UDC: 780.614.332.082.4

COBISS.SR-ID 109598985
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Received: Sept 26, 2022
Reviewed: Oct 24, 2022
Accepted: Oct 28, 2022

#9 The Interpretation of Violin Performance Style in 'The Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto

Yuanyuan Guo​University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Musicguoy8@mail.uc.edu

Citation: Guo, Yuanyuan. 2023. "The Interpretation of Violin Performance Style in The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto." Accelerando: Belgrade Journal of Music and Dance 8:9

Abstract

The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto is composed by two Chinese composers, Zhanhao He and Gang Chen in 1959. This concerto is related to the narrative of a love tragedy: The Butterfly Lovers. The inspirations of this composition and the musical ingredients of this work came from the Yue Opera, which is a type of Chinese opera. Innovations and characteristics of synthesizing the Chinese and western musical traditions and features make this violin concerto a standard work in mid-20th century China. The tonal structure of this work applies the Chinese pentatonic scale, and the formal structure of this single-movement concerto is formed in western traditional sonata form. In addition, composers also applied several Chinese traditional instruments’ techniques (such as Erhu, Pipa, and Guzheng) to violin solo playing to express the emotion of the Chinese traditional aesthetics. In this research, the author will present the violin performance style and interpretation of this composition by analyzing the formal structure, violin performing techniques, and the musical application of Yue opera. In general, this study aims to provide analytical and practical ways to benefit violinists who perform and study this work in a comprehensive way.

Keywords:

Yue Opera, Kun Opera, pentatonic scale, sonata form, Erhu, Pipa, Guzheng, violin performing techniques

Introduction

Statement of Purpose

The creation of The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto reflects the collective production of many literary and artistic works in Chinese history, and its style uniqueness gives it an irreplaceable position among the Chinese violin repertoire. Composers not only applied musical material from diverse recourses, such as Yue opera, the phrasing of Chinese poems, and Chinese traditional instruments, but also made them assimilate into western musical structure. In this research, the author will discuss the violin techniques and the unique expression in this concerto, which have an innovative development of violin playing.

​As the most typical and renowned Chinese violin concerto, The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto has been studied and performed by numerous violinists. Most violinists can play this piece according to the score requirements, and have a basic understanding of the tragically love story behind it. The author believes this concerto still has a lot of room to explore. Hence, the issues for most performers are how to interpret this work properly and how to exhibit the Chinese musical style in the performance. In my lecture recital, I intend to analyze the unique violin performance style in The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto and provide critical performance suggestions. Primarily, I will explore the relationship between the formal structure of Chinese poems and the phrasing style of the concerto, which refers to the function of each phrase and their correlation to the main theme. The structure is also related to the musical style from the Jiangnan region in China, characterized by graceful and smooth melodies, which could be considered the performance style. Then, the author will demonstrate how three Chinese traditional instruments’ special sonorities are utilized into the concerto, which include the Erhu, Pipa, and Guzheng. The composers successfully emulated their playing technique and transformed them into the solo violin, and indicated the emotion of the character and sound more diversified through amplifying the skill of violin performance. ​ Next, I will explore the musical components of Yue opera in this concerto. For example, the melody of the solo violin in the development part comes from the singing tunes of Liang Zhu (Chinese transcription of Butterfly Lovers) in Yue opera version, incorporated with a distinct singing style to imitate crying reflected by the continuous slow downward portamento. These are designed to mimic the human voice and create a sadness tone.

​Furthermore, the author intends to analyze how the composers incorporated tunes from Kun opera, another opera style developed in Jiangsu, China, into recapitulation of the concerto accommodating the development of the story. After the dramatic section, the transformation of characters into butterflies was expressed in a delicate way in the music. ​At the end of the concerto, the violin gradually disappears along with harmonics, which could be identified as a technique from the traditional Chinese painting style: Liubai (leave blank), which refers to leaving space for people to imagine without a clear indication. This lecture seeks the distinct violin performance style in The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concert, along with the special artistic conception and aesthetics of Chinese art conveyed by the composers.

Background

The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, also called Liang Zhu, is one of the characteristic works, which applies Chinese traditional music into a western orchestral set. This work was written in 1959 by two Chinese composers: Zhanhao He and Gang Chen. The concerto is considered a successful example of nationalism in a Chinese violin concerto repertoire, which combines tunes of Yue Opera and Chinese string instrumental techniques to represent the folktale in the concerto. Yue Opera is a Chinese opera genre originally from Shengzhou, Zhejiang Province in 1906. It is the most widely spread Chinese local opera, highly popular in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian and northern regions of China. Yue opera mostly based on the theme of romance. This folktale is often compared with the famous play of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, since both of their story plots are associated with love tragedy in the context of conservative social circumstances.

One of the composers, Zhanhao He, was born in August 1933, Zhuji, in the province of Zhejiang, China. In his early teenage years, he showed talent for the performing arts (Stock 2001). His grandmother largely influenced him, from whom he learned singing, dancing, and acting in Yue opera style (Jiang 2004, 4). He was both a violin and Chinese dulcimer player in the Yue Opera Troupe of Zhejiang Province before he was accepted to the Shanghai Conservatory in 1957. He studied violin and then specialized in composition with Professor Shande Ding, a famous modern Chinese composer and pianist who composed "Long March", New China Symphonic Suite, etc.

In 1958, he started a short string quartet version of this work, which is the origin of the The Butterfly Violin Concerto. Later, he collaborated with Chen Gang, a senior conservatory student, who suggested rearranging this piece into a single sonata-form movement, and he designed the orchestration version for this concerto (He 2007, 10).

Gang Chen was born in March 1935, and came from a musical family. He was trained as a classical musician and composer at the beginning of his musical studies by his father, a famous Chinese composer Gexin Chen. After being admitted to Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 1955, he studied composition and music theory with Shande Ding (Stock op. cit.).

In 1958, Zhanhao He (whom will be further referred to as Hé due to the ambiguity with the pronoun “he” in English) formed a violin nationalization experimental group with several students, which included the soloist of the premiere of the concerto, Lina Yu. They intended to express Chinese folk music on the violin. In addition, the year was the tenth anniversary of the new China. The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto was presented as a gift for the occasion by the group. The composition process of the work can be divided into two stages. First, Hé enhanced the profoundness of the main theme by increasing musical elements of Yue opera.

​Second, he added Allegro for the secondary theme of exposition based on the string quartet version (He op. cit., 10). During February to May 1959, Chen Gang joined the group and worked together with Hé on the concerto. Based on Chen’s experience with orchestration, this combination made it possible for the concerto to gain a national and international reputation. It serves as a symphonic work instead of a limited example of local and folk music, and an extremely successful collaboration for both composers with deeper emotion and imagination (Jiang op. cit., 19-20).

The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto is programmatic music in a single movement. Its structure is a sonata form closely related to the development of the story. The work tells a story of star-crossed lovers who transform into butterflies that fly away after their tragic deaths (Maxham 2018, 478). ​ ​The exposition, development, and the recapitulation refer to three main plots, which are “Falling in Love”, “Refusing to Marry”, and “Transfiguration” (Chien 2014, 10). One of the great achievements of this work is that composers designed the solo violin to represent the character of the heroine, Zhuying Tai, and the solo cello serves as the character of her lover, Shanbo Liang. The dramatic musical characters are vividly presented by the constant interaction among solo violin, solo cello, and orchestra. With many dialogues in the concerto, the thematic phrases are continually alternating from solo to orchestra without interrupting the main ideas, and the mood is changed by motivic transformation (Jiang,op. cit., 25).

​Literature Review

The primary resource which initiated this research is an article “The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto: A Crystallization of Collective Wisdom”, written by Zhanhao He, one of the composers of The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto. He narrated the composition process and background of the work, along with the origin of some impressive melodies and tunes in the work. His statements inspired the author to analyze the concerto from a performer’s view and explore the reason for its successful reception. In addition, Yuli Jiang’s dissertation "The Chinese Violin Concerto The Butterfly Lovers by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang for violin and orchestra." introduced comprehensive information about the work, such as the musical structure and unique treatment of violin technique.

The musical ingredients of this concerto are mainly based on Yue opera, integrated with Chinese traditional instruments technique. Jonathan Stock’s article He Zhanhao presents the biographic information of the composer and the great influence of Yue opera on him in his teenage. His article “Chen Gang'' briefly describes the composer’s exploration of the western musical structure integrated with pentatonic scale. Furthermore, the dissertation written by Shan- Ken Chien, “The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto by Zhanhao He and Gang Chen” illustrates distinct perspectives of the concerto, and it also refers to the piece related to the number “three” in many different ways. For instance, three Chinese musical elements in the orchestration and the sonata form structure fit perfectly with three stages of the story. Their arguments and opinions help enrich the background content and formulate the author’s thesis statement.

The first argument of the paper’s methodology is the relationship between the phrasing of the exposition; the main theme is the exposition and formal structure of Chinese poems. In the article “Restore Real History of the Birth of Liang Zhu'' written by Xinfang Ma, Stephen Jones’s article “Mode”, and Guangjun Dong’s article “The Transformation and Structure in Music”, their statements inspired and influenced the author to explore the special treatment of violin performance in the concerto. Another salient idea for the work is the application of three Chinese traditional instruments. Several documents focus on their technique, method and approach, such as the dissertation “The Art of Erhu and the Culture of Jiangnan” by Zusheng. Li’s article “A Classic Work that Highlights the Characteristics of Nationalism-Analysis the Unique Violin Technique of The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto” by Daen Yang, and Xiongda Jiang’s article “The Performance Technique in National Way of The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto”. The final demonstration will focus on the appearance of the musical elements from Yue opera. Jing Ning’s article “The Utilization of Yue Opera Elements in The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto”, and the dissertation “Perspective of Kun Opera’s Aesthetic Culture” written by Jing Chen, are both good resources that helped the author to illustrate her statement in this movement.

The score published by Shanghai Music Publication served as an essential resource for the author’s analysis. In addition, recordings of Yue Opera and Kun Opera are also needed for this research throughout the comparison between their singing style and tunes. Besides, several secondary resources are potentially helpful for establishing the author's argument and thesis. For instance, the article “A Typical Model of Combination of Chinese and Western Music - Violin Concerto Butterfly Lovers” written by Fangqing Fu, a dissertation “The Comparison of Playing Version’s Tempo Visualization and the Studying of Playing Style for Violin Concerto Butterfly Lovers” by Su Wang, and also Peiyi Zhang’s article “Analysis the Art Achievement of The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto”. These types of sources – dissertation, music score, and recording – are all significantly helpful for the author to formulate her thesis and synthesize my arguments, through which she establishes her proposal completely and more convincingly.

​Methodology and Procedure

The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto is a representative Chinese violin concerto that features numerous musical innovations in terms of formal structure, violin techniques, and the application of traditional Yue Opera, as well as other Chinese artistic elements. Therefore, the author will illustrate her methodology by discussing these three perspectives individually. First, the pacing and phrasing of the main theme are connected to the traditional Chinese poem format, which established the foundation of the formal structure of this concerto. Then, the composers enhanced the variety of violin techniques by revising and applying several Chinese instruments’ techniques to the solo violin, such as the Erhu, a Chinese two-stringed fiddle, which emerged from the Tang dynasty, Pipa, an old Chinese plucked four-stringed instrument (its voice has strong penetrating), and Guzheng, a Chinese traditional plucked musical string instrument with over 2500 years, which helps enrich the approaches of the musical expression. In addition, melodic lines of solo violin sound more lyrical and cantabile under the integration of Yue opera’s vocalization, so that the violin voice could not only simulate the narrative of the scenario, but also form a unique musical language of personification.

The opening theme of solo violin is the organic combination of the pacing of Chinese poem and pentatonic scales in Chinese modes. The pentatonic system of scale consists of the scale degrees: Gong, Shang, Jue, Zhi, Yu, equivalent to I II III V VI in western music. A mode is defined by the final (and sometimes the initial) note of the melody (Jones 2001). In the exposition, the main theme is built on phrase-group of four two-bar phrases. Its structure is called “Qi” “Cheng” “Zhuan” “He” in the Chinese poem (Ma 2010, 30), which is a common structure in the music of the Chinese Jiangnan region . (The South of Yangzi River Region Culture Product. It is well received by people because of its characteristics, such as fresh and graceful style, smooth melody without too much big leap.)

“Qi” means “to initiate”, and indicates the first two bars state the essential theme. “Cheng” means “to continuate”, and serves as replenishment the theme and reinforce it. “Zhuan” means “to turn”, and represents change in the direction but continues to develop. “He” means “to conclude”, and suggests relieving the tension and resolving, along with synthesizing the previous components: initiation, continuation, turn and conclusion (Dong 2013, 12).

Example 1. He Zhanhao and Chen Gang, The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, mm.12-20

As in the Example 1, the basic four components are represented in every two measures. Even though the composers did not give abundant marking in the main theme, it is essential for the performer to perceive the structure and implement it in violin playing. The mezzo-piano at the beginning is more than a simple dynamic marking, moreover, it contains rather the sentimental mood which haunts through whole work by following the story. Comparing to the interpretation of western musical tradition, the direction of the phrase does not only depend on rhythm or mode, but also relates to the cadence and duration, which simulates the speaking tone.

Considering all of the above, the first note of the “Qi” should be played with slow vibrato but fairly fast bow speed and goes toward eighth dotted note D with an emphasis on the second measure. Even though the last note of the first phrase is a half note, it should be released of the bow pressure earlier and not be sustained in full. The “Cheng” plays an important role to cohere the previous elements and supplement. Hence, the performer needs to play without too much space between the first two phrases concerning their relationship. The dynamic change appears at the beginning of “Zhuan”, which indicates new material come and developing in mezzo-forte. Thus, the eight dotted note B could be played longer along with continuous vibrato, instead of being rigid to play without tendency. On the other hand, the first half of “Zhuan” seems to change the direction of the phrase, its benefit to make unexpected development for the second half. Even if the last note of the first half slur from former notes, it should be played shorter than a dotted quarter note. Then two thirty-two notes both next to sixteenth dotted notes on the second half, which served as decoration notes to express music characters of Jiangnan Style, Southern area of China (Ma op. cit., 30). “He” releases the tension of previous phrases and synthesize elements appear in the main theme. Therefore, the performer is recommended to stretch the whole phrase to the maximum in order to create a sense of the conclusion of the main theme.

Besides the phrasing and structure, the violin techniques are incorporated with Chinese instrumental techniques as well. For instance, Portamento is one of the techniques to represent proper musical expression within this concerto. This technique was originated from a famous Chinese string instrumen, Erhu, which is good at conveying the mood of sorrow and tenderness. In the development section of the concerto, composers utilized this technique to emphasize the dramatic emotional reflection in certain passages.

Furthermore, as the author indicated above, the whole concerto is based on musical style from the Jiangnan region of China, which is more shifting in half-step or third, in order to represent the tunes within gentleness and smoothness (Li 2006, 171).

Example 2. He Zhanhao and Chen Gang. The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, mm 446-457.

​Example 2 illustrates all the representations of the portamento technique in the development section. The musical term Lagrimos indicates the feeling of sadness and narrative, and the portamento could highlight the emotional expression. The small arrows symbols in red circles are connections between two pitches, where the composers intend to “slide” from one pitch to the other. The portamento technique has the function of slowing the articulation. Thus, in the process of “slide”, the musical expression has more dramatic effects and the mood is exaggerated.

The second Chinese instrument which applied to the concerto by the composers is Pipa, which belongs to the plucked category of instruments. One of the Pipa’s performance techniques is a rapid strum executed with four fingers (Choien 2014, 14). In the development section, composers utilized this special treatment into solo violin performance to reveal the protest marriage of heroine Zhuying Tai.

Example 3. He Zhanhao and Chen Gang. The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, mm 343-352.

​Example 3 demonstrates the application of Pipa’s performing skill into solo violin performance. The performer should be playing with fast bow speed and intense vibrato, which in order to reach the chord in a full sound within the accent. Hence, the music has effects of grief and anger through continuous forzando articulation integrated with the rhythm of inner-moving syncopations in quarter note chords.

The composers adapted method of Guzheng’s playing style as well. The solo violin simulates this Chinese plucked instrument in the exposition of the concerto, which conveys the musical atmosphere within light-hearted.

Example 4. He Zhanhao and Chen Gang. The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, mm 160-168.

​Example 4 shows the melody of solo violin within frequent string-crossing of right-hand technique. Since this passage has the imitation of Guzheng’s playing treatment, precise and clearly articulation is necessary for the right hand to make the sound as penetrated as Guzheng.

The concerto contains the special Chinese atmosphere and temperament by combining with the musical ingredients of Yue opera. Firstly, composers were inspired by singing tunes from two Yue operas: The Story of the Stone and Pan Fu Suo Fu, where the musical elements of main theme come from (He, op. cit., 11). Furthermore, the conversation between solo violin and cello among the development of the concerto is based on the melodies of Liang Zhu in Yue opera version (Ning 2011, 62). Also, composers borrowed a prevalent tune from it, which is called Chi-Diao Qiang. It features downward melody with lyric style, which is suitable for expressing complex inner activities and sadness of the character.

Example 5. He Zhanhao and Chen Gang. The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, mm 446-451.

​Example 5 displays the beginning section of the development. Besides applying the regular rhythm and melodic line from Chi-Diao Qiang, composers created a duet between solo violin and cello into the concerto to emulate the dialog between main characters, Yingtai Zhu and Liangshan Bo. It is an appropriate way to represent depressed emotion, and it formed a unique musical language based on Yue opera. One vocal technique adapted into the section is called Ku- Qiang. This is a vocal technique to imitate people’s crying, and is characterized by continuous downward melodies associated with grace notes constantly. Specifically, composers represent lovers yearning and their miserable love by using grace notes within "Portamento" too. The performer is expected to play the slide notes slower and emphasize the process rather than usual.

Different from traditional format, which is simply repeating the main theme in the recapitulation, composers added tunes of The Peony Pavilion, Stroll in the Garden from Kun opera integrated with the main theme which appears in exposition (He op. cit., 12). Kun opera is one of the oldest Chinese opera genre, originally from Jiangsu province, in the 14th century. It is considered as the “mother of Chinese operas”. It expresses artistic conception in an implicative way by the ingenious combination, which is also an important characteristic in Chinese art. In addition, the tremolo of solo violin vividly depicts the wings of butterflies vibrating after the character transformation. Together with the dynamic changing from pianissimo to mezzo-piano to demonstrate the picture that butterflies dancing and flying around.

Example 6. He Zhanhao and Chen Gang. The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, mm 687- 689.

​The Example 6 indicates the continual tremolo of solo violin within dynamic change. It describes the picture of butterflies playing and flying together. At the end of the concerto, the harmonics of solo violin has a calando and gradually disappear, and this composition approach comes from the Chinese painting style: Liu Bai. This painting method emphasizes the atmosphere of the painting rather than focus on substance, and contour of subject in a weak way, and then leaving the rest of contents for people’s imagination. The composers use disappearance of the last note instead of harmonic cadence in a similar approach, thus leaving a space for infinite imagination.

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References

1. Chien, Shan-Ken. 2014.“The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto by Zhanhao He and Gang Chen.” DMA diss., University of Kansas, 2014. Accessed on April 01, 2019.
2. Dong, Guanjun. 2013. “The transformation and structure in music. Song of the Yellow River.” Accessed: November, 2013.12.
3. Daen, Yang. 1996. “A classic work that highlights the characteristics of nationalism-analysis the unique violin technique of ‘The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto.’” Musicology in China (October): 101–102.
4. Fu, Fangqing. 2007. “A typical model of combination of Chinese and Western music - Violin Concerto ‘The Butterfly Lovers’.” Journal of Guiyang University, June 2007 (4): 37.
5. He, Zhanhao.2007. “The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto: A Crystallization of Collective Wisdom.” Music Lover, (November): 10-12. Accessed April 1, 2019.
6. Jiang, Yuli. 2004. “The Chinese Violin Concerto ‘The Butterfly Lovers’ by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang for violin and orchestra.” DMA diss., University of Texas at Austin, 2004.
7. Jiang, Xiongda. 2010. “The performance technique in national way of ‘The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concert.’” Little Performer (May): 29–30.
8. Jones, Stephen. 2001. Mode. In Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press. Published online 2001. Accessed on April 12, 2019.
9. Li, Zusheng. 2006. “The Art of Erhu and the Culture of Jiangnan.” PhD diss., Fujian Normal University, 2006.
10. Ma, Xinfang. 2010. “Restore real history of the birth of Liang Zhu.” Shanghai Wave. (January): 30.
11. Maxham, Robert. 2018. “Violin Concerto, ‘The Butterfly Lovers.’/ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso/Joyful Meeting/Tambourin Chinois.” Fanfare: The Magazine for Serious Record Collectors 41, no.5 (May): 478.
12. Ning, Jing. 2011. “The utilization of Yue opera elements in ‘The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto.’” Contemporary Theatre (March): 62.
13. Stock, Jonathan P. J. 2001. Chen Gang. In Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press. Published online January 20, 2001. Accessed on 1 April 2019.
14. Stock, Jonathan P. J. 2001. He Zhanhao. In Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press. Published online January 20, 2001. Accessed on 1 April 2019.
15. Wang, Su. 2016. “The comparison of playing version’s tempo visualization and the studying of playing style for violin concerto Butterfly Lovers.” Master diss., Shanghai Conservatory of Music, 2016.
16. Yang, Daen. 1996. “A classic work that highlights the characteristics of nationalism-analysis the unique violin technique of The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto.” Musicology in China October, 1996.
17. Zhang, Peiyi. 2006. “Analysis the art achievement of The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto.” Education (May): 78.

Additional sources

Music Scores

• Chen, Gang and Zhanhao He.1991 (repr. 2018). 'The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto', transcribed for solo violin and piano by Chen Gang. Shanghai music publishing. 1991. Repr. Shanghai, China: Shanghai Music Publication, 2018.

SoundRecordings

• Chen, Gang, and Zhanhao He.“The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto,” track 5 on CHEN / HE: Buterfly Lovers Violin Concerto (The) / YIN: The Yellow River Piano Concerto. With Yu, Li-na, violin. Beijing Central Philharmonic Orchestra; Fen, Cheng-wu. Marco Polo, 14 July 2000, CD. Accessed at Naxos Music library on April 18, 2019. naxosmusiclibrary
• China CCTV. Wang Junan teaches singing the episode of ‘The story of the stone,’ produced by CCTV tradition opera, 2017. YouTube Video, 1:20, posted by China CCTV traditional opera, July 2, 2017. Accessed April 14, 2019.