Speaking of Liu Tianhua, everyone will naturally think of his top ten erhu songs. After nearly a hundred years of circulation, they have become models of today's traditional music. In fact, before Liu Tianhua's works came out, there were only two ancient erhu works recorded, one "Autumn Moon in the Han Palace" was transplanted to pipa music, and the other "Yangguan Three Die" was transplanted to Guqin music. In other words, before the 20th century, the erhu was mainly used for the ensemble of opera music accompaniment and folk music combination, and there was no erhu solo piece for reference, and there was no systematic teaching material. Liu Tianhua was destined to explore and move forward on the road of reform and innovation from the time he began to contact the folk music erhu and pipa.

The first is the improvement of musical instruments, and the reform of the erhu and pipa, which he is good at. He experimented and customized erhu materials and techniques in order to achieve good timbre and volume, experimented with the comparison of the thickness of the two strings to adjust the pitch, and increased the erhu’s high frets to improve the range and expressiveness of playing. . He also made a new pipa according to the twelve equal temperament, and increased the frets and phases of the pipa, so that the pipa could play the chromatic scale and have better intonation. The second is to improve notation. Since the gong-chi notation and written notation that have been used in ancient China, in addition to being complicated and inconvenient to use, cannot completely and accurately preserve music records, so he vigorously promotes the use of stave and simplified notation for Chinese music. It also took several months to complete the "Mei Lanfang Songs" of the stave for Mei Lanfang, a famous Peking Opera artist who was about to perform in the United States, by means of dictation and notation. The third is to improve Chinese music. He believes that as a Chinese musician, he should not only keep his own traditions, but also spread the essence of Chinese music to the world, and "let Chinese music keep pace with world music". He believes that Chinese and Western music each has its own strengths, rather than distinguishing between "ancient and modern" or "complex and simple". Although he has studied piano, violin, and Western percussion, his love for Chinese music has become a part of his blood. In part, he believes that the sound of Chinese music is purer than that of Western music, and that Chinese people can get closer to their own music. This is also an important reason why he advocates the reform of Chinese music and cannot completely replace Chinese music with Western music. He believes that no matter whether it is old-fashioned or completely Westernized, it will not work. Therefore, he advocates adopting the inherent essence of the country on the one hand, and accommodating foreign trends on the other hand, to open up a new path in the harmony and cooperation between Chinese and Western music. Learning Western music is to improve Chinese music. Assist, imitate Western music, cooperate with polyphony, use Western musical instruments, and seek development and progress through innovation. The "National Music Improvement Society" he founded is a concrete practice of "using the past for the present, and the foreign for the Chinese".

Mr. Liu Tianhua's reform and innovation is also reflected in his creation. In his lifetime, he composed 10 Erhu pieces, 3 Pipa pieces, and 1 ensemble piece. He sent 12 pieces of pipa music, from the time he started writing at the age of 22 to his death at the age of 37, the 15 years can be called "high quality and high quality", creating a precedent for the systematic teaching materials for erhu and pipa etudes, filling the history of Chinese instrumental music. blank. He lived in the semi-feudal and semi-colonial era. He experienced the Revolution of 1911 and the May Fourth Movement. He witnessed with his own eyes the devastation of old China, the deeds of countless patriots who threw their heads and blood. It was hard, but he never lost his pursuit of a better life and yearning for the future of new China. He went deep into life, learned from folk, from opera, and from Western music composition techniques. He continued to explore and innovate, making his 10 Erhu songs Works have become classics. It was against this background that "Singing in a Sickness" was born. The first draft of this piece was in 1915, expressing his unwillingness and inner aspirations at that time, and it was not officially completed until 1918. The "sickness" referred to in the song has a double meaning. He used his own "sickness" to reflect the darkness of the society, from which we can see that he borrowed the writing style of the rondo. In the melody of "Elegy", two minor second intervals, "shengdu" and "shengxi" appear many times. This is the characteristic of the harmonic minor in western music. The seventh tone in the raised minor is used to increase the "leading" "Sound" tendency, Liu Tianhua skillfully used in "Elegy", emphasizing the sad atmosphere. From "Solo String Exercise", which is also played on one string, we can see the figure of "Aria on the G string", and the use of improvisation to record "Good Night" can better express the New Year's Eve, literati friends The lively scene of gathering with friends with Qin. "Empty Mountain Bird Whisper" vividly depicts the quiet picture of "empty mountain without people, but hearing birds' voices" by using the dual techniques of imitation and simulation. It can be called the "technical ceiling" at that time. In the song "Candle Shadow Shaking Red", the more fashionable three-beat rhythm was used at the time, and "Bright Walk", which was created in the march style, is even more upright and vigorous. Be the opening and finale of today's erhu concert. From the melody point of view, although he mainly focuses on the traditional Chinese pentatonic scale of "Gongshangjiaozhengyu", he does not take the usual path, with many ups and downs, and his works are usually released after two or three years of polishing. On the basis of in-depth exploration of traditional music and study of Western music, Mr. Liu Tianhua has mastered it, made reforms, and made bold innovations, leaving a magnificent and enduring movement for future generations. This also verifies the definition of the word "tradition" by Comrade Sun Jiazheng, former Minister of Culture - Tradition is the accumulation of continuous innovation by ancestors. Mr. Liu Tianhua's innovation a hundred years ago has become our tradition today. Mr. Qiao Yu, a famous lyricist, once said, "Let all traditions give out new life, let all life give out new brilliance", which is also the development path of our national music. On this special day, we would like to comfort Mr. Tianhua's spirit in heaven: Chinese music has kept pace with world music! Your spirit of reform and innovation will inspire us to keep moving forward!