Hardy Mertens: The Butterfly Lovers (2008) - Northern Iowa Wind Symphony, Ronald Johnson conductor

"The Butterfly Lovers" (2008) by Hardy Mertens (Netherlands, b. 1960).

Performed by the Northern Iowa Wind Symphony featuring Elizabeth Anderson, violin, with Dr. Ronald Johnson, Conductor, on April 18, 2016 in the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. Recorded with permission.

ELIZABETH ANDERSON is currently pursuing a B.M. in Instrumental Music Education at the University of Northern Iowa. She studied violin with Professor Frederick Halgedahl prior to his retirement, and currently studies with Dr. Ross Winter. During her time at UNI, Elizabeth has participated in several chamber groups, student composer concerts, student recitals, the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra, Waterloo Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, and jazz combos. In her free time, Elizabeth loves to dance; she co-founded and directed the student organization UNI Ballroom/Swing, and is currently Vice President of USA Dance Cedar Valley, Chapter 2033.
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THE BUTTERFLY LOVERS

"The Butterfly Lovers" is a Chinese legend, telling the love story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. Often, the story is referred to as the Chinese "Romeo and Juliet." The story is set in ancient China. Zhu Yingtai is the daughter of a wealthy family, and wishes to attend school. As girls were not allowed to attend school at that time, she had to disguise herself as a boy in order to obtain a higher education. On the way to school, she meets and makes friends with an honest and handsome boy named Liang Shanbo. The two of them develop a deep friendship and spend the next few years in school together with a lot of joy.

One day, Yingtai receives a letter from home, asking her to return. Shanbo, being a loyal friend, joins his friend on the journey home. Although Yingtai is suggesting in many ways that she is a girl, and that she has fallen in love with him . . .Shanbo is still totally convinced that Yingtai is a boy. Before leaving, Yingtai tells Shanbo about her younger sister, and persuades him to ask her parents for her hand in marriage. Yingtai does not actually have a younger sister . . . in this way, she is offering herself to Shanbo.

Upon arrival at her home, Yingtai learns that her parents have arranged for her to marry the son of a rich merchant. In that time, it was common practice that marriages were arranged by the parents and, under Confucianism, children were obliged to obey their parents at all times. Yingtai has no other possibility but to accept her parent’s decision. When Shanbo arrives at the house of Yingtai’s parents, he is ecstatic to discover her true identity . . . sadly, he has arrived too late. In the village, Shanbo and Yingtai meet at the local Pagoda. This will be the first . . . and last . . . time they meet in their true appearances. Under the Doctrines of Confucianism, the two lovers must and would be separated. Shanbo is heartbroken, and falls ill . . . he dies soon after.

On her wedding day, Yingtai passes the grave of Shanbo. Standing in front of the grave, she hears the sound of roaring thunder from above. A bolt of lightning strikes the tomb; the grave opens, and Yingtai jumps in, committing suicide. As Yingtai disappears, a second bolt of lightning strikes the grave. The people of the wedding party only see a pair of butterflies appearing from the grave. Yingtai and Shanbo, freed from their restrictions of tradition, are reborn as butterflies . . . never to be separated again.

“The butterfly represents transformation.
In ancient Greek, the word for butterfly is 'psyche,' which translates to 'soul.'
The butterfly is a symbol for the immortal soul, and the three phases that the human soul goes through:
Life, Death, and Resurrection”