The purpose of this investigation is to analyze the similarities in repetitive melodic structure and expressive phrasing between the pieces Erquan Yingyue by Abing (performed by Song Fei in the video below) and the violin solo from Themes from Schindler's List by John Williams (performed by Itzhak Perlman).
Erquan Yingyue (二泉映月) by Abing (阿炳)
About: Erquan Yingyue is perhaps one of the most popular and representative pieces of the musical culture of traditional Chinese folk music, often involving Chinese instruments such as the erhu. The song's title means "Moon Reflected on the Second Spring", composed by Abing in 1950 shortly before his death. After the deaths of both of his parents and a series of unfortunate life decisions, he was left blind and dying of syphilis, so he took to playing as an erhu street musician (Forney & Machlis). Abing had been trained in Daoist music by his father at a young age, so the traditional, raw aspect of his compositions were influenced by his childhood background in music as well as the harsh experiences that he had observed and endured. This song supposedly reflects Abing's idealized day dreams and troubled, melancholy fantasies as he tried to use his mystical melody to best visualize the image of the moonlight shining on the Second Spring in the Wuxi, Jiangsu region of China (Forney & Machlis). Abing was recorded playing this composition, and musicologist Yang Yinliu transcribed Abing's playing into a score (Forney & Machlis). The arrangement for this piece has been adapted through the years, and current performances of this piece may not exactly imitate Abing's original performance due to the fact that Abing frequently improvised each time he played one of his compositions.
Theme from Schindler's List-Solo Violin by John Williams
About: The song Theme from Schindler's List is the predominant piece of music that can be heard throughout the famed 1993 film, Schindler's List, which centers around a benevolent German named Oskar Schindler who saved thousands of Jewish lives during the harshest times of the Holocaust. The heart-rending and moving melody of this theme is led by a violin solo performed by Itzhak Perlman. John Williams is well-known for his movie film soundtracks, and the Theme from Schindler's List certainly upholds his reputation. Theme from Schindler's List is a prime example of the musical culture of 20th century contemporary western music.
While both Erquan Yingyue and Theme from Schindler's List were written in the 20th century, there is almost half a century worth of a gap between the dates of the pieces' compositions. Furthermore, Abing never ventured out of China or received any form of Western influence due to his isolated, short life as a street musician, so the musical cultures of traditional Chinese folk music and contemporary Western music do not overlap.