Welcome to Emilia's 2008

Intro
The erhu (Chinese: 二胡; pinyin: èrhú), sometimes known in the West as the 'Chinese violin' or Chinese two string fiddle, is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras. It belongs to the huqin family of bowed string Chinese instruments, together with the zhonghu (中胡), gaohu (高胡), banhu (板胡), jinghu (京胡), sihu (四胡), and numerous others. It is said that there are over 40 different variations of the generic huqin instrument.



History

The erhu can be traced back to instruments introduced into China more than a thousand years ago. It is believed to have evolved from the xiqin (奚琴), which was described as a foreign, two-stringed lute in an encyclopedic work on music by music theorist Chen Yang called Yue Shu (book of music), written during the Northern Song Dynasty. The xiqin is believed to have originated from the Xi people of Central Asia, and have come to China in the 10th century.
The first character of the name of the instrument, "二" (èr, meaning "two"), is said to come from the fact that it has two strings; however, it is also said to have come from the fact that it is the second highest "huqin" in pitch to the gaohu "高胡" in a traditional chinese orchestra. The second character, "胡" (hú), indicates that it is part of the huqin family. The name huqin literally means "barbarian instrument," showing that the instrument may have originated from regions to the north or west of China.©www.wikipedia.org

One of the unique features of the Erhu is its lack of a fingerboard. Without a fingerboard, the player has great freedom when executing vibrato. The snakeskin belly gives it a unique timbre that allows the erhu, in its low and mid registers, to cut through a western symphony orchestra. Unlike the violin, the tone is soft and thin at its highest register.

Click here for String Demo

Points of Demo:
Moon's Reflection on Er Stream Composed by HUA Yan-jun(A-Bin)
The intense music depicts a scene of the Er Stream near the Hui Hill of Wuxi.In the past,the water of the stream was honored as "The Second Best Water in the world". There is a pavillion at the south of the stream in which tourists can take tea with the spring water.In front of the pool there is a square pool with some stone around it and golden fishes in the water. At the side of pool there is a stone dragon head,its mouth continuously spurting spring water. Here is the place the composer often came before he loses his eyesight. Since losing his eyesight,he performs this solo piece to depict the scent in his heart.The music flows in a graceful and sorrowful will.