Ma Ke (; 1918 – July 27, 1976) was a Chinese composer and musicologist, best known for his patriotic songs, including "

Nanniwan "Nanniwan" () is a revolutionary song written in 1943 with lyrics by communist playwright and poet He Jingzhi and music by Ma Ke. It was made popular by the Chinese Communist Party and continues to be one of the most recognisable songs in the ...

". Ma was born into a Christian family, at

Xuzhou Xuzhou (徐州), also known as Pengcheng (彭城) in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in the built-up area ma ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

, and his name was said to be derived from the saint

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...

. Having enjoyed chemistry in high school, he studied it at

Henan University Henan University () is one of the oldest public and Double First Class Universities in China. It was founded in 1912. In the beginning, its name was the Preparatory School for Further Study in Europe and America. In 1942, its name was changed to ...

, where he encountered the composer

Xian Xinghai Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqin ...

. Ma suspended his studies and became a follower of Xian, including an anti-Japanese roadshow tour of the country. In 1939, Ma traveled to

Yan'an Yan'an (; ), alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several counties, including Zhidan (formerly Bao'an ...

. On Xian's recommendation, he studied at Luxun Academy of Arts with composer Lü Ji and others. He began to collect and record many Chinese folk songs. In 1947, he joined the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

. After 1949, he was appointed the Vice President of the

China Conservatory of Music The China Conservatory of Music () is a public music academy in Chaoyang, Beijing, China. The music conservatory was established in 1964, and currently co-funded by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Beijing Municipal People's Government. ...

and the head of the Chinese Opera House. He composed more than 200 musical works, including "Nanniwan"; ''We are Democratic Youth''(''我们是民主青年''); ''Powerful Workers'' (''咱们工人有力量''); ''Lüliang Mountains Cantata'' (''吕梁山大合唱''); the ''

yangge Yangge () is a form of Chinese folk dance developed from a dance known in the Song dynasty as Village Music (). It is very popular in northern China and is one of the most representative form of folk arts. It is popular in both the countryside and ...

'' opera ''The Couple Learn to Read'' (''夫妻识字''); the opera ''Zhou Zishan'' (''周子山'') (co-composed with Zhang Lu () and Liu Chi); ''

The White Haired Girl ''The White-Haired Girl'' () is a Chinese opera, ballet, (later adapted to Beijing Opera and a film) by Yan Jinxuan to a Chinese libretto by He Jingzhi and Ding Yi. The folklore of the white-haired girl is believed to have spread widely in the a ...

'' with Ju Wei, Zhang Lu, and Xiang Yu; ''Xiaoerhei's Marriage'' (''小二黑结婚''); and the orchestral piece ''The North Shanxi Suite'' (''陕北组曲''). As a musicologist, he devoted special study to the work of Xian Xinghai and wrote a biography about the composer. He also studied the development of modern Chinese music drama and China's tradition of revolutionary music, writing several books and approximately 200 papers. In 1978, a partial collection of his songs was published. A festival dedicated to Ma Ke, called the China Xuzhou Ma Ke Art Festival, was held in Xuzhou in June 2004. Ma and his wife, Yang Wei (), had three daughters: Haixing (), Haiying (), and Hailing ().

References

1918 births 1976 deaths Chinese musicologists Central Academy of Drama faculty People's Republic of China composers Chinese male classical composers Chinese classical composers Chinese opera composers Male opera composers Musicians from Jiangsu Educators from Xuzhou People's Republic of China writers Writers from Xuzhou Chinese non-fiction writers 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Chinese musicians Henan University alumni 20th-century musicologists 20th-century male musicians 20th-century non-fiction writers {{China-composer-stub