The Zhonghu Tradition

A fifth below the erhu, the zhonghu fills the alto register of the modern Chinese orchestra, much as the viola does

Related

ZhonghuErhu

Time and place

The zhonghu took its present form after the 1950s. Modern Chinese orchestras in Beijing and Shanghai were laid out like Western orchestras, with erhu and gaohu on top, gehu and cello at the bottom, and a gap in the middle; the zhonghu was made for that gap.

What happened

As the orchestra expanded in the 1950s, new works needed inner parts and harmony. The erhu was too high and the gehu too low, so the zhonghu was tuned a fifth below the erhu with a larger body and a thicker tone suited to long notes and inner lines. It became a fixed section, used in chamber music and accompaniment; it has fewer solos than the erhu, but without it the middle of the orchestra thins.

Musical features

The zhonghu belongs to the erhu family, with a larger body and longer neck, two strings tuned a fifth below, usually g-d1. The tone is thick and dark, the response slower than the erhu's, suited to long bows and connected lines rather than fast display. Its technique is the erhu's: shifts, vibrato, slides and trills, with more attention to balance. In the orchestra it sits where a viola sits, filling inner voices and harmony.

What to listen for

Hear the register difference from the erhu, then how it stitches the texture together. Its long notes must stay steady, and inner lines keep their accents down. The library's Ding Ding Dang from Wenzhou, Xiu Mudan from Zhoushan and the Shanghai song about strings are a southern Zhejiang rhyme, an eastern Zhejiang tune and a song naming the strings, not zhonghu recordings.

Common misunderstandings

The zhonghu is often taken for a bass erhu, or for an ancient instrument. It is a twentieth-century orchestra instrument, designed in tuning, body size and seating for the middle register; it is not a bass, since gehu and cello hold that role. Another mistake is to think it only plays in sections: it has solos and chamber works, though fewer.

Sources

• 《中国音乐词典》编辑部编，中国音乐词典（人民音乐出版社）— 条目与年代核对，未引用
• The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., entry "China" — framework and dates checked, not quoted

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.