Exploring Chinese Orchestral Repertoire Series #21

Jianmin Wang: Second Erhu Rhapsody
Erhu: Chunyuan Chen / Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra, Tien-Ku Percussion Group / Chih-Sheng Chen / National Concert Hall, Taipei, Taiwan. 2008.2.2.

This work used various contemporary techniques to emulate the sounds of Hunan Flower Drum Opera, which is rich in the local folk style and colour. Wang’s Second Erhu Rhapsody describes the beautiful mountains and rivers of his homeland, and expresses great pride and hope for the future.

The entire work is comprised of six parts: Introduction, Adagio, Moderato, Allegro, Lyric Allegro, and Vivace. With material from Hunan folk music and opera, Wang used variations and modern composition techniques to develop the piece, along with exploring new erhu performance techniques.

This rhapsody won the Bronze Prize in the Chamber Music category of the National Cultural Creative Arts Society in 2002. Ms Minghua Wang, the concertmaster of the Experimental Chinese Orchestra, premiered this work.
(Trans: Calvin Chan / Edit: Patty Chan)