Bulletin Number Five 1984

Music Department Equa l Emphasis on Chinese and Western Music by D. Gwilt Objectives The Music Department was founded in 1965 by Chung Chi College, and the original intention was to stress music education and church music. Over the years the Department has developed greatly, and its prime objectives now are to train people for leader ship in the cultural community of Hong Kong, to qualify graduates for research work in their specialized fields, to mould performers who are at once knowl edgeable and highly skilled, and to provide teachers for the local schools, academies and Government institutions. More specifically, the Department aims to train practical musicians, whatever the individual student's goal may be, and to this end all students learn two instruments throughout the course, take part in chamber music, sing in the Department choir, and those who play orchestral instruments perform with the University Orchestra. The Programme The core courses of the curriculum are organized to ensure that every student has a firm grounding in the theory, history and practice of music, and also that all students study Chinese music, both in class and in performance on an instrument. Elective courses are offered so that students of the Department may strengthen their specialisms, and students from other departments may come to grips with the study of music. The Department offers four specialisms — Performance, Theory and Composition, History of Western Music and Chinese Music. Every year a number of students elect to minor in the Department. At present there are fifty-eight students majoring in music, and twenty-eight minoring. The Part-time Degree Programme in Music was started in 1982, and there are now thirty-two students taking this course. When it reaches its full strength there w ill be fifty-two students in the course. This course is basically the same as the full-time one, stressing the same things, and, although there are fewer practical courses, there is aPart-time Programme choir, and music-making is encouraged. Activities o f the Department Teaching is as far as possible geared to the principle that the most important aspects of music are its creation and performance. The Department organizes a lively series of concerts, lecture recitals, master classes and other events open to the University and public, with distinguished scholars and performers regularly visiting the Department. Staff and students also perform on campus and in Hong Kong. Members of staff are very active in Hong Kong, composing music, conducting choirs and orchestras, performing in concerts, giving lectures and broadcasts, writing programme notes and music reviews in various publications, and as members of many committees dealing with music in Hong Kong. Students take an active part in discussions about the courses and the organization of the Depart­ ment generally, and the Music Society (a student organization) organizes a variety of musical events, publications, summer courses, and so on. Research and The Chinese Music Archive Publications by members of staff have mainly been in the field of Chinese music, but research carries on in Western music also, the results appearing in the form o f radio broadcasts, conference papers, pro gramme notes and so on. The Chinese Music Archive was set up in 1970 ， and is a large collection of audio visual materials, books, journals, scores and musical instruments. The collection is one of the finest outside the People's Republic of China. With this continually growing archive, and with the efforts of staff and students in the field, much research work, as well as collection of materials, is being done. More research work, and eventually more publication in the field of Western music will no doubt soon be seen as a result of the newly offered postgraduate courses. The library holdings are now reaching a point closer to self-sufficiency for basic research. Career Prospects o f Graduates Students of the Department come from a wide variety of schools and backgrounds, showing that the study of music is no longer to be thought of as a privilege for the moneyed few, and that the status of music as a subject has undergone a radical change in the community over the last twenty years. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 19