Soft Music Like a Gentle Breeze Under the Moonlight | Chinese Music | Musical Moments

Title: Autumn Moon Over Calm Lake
Composer: Lyu Wencheng
Gaohu Performer: Paul Tsao
Mastering: Igor Jankovski

This piece is performed by Paul Tsao, a famous Chinese instrument master performer. Tsao was born in an opera family. He studied art with his father in childhood and grew up in an opera troupe. He was deeply influenced by the art of opera and Chinese music. He is proficient in 15 musical instruments including erhu, gaohu, banhu, jinghu, flute, suona, and percussion instruments.

Ellen Stewart, founder of the famous Broadway La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, once praised him as the most outstanding Chinese "prince of instrumental music" in the world, and he is known as China's "unparalleled bow and string musician."

Tsao moved to the United States in 1994. He has demonstrated his musical talent and artistry in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Broadway, National Theater, and Kennedy Concert Hall, and won high praise from people from all walks of life. In 1999, he founded the CBA Culture & Arts Center in New York, which is the only comprehensive Chinese folk art performance group in the United States. CBA Culture & Arts Center is popular wherever it goes throughout the United States, for its wonderful performances and unique artistic charm. It has made important contributions to promoting Chinese music in the United States.

Tsao’s huqin artistry can be called unparalleled. From the piece "Autumn Moon Over Calm Lake," we can hear that Tsao's gaohu tone is extraordinarily graceful and thoughtful. The sound of gaohu is as beautiful and unrestrained as a lotus in water, as radiant and supple as silk. The music is like the swaying of colorful feather-decorated banners, floating in splendid silk. It makes people feel as if they are wandering on the banks of the fairyland-like West Lake.

This is one of the most famous pieces of Cantonese music. The music is a large single section, exquisite with a beautiful melody, smooth as a song, and has an enchanting artistic charm. The tune adopts the folk music of Zhejiang, but also has the style of Cantonese music, depicting the beautiful scenery of an evening breeze, water waves, and the quiet autumn night with the moon.