Birdsong in the Empty Mountains

Introduction

An erhu solo Liu Tianhua began in 1918 and finalised for publication in 1928

Kong Shan Niao Yu (Birdsong in the Empty Mountains) is an erhu solo by Liu Tianhua, begun in 1918 and not finalised for publication until 1928. His elder brother Liu Bannong gave it an inscription that borrows the mood of a poem by Wang Wei: no one is seen in the empty mountains, only birdsong is heard. The piece has an introduction, five sections and a coda. Liu drew on the way sanxian players imitate opera voices, using many finger rolls and slides to imitate birds calling in the hills. In 1993 it received an award as a classic Chinese work of the twentieth century.