Yu Xunfa Explained

Yu Xunfa
Birth Date:	8 January 1946
Birth Place:	Shanghai
Death Place:	Shanghai
Instrument:	dizi, koudi
Genre:	world music
Label:	China Record Corporation

Yu Xun-fa (俞遜發) (January 8, 1946 – January 21, 2006), was a Chinese flute player who invented the wind-instrument known as the koudi.^[1] Born in Shanghai, he popularized the art of the flute in Chinese culture during the 1970s.^[2]

Biography

In elementary school, Yu studied Chinese flute. He participated in the Shanghai "Red Children" Troupe in 1958, and studied under dizi performer Lu Chunling as a disciple.

In 1971, Yu invented koudi - a small flute made from bamboo. During the 1970s he was most active; touring parts of Europe, Canada,^[3] and Asia. He died January 21, 2006, due to liver cancer.

Discography

• Zhu: Symphonic Fantasia - In Memory of Martyrs for Truth; Sketches in the Mountains of Guizhou; Symphony No. 4 (1995)
• Lake View on a Moonlit Autumn Night (1996)
• MASTERPIECES on Chinese Wind Instruments: A Visit to Suzhou (2004)
• Master of Chinese Traditional Music: Di Flute Perform Fish Xunfa (2005)
• Song Of Plum Blossom (2006)

Compilations

• Treasure of Traditional Music Vol. 3 (1997)
• Anthology Of Chinese Traditional and Folk Music: DIZI Vol. 5 (1994)

Notes and References

1. Hu. Liang. The Scale of Koudi. Instrument. 2004. 7. 78–80.
2. Web site: Welcome to music. CCNT.com.cn. 29 March 2014.
3. Lau. Frederick. Forever Red: The Invention of Solo dizi Music in Post-1949 China. British Journal of Ethnomusicology. 1996 . 5. 123. 3060869. British Forum for Ethnomusicology. 10.1080/09681229608567250 .