Background
Xian was born in Portuguese Macau in 1905, to Tanka parents whose ancestors were from Panyu, Guangdong. He moved frequently in his early life with his mother as his father had died before Xian was born.
Xian moved with his mother to Singapore when he was six years old, he was enrolled in Yangzheng Primary School for his primary education.
In 1924 Xian Xinghai studied in Saint Andrew's School of Singapore.
In 1926 Xian Xinghai joined the National Music Institute at Peking University to study music.
In 1928 Xian Xinghai entered National Shanghai Conservatory of Music to study violin and piano.
Xian moved with his mother to Singapore when he was six years old, he was enrolled in Yangzheng Primary School for his primary education.
In 1924 Xian Xinghai studied in Saint Andrew's School of Singapore.
In 1926 Xian Xinghai joined the National Music Institute at Peking University to study music.
In 1928 Xian Xinghai entered National Shanghai Conservatory of Music to study violin and piano.
Xian Xinghai at about 23 years old in Shanghai in 1920s.
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冼 星海
Xian was born in Portuguese Macau in 1905, to Tanka parents whose ancestors were from Panyu, Guangdong. He moved frequently in his early life with his mother as his father had died before Xian was born.
Xian moved with his mother to Singapore when he was six years old, he was enrolled in Yangzheng Primary School for his primary education. It was while at Yangzheng Primary School that he took his first step into his musical career. His teacher, Ou Jianfu, first noticed Xian Xinghai's musical talent, and he was enrolled into the school's military band. Xian received training in both musical instruments as well as music. He was later brought to Guangzhou for further education by his then school principal, Lin Yaoxiang, along with 19 other students. Xian started learning the clarinet in 1918 at the YMCA charity school attached to the Lingnan University in Guangzhou (Canton).
In 1924 Xian studied at Saint Andrew's School of Singapore. In 1926 he joined the National Music Institute at Peking University to study music and in 1928 he entered the National Shanghai Conservatory of Music to study violin and piano. The same year he published his well-known essay The Universal Music. In 1929 he went to Paris (where he met Ma Sicong who introduced him to many artists there) and was disliked by his teacher first because he didn't know how to play piano but one night he got home and was mad and composed a song which the teacher heard. The teacher came inside and was fascinated with his work and asked him to bring his piece of work to the university where the composers competed their work and he won and he was accepted to that music school. In 1934 he was the first Chinese student admitted to the Paris Conservatory to study senior composition with Paul Dukas.
As a student from a weak country, Xian was discriminated against in France. Determined to invigorate his motherland, Xian used music as a revolutionary tool. In the summer of 1935, he declined to remain in Paris and returned to China where he composed the background score for progressive movies, such as Revive, Thunderstorm, Sunrise and Midnight Song, refusing payment. Later, he came to Yan'an, where he accepted a position as Dean of the Music Department at the Luxun Conservatory of Music. It was in Yan'an that Xian achieved the peak of his artistic creation. Although there was not a single piano in Yan'an at the time, Xian composed some of his most important works there. The Yellow River, which was composed in 1939, was Xian's most representative work.
Xian's reputation is largely built around The Yellow River cantata, a stunning piece of the late Romantic nationalist agitprop. Allegedly written in a cave in just six days during the Anti-Japanese War, this seven-movement cantata (text by Guang Weiran) uses traditional folk melodies, like the image of the mighty Huanghe (Yellow River), as a symbol of Chinese defiance against the Japanese invaders.
In May 1940, Xian went to the Soviet Union for a final-period manufacturing and background musical composition of the full-length documentary Yan'an and the Eight Route Army. In the Soviet Union, Xian led a hard life and was poorly treated. He attempted to go home via Mongolia but was detained and left destitute. (When standing in a queue to buy rice, Xian fainted on one occasion.) Luckily, he was rescued by a girl from the Soviet Union who later became his wife. Due to his exposure to the hard life, lack of nutrition, famine, and suffering, Xian died of pulmonary disease on October 30, 1945, at age 40. Xian's music, however, became a motivational force for the Chinese revolution.
Xian is a pioneer of modern Chinese music. Combined with the essence of western music, Xian's works are rich in both Chinese tradition and modern elements. He threw light on the new direction of the trend of Chinese culture. Xian composed music in all major forms (two symphonies, violin concerto, four large-scale choral works, nearly 300 songs, and an opera) and wrote many essays about musical theory.
Both the Xinghai Conservatory of Music and the Xinghai Concert Hall in Guangzhou are named after Xian. A statue of Xian has been erected in People's Park of central Guangzhou. A street in Almaty, Kazakhstan is named after Xian Xinghai.
