This presentation is part of a larger study that examines the making of Hong Kong popular music between 1949 and 2004. It does so via a close look into the views and practices of one of the most influential, and in many ways most theoretically intriguing, popular music creators in that period, Dr. James Wong Jum Sum.

James Wong began making popular music in Hong Kong in his teens in the 1950s and subsequently had a prolonged engagement with multiple facets of Hong Kong popular culture. He collaborated with a vast number of major musicians in the trade, and acted as a focal point in a special community of Cantopop music workers in different eras. He left behind a rich legacy of works in music, film, television, stage and advertising, many of which were ground breaking in their times. He also left behind a voluminous private collection of writings and unpublished manuscripts chronicling and reflecting on such works. This presentation draws on these documents to unravel the creative conventions, micro processes and institutional setup of Hong Kong popular music. The findings allow us to chart the tortuous changes of a unique ‘art world’ in three crucial periods of Hong Kong post-war social development.

這次討論源自一個較大型的研究項目，主旨在對香港歷史上其中一位最具影響力的流行音樂創作人黃霑博士的想法和實踐作深入探討，以了解香港流行音樂在1949至2004年間的形成和發展。

黃霑在1950年代開始參與創作流行音樂，一生為流行文化建樹良多。他跟大量本地傑出的創作和演藝人合 作過，在不同時期成為香港音樂群體的中心人物。他留下眾多具突破性的音樂、電視、舞台和廣告作品。 他也留下了大量私人收藏的寫作和未出版的手稿，紀錄了他創作的過程和回顧了作品的得失。這些資料幫 助我們深入了解香港流行音樂的創作繩規、細藝和協作模式，並由此探討這個獨一無二的「藝術世界」在 香港戰後三個時期的曲折進程。