Butterfly Lovers ErHu Concerto

Butterfly Lovers ErHu Concerto

The Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto is one of the most famous orchestra works of Chinese music. It is an orchestral adaptation of an ancient legend, the Butterfly Lovers. Written for the western style orchestra, it features a solo violin played using some Chinese techniques (Wikipedia).

The Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto is written in traditional 5-note technique (pentatonic scale), it uses many Chinese melodies, chord structures and patterns. This gives the piece a distinctive “Chinese” sound, though it uses tonal harmonies.

The Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto was written in 1959 by two Chinese composers, He Zhanhao (何占豪, born 1933) and Chen Gang (陈钢, born 1935), while they were students at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.^[1] The music did not attain popularity before the late 1970s, when China loosened its restrictions after the Cultural Revolution. Once released from censorship, it became an embodiment of China in transition. The work is a common feature in figure skating and in concert halls worldwide. This concerto is now often performed with Chinese instruments playing the violin part, the most common being Erhu, Pipa and Liuqin. In such cases the soloist is often accompanied by an orchestra consisting of Chinese instruments.

The 1959 premiere of the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto featured 18-year-old violinist Yu Lina and took place in Shanghai as part of the celebration of the 10th anniversary year of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It was first recorded in 1959 with soloist Shen Rong on violin and the Symphony Orchestra of Shanghai Music Conservatory conducted by Fan Cheng-wu.

The concerto is in one movement, but is broken into seven distinct sections. Each tells a different part of the story of the Butterfly Lovers.

I. Adagio Cantabile

On the road to Hangzhou for her studies, Zhu (disguised as a man) meets Liang for the first time. The first buds of love begin to blossom.

II. Allegro

Zhu and Liang’s busy three years of school.

III. Adagio assai doloroso

As the end of their schooling draws near, Liang and Zhu grow sad as they realize that their time together is nearly over. Zhu invites Liang to visit her family and to court her sister. He doesn’t know that Zhu is really inviting him to marry her. Liang promises to see Zhu again, but Liang waits before doing so.

IV. Pesante – Piu mosso – Duramente

When Zhu returns home, she finds that her father has promised her to the son of a rich family. The solo violin struggles against the forces of the orchestra, representing her protests against her father.

V. Lagrimoso

When Liang arrives, he sees Zhu and realizes that she is a woman, and they fall in love. The solo violin and cello solo play an emotional duet, one of the most famous and powerful sections of the work.

VI. Presto resoluto

The love duet between the two is replaced by anger as Liang learns that in his absence, Zhu has been betrothed to another. Liang becomes sick and dies as the duet draws to a close. Another virtuosic section for the solo and orchestra combines both the slow melodies and the fast energetic passages introduced before. The section ends with the suicide of Zhu as the solo violin ends with an abrupt high note.

VII. Adagio cantabile

The lovers’ parts are united by a final section, with the solo violin and the orchestra redeveloping the opening theme to build to a triumphant climax. The concerto ends bittersweetly with a final melodic phrase from the solo violin, concluding mysteriously on a high D from the strings. In the legend, Liang’s grave opens and Zhu throws herself into the chasm; the ending portraying the lovers’ transformation into butterflies, never to be separated again.^[3]

Source of thee whole text: Wikipedia