"Qi-Pai" as a phenomenon of the musical culture of China in the 20th century: an example of the opera "The Gray-haired Girl"

The article is dedicated to the study of the musical direction "Qi-Pai" in the context of the modernization of Chinese culture in the 20th century. The work analyzes the genesis of this direction—from the formation of its theoretical foundation to its artistic embodiment in specific works. It provides a terminological justification for the concept of "Qi-Pai" and demonstrates its conceptual integrity. The object of the study is the opera "The Grey-Haired Girl" (Chinese: , Pinyin: Bi Mo N, 1945) created and staged by a collective (Ma Ke, Zhang Lu, Xiang Yu, etc.) in Yan'an. The subject of the research is the specific synthesis realized in this work: the connection of a musical style that combines traditional Chinese opera and musical folklore with Western European operatic forms and compositional techniques. An interdisciplinary methodology is applied to uncover the specifics of the synthesis that form the basis of the "Qi-Pai" aesthetic. At its core is a combination of a historic-cultural approach, reconstructing the genesis of the direction in the context of the modernization of Chinese music, and a structural-analytical study that reveals the mechanisms of integrating national musical material into the system of Western European compositional techniques based on the opera's score. Using the opera "The Grey-Haired Girl," which is a benchmark example of the "Qi-Pai" direction due to its representative themes, organic musical language, and innovative dramaturgy for the Chinese stage, the article thoroughly demonstrates and proves that "Qi-Pai" has indeed formed as a full-fledged musical direction rather than a temporary artistic phenomenon. This assertion is supported by the presence of a cohesive theoretical foundation, a unique set of compositional techniques, and a clearly traceable historical continuity that has significantly influenced the subsequent development of national musical culture. The choice of the opera "The Grey-Haired Girl" as an example is due to the fact that this work, typical of "Qi-Pai" in terms of thematic content, musical language, and dramaturgical structure, provides an important model for understanding the modes of expression and aesthetic orientations of this musical direction.