On the evening of April 15,the Concert of Prof.Guo Zhihong’s Works Marking His 50 Years’Piano Composition,sponsored by the Piano Department of the Central Conservatory of Music,was held at the Conservatory’s Concert Hall.During the concert,Prof.Guo and his students played more than a dozen of the piano works that he had composed for almost half a century from 1954 to 2002.Among them,the Spring Comes to the Cottage (1958),Xinjiang Dance Music (1958),Happy Reunion (1959) and Melodies of Harvest in Four Seasons (1960) are masterpieces that have largely been used for teaching and performance for quite long time,and were his successful pieces at the early stage of his musical creation.Another two recent works,Five Folk Songs from Yunnan (1982) and Four Pieces (2002),were also played at the show.The concert reached the climax with pianist Liu Shikun’s improvised playing and Prof. Guo’s encore improvisation. On the afternoon of the second day,Xiao Youmei Foundation of the Central Conservatory of Music and the Piano Art Magazine Editorial Department organized a seminar on how to develop Chinese piano music creation on the occasion of Prof.Guo’s 50 years’piano composition.The seminar was attended by many of his colleagues,friends and students,some of whom traveled from abroad.The common subject of the seminar is the relationship between composition and performance. Guo’s concert enables us to have some knowledge of his distinctive thoughts and individualized presentation of piano music,in particular,the Chinese piano music.All of his harmonies and rhythms display his unique power and passion.Particularly,in many of his rearrangements,his intense emotion and pure folk music melodies have been combined together in such perfect ways.Two of his masterpieces,Xinjiang Dance Music and Two Folk Songs from Yili,present an ethnic picture of the Western China with their peculiar modes and brilliant polyphonic arrangements.In comparison with his contemporaries (for instance,Ding Shande who wrote his First and Second Xinjiang Dance Music),Guo’s piano language appears more intense and elegant.And his two works rearranged from Yunnan folk songs in late 1980’s,Five Folk Songs from Yunnan and Four Pieces still posses the rich harmonic language and clear piano texture that were often found in his earlier works.But different from the past,acoustic effects are now more exquisite and spontaneous,with more features of free reverie. Since Zhao Yuanren published the first Chinese piano work Peace March in 1915,there has been rapid growth for 80 years in China’s piano composition.A series of outstanding works,such as Piccolo of the Cowboy,Hundred Birds Paying Tribute to the Phoenix,created piano music language and tone colour with Chinese national characteristics and styles.These results,which came only when composition had developed to a certain extent,form part of China’s piano culture.It is right to say that nowadays when the theories on China’s piano works playing turn to be more mature,a good study and mastery of these performance theories and techniques will not only play an important role in establishing China’s own piano school,but also largely promote piano composition. On the evening of April 15, the Concert of Prof. Guo Zhihong’s Works Marking His 50 Years’ Composition, sponsored by the Piano Department of the Central Conservatory of Music, was held at the Conservatory’s Concert Hall. Playing the concert, Prof. Guo and his students played more than a dozen of the piano works that he had composed for almost half a century from 1954 to 2002.Among them, the Spring Comes to the Cottage (1958), Xinjiang Dance Music (1958), Happy Reunion (1959 ) and Melodies of Harvest in Four Seasons (1960) are masterpieces that have mostly been used for teaching and performance for quite long time, and were his successful pieces at the early stage of his musical creation. Another two recent works, Five Folk Songs from Yunnan (1982) and Four Pieces (2002), were also played at the show. The concert reached the climax with pianist Liu Shikun’s improvised playing and Prof. Guo’s encore improvisation. On the afternoon of the second day, Xiao Youmei Foundation of the Central Conservatory of Music and the Piano Art Magazine Editorial Department organized a seminar on how to develop Chinese piano music creation on the occasion of Prof. Guo’s 50 years’piano composition. The seminar was attended by many of his colleagues, friends and students, some of whom traveled from abroad. common subject of the seminar is the relationship between composition and performance. Guo’s concert enables us to have some knowledge of his distinctive thoughts and individualized presentation of piano music, in particular, the Chinese piano music. All of his harmonies and rhythms display his unique power and passion. Particularly, in many of his rearrangements, his intense emotion and pure folk music melodies have been combined together in such perfect ways. Two of his masterpieces, Xinjiang Dance Music and Two Folk Songs from Yili, present an ethnic picture of the Western China with their peculiar modes and brilliant polyphonic arrangements. In contrast with his contemporaries (for instance, Ding Shandewho wrote his First and Second Xinjiang Dance Music), Guo’s piano language appears more intense and elegant. And his two works rearranged from Yunnan folk songs in late 1980’s, Five Folk Songs from Yunnan and Four Pieces still posses the rich harmonic language and clear piano texture that were often found in his earlier works.But different from the past, acoustic effects are now more exquisite and spontaneous, with more features of free reverie. Since Zhao Yuanren published the first Chinese piano work Peace March in 1915, there has been been rapid growth for 80 years in China’s piano composition. A series of outstanding works, such as Piccolo of the Cowboy, Hundred Birds Paying Tribute to the Phoenix, created piano music language and tone color with Chinese national characteristics and styles.These results, which came only when composition had developed to a certain extent, form part of China’s piano culture.It is right to say that nowadays when the theories on China’s piano works playing turn to be more mature, a good study and mastery of these performance theories and techniques will not only play an important role in establishing China’s own piano school, but also substantially promote piano composition.