Photo: Wisi eu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · credits
Tier 3 · vertical & regional
Chen Gang
Person · male · People's Republic of China · Shanghai · born 1935 · died 2026 · recording since 1983
Chinese composer(1935-2026)
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Also known as Gang Chen · Chen Gang · 陈钢 · 陳鋼
Timeline
6 events▣ Album 3◦ Birth 1★ Debut release 1† Death 1
1930s
1980s
· Debut release
Debut release: The Most Famous Chinese Concertos: The Butterfly Lovers / The Yellow River
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
1990s
2020s
Biography
English biography170 words · 2 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1372071727
Biography
Chen Gang (Chinese: 陳鋼; pinyin: Chén Gāng; 10 March 1935 – 18 July 2026) was a Chinese composer best known for his work Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto. He was the son of songwriter Chen Gexin. Chen Gang started to learn piano and composition from his father and music teachers from a young age.
Life and career
From 1955 to 1959, Chen Gang was a student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, studying composition. In 1959, Chen Gang, together with another student, He Zhanhao, composed the violin concerto Butterfly Lovers.
The violin concerto won five Golden Record prizes as well as a Platinum Record prize. The Concerto has also achieved enormous international success. Chen was a professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
In his composition career, he composed and recomposed many classics in China, including Butterfly Lovers, Miaolin's Morning, and The Golden Steel Smelting Furnace. He also composed a virtuoso violin solo piece: Sunshine in Tashkurgan, which is frequently performed in China.
Chen died on 18 July 2026, at the age of 91.
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 9 | 54.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 6 | 79.7th |
| Studio albums | 4 | 82.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 6 | 80.8th |
| Recording span (years) | 16 | 37.8th |
| Genres | 4 | 84.7th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (6 release groups · 4 studio albums)
Albums · 4
Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto / Six Chinese Violin Pieces
1992 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 7 tracks · 53:52
1The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto25:412In the North West Plain6:483Pastoral4:414Joy of Spring3:015Singing the Night Among Fishing Boats5:306Romance5:057Spring in Sinkiang3:06The Butterfly Lovers / The Yellow River
1995 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 5 tracks · 49:05
1The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto27:572The Yellow River Piano Concerto: I. Prelude: The Song of the Yellow River Boatmen3:323The Yellow River Piano Concerto: II. Ode to the Yellow River4:194The Yellow River Piano Concerto: III. The Yellow River in Anger6:485The Yellow River Piano Concerto: IV. Defend the Yellow River6:29Romantic Violin Concertos: The Butterfly Lovers
1998 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 4 tracks · 1:00:44
1The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto27:532Street Musician8:013Love in Spring8:434Parting of the Newly Wedded16:07The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto
— · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 9 tracks · 56:45
1The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto25:452Beautiful Night2:233Summer Night4:224Spring Celebration2:415Moonlight on the Pond4:566Summer's Thunderstorm2:557Folk Dance Song3:338Fisherman's Song6:059Why Are the Flowers So Red4:05
Album · 2
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | The Most Famous Chinese Concertos: The Butterfly Lovers / The Yellow RiverSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 5 tracks · 48:501The Yellow River: The Song of the Yellow River Boatman3:28 2The Yellow River: Ode to the Yellow River4:21 3The Yellow River: The Yellow River in Wrath6:17 4The Yellow River: Defend the Yellow River6:12 5The Butterfly Lovers28:32 | Compilation | 1983 | |
| 1999 | “Butterfly Lovers” Violin Concerto: 40th AnniversarySearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 2 tracks · 54:511“Butterfly Lovers” Violin Concerto (Norris Theatre, May 22, 1999)25:42 2“Butterfly Lovers” Violin Concerto (San Gabriel Auditorium, May 30, 1999)29:09 | Live | 1999 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Chen Gang head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 9 | 54.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 6 | 79.7th |
| Studio albums | 4 | 82.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 6 | 80.8th |
| Recording span (years) | 16 | 37.8th |
| Genres | 4 | 84.7th |
Awards & honours
Where this record comes from
portrait—Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chen_Gang_%282018%29.pngaliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/df2ab354-ff8d-45e0-a362-9253419b7b17discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/df2ab354-ff8d-45e0-a362-9253419b7b17core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9182261seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Gang_%28composer%29biography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Gang_%28composer%29
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: Wisi eu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q9182261 · MusicBrainz: df2ab354-ff8d-45e0-a362-9253419b7b17