Liu Tianhua was born in Jiangsu Province, China on February 4, 1895. At an early age he played various brass instruments. In 1915, Liu bought an erhu at a local market and began to practice traditional erhu music and soon began to compose for the instrument. In 1918, Liu started to write his famous piece, “Moonlit Night.” He moved to Beijing to teach music at the University of Beijing in 1922. A year later. he bought a violin and started to learn western musical theory. “Moonlit Night” was completed and performed publicly for the first time in 1924. By 1927, Liu became editor of a music magazine. In 1928, he completed one of his most celebrated pieces, “Night Song.” In 1931, his music was recorded for the first time. In 1932, Liu composed “The Flickering of the Candle Flame.” On June 8th of that year he died of scarlet fever.
