Maestro Chang Chi-jen, conductor of the Taiwan Symphony Orchestra and professor of music at Tunghai University, has dedicated his life to the study of Western music. At the age of 30 and back from study in the United States, he hopes to use his knowledge and talent to enrich the musical life of Taiwan.
Maestro Chang's interest in music began in his second year of junior high school. "My brother and sister liked to listen to Western music," he explained. "They had a recording of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which they played often. One day they were gone and I put on the reverse side of the record. The opening chords immediately and almost mysteriously held my imagination. It was Schubert's Unfinished Symphony. From that moment I knew I wanted to be a musician, and to this day I still have a special fascination for that symphony."
Twenty years ago there was little opportunity to study Western music in Taichung. But Dr. Pauline Hamilton, an American missionary, encouraged the young student's interest. "She had a large record collection, which she placed at my disposal. She bought a piano, put it in the church and gave me a key so I could practice. She found me a teacher and had her sister send orchestral scores from the States. Without her help I might never have been able to sustain my early interest in music. "
During college at Tunghai, Chang received his first professional training. He studied piano, organ and theory with Dr. Juanelva Rose, who is now chairman of the music department. While still a student he was appointed conductor of the Tunghai Church choir. It was during these years that Chang decided to be a professional musician. "Actually I studied sociology at Tunghai, and many people wanted me to follow it as a career. But I had no real liking for the field. I got my greatest personal satisfaction from studying and conducting a new piece of music."
After graduating from Tunghai, Chang went to West Texas State University in 1969 and, a year later, to the Mannes College of Music in New York City. Speaking of his years in New York, Maestro Chang said, "Mannes is a small school. The largest class I was ever in had 10 people. The training combines keyboard technique, theory and analysis and is directed toward understanding the in-depth structure of a composition. It helped me, particularly as an Oriental, to see a piece of Western music not simply as a collection of notes but as an organic whole."
After graduating from Mannes in 1973 with honors in conducting, Maestro Chang participated in numerous symposiums, workshops and conducting competitions in the United States and Europe. He returned to Taiwan in 1975.
Chang Chi-jen is optimistic about the future of Western music in Taiwan. "There are good musicians in Taiwan, and the audience is there - mainly professional people and students. Concerts are always sold out. But what we need is a first-rate, privately funded professional orchestra. I'm thinking about a chamber orchestra of around 40 members. That's the best size. You can perform works for large ensembles, say 10 t9 15 people, or for the whole orchestra. Such an orchestra would greatly expand the range of works usually played in Taiwan -works mainly pre-Beethoven and post-Wagner would form the basis of its repertoire. Music lovers in Taiwan are craving to hear new pieces, and a chamber orchestra could fill that need."
According to Maestro Chang, an orchestra of 40 members is also the best size for solving problems of financing and mobility. The orchestra would be based in Taipei and within three years could be well organized and of a high enough caliber to undertake tours to other Pacific nations, including the west coast of the United States.
Chang envisions this chamber orchestra as the central vehicle for promoting Western music in Taiwan. "One of the most important functions of the orchestra would be to stimulate music students to aim for higher artistic standards. Students must be constantly exposed to high quality performances. For them to make progress, they must be aware of how good the music can be made to sound. We would like to bring soloists from the States and Europe for guest appearances. In short, we must challenge music students to do better and, at the same time, persuade the music-going public in Taiwan that a professional orchestra is deserving of their support."
Finally, Chang feels that a first-rate chamber orchestra would keep many good musicians from leaving Taiwan and even entice many to return from abroad. "I constantly met Chinese musicians in the United States who wanted to return to Taiwan. If the chamber orchestra is organized, I am sure many would come back. They are not only talented and dedicated musicians, they also want to contribute to the cultural life of their country."
Dynasty - Rails in the east
The east coast of Taiwan is rich in limestone, the principal ingredient needed by the island's booming cement industry. It has vast reserves of marble used in the construction and handicraft industries, and large amounts of nephrite jade that is made into jewelry. Its hills and mountains are covered with thick stands of timber that can be used in making houses, furniture and paper. Its high mountains, precipitous coastline and awesome Taroko Gorge offer some of the most spectacular scenery in the Far East - or, indeed, the world.
Yet the east coast remains relatively undeveloped for want of good transportation connections to the rest of the island. Such links do exist, of course, but they are far from ideal. A one-lane highway from Suao on the northeast coast to Hualien in the center of the eastern region clings precariously to nearly vertical cliffs and provides for an exciting if somewhat tortuous four-hour trip - when the road is not blocked by landslides. The Central Cross-Island Highway offers a spectacular ride from Taichung in the center of the west coast - but it is a tiresome, all-day trip and the road too is often cut by landslides. A road around the southern tip of the island is likewise slow and tedious. Air links with the west are convenient and frequent, but they are far more suitable for passengers than for freight.
It is not surprising, then, that as far back as 1947 the government was thinking of building a North Link Railway to connect the existing west coast railway with the east coast line that reaches from Hualien southward. But it was long delayed. Route surveys were not completed until 1971. In that same year, a feasibility study carried out by a Japanese firm confirmed the practicability of the railway. The decision was made to go ahead. The North Link Railway was included among the Ten Major Construction Projects that the Republic of China is currently undertaking. Construction was started on December 25, 1973.
There was a good reason for the long delay in building the new rail line. The terrain which it must traverse is extremely rugged, and it will have to pass through tunnels for over a third of its 88-kilometer length (82 kilometers of trunk line, plus a 6-kilometer spur to Hualien Harbor). There will be 35' major bridges.
The civil construction work is being carried out by the Retser Engineering Agency, Taiwan's biggest builder. Such work as the laying of rails and installation of communications systems is being carried out by the Taiwan Rail way Administration. Rails removed from the west coast trunk railway in the process of its electrification (another of the Ten Projects) are being used on the east coast line. Diesel engines and other rolling stock from the west will be used in the east.
When the North Link Railway is finished at the end of 1978, it will probably have cost US$150 million - twice the original estimate. But it will be well worth while. Fast, comfortable trains will make the trip from Suao to Hualien in about an hour and a half, a third of the time now required. Freight shipments will be faster, cheaper and more efficient. The isolation of the east coast will be at an end and the people of all Taiwan will be more prosperous.