Kotone

高胡

China

High-pitched fiddle

Gāohú (高胡) is a high-pitched Chinese bowed fiddle of the huqin family, developed from the erhu in the 1920s. It is the leading instrument of Cantonese music and Cantonese opera ensembles.

  1. 布魯克林中國音樂節目Chinese program, Brooklyn Folk Arts seriesTien-juo Wang (gaohu), Wu Man (pipa), Yang Yi (zheng), percussion ensemble · Gāohú, Pípá, Gǔzhēng, Luógǔ24:42
  2. 連環扣Lián huán kòu — Interlocking RingsZhang Peijian (張沛堅) · Gāohú3:45
  3. 雨打芭蕉Yǔ dǎ bājiāo — Rain on the Banana LeavesZhang Peijian (張沛堅) · Gāohú4:15
  4. 胡琴四重奏（一）Húqín sìchóngzòu — Huqin Quartet, part 1Members of Hulala · Gāohú, Èrhú6:02
  5. 胡琴四重奏（二）Húqín sìchóngzòu — Huqin Quartet, part 2Members of Hulala · Gāohú, Èrhú2:42

Liner notes

The name means "high-pitched huqin", and the instrument is also called yuehu.

The instrument

The gaohu is built like the erhu, with two strings and a python-skin face, but its soundbox is a little smaller and usually round. It is tuned a fourth higher than the erhu, and its tone is brighter and lighter. The small body also makes it fairly quiet.

What sets it apart in performance is the way it is held. Most huqin rest on the player's left thigh, but the gaohu has traditionally been gripped between the knees. In the modern Chinese orchestra it is often played on the leg, like the erhu, and sits in the string section alongside the erhu and zhonghu.

A short history

The gaohu is credited to Lü Wencheng (1898–1981), musician and composer, who developed it in the 1920s. Before then the leading bowed instrument of Cantonese ensembles was the erxian. Musicians came to distinguish two kinds of band: those led by the erxian were called yinggong, "hard bow", and those led by the gaohu, with its thinner and more flexible bow, ruangong, "soft bow".

The rise of the gaohu belongs to the same years that gave Cantonese instrumental music its name. In the 1920s and 1930s the music was popular in Shanghai ballrooms, and Shanghai listeners called it Guangdong music because most of its players came from Guangdong. Pieces drew on Cantonese opera tunes as well as new compositions, and some borrowed syncopation and Western instruments. By the 1960s it had settled into a string ensemble led by the gaohu. Lü Wencheng also wrote several of its standard pieces, among them Bu bu gao and Ping hu qiu yue (Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake).

Start with

Zhang Peijian's Rain on the Banana Leaves is a classic of the Cantonese repertoire, a piece sometimes attributed to He Liutang. His Interlocking Rings makes a good companion; both sit on the guoyue page. To hear the gaohu among other huqin, try the Huqin Quartet played by members of Hulala.

Questions

What is a gaohu?
The gaohu is a Chinese two-string bowed fiddle, a higher-pitched relative of the erhu tuned a fourth above it. It leads the ensemble in Cantonese music and Cantonese opera.
Who invented the gaohu?
The gaohu is credited to the Cantonese musician and composer Lü Wencheng (1898–1981), who developed it from the erhu in the 1920s.
How is the gaohu different from the erhu?
The gaohu has a smaller, usually round soundbox, is tuned a fourth higher, and sounds brighter and lighter. Traditionally it is held between the knees rather than resting on the thigh.