Erhu ( Chinese 二胡 ) - an ancient Chinese stringed string instrument , an original two-stringed violin with metal strings . During the game, the musician pulls the bow string of the bow with the fingers of his right hand, and the bow itself is fixed between the two strings, forming a single unit with the erhu. When playing with the fingers of the left hand, transverse vibrato is used , when the string is as if pressed down, which is facilitated by the very design of the round neck, over which the strings are fixed. The bow associated with the strings is rather difficult to “rosin”, but Chinese musicians drip molten rosin onto the top of a wooden cylindrical resonator . When the rosin hardens, a bow is "rosinized" about it. The cylindrical resonator is equipped with a python skin membrane .
| Erhu | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Classification | String instrument , Chordophone |
| Related tools | huqin , jinerhu |
Despite the ubiquity in modern China, the erhu is not a traditionally Han instrument.
Content
History and Etymology
Erhu is one of the adapted Central Asian instruments. In China, erhu first appears during the Tang Dynasty .
It is believed that the erhu came from the instrument ( Chinese. 奚 琴 ). The word si ( Chinese 奚 ) was used in Chinese to refer to the ancient Mongolian people of the Tataba , who lived in the northeast of present-day China, and qin - zither , a seven-stringed plucked musical instrument such as desktop gusli.
The first character of the name erhu - er ( Chinese 二 , pinyin : èr ) - indicates that the instrument has only two strings. Another interpretation indicates that erhu is the second highest pitch after in a modern Chinese orchestra .
The second character - hu ( Chinese 胡 , pinyin : hú ) indicates one of the five barbarian principalities or, in general, the "wild" peoples.
Erhu Music
A famous composer who wrote for erhu is Liu Tianhua , a Chinese musician who also studied Western music. He wrote 47 exercises and 10 solo pieces for erhu, which made it possible to use the instrument as a solo. His popular works for erhu: Yuee ( Chinese 月夜 , pinyin : Yuè yè , literally: “Moonlit Night”) and Zhuinyaohong ( Chinese ex. 烛影摇红 , pinyin : Zhú yǐng yáo hóng , literally: “Flickering red shadow of candles ").
Since the 1920s, the instrument began to be used in music, which is more or less oriented towards the Western academic tradition.
Today, erhu is used mainly in the performance of folk and traditional Chinese music, both as a solo instrument and in the ensemble. It is also used in the orchestra, including the musical accompaniment of the Chinese opera .
Erhu is used in the music of the Canadian entertainment company Cirque du Soleil (Cirque du Soleil [1] - The Solar Circus, the Canadian (Quebec) entertainment company and the largest theater producer in the world) and in solo performances by the popular Shen Yun Performing Arts troupe [2] ( creative team of classical Chinese dance and music, founded by followers of the spiritual movement Falun Gong in 2006 in New York).
Some rock musicians also turned to the erhu. In particular, the founder and frontman of the American group Hsu-nami Jack Sue plays erhu. Also, the tool is used by the Ukrainian team Flöur .
Notes
- ↑ Circus arts in America and in Canada // Regroupement national - des arts du cirque. - October 11, 2013. - ISSN arts in America and in Canada (PDF), Regroupement national - des arts du cirque. Accessed on October 11, 2013. Circus arts in America and in Canada (PDF), Regroupement national - des arts du cirque. Accessed on October 11, 2013 .
- ↑ Shen Yun .
Literature
- Erhu (hutsin) // Elokventsiya - Yaya. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1957. - P. 393. - ( Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 51 vols.] / Ch. Ed. B. A. Vvedensky ; 1949-1958, vol. 49).
Famous Artists
- Lei Qiang