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Love for God and Homeland—A Musical Gift of CHEN Su-ti
by SHYU Mei-ling
In 1923, CHEN SU-ti, with only a primary school education, was given the opportunity to attend Tamkang High School, established by George William MACKAY. The classic hilltop architecture, the elegant Christian hymns, and, especially, the strict piano instruction of Margaret Mellis GAULD (known as the "mother of church music in northern Taiwan and who was wife to missionary William GAULD) inspired him with a passion for Western music. Frequently so engrossed in his practice that he lost track of the time, CHEN often had to stealthily make his way back to his dorm in the dark for fear of getting caught for breaking curfew.
Son of the gifted CHEN Ying-lin, CHEN Su-ti was full of talent. And with the large stature and hands characteristic of his family, he advanced with great speed. Over time, the music he produced ceased being just Western and started exhibiting his own unique ideas. For instance, "Breezes through the Banana Leaves" was born from a piece he created based on an ascending arpeggio to imitate the sound of a breeze blowing through banana trees. Simple and elegant, this piano piece was probably his first composition. As this seed sprouted and grew, it blossomed years later and became the first piece in the suite Taiwan Sketches, which he dedicated to his beloved teacher Isabel TAYLOR.
CHEN is viewed as a first-generation Taiwanese pianist and composer of Western music, and he made a great many related accomplishments:
- August 3, 1932: The Taiwan Daily News reported on a performance of CHOPIN's Waltz in e minor and LISZT's Liebesträume by CHEN, who was studying at seminary.
- 1934: He played accompaniment at "Return to Home", a concert tour organized by students that had studied in Japan. The tour, hugely popular all around the island, was a way for the students to give something to their fellow countrymen.
- 1936: While at a small fishing village on the Izu Peninsula in Japan, he thought of Jesus at the Sea of Galilee and John the Baptist in the wilderness, inspiring him to write Taiwan's first oratorio, The Lamb of God.
- 1939: He wrote Taiwan's first piano suite, Taiwan Sketches, a group of ten pieces inspired by Taiwanese culture. Pieces include the humorous "Blackbird on the Buffalo's Back" and "Three Little Ducklings and a Toad" and the very Taiwan-specific "A Little Formosan Girl" and "Formosan Highlander's Dance." The suite and three of his other works, Fantasie-Tamsui (1938), Etude in D-flat Major (1958), and Dragon Dance (1958), were included in Maurice HINSON's 1979 Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire, a world-class collection of piano music.
As a young man, CHEN loved his homeland, and he used that when he became the preacher at the Shilin Presbyterian Church in 1938, leading his flock through the love of Christ and music. From then on, he devoted most of his life to the church and education. In 1947, he and TAYLOR jointly established a music department at the Chun-Teh Girls' High School, and from 1955 to 1981, he served as principal of Tamkang High School, during which he emphasized the importance of music and physical education and had a profound influence on numerous students.
CHEN passed away in 1992. This year, the spirits of CHEN and George Leslie MACKAY will be beautifully brought together 150 years since MACKAY first arrived in northern Taiwan (1872) and began his missionary work in Tamsui. Corresponding with the passion and unparalleled courage of MACKAY in spreading the gospel, the concept of "love for God and homeland" has been adopted to transmit the spirit of the Presbyterian Church: nec tamen consumebatur ("burned but never consumed"). As a youth, CHEN was disposed to sorrow and misery, but he later gave back to his alma mater by becoming its principal. Based on what he learned from Western music and how he incorporated it with the Chinese pentatonic scale, he became a leader and paragon who pioneered a new path for Taiwanese music. This foundation is recorded in something he wrote on April 9, 1982, a testament that he always viewed himself as a servant of God in his faith and music: "When I refused to allow my doctor to complete his examination of me, he cried out, 'Oh, you are hopeless!' But I would rather hear the Lord kindly say to me, 'Su-ti, I think it is your time. Come to me, my child!'"
Learn More:
2022/10/1(Sat)19:30 Weiwuying Recital Hall
►Love for God and Homeland-CHEN Su-ti Memorial Concert
2022/9/2 - 10/2 Weiwuying Exhibition Hall
►Love for God and Homeland-A Memorial Exhibition of Taiwan Musician CHEN Su-ti
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