Musical Notes

The Butterfly Lovers' Concerto

Listen Later

In this episode, we explore The Butterfly Lovers' Concerto. We discuss the history and the conception of the piece, the story that inspired it, and the structure of this piece.


If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a rating/review and sharing this episode with your family and friends. If you have questions or feedback, please email us at [email protected].


Music used:

  • The Moon Over a Fountain performed by Weiwei Wuu
  • Excerpts from The Butterfly Lovers' Concerto composed by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang and performed by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra conducted by Chen Xieyang with Lü Siqing as soloist
  • The excerpts for glissando and vibrato were taken from this video


    • Sources used (if you want to explore more):

    • Story for the Butterfly Lovers
    • The Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto (1959) by Ying Zhang
    • The Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto by Zhanhao He and Gang Chen
    • Program notes from the New York Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony
      • ...more
      View all episodesView all episodes
      Download on the App Store
      Musical NotesBy Musical Notes