Chapter 63 Liu Tianhua/Founder of modern folk music

When it comes to modern Chinese folk music, especially Erhu, there are two people who cannot be avoided, one is Liu Tianhua and the other is Hua Yanjun (A Bing).The erhu became independent (becoming a solo instrument) because of Liu Tianhua, and became famous because of Hua Yanjun. Except for a few pieces such as guqin, pipa, flute, and sheng, most of China's national musical instruments are generally only used for ensemble performances, and there are very few solo pieces specially composed for a certain instrument.This phenomenon began to gradually change in the early 20th century. Liu Tianhua (1895-1932).A native of Jiangyin, Jiangsu.A great master of Chinese music, an excellent composer, performer and music educator of Chinese national instrumental music.

Liu Tianhua taught music in Jiangyin, Changzhou Middle School, and Jiangsu Provincial Fifth Middle School in his early years. Later, he came to Beijing to serve as an instructor of Chinese music at the Music Institute of Peking University, a professor of erhu, pipa, and violin at the Beijing Women's High Normal School and the Music Department of the National Art Academy.During this time, he devoted himself to learning erhu from Jiangnan folk musician Zhou Shaomei, learning Chongming pipa from Shen Zhaozhou, and even went to Henan to learn Guqin from an expert during the summer vacation. Along the way, he also visited folk artists and collected folk music from all over the world.

In 1921, Liu Tianhua went to Shanghai to join the band of the "Enlightened Drama Club" and organized the "National Music Research Association" in Jiangyin.During his teaching period, he also studied violin with Russian professor Tonov, and at the same time studied Western music theory carefully. At the end of May 1932, he unfortunately contracted scarlet fever while collecting gong and drum scores in Tianqiao, Beijing, and died on June 8. Liu Tianhua composed a total of ten erhu pieces: "Singing in Sickness", "Moon Night", "Ode to Depression", "Elegy", "Birds Singing in the Empty Mountains", "Singing Homely", "Good Night", "Lightning Walk", "Solo Exercise", "Shake of Candles" "Red", three pipa pieces: "Singing and Dance Yin", "Improving Exercises", "Xu Lai", a silk and bamboo ensemble "Variant New Water Order", composed of forty-seven erhu etudes and fifteen pipa etudes , and also sorted out twelve traditional pipa songs of the Chongming School, among which "Flying Flowers and Diancui" which he adapted has now become a classic pipa piece.