8/17–Music for Erhu

The erhu is sometimes called the Chinese fiddle. It is a two-stringed instrument, played with a bow like our Western violins and cellos, and it’s used as a solo instrument as well as being a component of orchestras. It’s used for both traditional and contemporary music. Its predecessors were probably introduced into China about a thousand years ago from Central Asia. From that region also, the Chinese eventually borrowed the horsehair bow that’s used to play the erhu. The instrument is made out of hardwood and traditionally covered with snakeskin on the front of the sound box. Both the instrument’s neck, and the bow, are quite long.

Here’s what Ma Xiaohui has told us about the music on today’s program:

#1 Mustafa–This is a folk melody from Egypt, arranged by the artist for the erhu: “It expresses the people of the Middle East, dancing in the joy of the Silk Road.” The Silk Road extended from China through Central Asia to the Mediterranean; it is the ancient trade route whose variegated musics and cultures have been famously celebrated by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and his “Silk Road Ensemble”.

#2 Air on the G String/Jasmine Flower/Birds Singing in the Mountains–The Air on the G String, a movement from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Suite for Orchestra #3, is one of the most famous melodies in Western music. Ma Xiaohui started adapting Bach’s music for the erhu in 2000. Here the Air is combined with a Chinese folksong, “Jasmine Flower,” which was the theme music for World Expo 2010, and with a melody composed in 1918 by Liu Tianhua, “Birds Singing in the Mountains,” inspired by nature poetry of China’s ancient Tang Dynasty (7th and 8th centuries CE).

#3 Theme from “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon–The music for this award-winning film was composed by Tan Dun. “The melody is very spiritual and romantic, with warmth and deep longing for love.”

#4 Pear Flower: Deep Night–This melody comes from the tradition of Beijing opera and became so well-known it counts as a folksong. In the original, erhus and drums are used to accompany a sword-dancing scene onstage. “The music is powerful, stately, and heavy.”

#5 The Spirit of My Erhu–Ma Xiaohui’s own composition, this piece will be played on the zhonghu, a slightly larger relative of the erhu that was developed in the 20th century. It’s related to the erhu as the viola is related to the violin: larger, a little lower in pitch, but constructed and played the same way. Written in 1991 and honored at the “Spring of Shanghai” international music festival, it honors the soloist’s teacher, Wang Yi, and “embodies her gratitude for her teacher and deep thoughts on erhu as a symbol of Chinese civilization. The sentimental and moving melody has the dance rhythm that typifies Chinese folk music.”

#6 Humoresque/Horse Racing–Antonin Dvorak composed his “Humoresque” originally for piano, but it’s become one of his most popular tunes and has been arranged for lots of other instruments – perhaps this is the first time for erhu. “The erhu, with its lyrical yet flexible expressivity, is particularly suited to this dainty and charming work.” It’s combined with Huang Haihuai’s composition “Horse Racing,” about which Ma Ziaohui says: “Horse races are amonst the most important and popular events in Inner Mongolia. This termpermental piece reflects the character of Mongolian music and the stylistic peculiarities of the Ma Tou Gin, or horse-head fiddle.”

program notes by Andrea Lamoreaux