This song is by Zhou Xuan. She was a very famous Chinese singer and film star in the 1930s-1940s. By the 1940s people started to nickname her “Golden Voice”. The song I chose was “The Wandering Songstress” which was released in the year 1940. Just like a lot of my song shares, I chose this song because of the artist behind it. Zhou Xuan did not necessarily live a happy life. She was born in Changzhou, China to a very poor family, by the age of three her uncle sold her to a new family. Then again later on she was given to a new family again. She started her career around the age of 14 and very quickly gained fame. She married a composer, Yan Hua, however, that did not work out and they were divorced after about 3 years. She eventually had two sons, Zhou Min and Zhou Wei. The eldest son’s father was unknown and the young son’s father was an art designer. She spent most of her life searching for her biological parents but never found them. Not long after Zhou Min was born Zhou Xuan was admitted into a mental hospital due to nervous breakdowns. She died in the mental hospital before the age of 40 due to inflammation in the brain. I wanted to share her story and this song because even though she had so much heartbreak in her life she never stopped singing and trying to enjoy life.

The instruments in this song are the same as some of the ones we have been listening to in class. Listening you can definitely hear some type of slapstick. The erhu has the very distinct sound of a fiddle that can be heard very consistently throughout the song. You can also hear another string instrument in the piece, it has more of the sound of the Pipa, however, it could be the Yang Qin but the playing sounds more plucked than drummed. The final instrument is the singer, Zhou Xuan, she has a very forward placement which is normal to hear in this region. The song also sounds like it is in the scale that is most common to us in America. The song also sounded notated which is slightly different from the freestyle and improvised styles we have become accustomed to hearing. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vowUNSQDH6Y&list=OLAK5uy_lQYgxEuiVWY6X8egEOjS50h_AIrFzlmPo