Advancing violin technique in the composition and performance of erhu music

The creation of traditional Chinese erhu works has gone from folk origins to systematised development within the university system. The violin, which entered China in the 1920s, had a signifi cant infl uence on the development of erhu art. Liu Tianhua was a pioneer in the creation of repertoire for erhu. Under the infl uence of his programme for the modernisation of national music (Guoyue gaijin), many outstanding works appeared, among which adaptations of violin works formed a signifi cant part. Erhu’s art gradually reached maturity and international recognition under the infl uence of these transcriptions and the Western musical system, refl ecting social transformations and the evolution of artistic concepts. The article reveals the comprehensive infl uence of violin transcriptions and techniques on the art of erhu, paying special attention to analysing the role of social changes in society and Liu Tianhua’s activities in this process. The author reveals the peculiarities of the synthesis of traditional Chinese erhu art with Western violin techniques, emphasising the uniqueness of erhu in the context of art globalisation. The object of the study is the process and peculiarities of adapting violin works and techniques for erhu, with the main focus on analysing the performing techniques of erhu, especially those that have been borrowed through transcriptions. The aim of the study is to identify the role of violin transcriptions in the evolution of performing practice on the erhu. Theoretical methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison, and empirical methods of observation, description combined with analysis were used to study this topic. It is proved that the synthesis of European violin practice with elements of national culture allowed the formation of a unique original culture of performing on the erhu with pronounced features of the Chinese string tradition.