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Work of the Week – Xian Xinghai: Yellow River
- 4 Oct 2022
Yellow River is an extraordinary piano concerto: A politically drenched piece based on the cantata with the same name by Xian Xinghai. Under the musical direction of Renchang Fu and with Haiou Zhang at the piano, the concerto is coming to Nuremberg on October 8th and in Hamburg on October 10th.
Yellow River by Xian Xinghai, the people’s composer
Xian Xinghai is one of the most famous representatives of Chinese music in the European awareness. As the first Asian student, he studied composition in Paris from 1931 to 1935 under the guidance of Paul Dukas, and it was at this time that he wrote the cantata “Huang He (Yellow River)” in response to the Second Sino-Japanese War. After the German invasion prevented Xian from travelling home, he took shelter in Kazakhstan until he died in Moscow in 1945 having suffered with severe health problems.
During the Chinese Cultural Revolution this historic piece underwent a renaissance. Due to the prohibition of western classical music, many professional musicians were rendered unemployed. In response to this, the transformation of Yellow River into a piano concerto, and thus reigniting Chinese orchestral music, was a stroke of genius. After conducting thorough interviews with war witnesses the work was arranged by Yin Chengzong, Chu Wanghua, Liu Zhuang and Sheng Lihong. Through the transformation of the instrumentation into a conventional orchestra, bar an authentic Chinese flute, this interconnection between Chinese and European aesthetics emerged. The piano concerto Yellow River is a historical document and legacy of a peculiar phase of Chinese cultural politics.
Ah, the Yellow River!
You are the cradle of the Chinese nation!
Five thousand years of ancient culture,
Originated from you;
how many heroic stories,
Play by your side!
Performances of the piano concerto Yellow River are taking place in the Meistersingerhalle, Nuremberg on October 8th and the Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg on October 10th.
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