The life of Yan Shushi

In 1923, while studying at Peking Huiwen Middle School (now Beijing Huiwen Middle School) and Yenching University, he had extensive exposure to Chinese and foreign music. He used music scores that were once popular in Europe and the United States to very neatly copy famous European and American songs, such as Handel's "Messiah", "The Last Rose of Summer" and traditional Chinese music "Mountains and Flowing Waters", "Fisherman's Music", "Three Plum Blossoms" "Nong", "Xigong Yuan", etc., and compiled into "Collection of Tibetan Pupils". When he came home from Beijing during the summer vacation, he always brought back some music scores and records. He also bought a floor-standing hand-cranked record player and listened to world famous music every day. During this year, his first work, the four-part chorus "Yin", was born in 1923.

In 1925, he composed four choruses "Sorrow" and "Waterside" in Beijing. In the summer of 1926, he returned to Shenyang from Yanjing University in Beijing and taught mathematics at Wenhua Middle School. During this period, with the sponsorship of Li Weiheng, Liu Jinzhi, Gao Chunfu, Wei Menngling and others, he formed the Harmony Singing Troupe (later renamed the "Harmony Music Troupe"), whose members were all music-loving teachers and students. They used the church to rehearse and perform Chinese and foreign choral songs, such as "Hallelujah", "The Flag is Flying" and songs collected and adapted by Yan Shushi himself. Most of them sang songs that Yan Shushi used classical poetry and his own lyrics and music. Yan Shushi is the organizer, creator, rehearser and conductor of this amateur music group. After teaching, he engraved music scores to facilitate rehearsals. From the summer of 1925 to the end of 1926, the songs he composed include "Falling Flowers", "Spring Water", "Forest Spring", "Tears", "Darcissus", "Tang Ancient Songs", "Autumn Resentment", "Reminiscing", " Peach Blossom Creek", "Suwu Temple", etc.

In 1927, he performed his first opera "Mountains and Flowing Waters" (based on "Yu Boya Dropped His Qin to Thank His Friend" in Volume 19 of "Wonderful Views of Modern and Ancient Times"). This opera expresses the hope that the people of Northeast China will rise up against imperialist rule and oppression, embodying the noble sentiments of the woodcutter's bosom friend. Yan Shushi played the role of Zhong Ziqi in the play. This unique performance of singing and performing at the same time was a great success. In response, "Shengjing Daily" published comment articles for six consecutive days. Their performances brought fresh breath to Shenyang's cultural life. At the same time, he founded the music publication "Li Yun", which was published in two issues and published solos and choruses that he collected, organized, processed, adapted and composed. He edited and wrote by himself, designed his own masthead and tracings, and raised his own funds for printing. This publication has been warmly welcomed by music lovers. This year, he composed songs such as "Autumn Hunting", "Plum Blossom", and "Autumn Night".

In 1928, he created the three-act opera "Dream of Peach Blossoms", which was also performed to raise funds for the construction of a primary school building. This play depicts a young man who hates the dark society at that time and yearns for a paradise world of equality, freedom, no exploitation, and no war. Rich ideas, dreamy scenes, gorgeous costumes, and passionate language make this opera extremely romantic. Yan Shushi plays the protagonist, young Ji Ping. The performance of "Dream of Taoyuan" caused a sensation in Shenyang. The next year (1929), it was performed again at the Shenyang Youth Club. The venue was packed with seats, and even the floor was filled with spectators. When the whole play was coming to an end and the chorus "Peachland is in the World" sounded, colorful ribbons and flowers were flying all over the place, bringing people into a beautiful world. The audience was very excited, and the cheers of adults and children filled the hall. In April of this year, "Li Yun" was renamed "White Snow" and thirty issues were published. He also composed songs such as "Spring Resentment", "Mulan Returns Home", "New Sunny", "Late Spring", "Breeze", "Langgan", "Sad Clouds", and "Graduation Song".

In the spring of 1929, the fifth International Music Gala performance was held (such a performance has been held every year since the establishment of the Harmony Music Group). The Harmony Music Troupe's programs have attracted the attention of the press. The newspaper introduced: "Most of the music scores are self-made by the talented composers Yan Shushi and Liu Zhongyi in the troupe." Their programs were invited by the Peking Radio Station and were transferred from Shenyang Radio Station to Peking Radio Station. . This year, the three-act opera "Tears of a Madman" was also created. In this opera, the author ruthlessly exposed the sinful society at that time with the help of the words of the "madman" in a sad and angry mood, and expressed his voice of resistance. After the performance of "Tears of a Madman", newspapers commented that this opera criticized society and satirized society, which was sharper than "Dream in Paradise". This year he also composed the chorus "Autumn Deep", "Autumn Sound", "Strong Wind", "Feelings" and other songs and short songs and dances.

In 1930, while completing his teaching work, Yan Shushi not only organized the activities of the Harmony Music Troupe, but also composed the operas "Island Bells" and "Remembering the Riverside". Both operas accuse the darkness of society and yearn for a bright future.

From 1931 to 1934, Japanese invaders occupied Shenyang. The changes in the current situation have restricted and disrupted various activities. Yan Shushi, who has patriotic ideas and a sense of national justice, did not remain silent. In 1933, the Japanese invaders planned to establish the puppet regime "Manchukuo". When the League of Nations "Li Dunqing Investigation Team" arrived in Shenyang, he and friendly people jointly submitted a letter to the investigation team to expose the crimes of Japanese imperialism's aggression. At the same time, he also participated in a one-cent donation activity initiated by a secret anti-Japanese organization to support the Northeast Volunteer Army. When he was a class teacher at Tongze Girls' Middle School, he composed the song "The Sun Has Set Again" and translated and adapted some foreign songs, such as "Martha Sleeps in a Cold Place".

Teach these songs to students, instill in them patriotism, inspire hatred for Japanese imperialism, and educate students not to forget the compatriots who died in suffering and to always remember their motherland. In 1934, a girl in the class was injured by the Japanese under surveillance because she did not bow deeply enough while practicing a ceremony to welcome the Japanese Emperor's younger brother, Chichibu Palace. Faced with this crime, the angry Yan Shushi denounced the Japanese slavery policy on the spot and was hated by the Japanese. In the autumn of this year, in order to expose the crimes of Japanese imperialism, Yan Shushi risked his life and wrote his last opera "A Stormy Night". When performing at Dongguan Chapel, enemy agents were hiding outside the venue to monitor Yan Shushi. Fortunately, a friend informed him and he managed to escape in disguise before leaving the venue. Since then, he left Shenyang and went to Peiping, where he taught at the Law School of Northeastern University in exile and taught music. When Yan Shushi was teaching at Tongze Girls' Middle School, he also composed "School Song", "Class Song", "Man in the Deep Blue Clouds" (ancient lyrics), "Untitled", and also composed "Children's March" and "Block" for young children. "Voice", "Stars", "Crow", "Strive Forward", "Moon", etc.

In 1935, the world-famous December 9 Movement broke out. On December 16, students launched a larger demonstration to oppose the establishment of the puppet regime that day. Yan Shushi once witnessed the brutal suppression of this patriotic movement at the entrance of Xuanwai Caishikou in Peking. When a student asked him to compose music with the lyrics of "Flowers in May", although he didn't know who the lyricist was, the tragic and uplifting lyrics resonated with his feelings at the time. In this way, the song "Flowers of May" was born. (Note)

In 1936, Northeastern University moved to Xi'an. Yan Shushi went to Jigongshan, Hubei Province to teach with Northeast Middle School. He taught trigonometry classes, organized a chorus after school, taught and sang "On the Songhua River" and other national salvation songs, and composed the songs "Wind and Rain Melancholy for Flowers" (ancient lyrics) and "Northeast Middle School School Song".

I returned to Peking for vacation in the summer of 1937, which coincided with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. Yan Shushi wanted to sneak to the rear to participate in the Anti-Japanese War, but encountered obstacles and was unable to do so. Because he was unwilling to work for the enemies and puppets, he began to study photography and started a family photo studio (Seagull Photo Studio). He took and printed the pictures himself and became famous in Peiping for his artistic photography. During this time, he collected a large number of world-famous music records and cataloged them. He became familiar with almost all famous classical music works, including symphonies, operas, concertos, and sonatas, and read biographies of great musicians. This kind of life continued until the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Yan Shushi was hired by National Chung Cheng University to teach in Shenyang. At this time, the Harmony Music Group also resumed its activities. On the eve of the liberation of Shenyang, Yan Shushi went to Peiping again. From 1948 to 1952, he taught in Beijing No. 3 Middle School and other schools, and opened Shaou Photo Studio.

In 1952, he closed the photo studio and was employed as a mathematics teacher at Beijing No. 26 Middle School. He continued to teach at Beijing No. 26 Middle School until his death in November 1963. During this period, he was twice transferred to the Beijing Broadcasting Correspondence School. His teaching can be called a combination of science and art: dignified and modest teaching attitude, popular, vivid and rhythmic language, artwork-like writing on the blackboard, scientific thinking methods, teaching methods that focus on enlightenment, and exquisite self-made three-dimensional teaching aids. , strict and accurate view of time, and role model for young teachers - all of which are highly appreciated by teachers and students. To this end, in 1959 he attended the 10th anniversary commemoration of the National Day invited by Premier Zhou Enlai, and in 1960 he attended the National Meeting of Heroes. In 1962, at the invitation of Mayor Wu Han, he attended the National Day ceremony. Yan Shushi lived up to the high honor given to him by the party and the people, and his heart became closer to the party. In 1959, he put forward the request to join the party, and submitted his application for joining the party twice in 1960 and 1961. During this period, he not only collected music treasures, but also had a deep understanding of the styles of different performers. He told his classmates about Tchaikovsky and his work "Pathétique Symphony", played "Serenade" on the violin, and played Beethoven's "No. 2" on the piano. Excerpts from "Symphony No. 5". However, he never revealed that he was the composer of the famous patriotic song "Flowers of May".

In the summer of 1963, the disease for which treatment had been delayed worsened. On the bed in the hospital, he was still concerned about the work of the school. One week before his death, he wrote a note with a pen in front of his bed: "Follow your will and do not talk to the patient." In the silent ward, Yan Shushi lay quietly on the bed Listen to Chopin's famous "Funeral March". On November 23, 1963, in the silent night, Yan Shushi passed away silently accompanied by music. He was fifty-eight years old. He was buried in the Babaoshan People's Cemetery in Beijing. The inscription on his tomb reads: "Thirty years of hard work in cultivating talents can serve as a role model. The singing and fighting spirit of "May" will remain in the world forever." From the history of ancient Chinese music, we can see that there are two traditional Chinese song creation methods. : One is to write lyrics on existing music and unique tunes, and the other is to compose music based on poems. This is not only true in China, but also in the Baroque period in Europe. Monteverdi also believed that the first technique of expression is that music dominates lyrics, and the second technique of expression is that lyrics dominate music. It is precisely because China and Europe have unique characteristics in song creation models, and in addition, Yan Shushi accepted the influence of Chinese and European traditional music in the initial stage of music practice, so the most basic characteristics of Yan Shushi’s songs are: Use the expression technique of lyrics to dominate the music.

The dominant subject of lyrics appears mostly in five-rhythm and seven-rhythm poetry styles in Yan Shu's songs.

Whether they are selected or written by himself, from the style, we can see that there are poems about feelings, poems about things, nostalgia for the past, poems about things, poems about scenes, etc.

Describing nature is the main content of his lyrics. The natural scenery presented in the lyrics are not pure objects, but Yan Shushi's own strong emotions are cast in them. Therefore, they are not only the objects of description, but also the objects of his "self-expression". Because Yan Shushi melts himself into nature, his strong vitality, delicate emotions and fighting spirit shine through in his lyrics describing nature.

In terms of art, the lyrics are characterized by strong romanticism. In his lyrics, he uses scenes and objects in nature to describe life, and pursues his ideals and future according to his own subjective imagination. In terms of expression techniques, he uses rich imagination and unique ideas, as well as romanticism such as exaggeration of images. The technique shows the passion and yearning of Yan Shu's poems. In addition, the combination of classical Chinese and vernacular, the combination of old-style poetry and free-style poetry, as well as the complex sentences, refrains, arranged sentences, and other sentence patterns needed to express emotions all constitute a unique artistic style. These styles were formed under the influence of the May Fourth spirit and outstanding Chinese and foreign poets, as well as through Yan Shushi's own unique creative temperament.

Melody, a dominated object, blends Chinese and Western melody techniques in Yan Shushi’s songs, presenting traditional Chinese linear melody thinking. The use, that is, the flow and rhythm combination of music, is used to decorate, render and deepen the lyrics, creating a melody track of ups and downs, appropriate speed and speed, connected by dots and lines. In these trajectories, we can see the thinking characteristics of "more in less" and "movement in stillness".

In Yan Shushi's song creation, the use of "basic sound patterns" (a combination of sound and rhythm) is relatively refined. In a song, a basic sound pattern is often used as the core to extend a continuous melody. The techniques he used: 1. Basic sound patterns appear eclectically in the melody, such as "Sauvignon Blanc" and "Autumn Thoughts". Such "basic sound patterns" are usually more distinctive. The author regards the rhythm and flow of sounds in the sound patterns as the best expression of the artistic conception of the lyrics and the most consistent with his own psychological aesthetic requirements, so it is what he often uses. 2． Slight changes in basic sound patterns, such as "Late Spring" and "Feelings". This change is based on the original sound pattern, with only slight changes in notes and rhythm, while other forms remain unchanged. 3. The deformation of basic sound patterns, such as "Foreign Spring" and "Chun Xing". This change is large, the sound flows farther, and the rhythm temporarily breaks away from the original shape but quickly recovers. These are all changes dictated by the lyrics, but traces of the basic sound patterns can also be seen.

Yan Shushi’s songs use a heptatonic scale that combines Chinese and Western styles. The Chinese pentatonic tones are the backbone of his songs, and the "three-note sequence" constitutes his basic sound pattern. Since the traditional three-note series appears from time to time, and the melody is composed of it as the core, the thinking characteristic of "less in more" is formed, in which a small number of notes are used to multiply many notes.

In the songs of Yan Shushi, the momentum of the sound flow has its own distinctive characteristics, that is, the sound flow has no edges or sudden changes, and it flows smoothly with a slight amplitude. The reason is restricted by the style and artistic conception of the lyrics, and more importantly, by Yan Shushi's own personality and temperament. The techniques used in the song based on the pentatonic backbone are: 1. Proceed in a wraparound manner. In order to express the artistic conception of the lyrics, the lyrics flow around a certain note in a second or third scale scale according to the changes in pronunciation, forming microwaves. 2． The use of inflections. The multiple use of inflections in an informal manner is intended to exaggerate the tone of the lyrics and fully emote them. The minor second sound changes below the backbone sound appear, forming another form of "microwave". 3. A slow and fast rhythm. This method is mostly used in the changes of "basic sound patterns", which are often the same sound flow, with the rhythm gradually changing from slow to fast, creating a sense of dynamics. From the sound flow momentum expressed by the above three techniques, the overall feeling is quiet, but there is movement in the stillness, forming another characteristic of creative thinking, such as "Spring Water", "Tears" and "Narcissus".

The musical form of Yan Shu's poems and songs is relatively free. He does not stick to the constraints of words and sentences, and often appears in complex sentences, refrains, and arranged sentences. Therefore, the number of verses in each line of lyrics varies, and is not limited to odd and even numbers. The melody of a lyric has no obvious upper and lower sections, and gradually and gracefully continues until the end.

Looking at the melodies of Yan Shu's poems and songs, they are graceful, lyrical and smooth, especially feminine. His melodies are greatly influenced by Western European classical songs, but more obviously they inherit the tradition of Chinese classical music. His linear melody thinking was a successful attempt in Chinese song creation in the 1920s.

Chorus music is part of Yan Shushi’s deliberate pursuit of music creation. The harmonic language of his choruses is, from a macro perspective, the functional system of harmony introduced from Western Europe. The concept of sound and the logic of the harmonic language are highly functional. However, from a micro perspective, it is different from traditional Western European choruses. He incorporated the melody with national style characteristics into each part of the functional harmony, and used polyphonic techniques to criss-cross the chorus, embodying the figurative thinking of choral creation.

Natural sound is musical and full of three-dimensionality, which is one of the characteristics of his figurative choral creative thinking. In the chorus "Yin", "Wind", and "Autumn Sound", progressive sound patterns are used to form a winding and flowing melody, musicalizing the shape and sound in nature, and then distributing these rhythms to each part in an orderly manner.

Due to the artistic expression of different vocal ranges and timbres of male and female voices, the whole song has both layers and three-dimensionality. Whether it is "clouds are gathering", "the wind is roaring", or "the sound of autumn is coming into the Dongting Hall sadly", they are all vividly presented before your eyes. .

The multi-line flow of each voice complements each other in the same time and space, which is another characteristic of his figurative choral creative thinking. In choruses such as "Waterside", "Breeze", and "Feelings", in order to highlight the artistic conception and image, the melody of each part flows in the same pace when viewed horizontally, while polyphonic techniques are used to create rhythm differences when viewed vertically, forming decoration and foil. , contrast and other forms of organic texture. "Waterside" is a beautiful and cheerful three-beat chorus that expresses "the spring water is melting, the waves are exquisite, crossing the bridge and carrying people in the mirror". The female voice is the melody, and the two male parts sometimes appear in the rhythm of a three-beat dance music. , which heightens the joyful and joyful atmosphere of the whole song, and sometimes uses Canon's technique to alternate distinctive sound patterns, making the artistic conception of "clanging and clanging flute" even more moving. In "Breeze" and "Feelings", the short rhythm and few notes of the two male voices form a sharp contrast with the melodious melody of the two female voices, deepening the "micro" and "micro" of "Breeze" respectively. The melancholy in "feelings". The above-mentioned expression techniques are commonly used in his choral music. Through the contrast of different parts and the combination of pure and harmonious timbres, he formed a complete, orderly and three-dimensional artistic masterpiece.

Generally speaking, Yan Shushi's chorus music has greatly surpassed the previous part-part music, conceptually clarifying the elements of chorus and the expression techniques of perfect chorus. Yan Shushi's figurative choral creative thinking was able to establish its dominant position in the choral form that just emerged in the 1920s. This played a positive role in laying the foundation for choral art and expanding the field of choral performance.

Yan Shushi’s music creation follows historical traditions and incorporates the consciousness of the times. His smooth, simple and beautiful melody style is everywhere in his works; his three-dimensional and multi-line choral thinking style, in the fresh and continuous music rhythm, shows his character, sadness, pursuit and a touch of But it is deep. The brilliance of national culture and national character shines in the distinctive music style.

[Note] Regarding the creation process of "Flowers in May", Wang Zhenqian, president of the Beijing Middle School Alumni Association, recalled: In February 1936, to celebrate the establishment of the student union of Northeastern University, the students selected the script "The Flowers of May". "Girl A Yin" was rehearsed because there were lyrics but no music. Classmate Wang Mingxin (namely Wang Yuming) asked Yan to write a poem called "Flowers in May".