(b Hejiashan village, Zhuji, Zhejiang province, 29 Aug 1933). Chinese composer. A member of the accompanying ensemble of a traditional Zhejiang yueju opera troupe as a teenager, he learnt to imitate erhu technique on the violin. In 1957 he went to the Shanghai Conservatory, studying composition, with Ding Shande, and the violin. In 1958 he set up a team to research the employment of folk techniques on the violin, and this project fed into his composition, with his colleague Chen Gang, of the violin concerto Liang Shanbo yu Zhu Yingtai (1959). Graduating in 1964, he joined the composition department of the Shanghai Conservatory. His music embraces a wide range of historical and traditional themes from both Chinese and Western sources. Combining Western with Chinese instruments in many innovative ways, he has also written for separate ensembles of each. He aims for lyricism and expressive appeal in his music.
(selective list)
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Dramatic: Kongque dongnan fei [The Peacock Flies South-East] (trad. Zhejiang op), 1980–89; film scores |
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Inst: Liang Shanbo yu Zhu Yingtai (The Butterfly Lovers), vn conc., 1959, collab. Chen Gang; Lieshi riji [Diary of a Martyr], str qt, 1960; Longhua ta [Longhua Pagoda], sym. poem, 1981; Kongque dongnan fei, konghou, orch, 1984, arr. zheng, orch, 1990; Mo Chou nü [Lady Mo Chou], fantasy, erhu, orch, 1988; Luanshi qinglü [Lovers in Wartime], erhu, orch, 1988 |
JONATHAN P.J. STOCK