Liu Mingyuan Huqin Works (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: Liu Xiang (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: Liu Mingyuan, a renowned folk musician, master of bowed string instruments, educator, and composer, enjoys special government subsidies. He is a council member of the China Music, a standing council member of the China National Orchestral Music, a member of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a member of the Jiu San Society, and a professor at the China Conservatory of Music. In 1952, he joined the China Film Orchestra as a performer and participated in the music recording for the film "Dragon Canal," becoming one of the first professional folk musicians in the new China Film Orchestra. He devoted himself wholeheartedly to promoting the performance, composition, and reform of Chinese folk instrumental music. Over more than four decades, he has diligently cultivated in the field of folk music, making unique and outstanding contributions in performance, composition, and teaching of folk instruments.
Over the decades, Mr. Liu Mingyuan has tirelessly studied and mastered more than ten types of Chinese bowed string instruments, including the banhu, erhu, gaohu, zhonghu, jinghu, sihu, zhuihu, and morin khuur. His versatile performances on multiple instruments are effortless and fluid. He actively engaged in instrument reform, particularly elevating the banhu and zhonghu to the stage of solo performances. His banhu solos, such as "Grand Opening" and "Qin Opera Fragments," and his zhonghu solo composition and performance, "On the Grassland," have become timeless masterpieces. His erhu solo piece, "Henan Folk Tune," is also celebrated.
Mr. Liu Mingyuan worked in film music from 1952 to 1982. From 1953, he served as the principal of the folk orchestra of the China Film Orchestra. During his three decades with the orchestra, he participated in the recording of music for over a thousand newsreels, feature films, and educational films, including "The Great Reform," "Blessings," "Lin Family Shop," "Red Flag," "Trench Warfare," "Spring Wind and Wild Fire in Ancient City," and "Mei Lanfang's Stage Art." In the 1950s and 1960s, under the advocacy of Premier Zhou Enlai, he composed, arranged, and performed a series of beloved folk light music pieces, such as "The Orchid Blooms in Malan," "Happy New Year," "The Shepherdess," and "Joyful Yang."
In 1957, he represented young Chinese artists at the Sixth World Festival of Youth and Students, winning a gold medal in the folk instrument performance competition. Over the decades, he has traveled to more than forty countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Americas, and Europe, carrying with him over ten types of bowed string instruments.