The Chinese composer Chen Gang, known for co-composing the seminal Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, has died. He was 91.

Chen Gang. Photo courtesy of Kroma Productions

Born in 1935, Chen was the son of Shanghai-born songwriter and conductor Chen Gexin, with whom he first studied music. His father, trained in Western harmony, was imprisoned and later killed at the age of 46 amongst the Chinese Communist Party’s Anti-Rightist Campaign and its rejection of popular music.

Between 1955 to 1959, Chen was a student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music; in his final year at the age of 24, Chen was selected to co-compose the Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto with fellow student He Zhanhao. Writing over six months, Chen contributed to the work’s development, while He wrote the opening theme.

The Concerto traces one of China’s most important folk legends about two ill-fated young lovers torn away from each other and reunited in death as butterflies. The work melds together both Chinese and Western influences; it uses the Erhu and Pipa, transposes traditional instrumental techniques onto the violin, and borrows melodies and expressive techniques from Chinese opera while also utilising Western harmony and form.

The...