Course code: HMU111

Assignment Title: Final Essay

Instructor’s name: Prof. Peter Johnston
I, Kun Huang, affirm that this assignment represents entirely my own efforts.
I confirm that:
✓ I have acknowledged the use of another’s ideas with accurate citations.
✓ If I used the words of another (e.g., author, instructor, information source), I have
acknowledged this with quotation marks (or appropriate indentation) and proper citation.
✓ When paraphrasing the work of others, I put the idea into my own words and did not just
change a few words or rearrange the sentence structure
✓ I have checked my work against my notes to be sure I have correctly referenced all direct
quotes or borrowed ideas.
✓ My bibliography includes only the sources used to complete this assignment.
✓ This is the first time I have submitted this assignment (in whole or in part) for credit.
✓ Any proofreading by another was limited to indicating areas of concern which I then
corrected myself.
✓ This is the final version of my assignment and not a draft.
✓ I have kept my work to myself and did not share answers/content with others, unless
otherwise directed by my instructor.
✓ I understand the consequences of violating the University’s Academic Integrity policies as
outlined in the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters.
By submitting this form, I agree that the statements above are true. If I do not agree with the
statements above, I will not submit my assignment and will consult the course instructor
immediately.
Student name: Kun Huang
Signature: Kun Huang
Date: 11/27/2024
Chinese Classical Music: Fusion of Western
Classical Music and Traditional Chinese
Music

Kun Huang
HMU111H1-F Introduction to Music and Society
27 November 2024
 I come from a traditional Cantonese family in Guangdong, China, and listening to

traditional Chinese music performed by traditional Chinese instruments is in my everyday

life. I used to think traditional Chinese music was boring and outdated, and only old people

liked to listen to it. However, as I grew up, I discovered my interest in traditional Chinese

music and how it can merge with Western European art music. Traditional Chinese music is

played by Traditional Chinese instruments. We have plugged chordophone instruments like

the Guzheng and Pipa, bowed chordophone instruments like erhu and Banhu, and

membranophones like Tanggu and Bangu, aerophones like Dizi and Suona. Traditional

Chinese music is played on many occasions, mostly when there is something happy or good

things happens to the family, for example, marriage, the purchase of a new car or house,

getting into an extraordinary University, the celebration of a newborn baby or a special

Chinese holiday. They often perform in a big group, like a traditional Chinese orchestra,

which consists of many traditional Chinese instruments. They can be rhythmically

complicated in ways where they can be rhythmically strict or flexible rhythm(usually happens

with instruments like Guqin or vocal music). It could also be slow and lyrical in a way that

mimics a person talking or the sound of nature. Examples include Dizi playing high notes,

mimicking bird’ calls or the sound of the wind. Guqin uses the glissando technique to mimic

the sound of flowing water. In the modern Chinese music culture, more and more traditional

Chinese music has been involved with modern music, such as adding traditional Chinese

instruments in the background of a pop song, using rhythmic traditional Chinese music as the

main beat for rap and freestyle, adding traditional Chinese music as a solo in pop songs and
lastly using Traditional Chinese vocal music to sing a pop song. These techniques have been

a big hit for the Chinese people right now, and more and more people have started to enjoy

the culture of traditional Chinese music.

Over the years, China has been influenced by many other cultures when they

introduced many more instruments from around the world. They first introduced the piano to

China during the late Ming or early Qing dynasties; then, they later introduced the violins and

other string instruments to China during the late 19th century during the Qing dynasty. Later

on, in the early 20th century, the Qing dynasty ended because of the successful revolt in

China, and the country of republican China was born in 1912. During that time, both the

violin and piano gained much popularity as part of China’s modernization. Then, the

widespread Western art and Classical music began in China, and many musicians started to

study music abroad in Europe and Japan, learning Western composition techniques and

performance techniques. Later on, the musicians came back to China and began the fusion of

Chinese Traditional music and Western classical music, and a new genre of music was born:

Chinese Classical music. Oftentimes, they either introduce Chinese-style melodies with

Western harmony or write them in Westernized notations, or they introduce traditional

Chinese instruments into Western-style music groups such as symphony Orchestras or

chamber ensembles. As a classical musician, I like how Chinese musicians combine Classical

and traditional Chinese music. One of the main styles of Chinese traditional music is the

usage of the major pentatonic scale, giving it the unique characteristic of Chinese tonal

music. Classical Chinese music gained popularity in China very fast, some of the music was

even performed by non-Chinese musicians. They are usually performed in concert halls

alongside other classical music. Over the years, there have been some slight variations in how
Chinese classical music has changed, one of the most noticeable changes was adding new

instrumentation to change the timbre of the sounds and utilize contemporary techniques to

mimic certain sounds, for example, humming into the instruments to create a sorrow sad

sound or clicking your instrument in a certain way to create some percussive sound that

might be imitating firecracker or thunder. Since Chinese classical music is still very new, the

changes are minimal.

One of the most typical and distinctive instruments from the Chinese traditional music

family is the Erhu. It is from the Huqin(Hu is the name, qin means instrument) family, which

consists of a sound box in the bottom that can be around an octagon or a hexagon shape, then

there is a thin neck that goes upward of the sound box to hold onto the strings. The Erhu is

the most Huqin throughout history from its invention till now. The name Erhu means two

strings Hu, Er in Chinese means two and Hu is the name of the Huqin family. It made its

appearance in many different ways; it can be a solo instrument or performed in groups like an

Erhu ensemble or traditional Chinese orchestra. Moreover, modernization has given Erhu

many chances to appear in contemporary music forms such as Jazz music, Pop music, or

Rock and Roll. The playing techniques of the erhu are similar to a violin, but they bow like a

cello or double bass, and they do not touch the neck(fingerboard) with their fingers, they rest

their fingers on the string and allow the fingerings to slide up and down smoothly to change

the note. The two-string typically tunes to an interval of a fifth. Usually, the note is a D and

an A. The sound of an Erhu varies depending on the style of playing; it can sound like a

person singing a poem or crying if the melody is melancholic. It can sound like horses when

it plays at a faster tempo, “racing horse” is a classic Erhu repertoire; the brisk tempo

combined with a fast fingering technique makes it a horse-like sound when played. Erhu has
also adapted to electronics; there are electrical Erhu that artists use to perform Jazz or Pop

music. It is one of the most popular traditional Chinese instruments; a lot of Western people

call it a Chinese violin, as Erhu often plays folk melodies that are performed on the violin and

make their own, with the characteristics of the Erhu, add a unique yet beautiful colour to the

sound.

Traditional Chinese music functions like storytelling, and the function of storytelling

is also being transferred to Chinese Classical music. Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto by He

Zhanhao is the best example to illustrate and represent Chinese Classical music. The music is

based on a story called The Butterfly Lover, one of the oldest romantic ancient Chinese

stories that has been passed down for generations and generations for the past 1700 years. He

Zhanhao composed such music to tell the story of what happened to the two main characters

by using traditional Chinese music characteristics to compose a concerto for Western

instruments. Often, this piece is performed in a concert later; it was adapted to a film that

talks about the butterfly lover’s story. This composition consisted of both folk and art music,

where the main melody came from folk music by using a pentatonic scale to give it a

soothing mood in the beginning, the flute cadenza tries to mimic a traditional Dizi(Chinese

Flute) playing technique that western flute doesn’t have. The piece was composed on 1959

May 4, and it was premier in the same month on the 27 with the Shanghai Conservatory of

Music Symphony Orchestra with soloist Yulina. Furthermore, this concerto can be performed

with a Traditional Chinese Orchestra by swabbing out the violin solo with an Erhu. The

original version(Written for violin solo) used Western instruments but played with traditional

Chinese techniques, certain glissando and octave jumps are not often seen in Western music,

as they considered it not a good melody. Because the story of the Butterfly Lover is based in

Zhejiang Province, the musicians were told to play in Yue Opera style(A traditional Chinese
opera style) as the main melody was also taken from a Yue Opera melody. Because it is based

on a traditional Chinese melody, the texture of the music is heterophony, where two or more

players play a variation of the melody by adding ornaments or having a slight change in

rhythm. There are many calls and responses as it tells the story of two lovers having a

conversation with each other, and bird calls add a lot of calls and responses to the music.

Especially when it is performed on an Erhu with a Traditional Chinese orchestra, the

distinctive Chinese musical timbre comes out the texture even more because traditional

Chinese instruments are better suited to mimic the sound of nature and vocalize the voice of a

human.

Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto has been one of the most important pieces of music

in my life because I grew up listening to it, and the story behind it is beautiful. It tells the

story to me and many other Chinese people who read and heard the story from a very young

age. Every time I listen to or play the piece, I think of my culture and the wisdom of

Traditional Chinese music, how a simple melody can mimic call and respond and vocalize

like a human singing or speaking a poem. Chinese Classical music is different from Western

classical music because traditional Chinese musical elements are added, making it unique on

its own, when compared to other classical music, I think Chinese classical music is more like

telling a longer story in a human voice, it is like there is a storytelling narrating the story to

you. Not much Western classical music has this feeling, but they are very similar because it

still sounds like a symphony orchestra with a violin solo, just a different kind of feel to it. To

this point, the course has never talked about Chinese music yet, so I don’t think it has affected

me in any way yet, but my own musical culture tells me that this is a masterpiece and being

able to combine both Western and Chinese music make a new genre of music that the world

can enjoy.
 Works Cited

Bibliography:

Stock, Jonathan P.J. "He Zhanhao." Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.
https://www-oxfordmusiconline-com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/grovemusic/view/1
0.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000049746.

Thrasher, Alan R., Joseph S.C. Lam, Jonathan P.J. Stock, Colin Mackerras, Francesca
Rebollo-Sborgi, Frank Kouwenhoven, A. Schimmelpenninck, Stephen Jones, Han Mei, Wu
Ben, Helen Rees, Sabine Trebinjac, and Joanna C. Lee. "China, People’s Republic of." Grove
Music Online. 2001; Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.
https://www-oxfordmusiconline-com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/grovemusic/view/1
0.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000043141.

“Yue Opera: China & Asia Cultural Travel.” China & Cultural Travel | TanSuo Cultural
Travel Solution Ltd., January 6, 2016.
https://www.asiaculturaltravel.co,uk/yue-opera/.

Filmography:

Maxim Vengerov, 2023. “Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto”. Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_nDYdZU31c&t=243s

Yan Hui-Chang & Sun Feng, 2013. “Butterfly Lover ErHu Concerto”. Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu5XohUR3Pg