Role

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Composer

Genre

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Vocal

 

Nie Erh was a Chinese composer who is best known for his contribution to the Chinese national anthem, "March of the Volunteers." He was born on February 14, 1912, in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. His father was a musician who played the erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument, and his mother was a singer. Nie Erh showed an early interest in music and began studying the erhu and piano at a young age. In 1927, Nie Erh moved to Shanghai to study music at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. While there, he was exposed to Western classical music and began incorporating elements of it into his compositions. He also became involved in the Chinese Communist Party and began composing music for revolutionary causes. One of Nie Erh's most famous works is the score for the 1935 film, "The Spring River Flows East." The film tells the story of a family torn apart by the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s. Nie Erh's score, which combines traditional Chinese music with Western classical music, is considered a masterpiece of Chinese film music. In 1935, Nie Erh was commissioned to write a national anthem for the Chinese Communist Party. The result was "March of the Volunteers," which became the national anthem of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The anthem is a stirring call to arms, with lyrics that urge the Chinese people to "arise, ye who refuse to be slaves." Nie Erh died tragically young, at the age of 23, in Japan in 1935. The circumstances of his death are unclear, but it is believed that he died of pneumonia. Despite his short life, Nie Erh left a lasting legacy in Chinese music, and his contributions to the national anthem continue to be celebrated to this day.

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