The enchanting blend of flute and erhu brings 'Nine Odes' to life

Flutist Feng Tianshi was the busiest on stage during the global premiere of "Nine Odes," switching between six different varieties of flutes. Each flute had a unique role in the pieces, singing, lamenting, and conversing with the erhu (a two-stringed Chinese instrument) and the orchestra's Western instruments.

Over the weekend, Feng performed with erhu soloist Lu Yiwen and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Huang Yi.

"There is a multi-dimensional dialogue that has different solo instruments both in harmony and clashing with each other, as well as solo instruments clashing with the orchestra," Yi said.

The 11-chapter erhu concerto, composed by Pulitzer Prize winner Zhou Long, was created in 2013 as a symphonic poem in which singers sang the lyrics of Qu Yuan's 'Nine Songs,' a classic Chinese poetry series from the Warring States Period (475-221 BC).

Ten years later, Zhou replaced the vocals with erhu and flutes that clashed with the sounds of the symphonic instruments to create a new piece.

"A musician, keen on inheriting traditional culture, ought to explore and innovate," Zhou said, adding that cultural diversity is a great source of inspiration for current music creation.

Zhou, who studied at Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music before moving to the US in 1985, has always been fascinated by Chinese folk music and instruments and how they interact with Western instruments and ensembles.

In 2013, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra artistic director Yu Long suggested creating a Nine Songs-inspired piece and turning it into an erhu concerto 10 years later. Zhou jumped at the chance.

"Nine Songs" is a set of ritualistic songs composed for religious rites and sacrifices. The poems are meant to invoke deities, nature spirits, and mythological figures, each with their backstory and intense emotions.

Erhu, generally characterized as the instrument with the most human-like sound, serves as the story's narrator, while the other instruments play diverse roles. Trombone, bassoon, and English horn, for example, performed the roles of high priest, river ghost, and mountain ghost.