Concert marks life and work of pioneering music educator Liu Tianhua

A concert titled “A Century of Heritage” was held in Beijing over the weekend. It was largely dedicated to well-known Chinese music educator Liu Tianhua.

As former professor of music at Peking University, Liu Tianhua was among a group of pioneers who worked hard for the inclusion of the erhu, a traditional Chinese two-string bowed instrument, and the pipa, a four-string plucked instrument, as major subjects at the Peking University Music Training Institute around a century ago.

Conducted by Yang Yang, the China Philharmonic Orchestra and the Beijing Chinese Orchestra gave a joint symphony performance composed by Zou Ye at the concert, which also marked the opening of this year’s Beijing Music Festival.

“This work serves as a tribute to Mr. Liu Tianhua, in the form of a concerto for double orchestras, consisting of both a Chinese folk orchestra and a Western symphony orchestra,” explained Zou Ye.

The composition covers almost every theme from Liu Tianhua’s solo works for the erhu and pipa.

“It merges the structural principles of Western symphonic music with the compositional elements of Chinese folk music, resulting in a groundbreaking fusion of Eastern and Western music. This may be seen as the vision of Mr. Liu Tianhua and the lifelong goal he tirelessly pursued,” added Zou.

Born into a cultured family in 1895, Liu was one of China’s greatest erhu composers and performers. Liu died at the young age of 37. Throughout his life, he passionately advocated the popularization of traditional Chinese music, along with imparting Western music, to hold firm the founding principles of the Peking University Music Training Institute he worked with.