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Chen Gang (Chinese: 陈钢; pinyin: Chén Gāng; born 10 March 1935) is a Chinese composer best known for his work Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto. He is the son of songwriter Chen Gexin. Chen Gang started to learn piano and composition from his father and music teachers from a young age.
From 1955 to 1959, Chen Gang was a student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, studying composition. In 1959, Chen Gang, together with another student, He Zhanhao, composed the violin concerto Butterfly Lovers. He Zhanhao (何占豪) was born 1933).
The violin concerto won five Golden Record prizes as well as a Platinum Record prize. The Concerto has also achieved enormous international success. Chen is a professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
The concerto is in one movement, but is broken into seven distinct sections. Each tells a different part of the story of the Butterfly Lovers. Some of the melodies come from the Chinese Opera of the same name or from traditional Chinese folk songs. The solo violin of the concerto is symbolic of Zhu Yingtai, the story’s protagonist, and the saxophone part is symbolic of Liang Shanbo, her lover.
I. Adagio Cantabile
A solo flute opens with a flowery melody, setting the scene of the story. A solo oboe enters with the strings in G major, after which the solo violinist enters and begins a simple melody. This melody comes from a Chinese folk song of the Yellow River (Huanghe), and tells the story of Zhu Yingtai’s childhood. On the road to Hangzhou to commence her studies, Zhu (disguised as a man) meets Liang for the first time; a saxophone solo intertwines with the violin, bringing a new, but still melodious theme and modulating to D major. As the cello exits, the orchestral tutti plays the same melody of the solo violin, with occasional violin entrances in between. As the first buds of love begin to blossom, a short violin cadenza using mostly the G-pentatonic scale expresses Zhu’s joy of her and Liang’s oath of fraternity.
II. Allegro
The orchestra begins the next section, the violin entering with a fast and jovial melody, representing Zhu and Liang’s busy three years of school. Many examples of violin technique are represented, namely spiccato, fast playing over a wide range of notes, in a standard display of difficulty for a violin concerto.
III. Adagio assai doloroso
As the end of their schooling draws near, Liang and Zhu grow sad as they realize that their time together is nearly over. Zhu invites Liang to visit her family and to court her sister. He doesn’t know that Zhu is really inviting him to marry her. Liang promises to see Zhu again, but Liang waits before doing so.
IV. Pesante – Piu mosso – Duramente
When Zhu returns home, she finds that her father has promised her to the son of a rich family. The solo violin struggles against the forces of the orchestra, representing her protests against her father.
V. Lagrimoso
When Liang arrives, he sees Zhu and realizes that she is a woman, and they fall in love. The solo violin and saxophone solo play an emotional duet, one of the most famous and powerful sections of the work.
VI. Presto resoluto
The love duet between the two is replaced by anger as Liang learns that in his absence, Zhu has been betrothed to another. The solo violin launches into a brilliant and difficult passage, supported by chords from the orchestra, but eventually returns to the original melody representing love, accompanied again by the cello solo. Liang becomes sick and dies as the duet draws to a close. Another virtuosic section for the solo and orchestra combines both the slow melodies and the fast energetic passages introduced before. The section ends with the suicide of Zhu as the solo violin ends with an abrupt high note.
VII. Adagio cantabile
The lovers’ parts are united by a final section, with the solo violin and the orchestra redeveloping the opening theme to build to a triumphant climax. The concerto ends bittersweetly with a final melodic phrase from the solo violin, concluding mysteriously on a high D from the clarinets. In the legend, Liang’s grave opens and Zhu throws herself into the chasm; the ending portraying the lovers’ transformation into butterflies, never to be separated again.
陳鋼（1935年3月10日出生）是一位中國作曲家，以其作品《梁祝》小提琴協奏曲而聞名。他是作曲家陳格新的兒子。陳鋼自幼跟隨父親和音樂老師學習鋼琴和作曲。
1955年至1959年，陳鋼就讀上海音樂學院，主修作曲。 1959年，陳鋼與另一位學生何佔豪（1933年出生）共同創作了小提琴協奏曲《梁祝》。
這首小提琴協奏曲榮獲五項金唱片獎和一項白金唱片獎，並在國際上也取得了巨大的成功。陳鋼目前在上海音樂學院任教。
這首協奏曲為單樂章，但分為七個不同的部分，分別講述了梁祝故事的不同片段。部分旋律取自同名中國戲曲或中國傳統民謠。協奏曲中的小提琴獨奏象徵著故事的主角朱英台，而薩克斯風獨奏則象徵著她的愛人梁山伯。
I. 柔板如歌
長笛獨奏以一段優美的旋律開場，為故事揭開序幕。隨後，雙簧管獨奏與弦樂以G大調加入，之後小提琴獨奏響起一段簡潔的旋律。這段旋律取自黃河民歌，講述了朱英台的童年故事。在前往杭州求學的途中，朱英台（女扮男裝）與梁山伯初次相遇；薩克斯風獨奏與小提琴交織，帶來一段新的旋律，並轉調至D大調。大提琴退場後，樂團齊奏，奏出與獨奏小提琴相同的旋律，間或穿插小提琴的加入。隨著愛情的萌芽，一段主要運用G大調五音音階的小提琴華彩，表達了朱對她和梁結為兄弟的喜悅之情。
第二樂章：快板
樂團開始演奏下一部分，小提琴以一段快速歡快的旋律進入，象徵著朱和梁忙碌的三年求學生活。樂章中展現了許多小提琴技巧，例如跳弓、快速演奏寬廣的音域，這些都是小提琴協奏曲中常見的難度。
第三樂章：極度悲傷的柔板
隨著學業的臨近尾聲，樑和朱意識到他們相聚的時光即將結束，不禁感到傷感。朱邀請梁到她家作客，並向她姊姊求婚。梁並不知道，朱的真正目的是向他求婚。梁答應會再見朱，但他遲遲沒有行動。
IV. 慢板 – 稍快 – 持續
朱回到家後，發現父親已經把她許配給了富家子弟。小提琴獨奏與樂團的演奏聲勢交織，象徵她對父親的抗爭。
V. 悲傷的
梁回來後，看到朱，意識到她是個女人，兩人墜入愛河。小提琴與薩克斯風獨奏奏出充滿情感的二重奏，這是作品中最著名、最震撼人心的樂章之一。
VI. 急板
梁得知朱在離開期間已被許配他人，兩人之間的愛情二重唱被憤怒所取代。小提琴獨奏奏出一段華麗而高難度的樂段，樂團的和弦為其伴奏，但最終又回到最初代表愛情的旋律，大提琴獨奏再次為其伴奏。二重奏臨近尾聲時，梁病倒身亡。另一段精彩的獨奏與樂團演奏，融合了先前出現的舒緩旋律和快速激昂的樂段。樂段以朱自盡告終，獨奏小提琴以一個突兀的高音結束。
第七樂章：如歌的柔板
戀人的樂章在最後的樂段中交織在一起，獨奏小提琴與樂隊重新發展了開頭的主題，最終達到凱旋般的高潮。協奏曲以獨奏小提琴的最後一首旋律樂句結束，略帶苦澀，最後以單簧管神秘的高音D收尾。傳說中，樑的墳墓裂開，朱縱身躍入深淵；結尾描繪了戀人化為蝴蝶，永不分離的景象。