Chen Gang, one of the composers of the well-known violin concerto 'The Butterfly Lovers' and a famous Chinese composer and professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, passed away due to illness in Shanghai in the early morning of the 18th, at the age of 91.
According to The Paper, from a young age Chen Gang studied music with his father, Chen Gexin, and at the age of 10 began studying piano with Hungarian pianist Vale. After entering the composition department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, he studied under Ding Shande, Sang Tong, and Soviet music experts, and stayed on to teach after graduating.
The widely circulated Chinese symphonic work 'The Butterfly Lovers' was written by Chen Gang in his senior year of college in collaboration with He Zhanhao.
In a 2021 interview with 'Chinese Literary and Art Criticism,' Chen Gang spoke of creating 'The Butterfly Lovers' during his student days, saying that 'The Butterfly Lovers' was a "coming-of-age" work from his student days in the 1950s. It indeed became a classic, a product of that special time and creative environment, and he hasn't changed a single note since it was completed.
During the 1970s, Chen Gang composed violin solos including 'Morning in the Miao Mountains', 'The Golden Furnace', 'Sunshine Over Tashkurgan', and 'Gratitude', and in the 1980s he composed the violin concerto 'Wang Zhaojun'. These pieces have successively become renowned works of Chinese violin literature and are still frequently performed today.
In addition, he also composed China's first harp concerto and its first oboe concerto, as well as symphonic poems, grand choruses, and chamber ensembles. His works are known for skillfully blending rich national flavor with abundant contemporary compositional techniques.