Mao Yuan Violin Miniatures Collection

Author: Mao Yuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features:
"Light March," this march was adapted from Liu Tianhua's homonymous erhu piece. Liu Tianhua was a renowned Chinese composer of erhu music. With a deep understanding of both Eastern and Western musical traditions, he made numerous breakthroughs and innovations in erhu composition. "Light March" was written in the form of a Western march. When adapted into a violin piece, it remained largely true to the original, with only minor changes in a few places.
"Floral Dance," this variation piece takes its theme from thetones of the Hebei folk song "Duihua" (Matching Flowers). After several free variations, the original form of "Duihua" is fully revealed in the fourth variation.
"Lullaby," the theme of this lullaby adopts the melody of the song "Su Wu the Shepherd." However, during my childhood, I first heard it with a different lyrics, "My Home Has a Plump Baby." Women often hum this song to lull babies to sleep. In my emotional memory, it will always be a lullaby.
"New Spring Joy," dumplings are a very common food in Northern China, especially during family gatherings during the Spring Festival, symbolizing reunion and being an essential part of the celebration. The theme of this rondo was adopted from the Hebei folk song "Selling Dumplings."
The four short pieces were composed with the concept of a suite in mind and are all based on folk tunes. Russian composer Mikhail Glinka once said, "Music is created by the people, and composers are merely those who adapt it." Isn't that exactly the case with these pieces?