Interpretation and adaptation of the G. G. Neuhaus method in the piano education system of China: pedagogical principles and practices

Abstract

The process of interpretation and cultural-pedagogical adaptation of the G. G. Neuhaus method within the piano education system of the People's Republic of China is examined against the backdrop of global integration of artistic practices and the formation of the modern Chinese pianistic school. Historical preconditions for the reception of the Russian tradition, tracing back to the work of Soviet specialists in the conservatories of Beijing and Shanghai, are highlighted, and it is shown that the current assimilation of the Neuhaus legacy occurs under a different socio-cultural and competition-oriented training model. The analytical focus is placed on the triad central to Neuhaus – image – sound – technique – which requires an inversion of the prevalent emphasis on the autonomy of finger motility and a shift toward pre-hearing the result, cultivating cantilena, and achieving timbral layering. Mechanisms of semantic transfer of key concepts ( intonation , hand breathing , hand weight , sound culture ) into Chinese musical lexicon are identified, and productive parallels with traditional Chinese arts and philosophical practices (calligraphy, notions of gesture-result unity, metaphors of breath and fluidity) are demonstrated, facilitating a more organic assimilation of Neuhaus's metaphorical language. Pedagogical contradictions between the demand for performative stability and the ideal of creative freedom are analyzed, as is the transformation of the teacher's role from an authoritarian model to a dialogic one while preserving culturally significant hierarchy. The significance of Neuhaus's principles for repertoire policy, humanitarian expansion of training, cultivation of polyphonic thinking through orchestration of texture, work with stage stress, and reconceptualization of virtuosity as the speed of artistic thought is demonstrated. It is noted that even amid the mass character of musical education, the principles prioritizing content over form and developing musical intelligence counteract mechanicity, shaping performers who combine technical proficiency with depth of interpretation.