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My Nostalgia – Contemporary Chinese Music Masterpiece

Mar 4, 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSMcLI9UFiY

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Best of Chinese contemporary music ?

Composed in 1937 by Ma Si-Cong, this music is considered as  one of the earliest and best contemporary Chinese music. Although it’s not as famous as the other two, this music, together with “Moon reflected on Second Spring” and “Butterfly Lovers”, was often introduced as the representatives of Chinese contemporary music.

For the Chinese people overseas (for whatever reason, immigrants, study, travel, etc.), this music is particularly touching, not only because its name, its sorrowful tunes, its homesick topic, but also because a true story associated with the composer of this music.

Fate of the composer – a legend told by the music

Ma Si-Cong, born in 1912, “the first violinist in China”, wrote this music in 1937 based on a popular Mongolian folksong. He was one of the best musicians in China and was assigned as the first president of China Conservatory of Music established in 1949.

Ma Si-Cong, the patriotic national betrayal

Ma Si-Cong, the patriotic "national betrayal"

When the CR started in 1966, lots of academicians became victims of political turmoil and repression, including Ma. On 1967.1.15, the Ma family secretly fled to Hong Kong then USA with friend’s help. In 1968, the government claimed him as “national betrayal” until 1985 (after CR). But it was too late. He died in USA in 1987.

In his 20 years in US, he never accepted money from US government and earned his living by performing worldwide. In his concerts, one music is always played as his favorite – “My Nostalgia”. The great musician missed his motherland so much and could not return till the end of his life. 20 years later, in 2007, his family returned his bone ash back to China. The city of Guangzhou built a memorial park for him.

The patriotic national betrayal now finally came back to his motherland.

English translation

Given its Chinese name – 思乡曲, this music is often directly translated as “Homesick Tune”. Some people think that’s not a proper translation. “My nostalgia” or “A tune of nostalgia” might be better.

Comparing to Meditation from Thais by Massenet

I knew Meditation by Massenet earlier than My Nostalgia. They are both my favorite violin pieces. Although they express different feelings, I think they still have something in common, especially the beauty of music 🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObxzdawhM-8

[Chinese Keywords]
中国现代音乐 思乡曲



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  1. September 11th, 2009 at 06:19 | #1

    Nice blog, May I cite your posts in my web?
    I do love these traditional Chinese stuffs, I will keep the links in your posts.
    Send me an Email…

  2. September 11th, 2009 at 08:54 | #2

    Hi, you are free to “quote” my blog. If you want to use large portion of articles or full text, please obey the CC BY-SA-NC license. Thank you!

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