Violinist Christian Li performs Kreisler’s Tambourin Chinois

Australian-Chinese violin prodigy Christian Li performs Kreisler’s show piece Tambourin Chinois with pianist Timothy Young. The piece employs a fiery display of virtuosic bow techniques - a masterclass in upbow staccato, ricochet, yet interspersed with smooth, lyrical passages.

Composed in 1910 by Kreisler following a visit to a Chinese theatre in San Francisco, it coincided with a time when Western composers were looking to infuse their compositions with Eastern characteristics. The piece displays a veneer of Chinese style with use of the pentatonic scale, while still maintaining European musical characteristics.

Read The Strad’s review of Christian Li’s album, on which Tambourin Chinois appears, here