Rush hour violin

On warmer nights, a man stands outside of the east gate of my university and plays an old violin plugged into a little battery-powered amp. He cranks the reverb all the way up, and the overall effect is eerily disarming. This particular piece is “Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yintai,” a 1958 composition based on an ancient legend. A violin, a Chinese song, a low-grade amp -- add the sounds of rush hour traffic, and I think we’ve got a pretty good sonic metaphor for contemporary China. Click the heading to listen.