Harbin's symphony orchestra plays tribute to Songhua River

The Harbin Symphony Orchestra made its debut at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Saturday, conducted by Tang Muhai.

With a performance of the Songhua River Suite, the concert explored the beauty of the Songhua River, which flows through Harbin, the capital of northeastern Heilongjiang province, and which is an important source of resources.

Zang Ting, who is a postdoctoral researcher at the Central Conservatory of Music and a faculty member at the Harbin Conservatory of Music, has composed a sweeping portrait of the river through rich orchestration.

Split into seven movements, the piece opened with Beside the Songhua River — Retrospect to the Past Century, in which the intertwining of strings and wind instruments was like the shimmering surface of the Songhua.

The second movement included a performance by pipa player Yu Yuanchun, who used the string instrument's sound and the soft background music to create a tranquil atmosphere that paid tribute to nature and reflected on life.

With erhu (two-stringed vertical fiddle) player Shi Haibin, the soaring intensity of the suona (double-reed horn), and the lively rhythm of the percussion echoing each other, the third movement was infused with a joyful energy in a dynamic and powerful interplay. The fourth movement was a poetic musical journey that delicately painted the beauty of a summer day.