Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
How does a classical composer come to Chinese music? Aaron Avshalomov was already building bridges between traditional Chinese music and European classical music in the 1930s. “Hutongs of Peking” (original title: Peiping Hutungs) is one of the Russian composer's best-known works. The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Yu Long, performed this symphonic poem at the Congress Center in Lucerne in 2017.
Life pulsated in the alleys and streets (northern Chinese: hutungs) with their many shops in old Beijing (Peiping). From dawn to sunset, Russian composer Aaron Avshalomov leads the audience through the alleys and streets of Beijing: the first sounds of the still sleeping city, later the hustle and bustle in the streets, and in between the silence when entering a temple.
Avshalomov described precisely how “Hutongs of Peking” (composed in 1931) should sound in his score: “There is a ringing stillness in the hutungs... The early morning barber, twanging his large tuning fork, announces his presence.” Or towards the end: "As if finally to crown the scene, there comes the thunderous blare of trumpets. Wich tragically announce a funeral procession."
Aaron Avshalomov (1894 to 1965) also incorporated melodies from Peking operas, which had fascinated him since childhood. At that time, he lived with his parents in Khabarovsk, Siberia, near the Russian-Chinese border. He later began classical music training in Switzerland, but had to end his studies after only one semester due to World War I. He fled to the USA and from there to China.
After the October Revolution in 1917, he was unable to return to his Russian homeland for political reasons. He remained in Beijing for several years, studied Chinese music, and lived in the US for a time in the 1920s. In 1929, he returned to Shanghai. He initially earned his living in the book trade and later taught at the music conservatory.
In his compositions, Avshalomov experimented with Chinese sounds for a Western sound apparatus. The orchestral instruments imitate Chinese instruments. For “Hutongs of Peking” and other works, however, he also used Chinese instruments such as Chinese drums, single Chinese cymbals, gongs, and wooden blocks as percussion instruments, as used in temples (Chinese Temple Wood Block).
In the mid-1940s, Aaron Avshalomov conducted the Municipal Orchestra in Shanghai, the predecessor of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. After World War II, he moved to the United States in 1947. He died in New York City in 1965.
The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra is China's oldest symphony orchestra. It was founded in 1879 as a small group of musicians and grew into a city orchestra that was renamed several times after the founding of the People's Republic of China. In 1956, it was officially named the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO).
Yu Long has been music director of the SSO since 2009. He studied at the Berlin University of the Arts, among other places. He, too, wants to overcome the barriers between different cultures. In 2014, he founded the Shanghai Orchestra Academy, China's first postgraduate training program for orchestra musicians, together with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the New York Philharmonic. The New York Times named him one of the “most influential figures in China's classical music scene.” In June 2018, Yu Long became the first Chinese conductor to sign an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft.
© 2015 Accentus Music
Watch more great pieces in your personal concert hall: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_SdnzPd3eBV5A14dyRWy1KSkwcG8LEey
Subscribe to DW Classical Music: youtube.com/dwclassicalmusic
#chinesemusic #avshalomov #Beijing
How does a classical composer come to Chinese music? Aaron Avshalomov was already building bridges between traditional Chinese music and European classical music in the 1930s. “Hutongs of Peking” (original title: Peiping Hutungs) is one of the Russian composer's best-known works. The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Yu Long, performed this symphonic poem at the Congress Center in Lucerne in 2017.
Life pulsated in the alleys and streets (northern Chinese: hutungs) with their many shops in old Beijing (Peiping). From dawn to sunset, Russian composer Aaron Avshalomov leads the audience through the alleys and streets of Beijing: the first sounds of the still sleeping city, later the hustle and bustle in the streets, and in between the silence when entering a temple.
Avshalomov described precisely how “Hutongs of Peking” (composed in 1931) should sound in his score: “There is a ringing stillness in the hutungs... The early morning barber, twanging his large tuning fork, announces his presence.” Or towards the end: "As if finally to crown the scene, there comes the thunderous blare of trumpets. Wich tragically announce a funeral procession."
Aaron Avshalomov (1894 to 1965) also incorporated melodies from Peking operas, which had fascinated him since childhood. At that time, he lived with his parents in Khabarovsk, Siberia, near the Russian-Chinese border. He later began classical music training in Switzerland, but had to end his studies after only one semester due to World War I. He fled to the USA and from there to China.
After the October Revolution in 1917, he was unable to return to his Russian homeland for political reasons. He remained in Beijing for several years, studied Chinese music, and lived in the US for a time in the 1920s. In 1929, he returned to Shanghai. He initially earned his living in the book trade and later taught at the music conservatory.
In his compositions, Avshalomov experimented with Chinese sounds for a Western sound apparatus. The orchestral instruments imitate Chinese instruments. For “Hutongs of Peking” and other works, however, he also used Chinese instruments such as Chinese drums, single Chinese cymbals, gongs, and wooden blocks as percussion instruments, as used in temples (Chinese Temple Wood Block).
In the mid-1940s, Aaron Avshalomov conducted the Municipal Orchestra in Shanghai, the predecessor of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. After World War II, he moved to the United States in 1947. He died in New York City in 1965.
The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra is China's oldest symphony orchestra. It was founded in 1879 as a small group of musicians and grew into a city orchestra that was renamed several times after the founding of the People's Republic of China. In 1956, it was officially named the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO).
Yu Long has been music director of the SSO since 2009. He studied at the Berlin University of the Arts, among other places. He, too, wants to overcome the barriers between different cultures. In 2014, he founded the Shanghai Orchestra Academy, China's first postgraduate training program for orchestra musicians, together with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the New York Philharmonic. The New York Times named him one of the “most influential figures in China's classical music scene.” In June 2018, Yu Long became the first Chinese conductor to sign an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft.
© 2015 Accentus Music
Watch more great pieces in your personal concert hall: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_SdnzPd3eBV5A14dyRWy1KSkwcG8LEey
Subscribe to DW Classical Music: youtube.com/dwclassicalmusic
#chinesemusic #avshalomov #Beijing
