Take a walk through any major Chinese city and chances are you will hear Western classical music being played and enjoyed, be it from a radio sat on a window sill or from a taxi, or a duet in a hotel lobby or street waltzers stepping in time to notes from a cassette player.

The Chinese adore Western classical music and go to various lengths to practice their appreciation.

But why are the works of the European maestros such as Strauss and Beethoven so popular in the country which boosts a wholly different musical style?

When did it arrive and who introduced it are just some of the enigmas answered in a new book by Sheila Melvin and Cai Jindong. Rhapsody in Red -- How Western Classical Music Became Chinese -- just released by Algora Publishing, New York -- is not a history of classical music in China, say the authors, except of the "incidental sort."

"The book is more like a series of linked sections that revolve around a common theme. Our approach is people-centered, rather than academic, with each chapter built around one or two key figures or events," says the introduction.

We learn about those who played crucial roles in the development of Western classical music in China, including Matteo Ricci (Li Madou), Mario Paci, Tan Shuzhen, Xiao Youmei, He Luting and Li Delun to name a few.

Early introduction

Western music was of course brought into China by Westerners. The book traces the story to the turn of the 17th century, when the Jesuit Matteo Ricci presented a clavichord to Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

This was probably China's first contact with Western music.

However, throughout the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, its playing was confined to the missionaries' tutoring in the imperial court and choirs set up in churches.

It was after the Opium Wars (1840-42) that its development entered a new era. As Western science and industry were studied to modernize Chinese society, Western music also became an import.

Following on from Ricci, Mario Paci played a major role of the music development after the establishment of the Republic of China (1912-1949).

Paci is described as a missionary of music -- spreading its harmonious charms.

The Shanghai Municipal Band, the first Western band in China, was founded in 1879. However, it was under Paci that it became the professional Shanghai Municipal Orchestra.

He not only enlarged the orchestra with talented musicians, but also planned regular seasons of concerts.

On November 23, 1919, Paci conducted the orchestra in its first major concert, playing Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, British composer Granville Bantock's In the Far West and Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite I.

Regular seasons continued until 1942 when the Japanese took control of Shanghai and dissolved the orchestra.

The Town Hall was the orchestra's main venue. It stood on Nanjing Road between Guangxi and Yunnan intersections, on a plot of land that now boasts a supermarket. In its heyday, the orchestra under Paci was so popular that seats were quickly sold out for every concert and crowds were refused entry. Little wonder it became know as "the best orchestra in the Far East."

However, both the musicians and audiences at that time were mostly foreigners. "It was very interesting as there were musicians from all over the world. From the Philippines, Germany, Italy, England, Netherlands and Russia," says Tan Shuzhen, a violinist who joined the orchestra in 1927 -- its first Chinese member.

His inclusion marked the internationalism of the orchestra. But paradoxically, it was closed to the greater Chinese public, existing merely as a preserve of the expat community.

Breakthrough

Another institution at this time related more to the Chinese. Founded in 1927 in Shanghai, the National Conservatory of Music produced some of the most renowned Chinese musicians such as composer He Luting, vocalist Zhou Xiaoyan and conductor Li Delun.

Under the direction of the great music scholar Xiao Youmei, the conservatory provided the Chinese people with an opportunity to study Western classical music for the first time.

However, Xiao Youmei did not want to abandon Chinese music. "He wished to reform and revitalize it by creating a new form of national music which would combine Chinese melodies with Western forms in order to represent the modern Chinese spirit, thinking and emotions," say the authors.

When a 25-person orchestra was formed at the conservatory, Xiao had three goals for the ensemble -- to play more Chinese compositions, to systematically and purposefully build up a repertoire and to prepare all program notes in Chinese.

However, under the wartime conditions, the conservatory had to move several times, and Xiao died of tuberculosis in 1940, without realizing many of his plans.

To create China's national music was, and remains a Chinese musician's dream. The process is difficult, not only because of its own complexity, but also because of the influence of politics.

The second half of Rhapsody in Red deals more with the political and social situations after the establishment of People's Republic of China in 1949.

The "cultural revolution" (1966-76) was a nightmare not only for Western classical music, but for the nation's culture as a whole.

During this time, there was little music for the people to listen to except the model modern Peking Operas and revolutionary songs.

This era is emotionally portrayed through a series of personal stories of musicians like He Luting, Li Delun and Ma Sicong.

The story of Ma Sicong, former president of the Central Conservatory of Music, is especially impressive. Ma fled to the United States via Hong Kong in 1967 to escape persecution. He was regarded as a traitor. Though Ma was rehabilitated in 1985, he did not come back to his motherland before he died in the United States in 1987, leaving only his composition "Thinking of Home" to be played on in China.

If the stories in the book are often sad, the last chapter The New Era is, however, more optimistic. Western classical music in China is now enjoying a golden time, say the authors.

New generations of composers such as Tan Dun, Guo Wenjing and Qu Xiaosong are borrowing Western music forms to create new scores influenced by the Chinese music.

Melvin and Cai are a suitable pair of authors for this topic. Melvin is an American freelance writer who often writes on music-related subjects. Cai was born in Beijing and began his conducting career during the "cultural revolution." He has first-hand knowledge of many of the movements and events described in Rhapsody in Red. He is currently the director of Orchestral Studies at Stanford University.

Through interviews, bibliographical research and field investigation, the authors give a vivid account of the past and current classical music scene in China.

It is also a valuable read for anyone interested in Western classical music and its development.

As a small aside, the authors may consider making a few corrections for the next edition. Footnote number 37 explains bangzi as "a form of local opera popular in Hebei." Actually bangzi music is found throughout the northern part of China, and Hebei bangzi is just one school of the form.

The authors, however, are entirely correct to include the words of Russian composer Aaron Avshalomov, spoken in the 1930s, and which still ring true today. "The Chinese composer has in his hands one of the richest sources of native music. He has the world's most populous country to support him. The more national his product, the greater will be its international value."

(China Daily September 9, 2004)