The death of Mao Zedong September 9, 1976 brought a final end to the period known as

the Cultural Revolution. After the downfall of the Gang of Four, and the quick exchange of

power from Mao’s appointed successor Hua Guofeng (华国锋, Huá guófēng) to the long-time

politician Deng Xiaoping (邓小平, Dèng xiǎopíng), China began to open up economically and

culturally in the reforms known as Opening Reforms (改革开放, Gǎigé kāifàng).447

The Gang of Four, Jiang Qing (江青, Jiāng qīng), Zhang Chunqiao (张春桥, Zhāng

chūnqiáo), Yao Wenyuan (姚文元, Yáo wényuán), and Wang Hongwen (王洪文, Wáng

hóngwén), were communist party members largely responsible for the policies of the cultural

revolution and who had set themselves up for a power grab after Mao’s death. Led by Jiang

Qing, Mao’s wife, the group sought to continue under Cultural Revolution rules that had always

kept them in power.448 Instead, public support for moderate reformers like Deng Xiaoping and

Zhou Enlai “meant that the Chinese people now rejected Mao as the unique and godlike guide to

their future.”449 Backed by public and political support, and preempting an imminent coup by the

group, Premier Hua Guofeng had the Gang of Four quietly arrested on October 6, 1976.450

The fall of the Gang of Four marked a rapid change amongst the Chinese populace and

political entities away from the policies of Mao and the Cultural Revolution. During this time

447
Roderick MacFarquhar, The Politics of China: The Eras of Mao and Deng (Cambridge University Press, 1997).
448
Ibid., 309.
449
Ibid., 303.
450
Ibid., 309.

145
public banners admonishing these policies and praising reformers like Deng Xiaoping began

appearing around the country. As Harry Harding writes, “some Chinese were holding up five

fingers when discussing the Gang of Four, suggesting that Mao should be counted among

them.”451 Due to this changing tide, Mao’s chosen successor Hua Guofeng, quickly fell to the

rising power of Deng Xioaping and his Opening Reform policies.

The Opening Reforms were a set of economic and political policies enacted by the

Chinese Communist Party in 1978. Economically, China was opened to the rest of the world for

foreign trade and investment. Special economic zones, such as Shenzhen in Guangdong

province, were established to allow for capitalistic industry and financial services that would

have been unthinkable under Mao.452 Political liberalizations under these policies also allowed

for an influx in new music, art, and other forms of culture from around the world, and the west in

particular.453 Young people began to begin listening to and preferring rock and disco music from

Hong Kong and the West, considering traditional music old-fashioned. 454 Riding this wave of

cultural influx, the saxophone was reintroduced to the general public in Mainland China.

Pop Music

After the strict and radical decade of the Cultural Revolution, the saxophone, which had

been relegated to institutional functions and secret, private-ownership, was reintroduced to the

general Chinese public after the opening reforms of 1978.455 Although today most Chinese

451
Harry Harding, China’s Second Revolution: Reform after Mao (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press,
2010), 11.
452
MacFarquhar, The Politics of China.
453
Harding, China’s Second Revolution.
454
Ibid., 197.
455
Ibid., 71.

146
people would recognize the saxophone through its associations with western pop music,

especially saxophonist Kenny G,456 the conduit through which the instrument was reintroduced

to the general Chinese public was actually native forms of popular music.

Cantopop

The 1920s and 30s Shidaiqu movement, spearheaded by Shanghainese musicians like Li

Jinhui, was disrupted by the transitionary period of WWII and the establishment of Communist

China. As Marc Moskowitz writes in Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow: Chinese Pop Music and Its

Cultural Connotations “Most Chinese intellectuals fled Shanghai during the Japanese occupation

(November 12, 1937, to August 15, 1945), and for the most part they headed south to regions

such as Hong Kong.”457 In addition, when the communist takeover became evident a few years

later, a wave of musicians, artists, and intellectuals affirmed Hong Kong as the center of Chinese

popular music for the next twenty years.458 The imported “Period Songs” mixed with local

Cantonese folk and opera music, which was still the most popular genre in early 1950s Hong

Kong,459 incorporated foreign forms like American singers Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra in the

1960s,460 and through its powerful recording industry became a powerhouse of popular music

throughout the region.461

456
Dan Levin, “China Says Goodbye in the Key of G: Kenny G,” The New York Times, May 10, 2014, sec. Asia
Pacific, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/11/world/asia/china-says-goodbye-in-the-key-of-g-kenny-g.html.
457
Marc L. Moskowitz, Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow: Chinese Pop Music and Its Cultural Connotations
(Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2010), 18.
458
Ibid.
459
J.J. Wong, “The Rise and Decline of Cantopop: A Study of Hong Kong Popular Music (1949-1997)” (University
of Hong Kong, 2003), 43.
460
Ibid., 50.
461
Wong, “The Rise and Decline of Cantopop: A Study of Hong Kong Popular Music (1949-1997).”

147
 For musicians in southern China, this new form of pop-music introduced after the

Opening Reforms, often referred to as Cantopop,462 was the main conduit through which the

saxophone was reintroduced. Even preeminent folk musicians, like houguan player Chen Fangyi,

came to the instrument via Cantopop and began performing the music around Guangzhou for

enjoyment and extra income.463 As the genre evolved, it continued to incorporate musical

elements and instrumentation from Japanese and Western popular music.464 The mix of various

genres that contributed to the formation of Cantopop all utilized saxophone as a major voice in

their ensembles: Li Jinhui’s period songs (as described in Chapter 2 of this document), American

popular musicians like Elvis Presley (collaborating with famous saxophonists like Boots

Randolph465), jazz singers like Frank Sinatra (with his well known, full jazz-band contingent),

and Japanese enka (discussed below).

Taiwanese Pop

Meanwhile, by the late 1970s and early 80s, Taiwanese pop-music had become a distilled

amalgamation of the mainland Chinese, Hong Kong, and Japanese pop styles. The native forms

of pop-music, sung in the Taiwanese language466 “like Chinese-language popular music of the

time, was a mixture of Western instruments and the extremely high-pitched singing style of

462
Note: A portmanteau of Cantonese Popular Music
463
Chen, interview.
464
Joanna Ching-Yun Lee, “Cantopop Songs on Emigration from Hong Kong,” Yearbook for Traditional Music 24
(1992): 14.
465
Piers Beagley, “Boots Randoph, Elvis’ Finest Saxophone Player,” Elvis Information Network, July 2017,
http://www.elvisinfonet.com/spotlight_boots_randolph.html.
466
Note: Taiwanese (台语) is also known as Southern Min (闽南语), or Hokkien (福建话) and is a Chinese dialect
spoken as a native language in Taiwan and nearby Fujian province, China. It is distinct from and mutually
unintelligible with Mandarin Chinese

148
Peking opera.”467 A former colony of Japan, and still retaining cultural ties to the nearby island

nation, enka, sung in Hokkien was a widely popular and very influential genre in Taiwan.468

Enka is a fusion of Western and Japanese musical elements that can incorporate indigenous

instruments, 469 but whose typical instrumentation since the 1970s “include[s] saxophone (tenor,

and later, soprano), trumpet, electric guitar, electric bass, piano, and strings.”470 The saxophone

is an integral part of the enka accompanying ensemble, and by extension the Taiwanese

popmusic accompanying ensemble. The saxophone is important in the enka ensemble because of

its ability to sustain pitch “as easily as a singer does” and with an “extensive soft-to-loud

dynamic range.” 471 Writing on the importance of saxophone in enka Ho Wai-Chung writes “The

instrument is closely associated with mudo enka (mood enka), popularized in the 1960s and the

most common subgenre in the1990s. In its ability to bend pitches, undulate between notes, and

swell in volume, the saxophone transmits a kind of aural sensuality. Furthermore, its distinctive

timbre can easily cut through a typical stringed instrument background to produce a wail-like

sound.”

Teresa Teng (邓丽君, Dèng lìjūn)

Teresa Teng, who first rose to international fame performing enka songs, was

467
Moskowitz, Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow, 31–32.
468
Richard Li, “How Did Kenny G’s ‘Going Home’ Become China’s Official ‘Closing Time’ Anthem?,” Answer,
Quora, January 29, 2018, 29–31, https://www.quora.com/How-did-Kenny-Gs-Going-Home-become-Chinas-
official-Closing-Time-anthem.
469
Wai-Chung Ho, “A Historical Review of Popular Music and Social Change in Taiwan,” Asian Journal of Social
Science 34, no. 1 (2006): 125–26.
470
Christine R. Yano and Christine Reiko Yano, Tears of Longing: Nostalgia and the Nation in Japanese Popular
Song (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ Asia Center, 2003), 42.
471
Ibid., 106.

149
instrumental in reintroducing the saxophone to the general public in mainland China.472 Teresa

Teng was born in 1953 Taiwan to KMT473 parents that had fled from mainland China after the

1949 defeat.474 Her upbringing was often described as “unpleasant and even miserable” due to

the fact that “her family was poor and she had to help earn money from a young age.”475 She

began her professional singing career at age 14, when she released her first album Fengyang

Flower Drum (鳳陽花鼓, Fèngyáng huāgǔ), which “consisted of popular songs from the Huang-

Mei opera tradition favored by her mother and other Mainlanders.”476 By the 1970s her musical

style had changed, where it often “fused pop and opera styles, integrating western jazz to expand

her marketability and attract younger, more contemporary audiences.”477

This new style came to define Teng’s music and she became immensely popular

throughout East and Southeast Asia including Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and even

Mainland China.478 Teng’s success in mainland China likely had several contributing factors, as

Moskowitz writes

For one, Taiwan and Hong Kong music companies have far more experience in a
capitalist supply-and-demand market. Second, the PRC effectively eliminated all but a
very few political songs for close to thirty years (1949-1978). Third, both Taiwan and
Hong Kong benefited from housing diverse cultural traditions that produced different
forms of popular music.479

472
Trong Shawn Ta, “Becoming Teresa Teng: Becoming Taiwanese” (University of Southern California, 2009).
Note: an abbreviation of Kuo Min Tang, the period Romanization of the National Party of China 国民党,
473

guomindang
474
MacFarquhar, The Politics of China, 119.
475
Xianrong Zhang, “Teresa Teng: Taiwan’s Controversial Diva,” GB Times, May 4, 2014,
https://gbtimes.com/teresa-teng-taiwans-controversial-diva.
476
Ta, “Becoming Teresa Teng: Becoming Taiwanese,” 32–33.
477
Ibid., 39.
478
MacFarquhar, The Politics of China.
479
Moskowitz, Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow, 5.

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In spite of a sweet and wholesome public image, Teresa Teng’s music was initially labeled

“bourgeois, decadent, and pornographic” by the Chinese Communist Party.480 Still, her music

was incredibly popular in mainland China where “in the 1970s, Western music and Gang-Tai481

pop began to be smuggled into the PRC through Taiwan and Hong Kong. This was assisted by

Taiwan’s government, which routinely floated balloons with canned food and tapes of Teresa

Teng’s music across the Taiwan Strait.”482 This new underground music, for many people in

mainland China, “produced some of the earliest samples of contemporary life coming from the

outside world.”483 A Shanghainese woman living in China at the time noted that “before Teresa

Teng no one listened to pop music. It was all revolutionary songs. It was Teng that ushered in

love songs. Her stuff was really great because she sang about real life issues, not just about

politics.”484 Her music became so popular there that it was often said that “Old Deng rules by

day, little Deng485 rules by night.”486 Or in other words “by day, everyone listened to ‘old Deng’

because they had to. At night, everyone listened to ‘little Teng’ because they wanted to.”487

And so, it was through this avenue that the saxophone was reintroduced to general

audiences in Mainland China. Teng’s frequent use of jazz or jazz-influenced ensembles in her

480
Ryan General, “One of Most Famous Chinese Singers in History Was Also Banned in China,” NextShark: The
Voice of Global Asians (blog), January 30, 2018, https://nextshark.com/teresa-teng-taiwanese-singer/.
481
Note: Gang-tai (港台) is a common abbreviation referring to Hong Kong and Taiwan
482
Moskowitz, Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow, 19.
483
Ibid.
484
Ibid.
485
Note: Teresa Teng and Deng Xiaoping share the same surname;
486
MacFarquhar, The Politics of China, 122.
487
Hua Hsu, “The Melancholy Pop Idol Who Haunts China,” The New Yorker, August 3, 2015,
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-melancholy-pop-idol-who-haunts-china.

151
music488 became one of the “samples of contemporary life coming from the outside world.”489

The saxophone was a mainstay in her accompanying band and, as a result, her style set the

standard for saxophone performance practice in Mainland pop music as well. Many of her most

famous songs including “Goodbye My Love” (再見, 我的愛人, Zàijiàn, wǒde àirén), “The

Moon Represents My Heart” (月亮代表我的心, Yuèliàng dàibiǎo wǒde xīn), “Sweet as Honey”

(甜蜜蜜, Tián mì mì), and “When Will He Come Back” (何日君再来, Hérì jūn zàilái) featured

recorded studio and live versions with saxophone accompaniment.

Influenced by Teng’s style, saxophone continues to be a mainstay in mainland pop today.

As Tsang relates:

her appeal did not subside and fade away significantly, even as Mainland China
successfully modernized itself in the post-Deng Xiaoping decades. She still remains
highly popular today despite the fact that indigenous artists such as Wang Fei or Faye
Wong, who were deeply inspired by her, established their own style and gained
widespread popularity.490

It is also important to note that even as late as 2002 Taiwan’s Mandopop (Mandarin-language

pop music), heavily influenced by Teng, “accounted for an estimated eighty to ninety per cent of

Chinese language music sales in the PRC.”491

Unfortunately, Teng never had the opportunity to perform live in mainland China.

Throughout the 1970s and 80s her music went through differing levels of government

censorship. As a New York Times article describes “…for much of the 1980s she was a litmus

test of the political winds: when the authorities eased controls, her music sold briskly in stalls in

488
Ta, “Becoming Teresa Teng: Becoming Taiwanese.”
489
Moskowitz, Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow, 19.
490
Steve Tsang, ed., Taiwan’s Impact on China: Why Soft Power Matters More than Economic or Political Inputs
(Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2017), 13.
491
Marc L. Moskowitz, “Mandopop Under Seige: Culturally Bound Criticisms of Taiwan’s Pop Music,” Popular
Music 28, no. 1 (January 2009): 70.

152
the tiniest towns; when the hard-liners clamped down, her music was banned.”492 When, in the

1990s tensions began to ease, Liu Zhongde (刘忠德, Liú zhōngdé), named Minister of Culture in

1992, officially invited Teng to perform, but shortly after it was reported she had joined a

Nationalist organization and so the offer was rescinded.493 Teresa Teng passed away in 1995

from an acute asthma attack while on holiday in Thailand.494

Kenny G

Although American saxophonist Kenny G was not China’s first reintroduction to the

saxophone, his importance in the modern reception of the instrument should not be overlooked.

As Li Yusheng wrote “the saxophone music of Kenny G’s Going Home can be heard all over the

country. Many people know about the saxophone because of Kenny G’s Going Home. Kenny G

is making the saxophone well known to Chinese people.”495

Born in 1956 Seattle, Washington, Kenny G’s professional career took off when he began

playing with Barry White at age 17. After releasing his debut, self-titled solo album in 1982, it

was the 1986 album “Duotones” that propelled him into international fame.496 His popularity was

no different in China, where access to foreign artists was often thought of as a luxury and novelty

only recently available to a newly opened China.497 This, along with rising economic advantage

492
Sheryl Wudunn, “Teresa Teng, Singer, 40, Dies; Famed in Asia for Love Songs,” The New York Times, May 10,
1995, sec. Obituaries, https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/10/obituaries/teresa-teng-singer-40-dies-famed-in-asia-for-
love-songs.html.
493
“Why Teresa Teng Could Not Visit Mainland China,” accessed May 3, 2018,
http://www.zonaeuropa.com/culture/c20060805_1.htm.
494
Wudunn, “Teresa Teng, Singer, 40, Dies; Famed in Asia for Love Songs.”
495
Li, “The Saxophone In China,” 57.
496
“Kenny G,” Biography, November 30, 2015, https://www.biography.com/people/kenny-g-21212793.
497
Li, “How Did Kenny G’s ‘Going Home’ Become China’s Official ‘Closing Time’ Anthem?”

153
and the wide-spread availability of inexpensive tape players and cassette tapes498 only added to

the fervor.

Speaking of Kenny G’s popularity in 1980s China, one Chinese netizen wrote

You see, Kenny G was HUGE in China back then. His music was played everywhere, I
mean everywhere, in the shops, street corner vendors, on the buses, basically anywhere
you can hook up a sound system you will be guaranteed to hear his music, together with
Richard Clayderman and Yanni, I call them the three musketeers of early Chinese
adoption of western pop music.499

This popularity maybe attributed to a number of different factors. First, the height of Kenny G’s

popularity coincided with the Opening Reforms. As Liang Xiaofen writes “In the late 1980s,

China had just began listening to European and American music. Not long after, many of Kenny

G’s famous songs could be heard on the main streets and small alleys.”500 His style of music,

often called smooth jazz, was likely to be more pleasing to a Chinese audience unfamiliar with

bebop or other forms of jazz in the vein of Thelonious Monk, Ella Fitzgerald, or Duke Ellington.

Even in the United States at the time “being jazzy [was] a downright handicap.” 501 Record

companies would often release two versions of the same song, one in the original form and one

without all of the soloing or dissonant sections.502 In China, many amateur saxophonists will

avoid jazz, finding it “beautiful but too difficult” and instead perfering “Chinese songs [that] are

more familiar and easy to play.” 503

498
Ta, “Becoming Teresa Teng: Becoming Taiwanese,” 7.
499
Li, “How Did Kenny G’s ‘Going Home’ Become China’s Official ‘Closing Time’ Anthem?”
Xiaofen Liang梁晓奋, “Kěn Ní·jī de ‘Yǒnggǎn’ Kuà Jiè 肯尼·基的‘勇敢’跨界 [Kenny G’s Brave
500

Crossover],” Yīnyuè Àihào Zhě 音樂愛好者 [Music Lover], September 2013, 40.
501
Christopher J. Washburne and Maiken Derno, eds., Bad Music: The Music We Love to Hate (New York:
Routledge, 2013), 133–34.
502
Ibid.
503
Javier C. Hernández, “China’s ‘Saxophone Capital,’ a Factory Town Transfixed by Kenny G,” The New York
Times, January 3, 2018, sec. Asia Pacific, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/world/asia/china-sidangkou-
saxophone.html.

154
 Another factor contributing to Kenny G’s popularity in China is his crossover work with

Chinese music and musicians. Over the years, Kenny G has recorded and performed renditions

of “Jasmine Flower” (茉莉花, Mòlì huā) (a popular Chinese folk song), and Teresa Teng’s “The

Moon Represents My Heart”.504 He also joined forces with “Heart-throb Andy Lau Tak-wah…to

a produce a Cantonese love song” in 1998.505 This song, “You are My Woman” (你是我的女人,

Nǐ shì wǒde nǚrén) was nominated for best song at the 18th Hong Kong Film Awards.506

Crossover in the other direction is not unheard of either. As Sun Wu writes “In Hong Kong

definitely has people taking Kenny G’s songs, filling them in with Cantonese lyrics, and making

them popular love songs.”507

One song in particular has a special meaning for people throughout China. Since at least

the 1990s, Kenny G’s hit song Going Home can be heard everyday as a sign to pack up and go

home.508 As the New York Times reported “For years the tune, in all its seductive woodwind

glory, has been a staple of Chinese society. Every day, ‘Going Home’ is piped into shopping

malls, schools, train stations, and fitness centers as a signal to the public that it is time, indeed, to

go home.”509

504
Bei Hu, “King of Sax,” Global Times, September 9, 2013, sec. Metro Shanghai,
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/809750.shtml.
505
Jacky Wong, “Andy Lau Teams Up with Kenny G,” South China Morning Post, May 5, 1998, Online edition,
http://www.scmp.com/article/239630/andy-lau-teams-kenny-g.
506
“Dì 18 Jiè Xiānggǎng Diànyǐng Jīn Xiàng Jiǎng Tímíng Jí Dé Jiǎng Míngdān 第18届香港电影金像奖提名及得
奖名单 [List of Nominees and Awardees of the 18th Hong Kong Film Awards],” Xiānggǎng diànyǐng jīn xiàng
jiǎng 香港电影金像奖 [Hong Kong Film Awards], 1999, http://www.hkfaa.com/.
507
Wu Sun孙吴, “Sàkèsī de Mèilì: Fēi Juéshì Dì Sàkèsī 萨克斯的魅力：非爵士的萨克斯 [Sax’s Charm: Non-
Jazz Saxophone],” Shìtīng Jìshù 视听技朮 [China Audiophile], 1999, 105.
508
Levin, “China Says Goodbye in the Key of G.”
509
Ibid.

155
 Today many saxophonists, and more importantly audiences, in China identify Kenny G’s

style and sound as the quintessential jazz performance. As such, his style is what is most often

performed by saxophonists and called for by patrons in jazz and pop settings of all kinds around

the country.510

Cui Jian (崔健, Cuī jiàn) and Liu Yuan (刘元, Liú yuan)

Another important avenue of the saxophone into the lives of ordinary Chinese audiences

in the early years of the opening reforms was through another popular-music genre: rock. Rock

music got its start in China largely through unofficial channels like underground clubs and black-

market cassette tapes.511 Access to music in this way was novel where, unlike government-

controlled radio and television broadcasts, listeners could choose their own individual musical

preferences.512

Cui Jian, the man who would come to be known as the “Godfather of Chinese rock ‘n’

roll”,513 was born into an ethnically Korean family in northern China. The son of a professional

trumpet player and a Korean ethnic-dancer, Cui Jian studied trumpet and became a member of

the prestigious Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra in that capacity in 1981. In 1985 he began

attracting attention as a rock musician after entering into a televised talent contest in Beijing.

One year later, after performing his now famous “Nothing to My Name” (一无所有,

Li, “The Saxophone In China”; Xiaolu 章啸路 Zhang, interview by Jason Pockrus, Telephone, May 4, 2018;
510

Chen, interview.
511
Hao Huang, “Voices from Chinese Rock, Past and Present Tense: Social Commentary and Construction of
Identity in Yaogun Yinyue , from Tiananmen to the Present,” Popular Music and Society 26, no. 2 (January 2003):
187, https://doi.org/10.1080/0300776032000095512.
512
Ibid.
513
Sheila Melvin, “Cui Jian: China’s Rock Rebel Updates His Appeal,” The New York Times, March 1, 2008, sec.
Arts, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/arts/31iht-melvin.1.9608490.html.

156
Yīwúsuǒyǒu) at a concert commemorating the Year of World Peace in Beijing, Cui Jian was

catapulted into popular fame, leaving the Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra in 1987 to pursue rock

full time.514

Cui Jian’s music combined western music with traditional Chinese idioms including

instruments and melodies. As discussed in the introduction to an interview with the UCLA

International Institute:

Musically, Cui Jian's music is an amalgamation of '80s rock and traditional Chinese
music, employing both western instruments and traditional Chinese flutes and horns.
Lyrically, his work is reminiscent of the political songs of the '60s. Growing up in the
Cultural Revolution and its aftermath, Cui Jian incorporated social themes about
liberation and individualism in his lyrics. Contending with the highly restrictive Chinese
cultural industry censors, these themes were often thinly veiled through analogies and
symbolism.515

This incorporation of traditional elements with jazz, electronic music, and even hip-hop became

Cui Jian’s signature sound. 516 The famed “Nothing to My Name”, for example, was based on

folk songs of north-western China, known as xintianyou (信天游, Xìn tiān yóu), and featured a

large suona solo, performed by saxophonist and mulit-instrumentalist Liu Yuan.517 Liu Yuan’s

prowess on saxophone, which would later be harnessed to launch a jazz career, and a number of

Chinese traditional instruments including suona and bamboo flute, became an inseparable part of

the ensemble.

514
“Cui Jian Biography,” accessed May 5, 2018, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bjweekend/2006-
04/21/content_573181.htm.
515
“Cui Jian: Father of Chinese Rock ‘N’ Roll,” UCLA International Institute, June 3, 2005,
http://international.ucla.edu/institute/article/11612.
516
Melvin, “Cui Jian,” March 1, 2008.
517
Gupta and Omoniyi, The Cultures of Economic Migration, 169.

157
 For China’s youth, Cui Jian’s music became a symbol of China’s counter-culture.518 He

was quoted as saying “Rock is an ideology, not a set musical form,” suggesting that the genre

“provided youth with a collective desire for social transformation.”519 This ideology led Cui to

perform in Tiananmen Square in the spring of 1989, when “Nothing to My Name”, “a coded

paean to love conquering all”520 became the unofficial anthem for student protesters in the

square.521

The aftermath of the Tiananmen Square incident was felt in the Chinese rock community.

Scores of prominent rock musicians went into hiding as security forces were ordered to locate an

imprison the musicians, who were considered equal to the student prodemocracy leaders. Not

long after though, most rock musicians began returning to low-profile performances in

Beijing.522 As Hao Hong writes

Astonishingly, less than half a year after the government crackdown, Cui Jian persuaded
the CCP regime to sanction the first official rock concert in the PRC on the second day of
the “Spring Festival,” January 28, 1990. He offered to donate 1 million yuan from
concert proceeds towards recouping major financial losses that the government had
incurred by producing the 1989 Asian Games. PRC government authorities gave Cui
permission to go on a countrywide tour in March of that year—ten concerts in
Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Xi’an, and Chengdu opened to unprecedented mass enthusiasm.523

The Semiotics of Chinese Pop Music

In his paper “Semiotics of Music: Analysis of Cui Jian's “Nothing to My Name,” the

518
Matthew Corbin Clark, “Birth Of A Beijing Music Scene,” PBS Frontline: China in the Red, February 13, 2003,
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/red/sonic/.
519
Huang, “Voices from Chinese Rock, Past and Present Tense,” 188.
520
Clark, “Birth Of A Beijing Music Scene.”
521
Melvin, “Cui Jian,” March 1, 2008.
522
Nimrod Baranovitch, China’s New Voices: Popular Music, Ethnicity, Gender, and Politics, 1978-1997
(University of California Press, 2003), 189.
523
Huang, “Voices from Chinese Rock, Past and Present Tense,” 189.

158
Anthem for the Chinese Youths in the Post‐Cultural Revolution Era” Jonathan Matusitz

describes the symbolic place of pop music within China. He notes that, as a sign, popular music

“or rock and pop, denotes a cultural object.”524 This cultural object was an ingrained part of

Chinese culture in the 1980s and served to speak “to, of, and for” the culture itself. For many, it

served as a “warning sign against the oppression of the Chinese government.”525 This became

evident when “Nothing to My Name” became the unofficial anthem of the 1989 protests.526

Pop music also served as a sign of Chineseness and youth. Matusitz writes that “unlike

other Asian countries, such as Malaysia, where American pop culture predominates, China has

[…] its own ‘Cantopop’ and ‘Mandopop’ artists.” 527 For these youth, then, pop music was “a

language by which the youths can signify their identities as members of a particular generation

(breaking from a previous generation)…what matters is not only the music, but also cultural

images and symbols surrounding the music.”528

In searching for cultural images and symbols, then, the saxophone must have been a

likely candidate. As mentioned by prominent musicians like Chen Fangyi and Li Manlong, pop

music was their introduction to the instrument and they were drawn to it, and in some ways that

means drawn away from their own, traditional instruments.529 In the years after the opening

reforms, the adoption of the saxophone by pop musicians, or the inclusion of the instrument in

524
Jonathan Matusitz, “Semiotics of Music: Analysis of Cui Jian’s ‘Nothing to My Name,’ the Anthem for the
Chinese Youths in the Post‐Cultural Revolution Era,” The Journal of Popular Culture 43, no. 1 (January 28, 2010):
157, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5931.2010.00735.x.
525
Ibid.
526
Sheila Melvin, “Cui Jian: China’s Rock Rebel Updates His Appeal,” The New York Times, March 1, 2008, sec.
Arts, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/arts/31iht-melvin.1.9608490.html.
527
Matusitz, “Semiotics of Music,” 161.
528
Ibid., 165.
529
Chen, interview; Li, interview.

159
their bands also must have been a signifier of generational identity: unlike trumpet, guitar, violin,

or so many other instruments, the saxophone was one of the few that was relegated to only a very

few performance styles, and was completely thrust out of the model operas and other state-

sanctioned musical genres of the preceding Cultural Revolution era.530

Jazz

The Opening Reforms of the 1980s saw the reestablishment of China’s jazz scene, which

had been suppressed under Mao’s communist regime. Having been suppressed for so many

years, the jazz scene, in many ways, had been frozen in time, with musicians still performing

1930s and 40s style dancehall music. As the LA Times wrote, “in China, jazz was banned for

many years, deemed corrupt in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. The music reemerged in

recent years, but has picked up where it left off, with a ‘40s sensibility embracing swing-era and

bebop styles.”531 This idea of a jazz scene stuck in time became a recurring theme for many

musicians travelling to the newly opened country. On seeing a performance at the famed Peace

Hotel in Shanghai, one reporter wrote

The band played with enthusiasm, the place was packed, and the crowd clearly loved the
old duffers, but I must say we were disappointed. Along with '30s and '40s Glenn Miller-
and Benny Goodman-like arrangements, the musicians played such non-jazz chestnuts as
"Waltzing Matilda" and "New York, New York" for visitors. Even on jazz arrangements,
the band was stiffly "boom-chick"; musicians appeared not to improvise, and they did not
swing.532

530
Paul Clark, Laikwan Pang, and Tsan-Huang Tsai, eds., Listening to China’s Cultural Revolution: Music, Politics,
and Cultural Continuities (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), 140.
531
WOODARD, “East-West Jazz Link.”
532
J. Robert Bragonier, “Jazz in Shanghai, China: A Study in Contrasts,” All About Jazz, May 24, 2004,
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/jazz-in-shanghai-china-a-study-in-contrasts-by-j-robert-bragonier.php?page=1.

160
 Saxophonist Liu Yuan, who got his start performing with Chinese rocker Cui Jian, also

had difficulty in starting a true jazz scene in China. Liu Yuan was born into a family of well-

known folk musicians and began his musical training on suona, just like his father.533 After

graduating from the Beijing Art School at age 19, he began working as a full-time musician with

the Beijing Song and Dance Troupe. It was here that he met Cui Jian and other members of what

would become the famous rock band.534 The Beijing Song and Dance Troupe toured frequently

and performed concerts both inside and outside of China.535 It was during one of the international

tours that Liu Yuan first became interested in jazz. In a café one night in a Romanian city near

the Hungarian border, he heard jazz for the first time. It left such an impression on him that he

borrowed money from his family to buy his first saxophone in 1984.536

He began learning to play the saxophone “through tapes that his western friends brought

back from overseas, while performing rock ‘n’ roll with Chinese rock legend Cui Jian.”537

Creating a jazz scene in China was not easy at first as, in the mid-1980s “there were only four or

five professional jazz musicians in Beijing.”538 The jazz scene grew, though, and by 1994 Liu

Yuan and his group, Liu Yuan’s Jazz Band, were performing regularly at the Hilton Hotel in

533
Tara Shingle Buzash, “Liu Yuan, the CD Cafe, and Jazz in China,” Geocities (blog), October 25, 2009,
https://www.webcitation.org/5kmpQ7MWg.
534
“Pioneering Saxophonist, 50, Still Hitting the Right Note,” accessed May 3, 2018,
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2010-03/29/content_9655355.htm.
535
Buzash, “Liu Yuan, the CD Cafe, and Jazz in China.”
536
“Pioneering Saxophonist, 50, Still Hitting the Right Note.”
537
Shen Lu, “Beijing’s Jazz Scene Is Buzzing,” CNN Travel, December 18, 2015,
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/china-beijing-jazz-scene-blue-note/index.html.
538
Ibid.

161
Beijing.539 In 1995 he became co-partner of jazz night-club CD Café and has performed there

regularly ever since, turning into one of the hotspots of jazz in the city.540

Another pioneering saxophonist in China’s reemerging jazz scene was Fan Shengqi. Born

in 1933 Harbin, Fan began playing saxophone at age 11.541 In 1956 he entered the Central

Conservatory of music as a clarinetist and by age 18 was the principal saxophone player of the

Chinese Railroad Art Troupe (中国铁路艺术团, Zhōngguó tiělù yìshù tuán).542 Here, he played

both saxophone and clarinet until the arrival of the Cultural Revolution when “ironically, he was

only allowed to play the sax at Chairman Mao’s private dance parties, otherwise focusing on

Chinese reed instruments such as the reed pipe, suona, and bamboo flute.”543 In the mid-1980s he

formed what would become an iconic jazz band in China: the Old Tree Bark Band (老树皮乐队,

Lǎo shùpí yuèduì). The band was formed when director Chen Kaige needed a jazz band to

perform and appear on film for his movie “The Wind and Moon” (风月). The band’s sound and

appearance in the movie made them an overnight sensation, and Fan Shengqi has been

performing regularly with them ever since.544

Thanks to the efforts of these early pioneers, the jazz scene in China is thriving. The

famed Blue Note club opened Blue Note Beijing in March 2016,545 internationally recognized

artists like The Yellowjackets, Herbie Hancock, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Robin Eubanks, Jaleel Shaw,

539
Buzash, “Liu Yuan, the CD Cafe, and Jazz in China.”
540
Ibid.
541
Woodard, “East-West Jazz Link.”
Dayu Fan范大宇, “Lǎo shù pí: Zhōngguó de juéshì yuèduì 老树皮：中国的爵士乐队 [Old Bark: China’s Jazz
542

Band],” Zhōngguó tiělù wényì 中国铁路文艺 [China Railroad Art Troupe], 2006, 61.
543
Woodard, “East-West Jazz Link.”
544
China Daily,“范圣骑做客胡同里的百家讲坛讲述音乐情缘,” September 15, 2017.
545
Lu, “Beijing’s Jazz Scene Is Buzzing.”

162
Snarky Puppy, Richard Sussman, and more have headlined in Beijing,546 and China his home to

scores of annual jazz festivals.547 As CNN reported “China’s largest city [Shanghai] has become

home to a new generation of jazz players.”548 This new generation includes young performers

like Li Gaoyang (李高阳, Lǐ gāoyáng) and Chen Jiajun (陈嘉俊, Chén jiājùn).

Li Gaoyang “is regarded almost as a veteran of the Chinese jazz scene, having first made

his mark when he joined the Yinjiao Big Band as a tenor saxophonist in 2009.”549 Li has toured

with artists including Dave Liebman, Jerry Bergonzi, and Adam Nussbaum and was the opening

performer at the Hong Kong International Jazz Festival and Ninegates Jazz Festival in Beijing

2011550 The Li Gaoyang quartet regularly performs as the group in residence at Liu Yuan’s

famed CD Jazz Café in Beijing.551

Born in 1985, saxophonist Chen Jiajun is the director of the Shanghai Saxophone

Institute and a regular performer throughout China. Studying with Zhang Xiaolu at the Shanghai

Conservatory of Music, Chen began playing professionally at age 18, performing in the city’s

nightclubs and hotels. In 2012 he performed alongside Eric Marienthal at the Jazz It Up event

546
Terence Hsieh, “Why Beijing Is (Still) A Great City For Jazz Music,” Forbes, accessed May 6, 2018,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/terencehsieh/2016/07/26/why-beijing-is-still-a-great-city-for-jazz-music/.
547
Robin Lynam, “The Jazz Scene in China Is Booming as More Young Musicians Discover the Genre,” South
China Morning Post, July 9, 2014, http://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1546605/jazz-scene-china-
booming-more-young-musicians-discover-genre.
548
Jaime FlorCruz, “Shanghai Sizzles Again with Jazz,” CNN Travel, August 3, 2004,
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/08/02/shanghai.jazz/.
549
Robin Lynam, “Sax Assault: Four Top Jazz Saxophonists Play Hong Kong in a Week,” South China Morning
Post, May 30, 2015, http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1812084/sax-assault-four-top-jazz-
saxophonists-play-hong-kong.
550
Ian Patterson, “Li Gao Yang: Locks, Stock and Smoking Barrel,” All About Jazz, December 6, 2012,
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/li-gao-yang-locks-stock-and-smoking-barrel-li-gao-yang-by-ian-patterson.php.
551
Ibid.

163
and became the first Chinese musicians ever reviewed by Down Beat Magazine.552 More

recently, he performed on the Chinese leg of Dave Kos’ 2015 tour.

The Saxophone in Chinese Conservatories

Jazz and Pop

The first avenue for saxophonists to obtain a degree in music was at the establishment of

the popular-music department at the Shenyang conservatory in 1993. In 1993 the Shenyang

conservatory began accepting applications for their newly established popular music department,

seeking teachers of saxophone, guitar, bass, etc popular-music instruments.553 Having just

graduated that year, Liu Yan (刘焱, Liú yàn) began teaching in the popular music department

and became among the first saxophone teachers at a Chinese university.554 Although this degree

program was considered popular music, rather than jazz, the curriculum for saxophonists

included studying many different forms of western music, and so can be considered an important

first step for jazz education in the country.

It should be mentioned that this program, although offering the first opportunity for

saxophonists to study the saxophone at a Chinese university, is typically not considered the first

552
Kang Sun孙康, “Zhōngguó Sàkèsī Shílì Pài Dàibiǎo - Chénjiājùn 中国萨克斯实力派代表 - 陈嘉俊 [A
Powerful Representative of Chinese Saxophone - Chen Jiajun],” SaxChina, May 31, 2015,
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5NTE1NTcyMA==&mid=207684165&idx=1&sn=bb6bab2f0c57814cf98af
dd58cdfe5d1&pass_ticket=6qSvKGT4ooWaDBg05Gk0QhGIWwVJsj2XyGyb63Vr6CZDGka83l%2ByqrAIPEE79r
8B.
553
“沈阳音乐学院萨克斯教授--刘焱萨克斯中国专访,” accessed May 6, 2018,
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5NTE1NTcyMA==&mid=209508187&idx=1&sn=695618955184670c72d
bd6052d0e5092&pass_ticket=3ePB4js6w6Z%2BNn7bSruAV283Sus3tFxrv7idodw3Pj%2FSpx8H4Hmn8HyINGbw
BCUa.
554
Ping Pan潘平, “Liú Yàn 刘焱 [Liu Yan],” Shěnyáng yīnyuè xuéyuàn: Xiàndài yīnyuè xuéyuàn 沈阳音乐学院：
现代音乐学院 [Shenyang Conservatory of Music: Modern Music Conservatory], January 16, 2017,
http://www.sycm.com.cn/display_son.aspx?Vid=-1&Nid=7273&DWid=101.

164
saxophone degree program. This is because the degree offered was in popular-music, with the

study of saxophone being one option. By contrast, Li Yusheng’s 1997 degree program at the

Sichuan Conservatory was explicitly in saxophone performance and concentrated on the

performance and pedagogy of that instrument specifically.555

Another major step for jazz education was the establishment of the jazz saxophone major

at the Shanghai Conservatory. Considered among the first generation of jazz musicians since the

genre’s rebirth in China,556 Zhang Xiaolu was introduced to jazz by his grandfather, himself a

jazz/shidaiqu musician during Shanghai’s jazz age.557 Zhang studied clarinet at the Shanghai

conservatory before pursuing a master’s degree in saxophone at Boston University.558 In 2002 he

obtained his degree and returned to the Shanghai Conservatory to teach. In 2007, 2012, 2014 and

2016 he organized the China Jazz Competition and Education Seminar at the Shanghai

Conservatory.559 In his approach to jazz education, he says “we must first popularize the

instrument and increase the overall ability level, we must first see to the educational side of

things and then from there build a strong performance market.”560

Jazz education in Chinese conservatories follows that found in American universities.

Zhang Xiaolu, being educated in the USA, draws from the “Great American Songbook” in

Li, “Lùn Sàkèsī Guǎn Zài Xiàndài Qìyuè Tǐxì Zhōng de Dìngwèi Hé Fāzhǎn 论萨克斯管在现代器乐体系中的
555

定位和发展 [On the Place and Development of the Saxophone in Modern Instrumental Music Departments].”
556
FlorCruz, “Shanghai Sizzles Again with Jazz.”
557
Eugene Marlow, “Saxophonist & Teacher Zhang Xiaolu: The Jazz-Man at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music,”
Eugene Marlow (blog), August 20, 2012, http://www.eugenemarlow.com/2012/08/20/saxophonist-teacher-zhang-
xiaolu-the-jazz-man-at-the-shanghai-conservatory-of-music/.
558
Zhang, interview.
559
Sheng Yue越声, “Zhāng Xiào Lù: Zài Zhǐ Jiān Wǔdǎo de Sàkèsī Yǎnzòu Jiā 章啸路：在指间舞蹈的萨克斯演
奏家 [Zhang Xiaolu: Finger-Dancing Saxophonist],” Tà jī xún yīn 踏迹寻音 [Tracking Music], February 16, 2017,
http://www.360doc.com/content/17/0216/13/17976275_629433181.shtml.
560
Pan, “Liú Yàn 刘焱 [Liu Yan].”

165
lessons and encourages students to be familiar with the improvisatory style of saxophonists like

Lester Young, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, etc.561 Although based primarily in this American-

style education, he also advocates for new compositions by Chinese composers and even

regularly writes and arranges new pieces himself.562

Classical Saxophone

In 1990, at the invitation of the Chinese government, Canadian saxophonist Paul Brodie

performed in Beijing, and thereby jumpstarted the classical saxophone scene in China.563 During

this trip, considered the “first ever visit from an international sax pro” to China he gave several

concerts, made “China’s first digital recording with the People’s Liberation Army Band” and

“gave seven master classes to over 500 saxophonists from as far away as Tibet, Mongolia, and

Manchuria.”564 Hearing of this upcoming performance in the local paper, Li Yusheng, then

teaching traditional Chinese instruments at the Sichuan conservatory, made the two-day train trip

to attend.565 During another of Brodie’s tours in China two years later, Li met with Brodie and

embarked down the path that would lead to the establishment of the first saxophone class at a

Chinese conservatory.566 Paul Brodie considered his performances in China among the top three

561
Zhang, interview.
562
Yue, “Zhāng Xiào Lù: Zài Zhǐ Jiān Wǔdǎo de Sàkèsī Yǎnzòu Jiā 章啸路：在指间舞蹈的萨克斯演奏家 [Zhang
Xiaolu: Finger-Dancing Saxophonist].”
563
John Terauds, “Ambassador of the Sax Was Beloved Worldwide,” The Star, November 24, 2007,
https://www.thestar.com/news/2007/11/24/ambassador_of_the_sax_was_beloved_worldwide.html.
564
Ibid.
565
Sheldon Jerome Johnson Jr., “The Political Suppression of the Saxophone and Its Subsequent Pedagogical
Development in Select Non-Democratic Countries.,” DMA diss (University of South Carolina, 2017), 62.
566
Liu Liu, “Yusheng Li,” Saxophone Journal 24, no. 3 (February 2000).

166
accomplishments of his life. The other two were establishing the World Saxophone Congress

(along with Eugen Rousseau), and his marriage with his wife Rima.567

Li Yusheng was born in Chongqing, China and began his musical studies on suona at age

10.568 After graduating from the Sichuan Conservatory of music in 1982, Li began teaching

suona in the Chinese Instruments Department. At age 30 he began teaching himself the

saxophone569 and when the opportunity to hear Canadian saxophonist Paul Brodie perform in

1990 presented itself, he took it.570

In 1992, Li began saxophone studies with Paul Brodie at the Royal Conservatory of

Music in Toronto, Canada. Four years later, in 1996, he was awarded a diploma in saxophone

performance with high distinction and became the first Chinese saxophonist to study and earn a

degree certificate abroad. On returning to China that year, where his position had been held for

him, he set about to the establishment of the first saxophone degree program in China. 571

As Li wrote, “the saxophone in China has never been a professionally regarded

instrument. Since the 40s and 50s all the way through the Opening Reforms and to today, the

saxophone has mainly been used as accompaniment at dance halls…Saxophonists have never

received formal, professional education.”572 Because of this, the saxophone in China had a

reputation largely, if not solely, as a jazz or pop-music instrument. There was doubt as to

567
Willem Moolenbeek, “Paul Brodie: Ambassador of the Saxophone,” Singing Sax (blog), January 10, 2000,
http://singingsax.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Paul_Brodie_interview.pdf.
568
Liu, “Yusheng Li,” 27.
569
Brown, “A View from China.”
570
Johnson Jr., “The Political Suppression of the Saxophone and Its Subsequent Pedagogical Development in Select
Non-Democratic Countries.,” 62.
571
Sheldon Jerome Jr. Johnson, “The Political Supression of the Saxophone and Its Subsequent Pedagogical
Development in Select Non-Democratic Countries” (University of South Carolina, 2017), 62.
572
Li, “Zài Zhōngguó Zǔjiàn Sàkèsī Guǎn Sìchóngzòu de Gòuxiǎng 在中国组建萨克斯管四重奏的构想
[Conception of the Formation of the Saxophone Quartet in China],” 74.

167
whether or not the instrument was even capable of performing classical music.573 In order to

dispel this myth and prove to the administrators that a saxophone class should be established, Li

presented a concert at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music to display the classical possibilities of

the instrument. The concert, whose program included Paul Creston’s Sonata for Saxophone, was

a success, and in 1997 China’s first degree-granting program for classical saxophone was

established at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music.574

Soon, classical similar programs were being established throughout the country. In 2000,

Li Manlong established the saxophone program at China’s flagship conservatory, the Central

Conservatory of Music. Li Manlong started his musical training as a clarinetist, studying the

instrument at the Central Conservatory with Tao Chunxiao (陶纯孝, Táo chúnxiào). He first

became interested in the saxophone in 1982 after hearing a Chinese musician playing pop-music

on the instrument.575 For Li, chamber ensembles and even small saxophone orchestras are of

upmost importance to the future of the instrument.576 He says that it is these types of

performances that “show the versatility and richness” of the saxophone, and that “only by

breaking out of the single-solo model can listeners truly appreciate the multi-faceted beauty of

the instrument.”577 Currently all of the major conservatories in China, Central Conservatory of

573
Johnson, “The Political Supression of the Saxophone and Its Subsequent Pedagogical Development in Select
Non-Democratic Countries,” 63.
574
Ibid.
575
Li, interview; Songkang 张颂康 Zhang, “Zhōngguó Gǔdiǎn Sàkèsī Yǎnzòu de Tàhuāng Zhě Lǐmǎnlóng
Xiānshēng 中国古典萨克斯演奏的拓荒者李满龙先生 [Pioneering Chinese Classical Saxophonist Li Manlong],”
SaxChina, September 12, 2015,
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5NTE1NTcyMA==&mid=210719481&idx=1&sn=c2ee83ec2b9967c6bd57
0c1cde28969d&pass_ticket=6qSvKGT4ooWaDBg05Gk0QhGIWwVJsj2XyGyb63Vr6CZDGka83l%2ByqrAIPEE7
9r8B.
576
Li, interview.
Zhang, “Zhōngguó Gǔdiǎn Sàkèsī Yǎnzòu de Tàhuāng Zhě Lǐmǎnlóng Xiānshēng 中国古典萨克斯演奏的拓荒
577

者李满龙先生 [Pioneering Chinese Classical Saxophonist Li Manlong].”

168
Music (中央音乐学院, Zhōngyāng yīnyuè xuéyuàn), China Conservatory of Music (中国音乐

学院, Zhōngguó yīnyuè xuéyuàn), Tianjin Conservatory (天津音乐学院, Tiānjīn yīnyuè

xuéyuàn), Shanghai Conservatory (上海音乐学院, Shànghǎi yīnyuè xuéyuàn), Xinghai

Conservatory (星海音乐学院, Xīnghǎi yīnyuè xuéyuàn), Sichuan Conservatory (四川音乐学院,

Sìchuān yīnyuè xuéyuàn), Xian Conservatory (西安音乐学院, Xī'ān yīnyuè xuéyuàn), Wuhan

Conservatory (武汉音乐学院, Wǔhàn yīnyuè xuéyuàn), and Shenyang Conservatory (沈阳音乐

学院, Shěnyáng yīnyuè xuéyuàn), offer degrees in classical saxophone performance.

Today, classical saxophone programs in China continue to develop, propelled by what

can be considered the second generation of Chinese saxophonists. Unlike their predecessors, the

vast majority of these musicians pursued performance study abroad and, in many cases, returned

to teach and perform in China. Some representatives of this generation, discussed briefly below,

include Gao Xin (高欣, Gāo xīn), Xie Liang (解亮, Xiè liàng), and Yang Tong (杨桐, Yáng

tóng).

Gao Xin began studying clarinet at age 8 but switched to the saxophone at age 13 when

Li Yusheng opened his saxophone class at the Sichuan Conservatory.578 After attending the

Sichuan Conservatory Affiliated Middle/High School, where he studied with Li Yusheng, Gao

pursued his undergraduate education in saxophone with James Houlik at Duquesne University in

Pittsburgh. Gao made the decision to study with Houlik after the American saxophonist made

tours of China in 2000 and 2002. On graduation, he spent one year pursuing his master’s degree

578
Johnson, “The Political Supression of the Saxophone and Its Subsequent Pedagogical Development in Select
Non-Democratic Countries,” 45.

169
at the University of Tennessee with Connie Frigo, but, when she moved to a position in

Washington D.C., he returned to Duquesne to finish his degree.

Gao Xin currently serves as Assistant Professor of Saxophone and Music Theory at

Truman State University579 and continues to present frequent concerts and masterclass

throughout the United States and China.580

Xie Liang, originally from Shenyang, China pursued his bachelor’s degree at the Central

Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China with Li Manlong. In 2008, he traveled to France and

undertook studies at the Regional Conservatory Saint-Maur with Nicolas Prost. In 2011, Xie

became the first Chinese saxophonist to be granted entry into the class of Claude Delangle at the

Paris Conservatory and later the first to obtain a masters degree from that institution. He

currently resides in Shenyang, China where he is a frequent recitalist and clinician.581

Yang Tong is professor of saxophone at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing,

China. Born in Beijing, he began his musical studies on the violin at age 4, but by age 13 had

entered in to the class of Su Jianpei (苏坚培, Sū jiānpéi) studying clarinet and saxophone at the

Central Conservatory. He received a master-performer’s diploma from the National

Conservatory of Bordeaux in 2005, where he studied with Marie-Bernadette Charrier, and a

master’s degree in saxophone from the Lausanne Conservatory of Music in Switzerland under

Pierre-Stéphane Meugé. Yang has been teaching at the Central Conservatory since 2011.582

579
Xin Gao, “Faculty & Staff,” Truman State University, 2018, http://www.truman.edu/faculty-staff/.
580
Xin Gao, “About,” Xin Gao - Saxophonist, 2013, http://xingaosax.com/about-2017132057.html.
581
“Musicians: Liang Xie,” Selmer Paris, accessed May 5, 2018, https://www.selmer.fr/musicfiche.php?id=792.
582
Songkang Zhang张颂康, “Zhōngyāng Yīnyuè Xuéyuàn Sàkèsī Jiàoshī Yáng Tóng--Sàkèsī Zhōngguó Wǎng
Dújiā Zhuānfǎng 中央音乐学院萨克斯教师杨桐--萨克斯中国网独家专访 [Saxophone Teacher at the Central
Conservatory Yang Tong - Exclusive Interview],” SaxChina, June 28, 2015,
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5NTE1NTcyMA==&mid=208855017&idx=1&sn=4f7b32eb78fec83b7683
6774b1924d49&pass_ticket=6qSvKGT4ooWaDBg05Gk0QhGIWwVJsj2XyGyb63Vr6CZDGka83l%2ByqrAIPEE7
9r8B.

170
 Classical saxophone education in Chinese conservatories follows that of American and

European schools, depending on the background and preferences of the teacher. Reperotire

studied in Chinese studios, including Paul Creston’s Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano,

Jacques Ibert’s Concertino da Camera, Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Fantasia, etc. would be familiar to

the majority of American and European saxophonists. Method books used in the conservatories,

including those by Klosé,583 Mule,584 Rousseau,585 Voxman,586 etc. are also based on Western

conservatory and university pedagogical standards.587

Outside of the wide-spread adoption of Western pedagogy, native Chinese pedagogical

and performance styles are beginning to emerge. In his D.M.A. document Project China, Gao

Xin provides an annotated listing of contemporary music for saxophone by Chinese composers,

stating “in recent years, performances of newly composed Chinese music have become more

common at national and international saxophone conventions.”588 Li Manlong also occasionaly

incorporates the study of Chinese folk-music into the curriculum for his students. Largely

transcribed by Li himself, these songs serve as a pedagogical tool for reinforcing fundamental

performance habits using a melodic form with which students are more likely to be familiar.

Both of these new trends though, saxophone compositions by Chinese composers and transcribed

583
Hyacinthe Klosé, 25 Daily Exercises for Saxophone (C. Fischer, 1995).
584
Franz W. Ferling and Marcel Mule, Quarante Huit Etudes (Forty Eight Studies) for All Saxophones (Aphonse
Leduc, 1946).
585
Eugene Rousseau, Saxophone High Tones: A Systematic Approach to the Extension of the Range of All the
Saxophones: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Baritone (Etoile Music, 2002).
586
H. Voxman, Selected Studies for Saxophone: Advanced Etudes, Scales and Arpeggios in All Major and Minor
Keys (Hal Leonard Corporation, 1991).
587
Li, interview.
588
Xin Gao, “Project China: A Resource of Contemporary Saxophone Music Written by Chinese-Born Composers”
(University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2016), http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/Gao_uncg_0154D_11908.pdf.

171
folk songs, are typically only a small portion of the course of study for saxophonists at Chinese

conservatories.589

Wind Bands

Since the Opening Reforms of the 1980s, wind bands have continued to be an important

venue for saxophone performers. Although the PLA Band, where the saxophone has had a home

since 1949 (see chapter 5), has given rise to saxophone performers and educators including

Wang Qingquan (王清泉, Wáng qīngquán), Du Yinjiao (杜银鲛, Dù yínjiāo), and Xie Jinqi (谢

进岐, Xiè jìnqí), little published information is available about them, and all three were

unavailable for interview. Amongst the three, Xie Jinqi in particular is known for promoting

saxophone in important ways. Described as “a household name in the world of Chinese

Saxophone,”590 Xie won the PLA Band top prize in saxophone in 1989, and thereby was able to

give China’s first ever solo saxophone concert.591 He also recorded the first ever album of solo

saxophone in China for China International Radio, CRI, (中国国际广播电台, Zhōngguó guójì

guǎngbò diàntái) in the same year.592

Just within the last two decades, though, China has seen a surge in privately established

wind bands, at the forefront of which is undoubtedly the Dunshan Symphonic Wind Orchestra,

DSWO, (顿山交响管乐团, Dùnshān jiāoxiǎng yuètuán). These wind bands are often the

589
Li, interview.; Based on the author’s experience as guest researcher at the Sichuan Conservatory 2014-2015
590
HBH, “Sàkèsī yǎnzòu jiā xièjìnqí lǎoshī tán xuéxí 萨克斯演奏家谢进歧老师谈学习 [Saxophone Performer Mr.
Xie Jinqi Discusses Studies],” Chuī sàkèsī wǎng 吹萨克斯网 [Play Saxophone], April 1, 2009,
http://www.chuisax.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=2497.
591
Ibid.
592
Ibid.

172
marketing arm of large instrument manufacturers in China and have the potential to be one of the

most important performance opportunities for classical saxophonists in the coming years. In May

of 2018 the author interviewed Wu Chih-Huan (吴志桓, Wú zhìhuán), principal saxophonist and

concertmaster of the DSWO to understand more about performance opportunities for

saxophonists in these newly established ensembles, the DSWO itself, and his position there.

Wu Chih-Huan

Wu Chih-Huan is originally from Taiwan where he currently serves as Assistant

Professor of saxophone at National Taiwan University of the Arts, and also teaches saxophone at

the University of Taipei and Fu-Jen Catholic University of Taiwan.593 After completing a B.M.

in sociology from National Taiwan University in 1999, Wu went on to study saxophone with

John Sampen at Bowling Green State University and Ramon Ricker at Eastman School of Music,

earning a Master of Music in 2004 and Doctor of Musical Arts in 2009 from those institutions

respectively. After finishing the coursework portion of his degree at the Eastman School of

Music, Wu returned to Taiwan in 2008 and began teaching at the National University of Tainan,

creating the first ever saxophone class there with four students. He finished his degree in 2009

and began teaching at several other universities throughout Taiwan.

In 2010 the newly formed Dunshan Symphonic Wind Orchestra held auditions in Taipei,

after which Wu was offered a position in the group. He was forced to decline the offer, however,

because of conflicts with his teaching duties: the DSWO was eager to start and required him to

be present in Beijing within two weeks. Continuing to teach and perform throughout Taiwan

over the next several years, Wu was contacted by the DSWO in 2012 as they were seeking a

593
“Wu, Chih-Huan,” Macao Young Musicians Competition, 2016, http://icm.gov.mo/cjmm.

173
substitute for their recently departed principal saxophonist and were anticipating an important

festival performance in Lucerne, Switzerland. He joined the group for their September 2012

performance at the Lucerne World Band Festival and thereafter was offered the position of

principle saxophonists on a permanent basis. This time, having thoroughly enjoyed performing

with the group, he accepted. About this same time, the orchestra was seeking a new

concertmaster and Chih-Huan Wu was among the top candidates. What finally swayed the

group’s Art Director in Wu’s direction, says Wu, is when he learned that Tokyo Kosei orchestra

had for many years been under saxophonist Nuboya Sugawa’s leadership as concertmaster.

As concertmaster, Wu’s duties include helping with the management of orchestra

personnel and occasionally conducting rehearsals if the primary directors are away. He has also

had the opportunity to play numerous concertos throughout his tenure with the group, performing

in a soloistic role more than any other member. Wu says that he has been afforded the

opportunity to perform substantial works like Libby Larson’s Holy Roller and newly

commissioned pieces like Lee Feng-Hsu’s The Voice of the Children and Yen Ming-Hsiu’s

Concerto for Saxophone and Wind Ensemble.594 However, as audience appeal is also an

important consideration, Wu admits that most of his performances take the form of lighter fare

such as Grenada or Georgia on My Mind.

Outside of the orchestra, Wu teaches private lessons on demand and also conducts several

school wind bands in the Beijing area. He also continues to teach at universities throughout

Taiwan, taking the 3-hour flight to Taipei at least once a month to meet with students.

Interestingly, Chih-Huan Wu is the only saxophonist currently working in China that holds a

doctoral degree in performance (D.M.A. or equivalent). When asked about the opportunities this

594
Po-Fang Chang, “An Annotated Bibliography of Saxophone Works by Taiwanese Composers,” n.d., 70.

174
afford him, Wu states that it may have helped him secure the position of concertmaster, but the

vast majority of people do not understand the significance of the degree. This is perhaps due to

the fact the no university in China currently offers beyond a master’s degree in performance.

Wu Chih-Huan is undoubtedly one of the most important and influential saxophonists

performing in China today. As the importance of wind orchestras continues to grow within

China, so too will Wu’s part in the growth of that industry come to be realized.

Dunshan Symphonic Wind Orchestra

The DSWO was formed in 2010 under the patronage of the Dun Shan Art Group. The

Dunshan Art Group, established in 1991 seeks to “develop the musicianship and aesthetic

judgment of the youth, to find and develop talents together with wind instrument education, and

to promote international cultural exchange together with music performance.”595 With 17

branches throughout China, the Dunshan art group is involved with music education via large

scale instrument manufacturing and trading, being an authorized retailer of “many famous

musical instrument brands including, Yamaha, Pearl drums, Pearl flutes, Buffet, Besson, Coutois

and Bergerault” as well as their own instrument brand, Golden Scarab wind instruments.

The primary function of the DSWO, then, is an educational and promotional tool for the

Dunshan Art Group. Although approximately 85% of their performances take the form of

educational concerts for school-aged children, the orchestra is allowed great leeway in its ability

to program artistically important repertoire. Wu Chih-Huan describes it as the art director’s tug-

of-war between commercial and artistic considerations. The group has toured internationally

595
Hua Li, “Dūn Shàn Jiāoxiǎng Guǎn Yuètuán 敦善交響管樂團 [Dunshan Symphonic Wind Orchestra],” Dunshan
Symphonic Wind Orchestra Facebook Page, accessed May 7, 2018,
https://www.facebook.com/pg/DSWO.China/about/?ref=page_internal.

175
three times since its formation and tours domestically annually. The group was the official

orchestra for the 2016 inaugural Asian Saxophone Congress held in Chiayi, Taiwan.

Members of the orchestra are from a wide range of professional backgrounds. The five-

members of the saxophone section, for example, all hold advanced degrees from institutions

throughout China, the United States, and Ukraine. Employed as full-time musicians within the

group (which also allows foreign passport holders to join the group), members rehearse every

morning throughout the week and are free in the afternoon. Most, like Wu Chih-Huan, are also

employed with the Dunshan art group to teach private lessons or conduct school bands during

this time. In the past, auditions for the ensemble were held on an ongoing basis: anyone that was

interested in auditioning would be heard and, if acceptable, placed on the substitute list. When

new positions became available, members would then be chosen from amongst this list. In the

past two years, however, auditions are posted online if popular forums and auditions are then

held over the internet via video-conferencing.

The DSWO epitomizes a new trend in private wind orchestras in China and represents a

very important performance opportunity for saxophonists. The saxophone not being a regular

member of symphony orchestras, wind orchestras like the DSWO provide one of the few

avenues of employment for classical saxophonists outside of an academic setting. The group is

based on and has goals similar to the famed Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra and could very well

come to have the same impact on the musical scene in China, and saxophone in particular, that

the TKWO has had on Japan.596 Wind orchestras of this kind are a growing industry in China.

Currently, there are four other privately-operated groups in the country:

• Beijing Wind Orchestra (北京管乐图, Běijīng guǎnyuètuán) in Beijing

596
Wu, interview.

176
 • Shenzhen Wind Orchestra (深圳管乐团, Shēnzhèn guǎnyuètuán) in Shenzhen
• Eastern Wind Orchestra (东方管乐团, Dōngfāng guǎnyuètuán) in Nanjing
• Santori Wind Orchestra (三多里管乐图, Sānduōlǐ guǎnyuètuán) in Qingdao

Conclusions and the Future of the Saxophone in China

Today the range of opportunities available to saxophonists in China parallels those seen

in any other developed nation throughout the world: jazz clubs, hotel bars, military bands,

private bands, rock bands, jazz bands, major conservatories, and international venues have all

become possible performance opportunities for saxophonists in China. Over the decades since

the open reforms, the saxophone was once again present for some of the most exciting moments

in China’s musical history: the reintroduction of popular music, the politically charged rock

music of Cui Jian, the reestablishment of high-level conservatory programs, and the

establishment of private orchestras.

The next wave in Chinese saxophone performance will undoubtedly be increased

emphasis on the cultivation of a ‘Chinese’ style of performance and education. As the level of

saxophone pedagogy continues to increase (led by the second generation of Chinese

saxophonists), the level of musicianship rises due to new performance opportunities, and Chinese

composers show an increased interest in composing for the instrument, the saxophone in China

will make the necessary move from derivative to unique. As Li Yusheng wrote:

After WWII, the level of Japanese saxophone playing was also quite low, but as a result
of Japan’s soaring economy, Japanese saxophonists constantly went to the West to ask
for advice and invited famous European and American performers to come to Japan for
lectures and performances. At the same time, the Japanese musical instrument
manufacturing industry has grown by leaps and bounds. In just over 40 years, the
Japanese saxophone ability has caused Westerners to look on. Today, Japan has become
one of the major centers for the development of Saxophone in the world. In China, we
should often invite some high-level performers from abroad to perform, give lectures, and
ourselves to go abroad and join the relevant organizations for saxophone in the world,
participate in related activities organized, broaden our horizons, and learn from the

177
 essence. With the talents of the Chinese people, as long as the momentum of
development is maintained, in the near future, the level of Chinese saxophone will greatly
increase, and China will also appear as the world's leading saxophone player.597

597
Li, “Zài Zhōngguó Zǔjiàn Sàkèsī Guǎn Sìchóngzòu de Gòuxiǎng 在中国组建萨克斯管四重奏的构想
[Conception of the Formation of the Saxophone Quartet in China],” 75.

178
 CHAPTER 7

CONCLUSIONS

The purpose of this document was to describe the developments in performance

opportunities for saxophonists in China from the instrument’s first introduction in 1856

Guangzhou to the present. Common knowledge and a number of published, researched articles

describe the history of the saxophone as a series of fits and starts: Appearing in Robert Hart’s

1886 band, disappearing until the warlord bands and Shanghai cabarets of the jazz age, only to

disappear again during the Cultural Revolution and reappear via foreign pop-music performers

like Kenny G. This paper was able to dispute and disprove these claims and describe the

uninterrupted appearance and use of the saxophone from its regular use in amateur music

societies continuously through to the 1980s, when the saxophone was heard in forms of native

pop-music reintroduced to the mainland via Taiwan and Hong Kong, and into present day.

Inaccuracy on the part of past researchers, though, should not be taken as the result of

poor research. Instead, an accurate picture as provided in this document is only possible with the

availability of sources both inside and outside of China, including many internet-based sources.

These include newspapers from Japanese-controlled Manchuria, turn of the century France and

Tasmania, and even sources like the New York Times that are inaccessible from within mainland

China.

Also discussed in this document were the changing perceptions and reactions to the

instrument over time. In Ali Ben Sou Alle’s day, the saxophone represented the modern

innovations that were the result of the industrial revolution. Not only was the instrument itself

only recently possible with modern innovations like new metal-working techniques, but his

179
world-travels themselves, a performer traveling in this way, would surely have been aided

greatly by new steam and paddle-boat technology.

During China’s jazz age, the saxophone came to represent sexuality, the west, and a

move away from traditional conventions. As seen through editorial comment and popular

literature, the saxophone was a move away from traditional ideals not only for the foreign

communities of China, but also Chinese musicians themselves. The new forms of music that

blended elements of Chinese and western music, became a representation of colonial modernity

in the period, in which Chinese musicians sought to mix the local and the global.

For Cantonese opera musicians, the inclusion of the saxophone started out as largely a

pragmatic move that allowed them to extend the range of the ensemble and compete with the

influx of western genres. However, it came to represent the inclusiveness that is at the heart of

what makes Cantonese opera unique from other forms of Chinese opera. The inclusion of folk

idioms, language of the street, and musical styles of all kinds has become a hallmark of the

genre.

Under the fascist and communist regimes of WWII and Mao Zedong, the saxophone

often came to represent many political dualities: the dual nature of political ideology vs public

appeal in the extremist policies of Imperial Japan, the dual nature of government control and

private mistrust in the way that saxophone was included in Chinese military bands and yet was

deadly to own by private citizens during the Cultural Revolution, and even the dual nature of

ruler vs ruled with Mao’s own personal saxophonist during the Cultural Revolution.

After the opening reforms of the 1980s, the saxophone was reintroduced to the general

public and represented the new wave of creative, political, and economic freedoms. The

instrument that was once unavailable to the general public could now be seen in nearly every

180
modern musical genre, could be studied in university, and could be heard by amateur musicians

in neighborhood parks.

Opportunities for Further Research

As a document that covers a long stretch of time and a wide breadth of subjects, this

paper contains many topics that deserve further, concentrated research. First among these is the

multi-ethnic nature of China’s urban music scenes prior to WWII. From the Iraqi-Jewish

businessman Elias David Sassoon that set up shop just after the establishment of the foreign

concession in Shanghai, to the Japanese constructed Jewish ghetto of WWII, the story of the

Jewish experience in China deserves further development. There is also the important place of

Filipino musicians in the establishment and performance of jazz in China. Reported to have

introduced jazz to southern China, being considered second only to American musicians in

Shanghai’s musical hierarchy, and often being granted seats in American jazz bands in China,

their contribution to China’s musical history is woefully underreported. Finally, examples of how

jazz allowed black musicians to travel to Europe and escape the constrains of racism in America

are relatively accessible. Those same experiences as relates to China, however, have been far less

documented and discussed.

The other main theme that merits deeper research is the social implications of the

saxophone and the musical forms in which it was used. The sonic features of the saxophone were

a recurring theme in several sections of this paper, its relation to the voice and native instruments

being an important part of its inclusion in several genres. This theme, though, could be

developed further in many genres and also be used to describe the place of the instrument in

Chinese imaginings of modernity, novelty, and urbanity. Finally, the semiotic features of the

181
saxophone are a topic that merit additional discussion. The nature of the saxophone as a symbol

of multiple modernities, a symbol of political, cultural, and even sexual liberalization, and a

signifier of generational identity were briefly discussed in this document and should serve as a

basis for future researchers.

182
 APPENDIX

LIST OF CHINESE TERMS AND NAMES

183
Amoy (厦门，Xiàmén)

Andy Lau Tak-Wah (刘德华, Liú déhuá)

Asahi News (朝日新闻简报, Chāorì xīnwén jiǎnbào)

Bangu (板鼓, Bǎngǔ)

Bangzi (梆子, Bāngzi)

Beijing (北京, Běijīng)

Beijing Wind Orchestra (北京管乐团, Běijīng guǎnyuètuán)

Brass winds (铜管乐队, Tóngguǎn yuèduì)

Canton (广州, Guǎngzhōu)

Cantonese Music and Song Art Troupe (广州音乐曲艺团, Guǎngzhōu yīnyuè qǔyì tuán)

Central Conservatory of Music (中央音乐学院, Zhōngyāng yīnyuè xuéyuàn)

Changchun (长春, Chángchūn)

Changzhou (常州，Chángzhōu)

Chen Fangyi (陈芳毅，Chén fāngyì)

Chen Jiajun (陈嘉俊，Chén jiājùn)

Chen Kaige (陈凯歌，Chén kǎigē)

Chen Zhuren (陈主任，Chén zhǔrèn)

Cheng Naishan (程乃珊，Chéng nǎishān)

Chengdu (成都，Chéngdū)

Chiang Kai-shek (蒋介石，Jiǎng jièshí)

China Conservatory of Music (中国音乐学院，Zhōngguó yīnyuè xuéyuàn)

China International Radio (中国国际广播电台，Zhōngguó guójì guǎngbò diàntái)

Chinese Railroad Art Troupe (中国铁路艺术团，Zhōngguó tiělù yìshù tuán)

184
Chinese Traditional Orchestras (民乐团，Mínyuè tuán)

Chongqing (重庆，Chóngqìng)

Cui Jian (崔健，Cuī jiàn)

Cultural Park (文化公园，Wénhuà gōngyuán)

Dabu (大埔，Dàbù)

Dairen (Dalian, 大连，Dàlián)

Dalian (大连，Dàlián)

Deng Xiaoping (邓小平，Dèng xiǎopíng)

Dizi (笛子，Dízi)

Dongguan (东莞，Dōngguǎn)

Drizzle (毛毛雨，Máomaoyǔ)

Drum and Wind (鼓吹，Gǔ chuī)

Du Yinjiao (杜银鲛，Dù yínjiāo)

Dunshan Symphonic Wind Orchestra (顿山交响管乐团，Dùnshān jiāoxiǎng yuètuán)

Eastern Wind Orchestra (东方管乐团，Dōngfāng guǎnyuètuán)

Entering Nanjing Ceremony (南京入城式，Nánjīng rùchéngshì)

Erhu (二胡，Èrhú)

Fan Shengqi (范圣琦，Fàn shengqí)

Fan Shengqi (范圣骑，Fàn shèngqí)

Fangcun Park (芳村公园，Fāngcūn gōngyuán)

Feng Wenci (冯文慈，Féng wéncí)

Fengge (风格，Fēnggé)

Fengyang Flower Drum (凤阳花鼓，Fèngyáng huāgǔ)

185
Foochow (福州，Fúzhōu)

Foshan (佛山，Fóshān)

Founding of the Nation Ceremony (开国大典，Kāiguó dàdiǎn)

Fujian (福建，Fújiàn)

Gang-Tai pop (港台音乐，Gǎng tái yīnyuè)

Gao Xin (高欣，Gāo xīn)

Gaohu (高胡，Gāohú)

Gong (宫，Gōng)

Gongche (公尺谱，Gōngchǐ pǔ)

Goodbye My Love (再见，我的爱人，Zàijiàn, wǒde àirén)

Guangdong (广东，Guǎngdōng)

Guangdong Cantonese Opera School (广东粤剧学校，Guǎngdōng yuèjù xuéxiào)

Guangzhou (广州，Guǎngzhōu)

Guzheng (古筝，Gǔzhēng)

Hakka (客家，Kèjiā)

Hangao Chronicle (汉皋旧谱，Hàngāo jiùpǔ)

Harbin (哈尔滨，Hā'ěrbīn)

He Yuzhai (何育斋，Hé yùzhāi)

Hebei (河北，Héběi)

Hokkien (福建话，Fú jiànhuà)

Hong Kong (香港，Xiānggǎng)

Hongkew (虹口，Hóngkǒu)

Hongkou (虹口，Hóngkǒu)

186
Houguan (喉管，Hóuguǎn)

Hua Guofeng (华国锋，Huá guófēng)

Huang Zhuangmou (黄状谋，Huáng zhuàngmóu)

Huang-Mei opera (黄梅调，Huáng méidiào)

Huangsha (黄沙，Huángshā)

Hubei (湖北，Húběi)

Hulusi (葫芦丝，Húlusī)

Humen (虎门镇，Hǔmén zhèn)

Hunan (湖南，Húnán)

I love you China (我爱你中国，Wǒ ài nǐ zhōngguó)

Jasmine Flower (茉莉花，Mòlì huā)

Jiang Qing (江青，Jiāng qīng)

Jiangnan (江南，Jiāngnán)

JiangSu (江苏，Jiāngsū)

Jiangxi (江西，Jiāngxī)

Jianpu (简谱，Jiǎnpǔ)

Koo-chow (福州，Fúzhōu)

Kunqu (昆曲，Kūnqǔ)

Kuo Min Tang (国民党，Guó mín dǎng)

Kwong Chau Wan (广州湾，Guǎngzhōu wān)

Li Gaoyang (李高阳，Lǐ gāoyáng)

Li Jinhui (黎锦晖，Lí jǐnhuī)

Li Minghui (黎明辉，Lí mínghuī)

187
Liaoning (辽宁，Liáoníng)

Lin Biao (林彪，Lín biāo)

Lin Zexu (林则徐，Lín zéxú)

Lingnan (岭南，Lǐng nán)

Liu Tianhua (刘天华，Liú tiānhuá)

Liu Yan (刘焱，Liú yàn)

Liu Yuan (刘元，Liú yuán)

Liu Zhongde (刘忠德，Liú zhōngdé)

Liuhua Lake Park (流花湖公园，Liúhuāhú gōngyuán)

Liushengyinjie (六声音阶，Liùsheng yīnjiē)

Liuwan (遛弯，Liùwān)

Liuwan Lake Park (遛弯湖公园，Liùwānhú gōngyuán)

Li Yusheng (李雨生，Lǐ yǔshēng)

Loc Tee Kun Stin (落地金钱，Luòdì jīnqián)

Loc Tee Kun Tzin (落地金钱，Luòdì jīnqián)

Luodijinqian (落地金钱，Luòdì jīnqián)

Luodijinqianwu (落地金钱舞，Luòdì jīnqián wǔ)

Macau (澳门，Àomén)

Manlong Li (李满龙，Lǐ mǎnlóng)

Mao Zedong (毛泽东，Máo zédōng)

Mei County (梅县，Méi xiàn)

Meizhou (梅州，Méizhōu)

Military bands (军乐队，Jūn yuèduì)

188
Ming (明朝，Míng cháo)

Modern Song (时代曲，Shídài qū)

Mu Shiying (穆時英，Mù shíyīng)

Mukden (沈阳，Shěnyáng)

Music Life (音乐生活，Yīnyuè shēnghuó)

Nanjing (南京，Nánjīng)

Nanking (南京，Nánjīng)

Nansha Tianhou Park (南沙天后公园，Nánshā tiānhòu gōngyuán)

New Army (新军，Xīn jūn)

New military bands (新军，Xīn jūn)

Nier (聂耳，Niè ěr)

Ningpo (宁波，Níngbō)

Nothing to My Name (一无所有, Yīwúsuǒyǒu)

Opening reforms (改革开放，Gǎigé kāifàng)

People’s Music Journal (人民音乐，Rénmín yīnyuè)

Period Song (时代曲，Shídài qū)

Pingyuan County (平远县，Píngyuǎn xiàn)

Pipa (琵琶，Pípá)

Puyi (溥仪，Pǔ yí)

Qing (清朝，Qīng cháo)

Qingdao (青岛，Qīngdǎo)

Qingjue (清角，Qīng jué)

Santori Wind Orchestra (三多里管乐团，Sānduōlǐ guǎnyuètuán)

189
Sha Family Creek (沙滨家，Shābīnjiā)

Shamian Park (沙面公园，Shāmiàn gōngyuán)

Shandong (山东，Shāndōng)

Shanghae (上海，Shànghǎi)

Shanghai (上海，Shànghǎi)

Shanghai Conservatory (上海音乐学院，Shànghǎi yīnyuè xuéyuàn)

Shanxi (山西，Shānxī)

Shenxi (陕西，Shǎnxī)

Shenyang (沈阳，Shěnyáng)

Shenyang Conservatory (沈阳音乐学院，Shěnyáng yīnyuè xuéyuàn)

Shenzhen Wind Orchestra (深圳管乐团，Shēnzhèn guǎnyuètuán)

Shidaiqu (时代曲，Shídàiqū)

Sichuan (四川，Sìchuān)

Sichuan Conservatory (四川音乐学院，Sìchuān yīnyuè xuéyuàn)

Sky Road (天路，Tiān lù)

Song (宋朝，Sòng cháo)

Southern Min (闽南语，Mǐnnán yǔ)

Su Jianpei (苏坚培，Sū jiānpéi)

Sun Yat-Sen (孙中山，Sūn zhōngshān)

Suona (唢呐，Suǒnà)

Suzhou (苏州，Sūzhōu)

Sweet as Honey (甜蜜蜜，Tián mì mì)

Symphonic bands (管弦乐队，Guǎnxián yuèduì)

190
Ta Kung Pao (大公报，Dà gong bào)

Taiichi (太极拳，Tài jí quán)

Taiwan (台湾，Táiwān)

Taiwanese (台语，Táiyǔ)

Tao Chunxiao (陶纯孝，Táo chúnxiào)

Teresa Teng (邓丽君，Dèng lìjūn)

The Moon Represents My Heart (月亮代表我的心，Yuèliàng dàibiǎo wǒde xīn)

The Old Tree Bark Band (老树皮乐队，Lǎo shùpí yuèduì)

The Warrior’s Record Keeping (兵略录存，Bīng lüè lù cún)

The Wind and Moon (风月，Fēng yuè)

Three Huangs (皇家三杰，Huángjiā sānjié)

Tiananmen Square (天安门广场，Tiān'ānmén guǎngchǎng)

Tianjin (天津，Tiānjīn)

Tianjin Conservatory (天津音乐学院，Tiānjīn yīnyuè xuéyuàn)

Tientsin (天津，Tiānjīn)

Wang Hongwen (王洪文，Wáng hóngwén)

Wang Linheng (王临亨，Wáng línhēng)

Wang Qingquan (王清泉，Wáng qīngquán)

Weihsien Interment Camp (潍县集中营，Wéixiàn jízhōngyíng)

When Will He Come Back (何日君再来，Hérì jūn zàilái)

Wu Chih-Huan (吴志桓，Wú zhìhuán)

Wuchang (武昌，Wǔchāng)

Wuhan (武汉，Wǔhàn)

191
Wuhan Conservatory (武汉音乐学院, Wǔhàn yīnyuè xuéyuàn)

Xi’an (西安，Xīān)

Xian Xinhai (冼星海，Xiǎn xīnghǎi)

Xie Jinqi (谢进岐，Xiè jìnqí)

Xie Liang (解亮，Xiè liàng)

Xian Conservatory (西安音乐学院, Xī'ān yīnyuè xuéyuàn)

Xinghai Conservatory (星海音乐学院，Xīnghǎi yīnyuè xuéyuàn)

Xinhai Revolution (辛亥革命，Xīnhài gémìng)

Xintianyou (信天游，Xìn tiānyóu)

Xu Lai (徐来，Xú lái)

Yalu River (鸭绿江，Yālǜ jiāng)

Yang Tong (杨桐，Yáng tóng)

Yanggeju (秧歌剧，Yāng gējù)

Yangqin (扬琴，Yángqín)

Yangzi (长江，Chángjiāng)

Yantai (烟台，Yāntái)

Yao Wenyuan (姚文元，Yáo wényuán)

Yenan (延安, Yán'ān)

Yiyang (弋阳，Yì yáng)

You are My Woman (你是我的女人，Nǐ shì wǒde nǚrén)

Yuan (元朝，Yuán cháo)

Yuan Shikai (袁世凯，Yuán shìkǎi)

Yuefeng (粤风，Yuè fēng)

192
Yuexiu Park (越秀公园，Yuèxiù gōngyuán)

Zaju (杂剧，Zá jù)

Zhang Chunqiao (张春桥，Zhāng chūnqiáo)

Zhang Wu (张五，Zhāng wǔ)

Zhang Xiaolu (章啸路，Zhāng xiàolù)

Zhang Zhidong (张之洞，Zhāng zhīdòng)

Zhengzhou (郑州，Zhèngzhōu)

Zhi (徵，zhǐ)

Zhongwaiyinyuejiaoliushi (中外音乐交流史，Zhōngwài yīnyuè jiāoliú shǐ)

Zhongzhou Classics (中州古调，Zhōngzhōu gǔdiào)

Zhou Enlai (周恩来，Zhōu ēnlái)

Zhuhu (竹胡，Zhúhú)

193
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