Moon Night

For prolific Chinese erhu virtuoso Guo Gan, the last few years have seen a number of new explorations, including collaborations with musicians from France and West Africa, as well as his own silk string trio. However, on this latest release, his sixth for Felmay, he returns to solo erhu performance, dedicating the album to compositions by renowned Chinese music reformer Liu Tianhua (1895-1932). Living through a period of intense decline in traditional Chinese music, Liu Tianhua used his training in Western classical music to revitalise interest in what had by then become the music of street artists and occasional religious rituals. As a result of his efforts in composition and education, the erhu was elevated to the concert hall, with a new solo repertoire that echoed the programmatic nature of its Western counterpart.

As evidenced by the pieces included on this recording, Liu Tianhua's writing utilises all the expressive capabilities of the relatively limited two-stringed erhu, including weeping vibrato and vocal-like trills, giving in some cases a sense of profound melancholia (‘Song of Melancholy’) or playful joy. A particular highlight is the concert favourite ‘Bird Song in a Desolate Mountain’, in which the swooping glissandi of the erhu conjures the sound of various birdcalls. Guo Gan's playing is characteristically excellent, full of expression and dynamism. However, given the starkness of a solo recording, contrast between some of the pieces can be somewhat hard to identify.