Exploring Culture Synthesis in Contemporary Music: A Comparative Analysis of Western and Mongolian Musical Traditions through the Lens of Duan Zexing’s Violin Concerto Caoyuan Wangshi (The Past of the Grassland, 2016)

Through an analytical study of the violin concerto The Past of the Grassland by Duan Zexing (b. 1951), this dissertation examines the ways in which the work integrates musical elements from diverse cultural traditions, including formal structure, rhythmic patterns, and other compositional techniques. Rather than the traditional pentatonic mode, the work employs the Chinese heptatonic mode, so the study highlights the similarities and differences in compositional application between that mode and the Western tonal system. This research aims to advance cross-cultural understanding and appreciation by investigating the interaction between Western music and Mongolian musical traditions. The findings of this study should contribute to a deeper scholarly discourse on musical and cultural diversity, offering valuable insights for musicologists and ethnomusicologists while also serving as a source of inspiration for composers and performers seeking to explore new approaches to musical innovation.