An Aesthetic Study of Melodic Imitation in Piano Works from a Cross-Cultural Perspective

Abstract

This study examines melodic imitation as a crucial tactic of cross-cultural musical interchange in Western and Chinese piano compositions. The study emphasizes how composers extract and adapt foreign melodic characteristics to negotiate between cultural traditions, using case analyses of works like John Adams’s China Gates, Ding Shande’s Song of the Dawn, Debussy’s Pagodes, and He Luting’s Shepherd’s Flute. In order to communicate Chinese imagery and aesthetics, Chinese composers frequently recreate Western melodic patterns within regional frameworks using ornamental figures and pentatonic scales. Conversely, Western composers frequently adopt pentatonic modes or folk-song motifs from China to construct exoticized ‘Oriental’ images within their own harmonic and formal systems. The investigation also highlights the differences in audience perception and emotional logic: Western techniques place more emphasis on projection and directness, whereas Chinese traditions prefer nuanced, restrained expression. Thus, melodic imitation is shown to be a process of cultural reinvention influenced by aesthetic orientation, emotional values, and interpretive frameworks rather than only being a form of borrowing. Despite its narrow focus, the study lays the groundwork for future multidisciplinary investigations of melody, harmony, texture, and timbre in international musical exchange contexts.