Chou Wen-chung

Excerpts from keynote speech, The ISCM-ACL World Music Days Festival, Hong Kong, 1988

[continued]

With all the divergence we have just noted there can be hardly any doubt that a common practice, such as was found in past European historical periods, has not emerged.

There are however two directions in the U.S. today, which continue to be pregnant with future possibilities for opening up new horizons. One is the advent of computer music.

The term, “world music,” has suddenly become popular… given time, we should expect more and more composers [to be] attracted to the rich and diverse resources all the musical cultures of the world can offer.

These two directions, namely technological progress and deepening cultural intercourse, make me believe a meaningful comparison could be made of the year 2000 with that of 1500 … a year signifying the beginning of modern European civilization, and of a large-scale cycle consisting of, in music, the periods of Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and modern.

Even though some foundations began to be laid much earlier, the year 1500 is conveniently regarded as the beginning of the rise of humanism, and thus modern Europe.

Do we find parallels between the above and today? Yes, indeed. Except for the following differences:

  1. There is more cooperation than exploitation in natural resources and trade;
  2. Instead of looking for new continents and colonies, we are truly expanding our horizons in the mind, nature and space;
  3. Technology and economic growth are being shared as more nations join the modernization process; and
  4. Cultural exchange has genuinely become a primary force in international relations rather than as a by-product of trade or colonization.

These differences presage a new world order.

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