Zhu Jian'er (; born Zhu Rong-shi, October 18, 1922 – August 15, 2017),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Zhu Pu-chen, was a Chinese symphonic composer and songwriter.

Biography

Zhu was born in

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

, China. In his early years, his grandfather moved his family to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. His family consisted of flour millers, and his father died when Zhu was three. Out of admiration for

Nie Er Nie Er (14 February 1912 – 17 July 1935), born Nie Shouxin, courtesy name Ziyi (子義 or 紫藝), was a Chinese composer best known for " March of the Volunteers", the national anthem of People's Republic of China. In numerous Shanghai ma ...

, Zhu Rong-shi changed his name to Zhu Jian'er. He began composing in 1940 and pursued composition studies at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory () is a higher musical educational institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. Th ...

in 1955. He was a professor at the

Shanghai Conservatory The Shanghai Conservatory of Music (SHCMusic) is a municipal public college in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the City of Shanghai and is part of the Double First-Class Construction. The college was founded on November 27, 1927. The Sh ...

. He composed for both Western and Chinese instruments and his works have been performed around the world. In 2000 he was commissioned by

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born American Cello, cellist. Born to Chinese people, Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy there and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, ...

's Silk Road Project to compose ''Silk Road Reverie''. His 1950 revolutionary work ''Days of Emancipation'' (翻身的日子, Fānshēn de Rìzi; for ''

banhu The ''banhu'' () is a Chinese traditional bowed string instrument in the huqin family of instruments. It is used primarily in northern China. ''Ban'' means a piece of wood and ''hu'' is short for ''huqin''. Like the more familiar ''erhu'' ...

'' and

Chinese orchestra The term Chinese orchestra is most commonly used to refer to the modern Chinese orchestra that is found in China and various overseas Chinese communities. This modern Chinese orchestra first developed out of Jiangnan sizhu ensemble in the 1920s ...

) is well known in the West from its appearance on the 1981

CBS Masterworks Sony Classical is an American record label founded in 1924 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. In 1980, the Columbia Masterworks label was renamed as CBS Masterworks Records. The CBS Records Group was acquired by ...

compilation ''Phases of the Moon: Traditional Chinese Music''. Zhu died on August 15, 2017, in Shanghai.

List of major works

Orchestral: *''Jieri Xuqu'' 节日序曲 (Festival Overture), Op.10 (1958) *Symphony-Cantata: ''Yingxiong de Shipian'' 英雄的诗篇 (Poems of heroes), Op.14 (Original:1959 - 1960; First Edit:1964; Second Edit:1993) *Ballet Music: ''Nanhai Changcheng'' 南海长城 (Great Wall beside the South China Sea) (1965) *''Huainian'' 怀念 (In Memoriam), for Strings, Op.18 (1978 - 1988) *''Jiaoxiang huanxiang qu'' 交响幻想曲: ''Jinian wei zhenli xianshen de yongshi'' 纪念为真理献身的勇士 (Symphonic Fantasia:a Commemoration to the Brave sacrificed for verity), Op.21 (1980) *''Jiaoxiang zuqu'' 交响组曲: ''Qianling Sumiao'' 黔岭素描 (Symphonic Suite: Sketches of Mount Qian), Op.23 (1982) *''Hudie qun zuqu'' 蝴蝶泉组曲: ''erhu yu guanxian yuedui''二胡与管弦乐队 (Suite "Butterfly Spring" for erhu and Orchestra:), Op.24 (1983) *''Jiaoxiang yinshi'' 交响音诗: ''Naxi Yiqi'' 纳西一奇 (Symphonic Poem: Wonders of Naxi), Op.25 (1984) *''Jiaoxiang shi'' 交响诗: ''Bainian Cangsang'' 百年沧桑 (Symphonic Poem: Vicissitude of a century) *''Nanhai Yuge'' 南海渔歌 (Fishermen's Ballade), Suite No. 1 Op. 16 (1965/2003) Symphonies: *Symphony No.1 *Symphony No.2 *Symphony No.3,"Tibet" *Symphony No.4,"6.4.2-1", for Dizi and Orchestra *Symphony No.5, for Chinese drum and Orchestra *Symphony No.6,"3Y", for Tapes and Orchestra *Symphony No.7,''"Tianlai, Dilai, Renlai''" 天籟、地籟、人籟 (Sounds of paradise, earth and mankind) *Symphony No.8,"''Qiu Suo'' 求索" (Seek and Quest), for 16 percussions and a Cello *Symphony No.9, for Boy Choir and Orchestra *Symphony No.10,"''Jiangxue'' 江雪 (Snow on river), for Orchestra, with Guqin (Tape) and Chanting (Tape)

Students

* Wenchen Qin

External links

Zhu Jian'er page
from Silk Road Project site

References

1922 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Chinese classical composers Educators from Tianjin Musicians from Tianjin 20th-century Chinese composers 21st-century Chinese classical composers Chinese classical composers Chinese male classical composers Chinese film score composers Moscow Conservatory alumni Academic staff of Shanghai Conservatory of Music Male film score composers 20th-century male composers 21st-century male musicians Chinese expatriates in the Soviet Union {{China-composer-stub