Choral Music

The founders of Chinese choral music in the 20th century were Xiao Youmei and Zhao Yuanren. Xiao wrote the choral piece for female voices Farewell to School in 1924, and the four-part Spring Moonlight on the Flowers by the River, in 1929. These works were far surpassed in artistic quality by Sea Lilt written by Zhao in 1927. Later, Huang Zi wrote Resist the Enem and The Banner Flutters with the themes of resistance to the Japanese invasion and saving the nation. His The Long Regret is considered on a par with Sea Lilt. Other works which praised the Chinese people's national liberation struggle were written in the revolutionary base of Yan'an by Xian Xinghai (Grand Yellow River Chorus), Zheng Lucheng(Grand Eighth Route Army Chorus), Ma Ke(Grand Mount Liang Chorus) and L?Ji (Phoenix Nirvana). Choral works which emerged from the Nationalist-held areas during the struggle for national liberation included The Heliang Drama by Chen Tianhe, The River Runs Red by Zheng Zhisheng, and Dropping the Anchor, Democracy, Motherland and Spring by Ma Sicong.

n the peaceful conditions of the first 17 years following Liberation, choral music thrived in China. Particularly fine medium-length and short pieces included He Luding's Long Live the People's Leader, Luo Zongxian and Shi Yuemeng's The Heroes Have Victoriously Crossed the River and Liu Chi's Paean to the Motherland. This period also saw some of Mao Zedong's poems set to music and arranged for choirs, such as the song-and-dance epic The East Is Red. Among rearrangements of folksongs which were done in this period were Li Huanzhi's The East Is Red, Mai Ding's Please Stay, Guest From Afar, Qu Xixian's Herdsman's Song, Yang Jiaren's The Half-Moon Rises, Wang Zhen Ya's Three Rises on the Wide Road and unaccompanied folk orchestral pieces adapted by Wang Fangliang and others, such as Elder Brother Is Home From the Red Army, Soaring Through the Sky and The Embroidered Pouch. These works gave full play to the art of choral music while preserving the purity and moving attraction of the original tunes. Outstanding large-scale choral works which were composed at this time included Qu Xixian's Red Army Base Grand Chorus, Happiness River Grand Chorus by Xiao Bai and others, Zhu Jianer's Stirring Story of Heroes and the Long March suite The undaunted Red Army.

Since the 1980s, choral music has had a hard struggle to survive, although many composers have continued to make experiments in this field. Choral adaptations with a unique style have been produced by Qu Xixian (Ussuri Boat Song ) and Li Huanzhi (The King of Qin Breaks Through the Battle Line). At the 1986 National Choral Music Awards, Tian Feng's Nature and People in Yunnan, Zhang Zhuoya and Wang Zujie's There is a Forest in the South, Lu Zaiyi's Blue Sky, Sun and Pursuit, and other fine works won prizes. Later, Guo Wenjing's Hard Road to Sichuan and Qu Xiaosong's Chopping Up the Coffin, by applying folk modern techniques and at the same time imbuing their works with national spirit and deep-going cultural traits, displayed deeper thought and a more mature grasp of the genre. Liu Nianqu's Life and Springtime in the Universe shows that the composer has considered the basic problems of human life on a philosophical plane. In the 1990s, both the cost of creation and performance, and lack of channels for raising money put the creation and performance of choral music into difficulty. In these circumstances, Lu Zaiyi made a valuable contribution in composing My Country, a Loving Mother. This skilfull work, suffused with emotion, displays a profound and moving patriotism.

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