A Collection of Music Played on the Erhu

Cover of volume 1.


This is a 10-CD set of erhu music published by China Record in 1992. It seems the recordings have all been previously released on various albums.

All ten volumes can be found at: http://huqinblog.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20Collection%20of%20Music%20Played%20on%20the%20Erhu



Details of the whole 10-CD set:

Chinese title: zhōngguó yīnyuè dà quán èrhú 中国音乐全二胡

An Anthology of Chinese Traditional and Folk Music
A Collection of Music Played on the Erhu
Volumes 1 -10
1992, China Record Co, 10 CDs
CCD 92/166 (vol 1) to CCD 92/175 (vol 10)


Vol 1, CCD 92/166 (An Album of Liú Tiānhuá's Works)
01. bìng zhōng yín 病中吟 Reciting on the Sickbed - Min Huifen 闵惠芬
02. yuè yè 月夜 In the Moon Night - Zhāng Ruì 张锐
03. kǔ mèn zhī ōu 苦闷之讴 Chant of Depression - Zhāng Ruì 张锐
04. bēi gē 悲歌 Lament - Wáng Guótóng 王国潼
05. liáng xiāo 良宵 A Fine Night (chú yè xiǎo chàng 除夜小唱 Song of New Year's Eve) - Wáng Yíqín 王宜勤 et al
06. xián jū yín 闲居吟 Reciting in Leisurely Living - Jiāng Jiànhuá 姜建华
07. kōng shān niǎo yǔ 空山鸟语 Birds Are Singing in the Tranquil Valley - Zhāng Sháo 张韶
08. guāng míng xíng 光明行 Marching on a Bright Road - Zēng Xún 曾寻
09. dú xián cāo 独弦操 Air on One String - Zhāng Ruì 张锐
10. zhú yǐng yáo hóng 烛影摇红 Candle Light's Shadow Swings in Red Colour - Zhāng Ruì 张锐


Vol 2, CCD 92/167 (Huà Yànjūn, Liú Tiānhuá, Jiǎng Fēngzhī pieces)
01. èr quán yìng yuè 二泉映月 A Moon is Mirrored in the Second Fountain - Jiāng Jiànhuá 姜建华
02. tīng sōng 听松 Hearing the Soughing of Wind in the Pine Forest - Chén Jiébīng 陈洁冰
03. hán chūn fēng qǔ 寒春风曲 Cold-Spring Wind Song - Chén Yàoxīng 陈耀星
04. èr quán yìng yuè 二泉映月 A Moon is Mirrored in the Second Fountain - Wáng Guótóng 王国潼
05. sān bǎo fó 三宝佛 Triratna Buddha - Xǔ Jiǎngdé 许讲德
06. yángguān sān dié 阳关三叠 (w. piano) Singing a Send-off Song with Three Refrains - Shěn Zhènglù 沈正陆
07. hàn gōng qiū yuè 汉宫秋月 Autumn Moon Light is Shedding Over the Palace of Han Dynasty - Jiǎng Fēngzhī 蔣风之
08. guān shān yuè 关山月 Moon Light is Shedding on the Road of Journey - Jiǎng Fēngzhī 蔣风之
09. zhāo jūn yuàn 昭君怨 The Grievance of Zhaojun - Wáng Shòutíng 王寿庭


Vol 3, CCD 92/168 (Min Huifen 闵惠芬 recital)
01. chángchéng suíxiǎngqǔ 长城随想曲 Great Wall Capriccio - Min Huifen 闵惠芬, shànghǎi mínzú yuètuán
02. jiāng hé shuǐ 江河水 The River Water - Min Huifen 闵惠芬
03. xǐ sòng gōng liáng 喜送公粮 Delivering the Public Grain Happily - Min Huifen 闵惠芬, shànghǎi mínzú yuètuán
04. xīn hūn bié 新婚别 Leaving One's Newly Married Bride for Being Conscribed - Min Huifen 闵惠芬, shànghǎi mínzú yuètuán


Vol 4, CCD 92/169 (Wáng Guótóng 王国潼 recital)
01. yùběi xùshìqǔ 豫北叙事曲 Northern Henan Ballad - Wáng Guótóng 王国潼
02. sānménxiá chàngxiǎngqǔ 三门峡畅想曲 Sanmen Gorge Rhapsody - Wáng Guótóng 王国潼, piano: Zhōu Guǎngrén 周广仁
03. bēn chí zài qiān lǐ cǎo yuán 奔驰在千里草原 Galloping in the Boundless Grassland - Wáng Guótóng 王国潼
04. bù qū de sū wǔ 不屈苏武 Unyielded Su Wu - Wáng Guótóng 王国潼 & zhōngguó guǎngbō mínzú yuètuán 中国广播民族乐团


Vol 5, CCD 92/170 (Jiāng Jiànhuá 姜建华 album, 1982)
01. fān shēn gē 翻身歌 Song of Emancipation - Jiāng Jiànhuá 姜建华 (& Red Scarf Orch of Central Conservatory Mid School)
02. qínqiāng zhǔtí suíxiǎngqǔ 秦腔主题随想曲 Variations From a Theme of Qinqiang Opera - Jiāng Jiànhuá 姜建华 (yángqín 揚琴: Huáng Hé 黄河)
03. hóng hú rénmín de xīnyuàn 洪湖人民的心愿 The Hopes of the Honghu Lake People - Jiāng Jiànhuá 姜建华 (yángqín 揚琴: Huáng Hé 黄河)
04. chūn shī 春诗 Spring Poem - Jiāng Jiànhuá 姜建华 (yángqín 揚琴: Huáng Hé 黄河)
05. hóng méi suíxiǎngqǔ 红梅随想曲 Red Plum Capriccio - Jiāng Jiànhuá 姜建华 (& Red Scarf Orch of Central Conservatory Mid School)
06. sài mǎ 赛马 Horse Race - Jiāng Jiànhuá 姜建华 (yángqín 揚琴: Huáng Hé 黄河)
07. shílǐdūn shān gē 十里墩山歌 A Folk Song of Shilidun Mould - Jiāng Jiànhuá 姜建华 (yángqín 揚琴: Huáng Hé 黄河)


Vol 6, CCD 92/171 (Chén Yàoxīng 陈耀星, Xǔ Jiǎngdé 许讲德, erhu solos)
01. zhàn mǎ bēn téng 战马奔腾 Battle Steeds Galloping Ahead - Chén Yàoxīng 陈耀星
02. shǎnběi shū huái 陕北抒怀 Expressing One's Aspiration in Nothern Shaanxi - Chén Yàoxīng 陈耀星
03. shuǐ xiāng huān gē 水乡欢歌 A Happy Song in the Country of Rivers and Lakes - Chén Yàoxīng 陈耀星
04. yǐng 影 A Shadow - Chén Yàoxīng 陈耀星
05. jīn zhū mǎ mǐ zàn 金珠玛米赞 Ode to Jinzhumami - Xǔ Jiǎngdé 许讲德
06. xǐ chàng fēng shōu 喜唱丰收 Singing a Joyful Song for Bumper Harvest - Xǔ Jiǎngdé 许讲德
07. yú shuǐ qíng 鱼水情 Connected Closely as Fish and Water - Xǔ Jiǎngdé 许讲德
08. bái huā yín 白花吟 Lamenting With White Flowers - Xǔ Jiǎngdé 许讲德
09. huā kāi mǎn yuán 花开满园 The Gardens Are All in Bloom - Xǔ Jiǎngdé 许讲德
10. yú zhōu huān gē 鱼舟欢歌 Fishman's Happy Song - Xǔ Jiǎngdé 许讲德


Vol 7, CCD 92/172 (Jiǎng Cáirú 蔣才如, Zhū Chāngyào 朱昌耀, erhu solos)
01. chūn jiāng huā yuè yè 春江花月夜 Flowers Banked River Under the Moon of Spring River - Jiǎng Cáirú 蔣才如
02. chuān jiāng chuán gē 川江船歌 Boatman's Song on the Chuanjiang River - Jiǎng Cáirú 蔣才如
03. huān lè de yí zhài 欢乐的彝寨 Joyful Village of the Yi - Jiǎng Cáirú 蔣才如
04. běijīng yǒu gè jīn tàiyáng 北京有个金太阳 There is a Golden Sun in Beijing - Jiǎng Cáirú 蔣才如
05. sūnán xiǎoqǔ 苏南小曲 Sunan Ditty - Zhū Chāngyào 朱昌耀
06. jiāngnán chūn sè 江南春色 Scenery of Spring in Jiangnan - Zhū Chāngyào 朱昌耀
07. mù yáng nǚ 牧羊女 The Shepherdess - Zhū Chāngyào 朱昌耀
08. fēng qiáo yè bó 枫桥夜泊 Anchoring Near the Maple Bridge at Night - Zhū Chāngyào 朱昌耀


Vol 8, CCD 92/173 (various erhu players and pieces)
01. liú bō qǔ 流波曲 Song of Wandering - Sūn Fèngzhōng 孙奉中
02. shāndōng xiǎoqǔ 山东小曲 Shandong Ditty - Zhōu Yàokūn 周耀锟
03. cǎo yuán shàng 草原上 On the Grasslands - Tāng Liángdé 汤良德 (zhōnghú 中胡)
04. huái xiāng xíng 怀乡行 Song of Nostalgia - Lù Xiūtáng 陆修堂
05. xūn fēng qǔ 薰风曲 South Wind Song - Ní Zhìpéi 倪志培
06. xiǎo huā gǔ 小花鼓 Little Flower-Drum - Zhāng Sháo 张韶
07. méi hù diào 眉户调 Mihu Tune [sic] - Lǔ Rìróng 鲁日融
08. làng huā cháo yǔ 浪花潮语 Murmuring the Surging Sprays - Zhōu Yàokūn 周耀锟
09. mù mǎ shào nián 牧马少年 A Horses Boy-Herder - Sòng Fēi 宋飞 (double qianjin erhu)
10. pútáo shú le 葡萄熟了 The Grapes are Ripe - Chén Jiébīng 陈洁冰
11. xiāng yīn 乡音 The Accent of One's Native Place - Zhào Hányáng 赵寒阳


Vol 9, CCD 92/174 (various erhu players and pieces)
01. shān cūn biànle yàng 山村变了样 The Vicissitude of the Mountain Village - Xiàng Zǔyīng 项祖英
02. gǎn jí 赶集 Going to a Fair - Jiǎng Xùnfēng 将巽风
03. chūn gēng máng 春耕忙 Busy Spring Ploughing - Táng Yùbīn 唐毓斌
04. shān cūn lè 山村乐 Joyful Mountain Village - Wáng Yíqín 王宜勤
05. fēng shōu 丰收 Bumper Harvest - Zhāng Sháo 张韶
06. chuāng yíng 窗蝇 Fly Rests on a Window - Chén Zhāorú 陈朝儒
07. shān gē 山歌 Folk Song - Zhāng Sháo 张韶
08. bāngzi fēng 梆子风 In Style of Bangzi - Huáng Hǎihuái 黄海怀
09. mù rén lè 牧人乐 Happy Herdsman - Chén Màojiān 陈茂监
10. hénán xiǎoqǔ 河南小曲 Henan Ditty - Sòng Guǒshēng 宋果生
11. chūn fēng yáng liǔ 春风杨柳 Willows Swing in Spring Wind - Xǔ Jiǎngdé 许讲德
12. cǎo yuán xīn mùmín 草原新牧民 New Herdsman on the Grasslands - Liú Chángfú 刘长福
13. xǐ kàn mài tián qiān céng làng 喜看麦田千层浪 Happily See Billowing Wheat Fields - Wáng Guótóng 王国潼 et al (erhu unison)


Vol 10, CCD 92/175 (various erhu players and pieces)
01. yī zhī huā 一枝花 A Spray of Flower - Sòng Fēi 宋飞
02. tán yuè 弹乐 A Tune of Pingtan - Sūn Wénmíng 孙文明
03. màn sān liù 慢三六 (2 erhu solo) Slow Three Six - Shěn Fèngquán 沈凤泉 & Shěn Duōmǐ 沈多米
04. hàn jiāng cháo 汉江潮 Waves of Hanjiang River - Mǐn Huìfēn 闵惠芬
05. hóngjūn gēgē huí lái le 红军哥哥回来了 Red Army Man Returns Home - Xiāo Báiyōng 萧白镛
06. huā huān lè 花欢乐 Melismatic Joyful Song - Sūn Fèngzhōng 孙奉中
07. lā luòtuó 拉骆驼 Camel Driving - Zhāng Sháo 张韶
08. biān zhài zhī yè 边寨之夜 A Night of Frontier Fortress - Zhāng Huìbīn 张会斌
09. lánhuāhuā xùshìqǔ 蓝花花叙事曲 Lanhuahua Ballade - Wú Tóng 吴彤



PREFACE
by Liu Senmin

The music of erhu has a lot of enthusiasts in China.
The timbre of erhu is graceful, near to the human
voice, and the instrument is very powerful to express,
to voice the temperaments and feelings of the
humanity. In the garden of Chinese instrumental
music, we can say, it occupiesa special position
and sends forth a characteristic fragrance.

The erhu became a solo instrument
relatively late. Compared with the ancient qin
whose history has several thousand years, and
the pipa whose history approaches a thousand
years, the history of erhu as a solo instrument
has only 70 years. In the 1920s, for the first
time, Liu Tianhua played erhu as a solo instrument,
[it was unregarded in that era], in concerts.
Then he composed some famous pieces for it,
such as "Reciting on a Sickbed", "Marching on
the Bright Road" and "Birds are Singing in
Tranquil Valley", etc. By his efforts, the erhu
showed its life and its importance as soon as it
entered the musical temple, and then became an
outstanding member in the family of Chinese
instruments. Liu's contribution has epoch-making
significance, it demonstrates the courage and
resourcefulness of this great master of the national
music.

In recent 40 years, along with the wide-ranging
development of Chinese traditional orchestras in
the continent, the art of erhu, both technique and
repertoire, has advanced by leaps and bounds.
Today, there are many excellent players and so
many compositions, it appears a gratifying prospect.

Since 1987, according as the demand of audiences,
China Record Corporation had edited
An Anthology of Chinese Traditional and Folk
Music. Two sorts of them, "A Collection of Music
Played on the Pipa" and "A Collection of Music
Played on the Guzheng", have been published.
"A Collection of Music Played on the Erhu" has
been begun to edit in 1989. It takes 3 years to
gather material, to organise recording, to write the
introduction to the music and its performers, and
to modify elaborately. This giant project is achieved
at last, our audiences will obtain them on October
this year.

"A Collection of Music played on the Erhu"
of "An Anthology of Chinese Traditional
and Folk Music" is separated into 10 volumes. It
basically embrace the pith and marrow of the
art of erhu. You can find 38 performers playing
the pieces by Liu Tianhua, Hua Yanjun, Liu
Beimao, Peng Xiuwen, Huang Haihuai, Wu
Houyuan, Liu Wenjin, Wang Zhulin, etc,
amount to 86 pieces of 59 composers who
create or arrange them. The contents and subjects
of these pieces are very varicolored, also are
their styles and genres. There are arrangements
of ancient music "Moon Light is Shedding on
the Road of Journey", of local opera "Qinqiang
Qupai", of folk music "The River Water", and
"A Shandong Ditty"; there are also compositions
on the modern life, for instance, ,"Horse Race",
"Going to a Fair", "Happy Herdsmen",
"Sanmen Gorge Rhapsody" and concertos, "The
Great Wall", "Unyielded Su Wu".

For the sake of the readers' convenience, we
classify the 10 volumes as follows: Volume 1 is a
collection of compositions by Liu Tianhua.
"A Moon is Mirrored in the Second Fountain" and
4 other pieces by Hua Yanjun, who goes by the
name of A Bing, are included in Volume 2, but it
is a thousand pities that we haven't succeeded in
affording the orginal record performed by
composer, because of the unsatisfactory tone quality
recorded at that time. Volume 3 to Volume 7 are
individual collections of erhuist Min Huifen,
Wang Guotong, Jiang Jianhua, Chen Yaoxing,
Jiang Cairu, Xu Jiangde and Zhu Changyao
many pieces in these volumes are composed or
arranged (by the performers) themselves. The other
famous erhuists Jiang Fengzhi, Zhang Rui,
Zhang Shao, Liu Mingyuan, Chen Jiebing, Xu
Jiangde appear in Volume 1, 2, 8, 9 and 10.
"A Collection of Music Played on the Erhu" is
indeed a monumental work embracing all the
virtuosos and famous pieces of the erhu.
We believe that "An Anthology of Chinese
Traditional and Folk Music" will be greeted by
vast numbers of music lovers and personages
throughout the world.

August 20, 1992


A SYNOPSIS OF ERHU

Erhu (two-string bowed fiddle) is a member
of 'huqin' family. According to the historical
documents, huqin had been emerged as a Chinese
music instrument early in the Tang Dynasty
(618-907). Later in the Qing Dynasty (1636-1911),
the huqin family was increased in members
of new type, besides the erhu, there are four
stringed 'sihu', and a accompanying instrument
used in Beijing Opera is called 'jinghu', in
the Bangzi Operas the 'banhu', in the Henan
Zhuizi is the 'zhuiqin', and the 'datong' (big
body) from Hunan, 'yuehu' from Guangdong,
horse-bone hu from Zhuang Nationality. Due
to the fact that the erhu is evolved from xiqin, it
is the instrument of Xi Nationality who lived in
the north of China, at ancient China, people
resided in the central part of China usually called
the various minorities of northern and western
region as 'Hu', thus borne the name 'huqin' (Hu's
fiddle). Formerly, the erhu was mostly used in
the south area of the middle and lower reaches
of Changjiang River, therefore it is also called
'nanhu' (south fiddle), it is mainly played in the
'Jiangnan Sizhu' (traditional wind and string
instrument orchestra in the south of Jiangsu) and
as an accompanying instrument of the folk songs
and local operas. Erhu as a instrument appeared
in the concert hall began in the twenties of 20th
century. After the establishment of the New
China, in the sphere of erhu making and improving,
and in the composition, education, academic
research of erhu music, all attained a splendid
achievement. The technique of erhu Playing is
complex and skilful, its tone colour is delicate, rich,
and owns varied expressions. The basic fingering
are: stopping, vibrato, glissando, trill, harmonic,
pizzicato and fingers rotating; its basic bowing
are: legato, tremolo, staccato and the 'changing
bow in same direction'.

Now, in our country, the traditional instrument
ensembles have been developed into the form of
large orchestra, erhu, as a principal instrument,
occupied an important place in these orchestras,
particularly prominent in large type works written for
erhu. These works brought the latent potentialities
and expressive capacity of erhu into full play, and
founded a new landmark of erhu music.

Wang Dan