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Xilin Wang

Xilin Wang

Country of origin: China
Birthday: December 13, 1936

About Xilin Wang

Xilin Wang is one of the most significant composers in China, distinct for his expressive and dramatic musical language and his subversive politics. Wang was born in Kaifeng in Henan Province of China in 1936, less than a year before the start of the Sino-Japanese war. His father’s untimely death and family poverty led him to join an art troupe in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army aged 12 and in 1955 at the age of 19 he was sent to the Central Military Music Conducting School in Beijing where, for the first time, he had access to music by western composers such as Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky.

In 1957, he was admitted to the department of composing and conducting of Shanghai Conservatory of Music where he studied with Liu Zhuang, Chen Mingzhi, Ding Shande and Qu Wei. After five years of study and an increasingly complicated relationship with Chinese politics, Wang composed his Symphony No. 1 as his graduation work in 1962. This was followed by an appointment as Composer in Residence with the Beijing Central Radio Symphony Orchestra. Wang’s 1963 symphonic suite Yunnan Tone Poem was later awarded the highest prize given by the Chinese government.

In 1963, shortly before the onset of the Cultural Revolution, Wang’s expression of ardent and controversial opinions during a public lecture, in which he criticised the government’s art policies, soon led to his persecution and he was banished to Shanxi Province for 14 years. Until 1971 he worked as a labourer in a Datong labour camp facing persecution, torture and imprisonment; in the subsequent years of exile he was appointed conductor of the Southeast Shanxi Song and Dance Ensemble. During this time, Wang composed six conformist works endorsing political propaganda.

Wang returned to Beijing in 1978 following the end of the Cultural Revolution and was for the first time introduced to the music of the major Western compositional figures of the 20th century, previously banned: Schoeberg, Bartók, Stravinsky, Penderecki, among others. This had a strong influence on Wang’s compositional technique as he began to employ sequencing, minimalism and tone clusters, as well as incorporating elements of local folk music into his symphonic works. He was finally able to pursue his career in composition and did so with aid from Li Delun, conductor of the China Central Philharmonic.

In 2023 Wang Bing's documentary Man in Black, a sixty-minute sensory tribute to Xilin Wang premiered at Cannes Film Festival.

Wang’s extensive oeuvre comprises ten symphonies, numerous concertos, symphonic suites, overtures, and music for film, as well as a body of chamber and vocal works. His works have been performed throughout China and Europe.

Worklist

Chronology

1936

Born in Kaifeng in Henan Province, China; raised in Gansu

1949

Joins People's Liberation Army due to family poverty

1955

Begins studies at the Beijing Military Music Conducting School, Central Military Commission in China

1957

Studies at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music under the instruction of Liu Zhuang, Chen Mingzhi, Ding Shande and Qu Wei

1962

Composes the first movement of Symphony No. 1 as his graduation project, supervised by Qu Wei

1962

Appointed Composer in Residence with Beijing Central Radio Symphony Orchestra with the completion of the second and third movements of Symphony No. 1

1963

Premiere of Yunnan Tone Poem

1963

Faces government persecution

1964

Exiled to the Yanbei Arts Troupe in Datong City, Shanxi province

1966

Criticized publicly, tortured and imprisoned as a counter-revolutionary during the Chinese Cultural Revolution

1970

Released from prison as political unrest subsided

1970
Appointed conductor of the Southeast Shanxi Song and Dance Ensemble.
1978
Allowed to return to Beijing following the end of the Cultural Revolution.
1978

Encounters previously banned music by prominent Western composers: Schoenberg, Bartók, Stravinsky and Penderecki among others

1979

Begins to employ serialism, minimalism and tone clusters, as well as integrating regional folk music into his works. 

1981

Yunnan Tone Poem awarded the highest prize by the Chinese Government

1981

Symphonic Suite "Musical Images of Mountain Taihang" premiered by the American Modern Ensemble and live broadcast by VOA

1983

Composes music for the film Boat People, considered an important milestone in the development of Chinese cinema

1986

Composes music for the film The Last Day of Winter, widely regarded as a classic in Chinese cinema

1988

Yunnan Tone Poem tours Europe with the China Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra

1990

Composes Symphony No. 3

1993

Composes music for the film Forging Swords (Casting Swords) including a recording of Xilin Wang singing one of his songs

 

1994

Visits the USA and participates in the Festival of Music by Contemporary Chinese Composers at SUNY Buffalo aided by the Asian Cultural Council of the Rockefeller Foundation. Delivers lectures at 8 universities including Yale University and the University of Cincinnati

1996

Composes Symphonic Murals "Legends of the Sea"

1999
Appointed Composer in Residence with Beijing Symphony Orchestra.
2000

Premiere of Spring Rain, awarded the highest prize in the China National Art Songs Competition

2000

A political statement during a dress rehearsal causes the Chinese Government to cancel a portrait concert

2001

Premiere of Symphony No. 4 in Taipei and Taichung by the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra conducted by Chen Chengxion

2001

Composes Symphony No. 5

2004

Symphonic Murals "Legends of the Sea" awarded China 10th National Music Competition Symphonic Music Prize

2004

Premiere of Symphony No. 6, commissioned by Beijing Symphony Orchestra to celebrate the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics

2006

Concert celebrating 50th anniversary of Xilin Wang's composing career with Symphony No. 5Violin Concerto and Symphony No. 4

2007

Premiere of Symphony No. 7 completed and premiered at the celebration concert for the 80th anniversary of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music

2009

Premieres of Symphony No. 8 in Shanghai, Tianjin and Berin

2010

Premiere of Concerto for Piano and Orchestra at the 10th Switzerland Culturescapes International Arts Festival in Zurich

2012

Symphony No. 8 awarded China 16th National Music Competition Symphonic Music Prize

2014

Schott Music begins to publish the works of Xilin Wang

2015

Premiere of Symphony No. 9 "China Requiem" on China's National Public Memorial Day

2015

Premiere of Symphony No. 10

2017

Recording of Symphonic Suite "Murals of the Yellow River" wins Best Classical Original Album Award from the China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association

2018

Relocates from China to Germany

2020

Finalises Symphony No. 2, begun in 1979

2021

German premiere of Symphony No. 5

2022

Composes Concerto for Violoncello and Strings

2023

Documentary Man in Black, a 56 minute film about Xilin Wang directed by Wang Bing, chosen for the Special Screenings at the 76th Festival de Cannes

2023

Completed the opera Casting Swords which has been in preparation for over 30 years

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