Comparative Study On The Erhu Music Of A'bing And Sun Wenming

Erhu(a two-stringed bowed musical instrument),as a national bowed instrument with the greatest appeal and charm,is not only favored by the Chinese people,but also displays its unique glamour through its coordination with western musical instruments in the international arena.The recorded data reveals that Erhu originated from Xiqin in Tang Dynasty and then,after over more than one thousand years,evolved into the shape and structure familiar to people today.Before Erhu was improved,transformed and introduced to institutions of higher education by Liu Tianhua,it was mainly used as an accompaniment musical instrument in folk opera and folk songs instead of a solo instrument.In the past century,thanks to the pioneering work and great efforts of several generations of Erhu artists,Erhu finally ascended to the Chinese music circles.Today,Erhu,as a distinctive treasure in Chinese national musics,is exerting its influence on the world.The music of Erhu by A'bing,after being recorded by Yang Yinliu in 1950,was gradually known by many other people out of Wuxi and even audiences from other countries;what's more,it even caused an "A'bing Fervor".Many experts and scholars from the musical circles heralded him as a musician who is as important as Liu Tianhua,the "great master of traditional Chinese music",thinking that they have hoisted two flags,"specialization" and"popularization",for Erhu art and made tremendous contribution to the development of this art.The "A'bing Fervor" did not vanish even 70 years later after his death.Instead,his music still remain very active in musical teaching and performance.However,almost no one with remarkable talents like A'bing has been found from the civil society until the appearance of Sun Wenming.He secluded himself from the secular world and spent almost his whole life concentrating himself on music.But for his widespread reputation in his declining years,he would have been drowned in the crowd.His appearance is unquestionably a great blessing for the circles of musical history studies in China.Although he was not as famous as A'bing in the international music circles,his remarkable contribution to Erhu playing,music creation and musical instrument innovation is still indelible;for this reason,he is also receiving increasing attention at present.On the basis of the studies of predecessors,this paper starts with the research into musical history and offers a comparative study of A'bing and Sun Wenming,the two exemplary models of folk musicians in the 1920s.The comparative study focuses on three aspects:contribution to Erhu art,performing techniques,and their inheritance and development.By interpreting the comparison on these three aspects,this paper is also targeted at drawing forth new research perspectives of these two artists.This paper will be beneficial to the future study of traditional music and serve as the reason people should commemorate these two great masters of Chinese traditional music.