Huang Tzu Huang Tzu

Huang Tzu (simplified Chinese: 黄自; traditional Chinese: 黃自; pinyin: Huáng Zì; Wade–Giles: Huang Tzu; 23 March 1904 - 9 May 1938), courtesy name Jinwu (Chinese: 今吾; pinyin: Jīnwú; Wade–Giles: Chin-wu), was a Chinese musician of the early 20th century.

Life

Huang was born in Chuansha, Shanghai, in the final years of the Qing Dynasty. He was a distant relative of Huang Yanpei. He was accepted into Tsinghua College in 1916 and was introduced to Western music there. After his graduation in 1924, Huang went on to study psychology in Oberlin College in Ohio, United States. In 1928, he was accepted into Yale University, where he studied Western music. In Yale, he composed the overture In Memoriam, which is the first large-scale orchestral work by a Chinese composer. In 1929, Huang returned to China and taught in the University of Shanghai, National Music College and other music schools. In 1935, he established the Shanghai Orchestra, the first all-Chinese orchestra. Some of his students, including He Luting, Zhu Ying, Jiang Dingxian, Lin Sheng, Lin Shengxi and Liu Xue'an, became famous musicians later.

Huang's best known works include: Philosophical Song (天倫歌); Plum Blossoms in the Snow (踏雪尋梅), a 1933 large cantata based on Bai Juyi's poem Chang hen ge; Flower in the Mist (花非花); Lotus Song (採蓮謠); Benshi (本事). He also composed the National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China. Huang died of typhoid fever in Shanghai in 1938.

Detail

Huang Tzu (1904-1938), a well-known Chinese composer, created nearly 100 musical works across a wide range of topics and genres. He was also a music educator with a large student following who would have a great influence on the music of modern China. To celebrate the 110th anniversary of Huang's birth, the Hong Kong Public Libraries of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and Shanghai Conservatory of Music are jointly holding the "International Roving Exhibition on Music Manuscripts of Mr Huang Tzu", which runs from today until October 27 at the Arts Resource Centre on the 10/F of Hong Kong Central Library (HKCL).

In addition to introducing Huang's background and achievements, the exhibition also displays a selection of his letters, exam sheets and manuscripts, including his first anti-Japanese patriotic composition "The Battle Song", as well as the "art songs" "The Family Song", "Homesickness" and "Thoughts in Spring".

A talk titled "The Art Songs of Huang Tzu" will be held on October 22 (Wednesday) at 6.30pm at the Lecture Theatre on the G/F of HKCL for the public to learn more about this remarkable musician. The Director of the Scientific Research Office of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Professor Qian Renping, will be the speaker and the Chief Librarian of HKCL, Dr Jim Chang will act as moderator.

Even as a youngster Huang was very talented and had a great ear for music. In 1929, he graduated from Yale School of Music in Oberlin and his graduation work "In Memoriam" was debuted by the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, marking the first-ever performance of a musical work by a Chinese composer in the Western world. He then returned to China and started teaching at the University of Shanghai. He was appointed by the National Conservatory of Music as Director of Academic Affairs and became a full-time lecturer in music theory and composition. He taught music courses including harmony, counterpoint, fugue, musical form and instrumental arrangement, and nurtured a group of outstanding students who themselves went on to make significant contributions to the creation and education of music in modern China. Among them were the famous "Four Disciples" - He Luting, Chen Tianhe, Liu Xuean, and Jiang Dingxian. Still a young man, Huang unfortunately died of typhoid fever in Shanghai in 1938.