China's First Recital and Recording Pianist Ding Shande: A Critical Examination of His Performing Career and Performance Style

Abstract Musical biography, particularly that which focuses on non-Western performers, has long been marginalized in musicology. This article critically examines the performing career and performance style of China's first recital and recording pianist, Ding Shande, by scrutinizing written documents and analysing recordings. It was found that Ding's performing career was short-lived, peaking in 1935 and ending in the 1950s, and that he tended to play with fast and even tempo, emphasize metrical organizations, and highlight structural divisions through long-range dynamic variation. These findings shed light on how the changing concept of semi-colonialism influenced the career trajectories and performance styles of the earliest Chinese pianists, and hence offer insights into early history of piano performance in China. This article shows that performers’ performances are just as important in biographical writings as is the story of their lives, and that interweaving the two helps develop a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of a performer's biography.