Wang Xilin
Encyclopedia
Wang Xilin is a Chinese
composer.
, Henan province and spent his childhood in Pingliang
in the Gansu Province. When he was 12 he taught himself music theory, the huqin
, accordion, brass instruments, as well as instrumentation and arranging. His first exposure to Western music was in 1955 when he began studying conducting at a music school run by the People's Liberation Army
Central Committee
. He studied theory and piano at a teachers college in Shanghai
and graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory in 1962 where he studied composition with Liu Zhuang, Ding Shande, and Qu Wei.
While still a student, Wang composed his String Quartet No. 1 (1961) and the first movement of his Symphony No. 1 (op. 2, 1962, this was his graduation work) which led to his appointment in 1963 as composer-in-residence of the Central Radio Symphony Orchestra. Later in 1963 there were political changes in China under Chairman Mao Zedong
which led to a crackdown on Western music, especially that of the 20th century. Wang gave a two-hour public speech in 1964 criticising such policies, which led to him being stripped of his position with the Central Radio Symphony Orchestra. He was banished to Shanxi Province until 1977.
From 1964 to 1978, Wang was forced to work as a laborer in Datong
, spent 6 months in a mental asylum, and was imprisoned during Cultural Revolution
. As a result of being beaten he lost a tooth as well as about 20% of his hearing.
In the late 1970s he started conducting again, working with the Southeast Shanxi Song and Dance Ensemble in Changzhi
. After the Cultural Revolution he returned to Beijing
and started to compose again. He became well known for his Yunnan Tone Poem (1963), for which he was awarded the highest prize given by the Chinese government in 1981. It has been performed in many countries. He also won the same award in 2000 for his song Spring Rain and in 2004 for Three Symphonic Frescoes - Legend of Sea.
After 1980 Wang was able to study scores of modern Western composers and discovered the music of Béla Bartók
, Igor Stravinsky
, Arnold Schoenberg
, Krzysztof Penderecki
, Alfred Schnittke
and Witold Lutosławski. He has also been greatly influenced by Russian music especially that of Dmitri Shostakovich
and by Chinese folk music.
Wang's compositions include chamber and vocal music, 6 symphonies, 2 symphonic suites, 2 symphonic cantatas, 3 symphonic overtures, a choral concerto and a violin concerto. He has also provided the music for 40 films and television productions. His works have been performed in the, Australia, France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States. His 6th Symphony was written for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. He is Composer in Residence of the Beijing Symphony Orchestra
.
His daughter, Wang Ying (王穎), born in Shanghai in 1978, is also a composer.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
composer.
Life
Wang was born in KaifengKaifeng
Kaifeng , known previously by several names , is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, Central China. Nearly 5 million people live in the metropolitan area...
, Henan province and spent his childhood in Pingliang
Pingliang
Pingliang is a prefecture-level city in eastern Gansu Province in China. Pingliang is famous for a local mountain range that includes Kongtong Mountain, a site sacred to Taoism and mythical meeting place of the Yellow Emperor and Guangchengzi, an immortal....
in the Gansu Province. When he was 12 he taught himself music theory, the huqin
Huqin
Huqin is a family of bowed string instruments, more specifically, a spike fiddle popularly used in Chinese music. The instruments consist of a round, hexagonal, or octagonal sound box at the bottom with a neck attached that protrudes upwards...
, accordion, brass instruments, as well as instrumentation and arranging. His first exposure to Western music was in 1955 when he began studying conducting at a music school run by the People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
Central Committee
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is the highest authority within the Communist Party of China. Its approximately 350 members and alternates are selected once every five years by the National Party Congress....
. He studied theory and piano at a teachers college in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
and graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory in 1962 where he studied composition with Liu Zhuang, Ding Shande, and Qu Wei.
While still a student, Wang composed his String Quartet No. 1 (1961) and the first movement of his Symphony No. 1 (op. 2, 1962, this was his graduation work) which led to his appointment in 1963 as composer-in-residence of the Central Radio Symphony Orchestra. Later in 1963 there were political changes in China under Chairman Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
which led to a crackdown on Western music, especially that of the 20th century. Wang gave a two-hour public speech in 1964 criticising such policies, which led to him being stripped of his position with the Central Radio Symphony Orchestra. He was banished to Shanxi Province until 1977.
From 1964 to 1978, Wang was forced to work as a laborer in Datong
Datong
Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province of North China, located a few hundred kilometres west by rail from Beijing with an elevation of...
, spent 6 months in a mental asylum, and was imprisoned during Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
. As a result of being beaten he lost a tooth as well as about 20% of his hearing.
In the late 1970s he started conducting again, working with the Southeast Shanxi Song and Dance Ensemble in Changzhi
Changzhi
Changzhi is a prefecture-level city in Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. It lies between the city of Huozhou in Shanxi and the city of Hebi in Henan....
. After the Cultural Revolution he returned to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
and started to compose again. He became well known for his Yunnan Tone Poem (1963), for which he was awarded the highest prize given by the Chinese government in 1981. It has been performed in many countries. He also won the same award in 2000 for his song Spring Rain and in 2004 for Three Symphonic Frescoes - Legend of Sea.
After 1980 Wang was able to study scores of modern Western composers and discovered the music of Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
, Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
, Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...
, Alfred Schnittke
Alfred Schnittke
Alfred Schnittke ; November 24, 1934 – August 3, 1998) was a Russian and Soviet composer. Schnittke's early music shows the strong influence of Dmitri Shostakovich. He developed a polystylistic technique in works such as the epic First Symphony and First Concerto Grosso...
and Witold Lutosławski. He has also been greatly influenced by Russian music especially that of Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
and by Chinese folk music.
Wang's compositions include chamber and vocal music, 6 symphonies, 2 symphonic suites, 2 symphonic cantatas, 3 symphonic overtures, a choral concerto and a violin concerto. He has also provided the music for 40 films and television productions. His works have been performed in the, Australia, France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States. His 6th Symphony was written for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. He is Composer in Residence of the Beijing Symphony Orchestra
Beijing Symphony Orchestra
Beijing Symphony Orchestra , founded in 1977, is a classical orchestra in based in Beijing, China.One of its best-known performances was an unfolding of Chinese history and culture performed at Badaling in the Great Wall which was transmitted internationally via satellite.- External links :* *List...
.
His daughter, Wang Ying (王穎), born in Shanghai in 1978, is also a composer.
Works
- Op. 1 String Quartet No. 1 (1961)
- Op. 2 Symphony No. 1 (1962)
- Op. 3 Symphonic Suite “Yunnan Tone Poem” (1963)
- I Spring rain in a tea plantation
- II Along the path of a mountain village
- III Night song
- IV Torch Festival
- Op. 4 Cantata of Zang Fortified Village (1964)
- Op. 5 Little Suite “Planting trees” (1972)
- Op. 6 Opera “Song of Red Tassels” (1973)
- Op. 7 Symphony of Shangdang Bangzi (a local drama in Shanxi Province) “Sha Jia Bang” (1974)
- Op. 8 Symphonic Chorus “January 8th” (1977)
- Op. 9 Chinese Opera of Shangdang Bangzi “Red Lantern Shines” (1977)
- Op. 10 Symphonic Chorus “Falling of the Giant Star - in Memory of Chairman Mao” (1977)
- Op. 11 Dance Music “Dancing Saber” (1978)
- Op. 12 Symphony No. 2 (1979)
- Op. 13 Five Art Songs (1979)
- Op. 14 Chamber Suite “Musical Images of Taihang Mountains” (1979)
- Op. 15 Brass Quintet “Prints Anthology” (1979)
- Op. 16 Chamber Suite “Customs of Erhai”
- Op. 17 Two Chamber Pieces “Sending to the South” (1981)
- Op. 18 Movie Music “A Small boat” (1982)
- Op. 19 Symphonic Suite “Impression of Taihang Mountain” (1982)
- Op. 20 Movie Music “Sail off next time” (1983)
- Op. 21 Symphonic Overture “Poem of China” for piano, chorus and orchestra (1984)
- Op. 22 Two Symphonic Poems: 1. Motion 2. Chant, dedicated to Shostakovich on the 10th anniversary of his death (1985)
- Op. 23 Elegy for soprano and orchestra - Impression of Qu Yuan’s “Calling the Soul” and “Questioning the Heanven” (1986)
- Op. 24 Movie Music “The Last Winter Day” (1987)
- Op. 25 Music for Piano and 23 String Instruments (1988)
- Op. 26 Symphony No. 3 (1990)
- Op. 27 Three Ancient Melodies for Pipa and 25 String Instruments (1992)
- Op. 28 Two Pieces Written for Lu Xun’s “Casting A Sword” (1993). 1. “Song of the Man in Black” for a singer and chamber music ensemble. 2. “Three Heads Dancing in the Cauldron”, chorus without accompaniment
- Op. 29 Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1995)
- Op. 30 Shang I (Die Young) for a singer and a septet of folk musical instruments (1996)
- Op. 31 Symphonic Overture “For the Impetus of Points and Lines” I (1996)
- Op. 32 Symphonic Overture “For the Impetus of Points and Lines” II (1997)
- Op. 33 Four Choruses (1997)
- Op. 34 Symphonic Chorus “Guoshang - Hymns on Spirits of State Warriors Slain in War” for baritone, chorus and orchestra (1997)
- Op. 35 Five Symphonic Frescoes “Legend of the Sea” for solo, chorus and orchestra, written for the 2200th anniversary of the founding of Fuzhou City (1998)
- Op. 36 Shanxi Style Suite for piano (1998)
- Op. 37 Four Pieces Based on Tang and Song Dynasties’ Poems for orchestra with recitation (1999)
- Op. 38 Symphony No. 4 (1999)
- Op. 39 Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (revised version) (2000)
- Op. 40 Symphony No. 5 for 23 strings (2001)
- Op. 41 Quartet for clarinet, violin, cello and piano (2002)
- Op. 42 Octet
- Op. 43 Adagio for string quartet
- Op. 44 Symphonic Ballad
- Op. 45 Symphony No. 6
- Op. 46 Shang II
- Op. 47 Duet for two marimbas
- Op. 48 Three Pieces for Symphony Orchestra
- Op. 49 Adagio - Shang III for 46 strings (2006)