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Post by jetz320 on Nov 18, 2007 21:24:47 GMT
Just curious to know, and I'd like to learn a couple more solos right now. I have a whole erhu scores book and only play a couple of them. So please post your favorite song up.
I think mine would have to be Running River (Jiang He Shui) since it's telling a beautiful story and I think it truly shows the beauty of the erhu tone. ;D
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Post by calden on Nov 18, 2007 22:39:58 GMT
Liang Xiao. I just love the way it moves and implies other musical ideas as I play it.
This brings to mind something else, talking about solos: In trad Irish music there is a body of players who only do instrumental melodies with no harmonic accompaniment. There might be some chords that pop out if a fiddle plays a quick harmony line for one measure against the flute melody, for example, or a 5th drone on a bagpipe implies a chord when melody notes move against it, but a lot of the music is harmony-independent, and to follow a slow aire through to the end is to go on a journey. I find MUCH of the erhu stuff to be very similar, and Liang Xiao exemplifies this. I have several versions of Er Quan Ying Yue, and one of them is a very Westernized piece with piano and violins. I can't say it hurts my ears, but those chords just take all the subtlety out of the melody.
carlos
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Post by jetz320 on Nov 19, 2007 1:17:10 GMT
Yes i agree with you. Liang xiao was my favorite piece for about a year.
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Post by song on Nov 19, 2007 2:43:57 GMT
Liang Xiao must be the most widely played Erhu piece in the world.
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Post by tj on Nov 28, 2007 2:04:50 GMT
My favorite Erhu pieces are those that I can play, or sort of play:-) I have to admit that I tend to shy away from the highly technical "modern" pieces such as "Zhan Ma Ben Teng" since I am not very technical at all, or the extremely lengthy ones (>5min) which tend to be boring to me.
"Liang Xiao" is a classic, but I still can't quite master it. Another relatively unknown short solo piece I like is "Hua Huan Le".
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Post by jetz320 on Jun 30, 2008 16:58:02 GMT
i think my new favorite is birds in the forest. its quite interesting, and it doesn't bore people unlike jiang he shui. birds in the forest has a really good upbeat tempo to it, and really entertaining. the best thing is that it isnt as hard as it looks. haha
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Post by davidmdahl on Jul 1, 2008 8:37:55 GMT
My teacher has been playing Birds in the Forest a lot on gaohu lately. It is a fun tune, and audiences seem to like the bird calls.
Best wishes,
David
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Post by jetz320 on Jul 2, 2008 5:17:42 GMT
gaohu. that must sound really high pitched then. haha. ive tried it on zhonghu, it works for me since i like playing solos in a deeper tone quality. but gaohu must really make it sound like birds.
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Post by sanmenxia on Jul 13, 2008 16:37:41 GMT
Birds in the Forest (Niao Tou Lin) is a piece of Guangdong Music so it's usually played on the gaohu.
There's also "Kong Shan Niao Yu" (birds sing in the empty hills) by Liu Tianhua which is actually for the erhu. Oddly enough, I do have one recording of it played on the gaohu.
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Post by sanmenxia on Jul 13, 2008 18:45:20 GMT
There's a piece called Jin Zhu Ma Mi Zan 金珠玛米赞 (not sure how to translate it) which I really like, but doesn't seem to get played all that often.
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Post by jetz320 on Jul 13, 2008 20:28:28 GMT
the liu tian hua piece is called birds in the forest. others try to say birds singing in the isolated mountains. but simply many simply call it birds in the forest
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Post by sanmenxia on Jul 13, 2008 21:10:33 GMT
So your "birds in the forest" is actually "Kong Shan Niao Yu" 空山鸟语?
I've never seen that translation of it. "Kong Shan" is empty/isolated/deserted hills/mountains, to translate it as "forest" is simply wrong, despite the fact that most Chinese music titles don't have standard names in English.
Niao Tou Lin is 鸟投林, meaning birds moving/flying towards the woods/forest.
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Post by jetz320 on Jul 13, 2008 21:20:43 GMT
go on youtube and type in birds and erhu. most of them are birds in the mountains and such. they say forest because the song was based off a tang dynasty poem in which they described the beautiful scenery upon entering the forest. the song has such things that seem like echos and bird calls. its based off a forest. not just any mountain.
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Post by sanmenxia on Jul 13, 2008 21:30:42 GMT
I'm not sure Youtube should really be used as a source for what Chinese titles are in English.
Anyway, I just prefer more literal translations.
Eg, I prefer River Waters, rather than Running River for Jiang He Shui.
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Post by sanmenxia on Jul 14, 2008 16:51:57 GMT
Another example of variation of titles in English, from a CD by Yu Hongmei:
1. Idyllic Tune (with Harp)
2. Weeping River of Sorrow (with Cymbalo)
3. Celebrating the Harvest of Grapes (with Piano)
4. Ode to Shanmenxia Gorge (with Piano)
5. Birdsong echoing in a quiet valley (Erhu solo)
6. A Bunch of Flowers (with Cymbalo)
7. Moon reflected in the Twin-spring Lake (Erhu solo)
8. Ballad of North Henan Province (with Piano)
That's why I think it's always helpful to give the title in Chinese in addition to a translation.
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