Xian Xinghai is an accomplished composer in the history of modern music in China. Together with Nie Er's film music, he constructed the framework of China's film music. He wrote music that shocked Chinese and foreign music circles with surging passion and distinctive national characteristics. He is a musician loved by the people, and also the pioneer of China's film music pioneering history.
In his short life, Xian Xinghai wrote and lived for about 10 years. * * * He has composed hundreds of songs (currently more than 250), 4 choruses, 65,438+0 operas, 2 symphonies, 4 orchestral suites, 65,438+0 rhapsody, and many solo and ensemble works of violin, piano and other instrumental music.
Among Xian Xinghai's creations, the most numerous and influential are all kinds of pop songs. Among them, China people's anti-Japanese struggle, national salvation songs, youth marches, defending Lugou Bridge, going behind enemy lines, etc. There are Taihang Mountain, Guerrilla and Counter-offensive, which show the magnificent battle scenes of the people's war and combine lyricism with agitation or descriptive with generality. There are "Top Difficult", "Plough Song", "Shifu Song" and "We Open the Road", which show the working life of workers and peasants and are written in a specific labor tone and rhythm. There are also "I'm afraid I won't resist", "Children of the Motherland" and "Women's Day Songs written for women and children in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression" and so on. In these mass songs, Xian Xinghai created musical images with different personality characteristics according to different contents, or expressed passionate and generous feelings and majestic momentum with an impactful rhythm and a tall and angular melody; Or embody the rich inner world of the revolutionary people with broad melody, slow and calm rhythm and lyrical tone.
The Yellow River Cantata is the most important and influential representative work of Xian Xinghai. /kloc-0 was made in March, 1939, and was rearranged and processed in the Soviet Union in June, 1994/kloc-0. With the Yellow River as the background, this work by the poet Guang Weiran enthusiastically eulogizes the glorious history of the Chinese nation and the indomitable fighting spirit of the people of China, bitterly accuses the invaders of their cruelty and the people's deep disasters, widely displays the magnificent picture of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, sends out a battle alarm for national liberation to China and the whole world, and shapes the heroic image of the giant of the Chinese nation.
Lyric solo songs play an important role in Xian Xinghai's song creation, and most of them are interludes for stage plays and movies. These works reflect the experiences and inner feelings of specific people in real life from different aspects, or pour out their love for the motherland and the people, or express their feelings of longing for battle. For example, "Singing at Midnight" and "Don't mention it" are full of passion and fantasy, singing the painful feelings and battle cry after being persecuted by feudal forces and losing the country; "Hot Blood" and "Love in the Yellow River" are both generous elegies, expressing the strong will to fight for freedom and the confidence to win; Making cotton-padded clothes, marching in the south of the Yangtze River and hypnosis in wartime. Express the patriotic feelings of women in the Anti-Japanese War with beautiful, cordial, simple and fresh folk tones.
In order to express the broad real life and make songs more national, Xian Xinghai also explored and created some song styles with the characteristics of the new era. Among them, there are songs that organically combine different expressive features of lyricism and militancy, such as "On Taihang Mountain" and "Song of March 8 Women's Day"; An Acura "Praise for New China"; There are also narrative songs that combine folk rap music with combative mass songs, such as Liang Hongyu and Down with Wang Jingwei. He is very good at exploring the rhythmic beauty of lyrics language and giving it musical play on the premise of expressing the theme image. He is also very good at using various forms of singing, such as solo, chorus, lead singer, chorus and rap. Especially in the form of round singing and two-part chorus, it had innovative significance and extensive influence in the anti-Japanese war singing at that time. In addition, during his visit to the Soviet Union, he mainly used China's classical poems to create artistic songs, and also made achievements in exploring new genres and national styles.
Another important contribution of Xian Xinghai to music creation is the creation of a chorus with national characteristics, which expresses the revolutionary struggle of our people. The four choruses are the same in the realism of theme and content, the nationalization and popularization of expression techniques, but they are treated differently according to different themes and contents, which makes each work have different characteristics. The production chorus, composed in March of 1939, combines singing, dancing and drama performances, and shows the productive labor and anti-Japanese life of the people in the liberated areas through four scenes: spring ploughing, sowing for war, autumn harvest assault and bumper harvest. Music has a folk flavor, and the chorus is rough and simple. Among them, "February Comes" and "September 18th Chorus" created to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the September 18th Incident are narrative choral works with the formal structure of symphony and Rondo. The whole song runs through and appears repeatedly with a musical theme with dance characteristics and a long and deep sub-theme, which is interspersed with many paragraphs with different personalities, showing the people's review of the course of the Anti-Japanese War when celebrating their victory and inspiring their determination to carry it through to the end. Among them, the female solo and chorus passage "Midnight Song of September 18th" uses the plate variation technique in traditional Chinese opera and rap music, which has dramatic effect. The band accompaniment of "September 18th Chorus" and "Production Chorus" is very distinctive in the application of national percussion instruments and the rhythm of China music style. "Ximeng Choir" was created in March 1940. It is a mass song choir for the anti-Japanese death squads who sacrificed the National Salvation Corps in Shanxi Province. It includes six paragraphs, including chorus, solo, rotation and chorus, and has a distinctive local color.
The most representative works.
This work was created in 1939, with the Yellow River as the background. It warmly praised the Chinese nation's perseverance, strong will and spirit of struggle to overcome any difficulties and obstacles, as well as its long cultural history. It highlights the noble character of China people who are hardworking, simple, love freedom and broad-minded, angrily accuses people on both sides of the Yellow River of the profound disasters caused by enemy invasion, and finally plays the song of China people with passionate melody. From beginning to end, the whole work inspires people to fight for truth and justice with gripping artistic appeal, and is full of confidence in the future and victory. The Yellow River Cantata is an excellent work that reflects the struggle of China people for national liberation, national independence, democracy and freedom, and also has high artistic achievements and originality.
After the performance of the Yellow River Chorus, it caused a sensation throughout Yan 'an. 1939, 1 1 In May, Mao Zedong watched the performance personally conducted by Xian Xinghai at the party celebrating the first anniversary of the founding of Luxun Art School, and repeatedly praised it. In July of the same year, Zhou Enlai also watched The Yellow River Cantata's performance and wrote an inscription for Xian Xinghai: "Roar for the War of Resistance! Speak for the public! " Guo Moruo wrote in the preface of The Yellow River Cantata: "The Yellow River Cantata is the most successful new song produced during the Anti-Japanese War. The majestic and changeable syllables make the original emotional sentences, like the waves in the storm, shocking people. "
The appearance of The Yellow River Cantata greatly encouraged the anti-Japanese national liberation struggle.
ancestors
1940 12, Xian Xinghai came to the Soviet union, it was the last five years of his life. During this period, he was able to concentrate on further revising several large-scale works and finally finishing them. 194 1 In June, the "Soviet-German War" that shocked the world broke out. Years of war, drift from place to place, no life, coupled with the lack of medical care, Xian Xinghai, who was originally weak and sick, was not treated in time, and his life was dying. At the beginning of 1945, the Soviet authorities sent him to the Kremlin hospital in Moscow for treatment. As soon as he was admitted to the hospital, Xian Xinghai began to compose the orchestral Rhapsody of China. However, the disease is merciless. 19451On October 30th, he died in the Kremlin Hospital at the age of 40. In the same year165438+1October 14, Yan 'an held a grand memorial service for Xian Xinghai, and President Mao Zedong wrote an inscription: "Mourning the people's musician Comrade Xian Xinghai".