Erhu...Erhu...Erhu. An obsession ! hehe. Here is a very nice video of the supreme Min Huifen, playing Erquan Ying Yue (Moon reflecting on Two Springs, a great classic for erhu), to get you hooked .
For sure, one erhu soloist who had and still has a big influence on me is Shen Qi, my first erhu teacher. She is based in Montreal. She has a very classical style and her sound is very unique, carrying very deep emotions. For me, she is one of the best erhu soloists in the world and I have been fortunate to have her as my teacher. In the following video, she plays Sai Ma (Racing Horse), a great classic of the traditional erhu repertoire. You can see other videos of her playing erhu on her MySpace video page.
Jing is one of my first MySpace friends on my other site . She is about to complete her PhD in musical composition at the University of North Texas. It is through her that I heard for the first time Satie's 1st Gynopedie played on erhu. She has also composed many modern music pieces for erhu and computer. She gave me much encouragement to continue with my apprenticeship of erhu and she still do, even with her busy schedule. In the video below, she plays 'The Grape Season', another traditional tune for erhu. You can see other videos of her playing the erhu on her Website video page.
Xiao Dong is based in Detroit. She has a very modern approach to erhu playing. She even plays Led Zeppelin on the instrument and her new CD (2nd) breaks new grounds in erhu playing. She is also an excellent player of the more traditional repertoire. She helps me a lot through her friendship and encouragements. I hope to be able to see her play one day soon with her band. She would surely make a good addition to a future edition of the Montreal International Jazz Festival and would have much success with the Montreal crowd. She also plays guzheng.
I now have a video of Xiaodong, who worked hard to get one online for her fans. So thank you very much, Xiaodong. This is an extract from her band playing at the Concert of Colors in Detroit on July 22, 2007le I try to get her to record one for her MySpace friends (hehe)
Jia Pengfang is very famous. I first saw his CDs in SF Chinatown, but now they are all over the place. He however has time to write back to me each time I send him a message or a comment and his encouragement and tips are very valuable to me. I like many of his original music, my favorite piece being A Water Lily, the same my friend Lee prefers and that I promised to learn to play. This is this piece that Jia Pengfang is playing in the following video:
Lan Tung and her partners are from Vancouver. Both groups come once in a while to Montreal. I have had the chance to see Tandava performing here a couple of times. Lan has helped me with her precious tips, the most useful one being that I must visualize that I hold small rubber balls in each of my hands when I play erhu. She is a very kind person who takes time to answer to you even with her busy schedule. Furthermore the music of both groups she plays with is a marvelous blend of eastern, mid-eastern and western influences, most of the pieces played being also original compositions. I did not find videos of any of the two groups on Youtube or MySpace, but if you click on the picture of Tandava below, you will access a page with links to three nice Real videos. I suggest you start by looking at 'Kaladhar' on which you have close-captioned views of Lan playing the erhu.
Injei is a erhu player from Taiwan. She plays very original music. She does not have a CD out yet, from what I understand. But just listening to the three pieces she has on her MySpace will convince you of her very original and great talent. She encouraged me when I put my first video recordings on Myspace and we exchange comments and messages sometimes. Look out for Injei, she will become famous. Below is a video of her playing a part of the piece Dream of old Beijing with a Chinese orchestra. You can view other videos of her playing the erhu on her YouTube page.
Other influences of erhu players not on MySpace
I particularly like the music of four other erhu players, from which I bought and will continue to buy a copy of all available CDs (as I do for my MySpace friends listed above, who have released music on CD) : they are Chen Min, Weiwei Wuu, Ma Xiaohui and Jiang Jian Hua. Because of the many traditional Chinese erhu tunes on them, I also like the two CDs by Lei Quiang: 'Chinese Traditional Erhu Music', Vol 1 and Vol 2 , a nice source of erhu standards (unfortunately, Lei Quiang, who was a Montrealer like Shen Qi, is now in Las Vegas working full time on Cirque du Soleil shows there, so we are not going to hear from him in the Solo erhu world for a while). Go check on them all, you won't regret it.
Here is a final video treat from some of those nice players:
the piece «KOTO» played by Chen Min and that can be found on her 4th CD titled My Story (found on YouTube by my friend Damien):
The piece «A town in Jiang-Nan» played with charm by Ma Xiaohui (very traditional piece):
Weiwei Wuu who plays a very jazzy piece with friends, titled «Spain», starting with an extract from Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto de Aranjuez:
My other friends on MySpace learning to play erhu, some already accomplished players
I would like to salute and recognize also the influence and encouragement I get from fellow explorers of the erhu playing world. There is Liz from Japan who is already an accomplished erhu player. There is also Damien from England, who learns all by himself and helps both of us laughing our way through the apprenticeship of erhu playing. And there is my friend Rann, who lives not very far from me and learns erhu with Shen Qi; maybe one day, he will be my teacher since he is already an accomplished musician and a faster learner than me (hehehe) !
I am from Montreal. Qc, Canada. I love Asian music, most particularly erhu music, an instrument I learned to play with Shen Qi. Some of the pieces I can play relatively smoothly (??!!) now are:
Jasmine Flower (of course), Little Swallow, Moon River, Annie's song, Edelweiss, Amazing Grace, Danny Boy, Turn!Turn!Turn (to everything, there is a season, O mio babbino caro, Scarborough Fair, Auld Lang Syn and Stars.
My favorite erhu players are Song Fei, Wang Guotong, Min Huifen, Shen Qi, Jia Peng Fang, Ma Xiaohui, Xiao Dong Wei, Weiwei Wuu, Yu Hongmei, Jiang Jianhua, Chen Min, Injei and Chen Jiebing.
This is my «artist» site, where I'll put some of my recordings, hoping the quality of execution will improve with time ! hehe
I know the playing will sound quite amateurish , but it is the best I can do for now. In order to make your experience of this MySpace more enjoyable, I will document with videos, and audio links to better performers of the four songs displayed. I'll also include links to lyrics and .mid files (with Karaoke features when possible - in these cases, in order to play the music and sing along in karaoke mode, you can download and use the free VanBasco's Karaoke Player.
So let's see those songs in their many facets ! hehe
"J'ai pour toi un lac " was written by Gilles Vigneault, the national poet of the Québecois. It tells of offering the gift of love, about how precious and beautiful it is, and that we must not waste it in the turmoils of life. You can find the French lyrics at : http://www.paroles.net/chansons/16260.htm. I have recorded me reading my english translation of the song and then playing after each verse an erhu solo of the beautiful melody of this Vigneault's masterpiece. My translation is made in such a way that you can sing along with the erhu solo; so I adapted a few of the words to fit the melody, but the meaning conveyed and the feelings expressed are basically the same as in the original French song. Here is my tentative English translation of this beautiful text:
I HAVE FOR YOU A LAKE
(Gilles Vigneault - translated and adapted by Claude Emond)
I have for you a lake
Somewhere in this world
A great lake so blue
As an opened eye in the dark of night
a trembling crystal
Trembling at your name as a trembling leaf
to the autumn wind and to winter songs
Reflecting all time, where die and gather
Days going forward, nights going backward
I have for you so far
A very slow walk in the softest sand
Thousand of paces noiseless and soundless
To where, we don't know
The blowing fingers of many seasons
Have marked on the sand as on our foreheads
The waves of the day broken by in their path
Beautiful shipwrecks, our only shelters
I have for you broken
But rebuilt again the thousand castles
Of a friendly cloud which for my princess
Will become a ship
Become appletree, changing to a crown
Becoming basket full of tasty fruits
And me I will be the one who gives you
The Earth and the moon, as well as the sun
I have for you love somewhere in this world
Don't let it go in ...life's merry-go-round
I hope you will enjoy my reading of it and my playing of the melody, and that this beautiful song will move your heart as much as it moves mine.
If you wish a recording of the erhu solo only, you can download it from
Antoine Gérin-Lajoie wrote this song in 1839 about one of the young French Canadian exiles of the Rebellion of 1837 (supporters of Louis-Joseph Papineau who had to flee their country to escape punishment). It talks of this young exile walking by the banks of a river flowing towards his country and feelings deep sorrow for being separated from his loved ones.
It was repopularized by Nana Mouskouri in French, as well as by Leonard Cohen, in French also, in his 1979 Album, 'Recent Songs' (he titled it 'The Lost Canadian').
The only video I found is from an amateur singer, with an obvious English accent. It is a funny video worth looking at, for the effort put into it:
Here are the links to some audio versions of the song:
'Le doux chagrin' was written in the early 1960's by Gilles Vigneault , again (hehe). It tells of a man who feels it is difficult to love without hurting the loved one. Here is my tentative English translation of this beautiful text:
THE SOFT SORROW (a tentative translation of G. Vigneault's 'Le doux chagrin')
I gave great sorrow to my love
To her who did not gave me any
So difficult it is.... So difficult it is to love
So difficult it is..... And for me who deserves it so much
Tell me, my love, will you give me sorrow?
So difficult it is..... So difficult it is to love
So difficult it is..... But for a long time I have known
That without sorrow, there is no love
So difficult it is.... So difficult it is to love
So difficult it is.....That without sorrow, there is no love
And without love, why should I sing ?
So difficult it is.... So difficult it is to love
So difficult it is.....
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I did not find a video of this song, so I present you one of another song by Vignault, 'Gens du pays', the unofficial national anthem of Québec, hehe. I want to thank my friend Corinne for this very nice 'montage' with so many beautiful pictures of Québecois landscapes !
The only audio version of the song I found on the web is an instrumental played on pipa by Yadong Guan, but I have found a KARAOKE enabled midi for you (hehe):
Well, I guess, that's all for now folks ! hehe. I'll modify this side of this MySpace site each time I'll put a new recording of my tentative solo erhu performances.
The other side of this site (left side) will include video performances on Erhu from my MySpace professional and amateur erhu playing friends, as well as performances by other erhu players found on the web.
Hope you enjoy this site. All your comments to improve it and encourage me in my efforts to master (one day, I hope, hehe) the erhu will always be welcome.
comment vas tu? J'espère que tu vas bien. Je voudrais vous souhaiter à toi et à Charlotte une Bonne et heureuse année et de la santé! De mon côté ça va. Pas mal fatigué. Je me suis couché à 5:00 du matin puisque c'étais la fête à ma mère également et me suis le à 9:00 pour aller à mon cours de erhu.
love to listen to the music..makes me feeling coming home . i am glad to have meet you claude ..really ..some souls ,meet when the heavens want it .,..all love to you and your family
