Interpreting the Piano Music of Taiwanese Composer Kuo Chih-Yuan

In 2016 Taiwan gained its first Taiwanese, female President Tsai Ing-wen, at the same time, composer Kuo Chih-Yuan (1921-2013) was named by popular media as the ‘Father of Taiwanese Music’. Kuo Chih-Yuan was a Taiwanese composer who created music with elements of traditional Taiwanese music in ways which had not been done before. In this thesis I evaluate how Kuo uses traditional elements from Taiwanese music in the Kuo Chih Yuan Piano Solo Album and Concertino for Piano and String Orchestra, and suggest how an understanding of these influences might guide an appropriate performance of these works. In my final recital I present my own interpretation of Kuo’s piano music as a product of my research into his life and musical influences.