A Study on Erhu Arrangements of the Jiangnan Sizhu Works by Shen Fengquan

Abstract

Jiangnan Sizhu (string and wind instruments) is an instrumental ensemble form with distinct regional characteristics and wide influence. It is prevalent in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and other areas, giving rise to local schools with their own distinctive features. Shen Fengquan is an extremely important representative figure in the development of Jiangnan Sizhu music in Zhejiang. This paper discusses Shen Fengquan’s life and career, as well as his relationship with Jiangnan Sizhu. Taking Slow Three Six, Purple Bamboo Melody, Yun Qing, and Zhonghua Six Clappers as examples, it analyzes Shen Fengquan’s adaptations of Jiangnan Sizhu music and his Erhu compositions and illustrates the characteristics of his musical creation and performance through score examples. It concludes that Shen Fengquan formed an Erhu performance style characterized by “soft, refined, light, and elegant”. Shen Fengquan realized a formal transformation of Erhu performance in Jiangnan Sizhu music from “ensemble performance” to “solo performance”. He transformed a large amount of improvised and indeterminate folk performance practice into precise and systematic musical scores and written theory, achieving a shift in Erhu transmission from “oral transmission” to “notation-based transmission”. He summarized scattered performance experiences into a “Zhejiang School” system of performance techniques that includes specific fingering, portamento, ornamentation, and rhythmic treatment, enabling Erhu performance to undergo a transformation toward systematization, teachability, and scientific standardization.