URBAN THEMES IN ZHOU LONG’S ORATORIO

The creative heritage of the outstanding modern Chinese-American composer Zhou Long harmoniously combines specific techniques of folk music and modern compositional techniques. One of his major works is the oratorio “Men of Iron and the Golden Spike”, which is based on a true tragic story about the death of Chinese workers during an avalanche on the Sierra Nevada pass during the construction of the railway in the 1860s. The author of the article introduces this work into Russian-language scientific usage, considering it as a vivid example of a modern oratorio on urban themes. It is noted that the interpretation of the labour theme has a prehistory in the Soviet-Chinese interpretation of the genre. The musical solution of urban imagery is based on the synthesis of elements of Western avant-gardism of the 1920s and elements of national colour, embodied primarily by orchestral means.