The Shanghai Oriental Art Center is a concert hall that can accommodate nearly 2,000 people. One day not long ago, the melody of the symphony "Ode to 100 Years" composed by Gong Tianpeng, a composer after the 90s of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, resounded throughout the music hall.
The concert performance scene was photographed by Ye Chenliang
This pure instrumental symphony created to celebrate the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China is magnificent and gripping. Although the display on the side wall of the concert hall reminded the audience not to applaud between movements, the audience could not suppress their inner excitement, and there was a wave of applause at the end of each movement.
In 2016, Shanghai launched the "Excavation and Publicity Project for the Birthplace of the Party", planning to present the centenary of the founding of the Party with hundreds of fine works, of which the burden of music creation was handed over to Gong Tianpeng, the resident composer of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, whose work was originally titled "Starting Point". Gong Tianpeng, who was less than 25 years old at the time, was both excited and nervous. He felt that only by standing closest to that fiery era could he get closer to the heartfelt feelings of his revolutionary ancestors. With the support and arrangement of the orchestra's party organization, Gong Tianpeng looked up at Mao Zedong's handwritten "The People's Heroes Are Immortal" under the Monument to the People's Heroes and re-copied the inscriptions on the monument; listened to the introductions of party history experts many times at the memorial hall of the first congress of the Communist Party of China, the birthplace of the party; imagined the smoke and rain of a hundred years ago next to the red boat in Jiaxing South Lake; and left the brooding back of the post-90s composer at many red scenic spots such as lu xun's former residence in Beijing, the Xinhai Revolution Memorial Hall in Guangzhou, and the Zhang Xueliang Mansion in Xi'an.
During the gathering of wind, the light of Gong Tianpeng's faith was lit up. Li Dazhao's article "Youth" on the eve of the May Fourth Movement instantly inspired his creation: "With the youth of me, create a family of youth, a country of youth, a nation of youth, a human being of youth, a earth of youth, a universe of youth, and enjoy its endless life." Gong Tianpeng decided to start with "Aria of Youth" to carry out the dialogue between contemporary youth and the youth of the last century to express the feelings of "the universe is endless, youth is endless, and the self is endless", he wants to use music to praise the young China that set sail a hundred years ago, and dedicate this "Starting Point" to the motherland that set sail in the new era.
New Youth, vol. 6, No. 5, edited by Li Dazhao
"Starting Point" successfully completed the first draft in just one and a half months, and after revision and polishing, it was on the stage of the opening ceremony of the 2017 China Shanghai International Arts Festival, and the work was renamed "Departure". In 2018, "Departure" became the only symphonic work in Shanghai to be shortlisted for the key support repertoire of the National Stage Art Creation Support Project. In March 2019, "Departure" was successfully performed at the Beijing Concert Hall as a performance repertoire of "National Stage Art Excellent Repertoire and Excellent National Opera Exhibition".
With the successful attempt of "Departure", Gong Tianpeng also opened a new "departure" in life. After receiving the task of composing "Ode to a Hundred Years", he tried to use the expression method of the four-movement structure of the classical Romantic Symphony to express the emotions of the Chinese Communists in a language that the world could understand.
During the creation period, he paid a special visit to the famous composer and recipient of the "July 1st Medal", Lu Qiming. Now 91 years old, Lu Qiming wrote the immortal song "Ode to the Red Flag" at the age of 35. Elder Lu inspired Gong Tianpeng: "You need to understand the spirit of our generation and the great changes we have witnessed in our home and country, and you can come to me for an interview at any time; but in terms of music creation, you need to design it yourself, because this belongs to your time." ”
Musician Lu Qiming
With a teaching and instruction, Gong Tianpeng chose to start with the "original heart". He conscientiously studied a large number of party history documents. He said: "Before I was born, the artists and party history experts of the previous generations could tell me; after the reform and opening up, I was a witness and beneficiary of the history after the reform and opening up. When I really walked into the site of the First Congress of the Communist Party of China, I personally felt the great significance of our party at the beginning of its founding. A melody full of affection "initial heart" gradually formed in his mind.
A violin opens for "Ode to a Hundred Years", and as the voice parts gradually superimpose, the theme of "Initial Heart" is performed in variations that are either heroic, deep, or brilliant, until the whole orchestra ends with a magnificent performance, symbolizing that the spark of stars can burn. "Ode to the Hundred Years" was originally four movements of "revolution", "construction", "reform" and "rejuvenation", and after listening to the opinions of experts from all sides, after repeated revision and polishing, the current four movements were formed: the first movement (the tragic and magnificent allegro of the line turned into an exciting allegro), vividly interpreting the birth of the Communist Party of China in response to the call of the times, and undertaking the mission of "seeking happiness for the Chinese people and seeking rejuvenation for the Chinese nation"; the second movement (the enthusiastic allegro), showing hundreds of millions of people building the motherland under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The vivid and cheerful mood of defending the motherland; the third movement (soft board), which expresses the heroic passion of the CPC in leading the reform and opening up to achieve great achievements and the deep attachment to the motherland and the people; the fourth movement (the majestic line of the board turns into a majestic allegro), praises the magnificent strength of the CPC in uniting and leading the people to strive for the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Gong Tianpeng designed a musical image with a distinct theme for each stage of development, and the same solemn and sacred four-tone melody motivation runs through the whole song to represent adhering to the original intention and believing in the rock.
Art goes on and on. The performance on November 13 this year is the 10th draft of the symphony "Ode to centennials". After this performance, the "Ode to a Hundred Years" will further listen to opinions and improve them.
Gong Tianpeng, known as the "piano genius", learned to play the piano at the age of 5, won the Genius Award of the Jiangsu Provincial Piano Competition at the age of 6, was admitted to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music Affiliated Primary School at the age of 8, won the champion of the professional group of the National Piano Competition at the age of 9, and was admitted to the Juilliard School of Music in the United States in the same year. At the age of 13, Gong Tianpeng performed in the finale of the centennial celebration of the Juilliard School of Music, which was broadcast live in the United States, and performed on the same stage with violin master Perlman and opera diva Renée Fleming.
After the Wenchuan earthquake, 16-year-old Gong Tianpeng made a life-changing decision: to use his piano-playing hands to write a Chinese "Symphony of Destiny". After many hardships, he finally got his wish to study composition at the Juilliard School. After graduating in 2014, he returned to China to develop and is now the resident composer of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra.
Since 2008, he began to create "Sorrowful Tiantai Mountain" with the theme of Wenchuan Earthquake, and gong Tianpeng has completed 13 large-scale works so far. He excels at macro socio-cultural needs and personal artistic ambitions