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Liang Deng

Southwest Minzu University, The Department Of Music, School Of Arts, Faculty Member

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Deng began studying piano at the age of five. He graduated from the Affiliated High School of Sichuan Conservatory of Music, China, and later pursued his education at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, where he earned his BMus, BMus Hons, MMus and DMA. His work focuses on Piano Performance/Teaching, Music Aesthetics, and the study of Political Music. Currently, Deng serves as an Associate Professor of Music at Southwest Minzu University and has been invited to act as an External Peer Reviewer (Written/Postal Evaluation) for the "Yangtze River Scholars Award Program" under the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China.

"Eternity = Annihilation, because only 'annihilation' gives rise to the self-protective mindset of resistance that compels one to appeal to 'eternity'. "
Supervisors: Xin Gu, Tamas Vesmas, Robert Constable, David Guerin, and Dean Sutcliffe
Address: Chengdu, Sichuan, P. R. China

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Papers by Liang Deng

Lines of Intention: 20th-Century Composers' Performances of Their Own Piano Works through Deleuze and Guattari's Lens

by Liang Deng and Ting Tang

International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, 2025

This paper questions the traditional »score-centricism (supremacy)« in classical piano music by a... more This paper questions the traditional »score-centricism (supremacy)« in classical piano music by analyzing the dynamic nature of composer’s intentions through Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophical lens. Focusing on 20th-century composers’ self-performances, the study demonstrates how these performances often deviate from written scores, suggesting that intentions are fluid rather than fixed. Using Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts of the molar, molecular, and line of flight, along with nomadism, the paper explores how composer intentions evolve and adapt in response to performance contexts. This analysis argues that the score should not be viewed as the definitive representation of a composer’s vision, but as one aspect of a larger, dynamic process of musical expression. By acknowledging the complexity and multiplicity of intentions, the study advocates for a more flexible understanding of authenticity that values both the score and the creative potential of performance, emphasizing the transformative role of interpretation in realizing a composer’s intentions.

format_quoteAnalyzing composer self-performances reveals evolving intentions, emphasizing the limitations of capturing these fully in a static score.format_quote

The Distinct Consideration of Piano Performance Technique and Skill

Piano Journal, 2015

Drawing from extensive experience in piano pedagogy and performance, the author has observed that... more Drawing from extensive experience in piano pedagogy and performance, the author has observed that the concepts of piano technique and skill often remain nebulous to students, educators, and even some pianists. This article aims to elucidate the definitions of technique and skill, delineate their distinctions, and explore their interplay. By examining these concepts from multiple perspectives, it seeks to provide readers with a clearer, more nuanced understanding of piano performance technique and skill.

The Evolution and Expression of 20th-century Western Left-wing Music Attributes（20世纪西方左翼音乐属性的演进与表达）

Journal of The Central Conservatory of Music, 2025

This paper examines the role of Western left-wing music in politics in the 20th-century, revealin... more This paper examines the role of Western left-wing music in politics in the 20th-century, revealing its historical position as a tool for social protest and political expression. By analyzing how music conveys ideology, inspiring collective action, and interacting with political events, the paper emphasizes the critical role of music in shaping social change and explores its political function, and its reflections and social impact on contemporary society as well. Additionally, the paper also investigates the position of musicians within social classes and the social motivations behind their creations, illustrating the evolution and expression of left-wing musical attributes in modern and contemporary times, as well as certain phenomena and issues that exist in the historical process of crossing the artistic field.

Reviews on Rzewski's Leftist Political Piano Variations: The People United Will Never Be Defeated

Accelerando: Belgrade Journal of Music and Dance, 2017

The People United Will Never Be Defeated (1975) is an one-hour epic modern piano variations, is o... more The People United Will Never Be Defeated (1975) is an one-hour epic modern piano variations, is one with an exquisite structure as well as a humanistic content. As a political context, this could be a legendary piece as well, in its creation in Chile just before Pinochet's military regime and the music's subsequent meaning for so many leftist political enthusiasts. In his approach the author highlighted the role of music, i.e. the role of cultural power in crating consciousness and attracting masses of people to political causes inspiring them to fight for better future. In addition, the author opened a number of questions on performance of contemporary music on the basis of Rzewski's own DVD recording, the analyzing of which revealed an interesting phenomenon because when Rzewski played his own music, his playing differentiated from his own score.

A Conceptual-Substitution Perspective on Three Underrepresented New Techniques in Contemporary Piano Performance (从概念置换视角窥探现代钢琴演奏中较冷门的三大典型新技术)

Journal of Tianjin Conservatory of Music, 2017

This paper investigates three extended piano techniques—movable key blocks, bowed piano, and spea... more This paper investigates three extended piano techniques—movable key blocks, bowed piano, and speaking piano—focusing on their theoretical foundations and practical implementations in contemporary music. Drawing on Henning Siedentopf's *Neue Wege der Klaviertechnik* (1973), it examines movable key blocks through György Ligeti's *Touches bloquées* (1985), highlighting divergences between fixed theoretical models and dynamic performance adaptations for polyrhythms and clusters. The bowed piano technique is explored via C. Curtis-Smith's innovations (1972) and Stephen Scott's ensemble applications, emphasizing string manipulations for microtonal effects. Finally, the speaking piano is analyzed in Peter Ablinger's *Voices and Piano* (1997), integrating spoken-word simulations with prepared mechanisms. Through score excerpts, recordings, and historical context, the study reveals these techniques' evolution, offering insights for modern pedagogy and interpretive challenges in 20th- and 21st-century repertoire.

A Paradigm of Modern Western Political Music — An Analysis of American Contemporary Composer Frederic Rzewski’s Piano Variations "The People United Will Never Be Defeated"（现代西方政治题材音乐之典范——评析美国当代作曲家热夫斯基钢琴变奏曲《不屈之民》）

Journal of Nanjing University of the Arts (Music & Performance), 2015

Rzewski’s well-known piano variations The People United Will Never Be Defeated is a new compositi... more

Piano Performance Technical Analysis of The People United Will Never Be Defeated by Rzewski

European Journal of Social Sciences Education and Research, 2018

The piano variations The People United will Never be Defeated by Rzewski contains many modern pia... more The piano variations The People United will Never be Defeated by Rzewski contains many modern piano performance techniques and skills. The difficulties of these techniques and skills in these enormous variations are far beyond the boundaries of traditional piano performance techniques and skills. This analysis will give a specific classification for these modern piano performance techniques and skills in order to provide a more comprehensive guide for the piano performers.

format_quoteVariation passages feature semiquavers with awkward fingerings, atonal structures, and extensive keyboard coverage, significantly increasing difficulty.format_quote

Opinions/Commentaries by Liang Deng

A New Pedagogical System?

Classical Music Daily, 2026

DENG Liang considers rethinking the master-apprentice system and oral transmission in piano pedagogy

A Contest of Homogeneity?

Classical Music Daily, 2025

DENG Liang reflects on the recent Chopin International Piano Competition and on the developmental... more

The Forgotten Initiation

Classical Music Daily, 2025

DENG Liang discusses how the tacit knowledge of piano education disappears in generational rupture.

Essays by Liang Deng

Theoretical and Practical Differences of the “Movable Key Blocks” Technique: A Case Study of Ligeti's Piano Étude “Touches bloquées” (“移动阻塞键”之理论与实践差异——以利盖蒂钢琴练习曲《哑键》为例)

People's Music, 2015

This article examines the gap between Henning Siedentopf’s theoretical concept of “movable key bl... more This article examines the gap between Henning Siedentopf’s theoretical concept of “movable key blocks” and its practical realization in György Ligeti’s piano étude Touches bloquées. While Siedentopf proposed the technique as a rhythmic illusion, Ligeti expanded it into a complex compositional and performative tool. The piece challenges traditional pianistic expectations, revealing both the expressive potential and technical difficulties of the method.

On the Debate over Whether "Prepared Piano" was the Creation of John Cage

College Music Symposium, 2015

With the growing awareness of 20th Century piano music in the international piano community in re... more With the growing awareness of 20th Century piano music in the international piano community in recent years, prepared piano has also become a very popular topic. This is because it adds psychedelic, wonderland-like revolutionary sound colors to the traditional piano sound. It is well known that the term "prepared piano" became popular as a result of the famous American modern composer John Cage's works, and many serious music lovers have come to believe that prepared piano is also the original creation of John Cage himself. However, such a conclusion is debatable. So how shall the inquiry begin? We should start by looking at the definition in Oxford Music Online for some clues: A piano in which the pitches, timbres, and dynamic responses of individual notes have been altered by means of bolts, screws, mutes, rubber erasers and/or other objects inserted at particular points between or placed on the strings. The idea originated with Cowell. The prepared piano was devised by Cage for his Bacchanale (1940), and used in a number of his subsequent compositions. From this we discover a clue. Perhaps the term was coined by John Cage to define the prepared piano performance technique. However, the original idea behind prepared piano was pioneered by another famous composer, Henry Cowell. This type of phenomenon is commonly seen among modern serious music composer communities such as with the famous Hungarian composer György Ligeti's Piano Etudes, Book I, No.3: Touches Bloquées. The innovative theory behind the performance technique of Touches Bloquées did not originate from Ligeti, but was from contemporary German composer Heining Siedentopf. Ligeti only put this theory to practice; applying it to the piano. The technical design of this etude is a unique reformation in piano technique. In simple terms, in regard to the method of piano performance, Ligeti requires the pianist's left hand to hold some keys without sounding, while the right hand moves above and beyond the region of the keys being pressed down by the left hand. The notes being held down do not sound and at rapid speed interesting rhythmic effects are created. Therefore, from the citation above and brief description of Touches Bloquées, we can see that the idea of prepared piano was not pioneered by John Cage and should more likely be attributed to Henry Cowell. In fact, Cage was inspired by Cowell's concept of a "string piano" in which a series of sounds could be embellished from the instrument by manipulating the strings directly instead of playing on the keyboard. Cowell's The Banshee (1925), for instance, required for the pianist to reach inside the piano and pluck and scrape the strings directly in order to achieve 1 2

The Technical Reviews of Ligeti Piano Etude No.4 Fanfares

Journal of Music and Dance, 2015

Ligeti's etude Fanfares extends the technical skills demanded of the modern pianist and many inco... more Ligeti's etude Fanfares extends the technical skills demanded of the modern pianist and many incorporate completely new techniques. This etude, which was composed around 1985 consists of some of the most technically demanding issues composed for the piano in the last decades of the 20 th century. Through the study of this work the pianist is pushed in new directions as Ligeti extends the limits of the pianistic borders.

Books by Liang Deng

Performance Technical Guide of Makrokosmos Volume II by George Crumb - An Extension of the Piano

iUniverse, 2018

George Crumb often writes his music in a radical way for the piano, constantly asking the perform... more George Crumb often writes his music in a radical way for the piano, constantly asking the performer to play on the inside of the piano, a technique in which he is pretty much a pioneer. This book talks about the exploitation of a new and hitherto unexplored range of color that can be accessed with the hands and fingers inside the piano or by inserting sound-altering devices into the strings. However, he writes in textures and styles that clearly relate to Debussy and Chopin, particularly in his use of the sustaining pedal, and in the way, he sets up a layer of sustained sound through the pedal into which he then places his melodic and rhythmic ideas. He often mentions his indebtedness to these great masters of the past in his music program notes. He even sometimes quotes directly the music of Chopin or Beethoven within his own compositions. In that regard, Crumb sees his music in an evolutionary way. In George Crumb’s piano music Makrokosmos Volume II, the pianist has the added issues of often having to play while standing, including playing on the keys and inside the piano while standing. These, and many other physical difficulties abound in this music, are dealt with throughout this technical guidebook.

Scores by Liang Deng

Piano Technical Exercises for Fingers Independence and Coordination Volume II

Partridge Singapore, 2022

These piano technical exercises are based on the author's years of piano practice experiments and... more These piano technical exercises are based on the author's years of piano practice experiments and provide the optimum level of practice for refining the abilities of and coordination between fingers. Although some exercises are similar to other piano technical training studies, such as the exercises by Louis Plaidy, Camille-Marie Stamaty, Isidor Philipp, Godowsky, Liszt and Brahms etc., and some of them are vaguely similar to some pianists' private finger exercises, this Volume II score by the author is a continuation of the Volume I, which is more comprehensive, systematic, detailed, complete, and reliable for training the independence and coordination of each finger, especially with regard to the fingers' physical movements. It should be noted that the exercises in this score are designed only for mechanical technical training and improvement of the finger movements and not for musicality.

Piano Technical Exercises for Fingers Independence and Coordination Volume I

Partridge Singapore, 2018

These piano technical exercises are based on the author’s years of piano practice experiments and... more These piano technical exercises are based on the author’s years of piano practice experiments and provide the optimum level of practice for refining the abilities of and coordination between fingers. Although some exercises are similar to other piano technical training studies, such as the exercises by Louis Plaidy, Camille-Marie Stamaty, Isidor Philipp, and Brahms, and some of them are vaguely similar to some pianists’ private finger exercises, this volume I score by the author is more comprehensive, systematic, detailed, complete, and reliable for training the independence and coordination of each finger, especially with regard to the fingers’ physical movements. It should be noted that the exercises in this score are designed only for mechanical technical training and improvement of the finger movements and not for musicality.