The plot of this moving love story is vividly presented in the 30-minute-long concerto, a piece of musical work that has been seen as one of the most representative art works of the fable.

East and west

He Zhanhao, 26 at that time, a violin major, wrote the basic tune of the music based on the Shaoxing Opera, one of the five major traditional operas of China popular in the regions south of the Yangtze River. Before he was enrolled in the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, He learned Shaoxing Opera at a local troupe, which gave him a solid basis of traditional music.

Chen Gang, 24 at that time, a student majoring in composition, revised the original score by adding the effect of an orchestra in an attempt to intensify the dramatic power of the music.

Completed in three months, the final production is a synthesis of Eastern and Western music styles.

"At that time, what we played were all Western works, which was difficult to arouse sympathy among ordinary Chinese audience," said He in an article of chinaculture.org. "We need our own music." For this purpose, the playing techniques of Chinese string instruments, such as erhu, is introduced to the concerto Butterfly Lovers, and this serves to reflect the feelings and emotions of the personae of the story.

He thinks that the secret of the success of the piece is that it was created in a melody derived from the tune of a folk opera that had been already popular.

According to He, when he and Chen created the music, they decided to rethink the way that Western music is normally named, opting instead for more relevant names to the sections of the single-movement concerto.

"In the Butterfly Lovers concerto, we used names that can vividly convey the content of the story told in the section, such as Falling in Love, Opposing an Arranged Marriage and Transformation Into Butterflies," He said, adding that something too abstract is not fit for Chinese audiences.

There are several violin solos in the concerto. "It's more feminine music. We put our focus on portraying the character of Zhu, so we used some violin solos to emphasize her," Chen said in a recent interview with CCTV.

MELODY IMMERSION: Chinese violinist Sheng Zhongguo has played Butterfly Lovers in more than 10,000 concerts (LI BIN)

Made up of three sections, the piece tells the whole story of Liang and Zhu through musical language. The first section describes the happy school life of the young couple. After portraying the spring scene by flute, there is a cheerful melody embodying the study and life of Liang and Zhu in school. By the end of the first section, the music gradually slows down, indicating that Zhu is compelled to go home. The deep and low tune predicts that their story will end in a tragedy.

The second section shows Zhu's resistance to an arranged marriage. The strong sound of brass instruments represents how Zhu's father forces her to break up with Liang and marry a rich man. The quick rhythm of the violin depicts Zhu's resistance. Then the music slows, representing a secret date between Zhu and Liang. The melody is sorrowful and soft before suddenly speeding up again, showing Liang's death. Zhu is so grieved that she jumps into his grave. Traditional Chinese instruments like gongs and drums are played together, bringing the symphony to its climax.

LEGEND CONTINUES: The 40-year-old violinist Lu Siqing's latest album of Butterfly Lovers was lauded as the best edition of the concerto (ZHU ZHENG)

The last section is the finishing touch to the whole piece, where the spirits of the couple become a pair of free butterflies.

Magic moment

On May 27, 1959, the piece was first played by Yu Lina, 18, also a violin major at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, at a concert in Shanghai to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

When the last note fell, the audience applauded wildly. Yu was asked by the passionate audience to play the piece again. "It was the only time in my life that I played the whole piece twice in one performance," remembered Yu, now a university professor, at a concert to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the music held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 26.

Yu said she had put much effort into preparing for the performance. "I learned to sing the Shaoxing Opera, watched movies about the legend of Liang and Zhu, and learned some playing techniques of erhu, which helped me imitate the human voice in my playing," she said.

Onto the world stage

The debut of the piece proved to be a great success, and in the following years, the symphony was introduced to other countries and received positive feedback from local audiences. It has been one of the few Chinese pieces that have often appeared on the international stage and has been adapted into ballet, figure skating and a saxophone concerto by foreign artists.

One of the contributors that helped to bring the piece to the world stage is the Japanese violinist Takako Nishizaki, who was the first foreign musician to play the Butterfly Lovers concerto. She is also the foreign violinist who has performed the work the most times.

Nishizaki loved the Butterfly Lovers immediately after hearing the score for the first time. In 1978, she first recorded the concerto, and in the following 30 years she has dedicated herself to promoting the melody all over the world.

"The Butterfly Lovers is a really enchanting symphonic musical piece, which can make people intoxicated through its melody. I love this type of graceful and tender concerto, which also contains a plot. The wonderful tune and dramatic story line are where the charm of this music lies," said Takako in an interview with China Radio International.

Nishizaki also appeared at the May 26 concert in Beijing along with Chinese violinist Sheng Zhongguo, who has played the violin concerto in more than 10,000 concerts. Several young violinists, big fans of Butterfly Lovers, joined them on stage. The combination of youth and experience playing side by side augurs well for the future of this ageless music.