The Butterfly Lovers

Liang Zhu, or "Butterfly Lovers," is undoubtedly the best-known and most popular music in
all of China. It is also one of the few Chinese pieces that have often appeared on the
international stage. Almost everyone in China can hum a few lines of the violin concerto,
which can be traced to a Chinese folk legend "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai".

According to the legend, Zhu Yingtai assumes a male

identity so she may travel to study in Hangzhou, a
southern city in China, where she meets Liang
Shanbo. In the course of their studies, Zhu and Liang
become very close friends. From a Confucian
perspective, the notion of "Junzi" (gentleman) is a
well-exemplified ideal in Chinese history and its
quality and characteristics are well expounded upon
by Confucian scholars. Basically, this implies the
highest integrity, morality and demeanor, coupled
with well-refined abilities and skills both in martial
arts and academia - the kind of relationship that Zhu
and Liang had achieved. When the time came for
Zhu to return home, the pair is overcome with much
suppressed sadness. Zhu offers her younger sister's
hand in marriage and entreats Liang to visit her
residence to discuss the issue with her parents. Liang
is unaware that Zhu is female nor that she does not
have a younger sister. (She is, in fact, offering her
own hand in marriage.)

A year passes before Liang makes his way to Zhu's residence. He is overjoyed to realize
Zhu's true identity and that she is in love with him. However, happiness turns into sorrow as
the two soon discover that Zhu has been betrothed to another man. In great sadness, the two
lovers meet at the tower and lament their great misfortune. Upon his return to Hangzhou,
Liang falls ill in his great misery and dies. When Zhu hears of this on her wedding day, she
flees to his grave. There, legend has it that her tears move the heavens so much that the
clouds themselves shed tears over Zhu's grief. Then, the earth beneath her cracks open and
the ill-fated Zhu commits suicide by jumping into the open grave. Miraculously, the pair is
transformed into butterflies. Arising into the sky,
they flutter and dance side by side among the
flowers, never to be separated again.

Butterfly Lovers was composed in 1958 by Chen

Gang and He Zhanhao who were studying at the
Shanghai Conservatory of Music. The pair was
exploring the feasibility of setting Chinese music to
a (Western) symphonic medium, incorporating
borrowed devices from Chinese folk theatrical music as well as vocal techniques of
Zhejiang's Yu Theatre. The end result was a free-form concerto for the violin in one
movement. Remaining true to the legend, the concerto may be divided into three sections as
follows:

Part I describes Liang and Zhu's meeting (Liang is represented by the cello and Zhu, the
violin), their joining hands in brotherhood, the blossoming of their love; their study and sad
separation when Zhu goes home.

Part II portrays their resistance to the arranged marriage, their meeting at the tower, and the
eventual deaths of the lovers. The violin's free rhapsodic sounds incorporate many
syncopated chords (Zhu and her resistance to marriage) pitted against the orchestra (Zhu's
father forcing the marriage) into a dramatic play. The meeting at the tower is exemplified by
the interplay between the cello solo (Liang) and the violin solo (Zhu). The ensuing section
employs borrowed theatrical devices to bring across Liang's illness and death and further
drama in Zhu's suicide (Chinese gong and reprise).

Part III wraps up the saga as the flute and harps spark the mystery of the imminent
metamorphosis. The play of the butterflies is heard following a recapitulation of the love
theme and mortals echoing their happiness.