Huang Tzu Explained

Huang Tzu
Landscape:yes
Birth Date:23 March 1904
Birth Place:Shanghai, China
Genre:Classical Chinese music, Choir, Symphony
Occupation:Composer

Huang Tzu (; 23 March 1904 - 9 May 1938), courtesy name Jinwu, was a Chinese composer of the early 20th century.[1]

Life

Huang was born in Chuansha, Shanghai, during the final years of the Qing Dynasty. His father Huang Hongpei was a factory manager, and his mother Lu Meixian founded the first women’s school in Shanghai. He was also a distant relative of Huang Yanpei. He was accepted into Tsinghua College in 1916 and was introduced to Western music there. While at Tsinghua, he studied piano and vocal music, and was well-known within the local community.[2] At that time, he was also influenced by the May Fourth Movement, which occurred in 1919.[3]

After his graduation in 1924, Huang went on to study psychology in Oberlin College in Ohio, United States, assisted by the Boxer Indemnity Scholarship.[4] There, he studied music theory, sight-singing, dictation, and keyboard harmony. 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.[5] There, he also composed another overture called "Nostalgia", which was played at the Yale School of Music’s graduation concert."

In 1929, Huang returned to China and taught in the University of Shanghai, National Music College and other music schools. After the Mukden Incident in 1931, Huang wrote patriotic songs such as Resist the Enemy Song (抗敌歌).[6] During this time, he also faced censorship from the Chinese government, and had to change "enemy" for "Japan" in the song's title.[7] In 1935, he established the Shanghai Orchestra, the first all-Chinese orchestra. Some of his students, including He Luting, Ding Shande, Zhu Ying, Jiang Dingxian, Lin Sheng, Lin Shengxi and Liu Xue'an, became famous musicians later.

Works

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.

List by year

!Title[8] !Year!Instrumentation!Text
Nostalgia (怀旧)1929OrchestraN/A
Missing Homeland (思乡)1932Voice and pianoWei Hanzhang
Spring Nostalgia (春思曲)1932Voice and pianoWei Hanzhang
Three Wishes From a Rose (玫瑰三愿)1932Voice, violin, and pianoLong Qi
Present to the Front Line Soldiers (赠前敌将士)1932He Xiangning
West Lake After Rain (雨后西湖)1933Wei Hanzhang
September 18th (九一八)1933Wei Hanzhang
Plum Blossoms in the Snow (踏雪寻梅)1933Liu Xue'an
Down to Jiangling (下江陵)1933Li Bai
Flower in the Mist (花非花)1933Voice and pianoBai Juyi
Ode to Ascending the Tower (点绛唇 · 赋登楼)1934Voice and pianoWang Zhuo
Students' Year of National Goods Song (学生国货年歌)1934Huang Yanpei
Thoughts on Climbing Beigu Pavilion in Jingkou (南乡子·登京口北固亭有怀)1934Xin Qiji
Composed in Residence at Huangzhou Dinghui Garden (卜算子·黄州定慧院寓居作)1934Su Shi
The West Wind's Words (西风的话)1934Liao Fushu
Swallow Speak (燕语)1934Wei Hanzhang
Sleeping Lion (睡狮)1934Wei Hanzhang
Lotus Song (采莲谣)1934Wei Hanzhang
Philosophical Song (天伦歌)1936Zhong Shigen
Song of Enthusiasm (热血歌)1937Wu Zonghai

Notes and References

  1. Huang Tzu (黄自), Office of Local Chronicles of Shanghai (上海市地方志辦公室).
  2. Web site: 2024-03-04 . 2. Huang Zi (1904.3.23—1938.5.9), “Nostalgia” – Global Musical Modernisms . 2024-06-16 . en-US.
  3. Liu, Xiaoyue. (2022). Selected Art Songs of Chinese Composer Huang Zi: Music, Poetry, and Social-Historical Considerations (DMA thesis). University of North Texas.
  4. Fu, Jietong. (2022). Zi Huang's art songs: a marriage of Chinese and Western music and thought (DMA thesis). Texas Tech University.
  5. Web site: The Art Song Compositions of Huang Tzu Yale University Library . 2024-06-16 . web.library.yale.edu.
  6. Web site: Huang Zi: Pioneer of patriotic songs[1]- Chinadaily.com.cn ]. 2024-06-16 . www.chinadaily.com.cn.
  7. Howard . Joshua H. . 2015 . “Music for a National Defense”: Making Martial Music during the Anti-Japanese War . Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review . 4 . 1 . 238–284 . 2158-9674.
  8. Book: Guo, Qian . 黄自独唱艺术歌曲集 . April 1, 2023 . Anhui Literature and Art Publishing House . 2023 . 9787539675312 . zh . Huang Tzu Solo Art Song Anthology.