Poster for the Winter Olympics-themed single "Forever You and Me."
On the occasion of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Propaganda Department of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and the Beijing Musicians Association jointly launched the Winter Olympics theme single "Forever You and Me". The work was co-created by songwriters Zhang Heping and Shu Nan, sung by Chinese soprano Lei Jia and Italian tenor André Bocelli, and played by pianist Lang Lang.
"Forever You and Me" audiovisual video.
As the lyrics read: "The world is so big, the reunion is in Beijing, in the blink of an eye summer and winter, ice and snow have floated all over the earth..." 13 years ago, in 2008, Beijing dedicated a wonderful summer Olympic Games for the world. Today, Beijing, the world's first city to host the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, is also hosting a world-renowned ice and snow event. The soothing and warm music of "Forever You and Me", ordinary and simple narration, conveys the belief of working together with the people of the world, watching out for each other and creating a better future. On the occasion of the launch of the work, the Beijing News interviewed shu Nan, a composer and famous composer, to reveal the story behind the creation.
Composer Shu Nan.
Core: Integrate "most ethnic" and "most worldly" to create a classic
Musician Shu Nan, a national first-class composer, has won the "Five One Project Award" of the Central Propaganda Department six times; he has served as the soundtrack music creator of many films such as "The Great Cause of The Founding of the People's Republic" and "Let the Bullets Fly", and the representative works of songs include "Don't Forget the Initial Heart", "Pursuit", "New Heaven and Earth" and so on. In February 2020, he composed and sang the MV "Firmly Believe that Love Will Win" on the theme of fighting the epidemic in the literary and art circles, and the song "China in the Lights" at the 2021 Spring Festival Gala was also written by Shu Nan.
Looking back at the beginning of the creation of the Winter Olympics theme single "Forever You and Me", Shu Nan not only deeply felt the sincerity of the invitation of the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee and the Propaganda Department of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, he also weighed the tone and control direction of the song. "From a personal creative point of view, this song cannot be written too popular, 'classic' is the main direction pursued by this song." In this regard, Shu Nan explained, "Since thirteen years ago, we have been working with Zhang Heping on the theme song "Pursuit" of "The Great Cause of The Founding of the People's Republic", and our cooperation has been creating 'classics'. As an opportunity for China to show china's charm and ability to the world with the posture of a great power, the Winter Olympics must have a high enough specification to show the world the temperament of a big country and the concept of a community of world destiny."
From the moment he first saw the lyrics composed by Zhang Heping, Shu Nan was overwhelmed with emotion. As a gift from Chinese and Italian artists to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Shu Nan specially invited Lei Jia, a singer representing Chinese national music, and and the world-renowned Italian singer André Bocelli, as well as pianist Lang Lang, to complete this creation together, just right to integrate the two elements of "the most ethnic" and "most worldly".
Singer Lei Jia.
Italian singer André Bocelli.
As the song's promotional copy reads, "When nations meet the world, when the East meets the West." In Shu Nan's view, the host city of the 2026 Winter Olympics is Milan, Italy, and At the same time, Mr. Bocelli, as a world-renowned blind singer, his significance and value in the song "Forever You and Me" are extraordinary, playing a role in connecting and inheriting from Beijing to Milan, the Winter Olympics to the Winter Paralympic Games. On the other hand, Beijing, as the only country in the world to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, shows the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind through "Forever You and Me", focusing on the responsibility of a great power, which has an extraordinary meaning.
After setting the tone of "classic" creation, Shu Nan admitted that he thought more about how to show China's current international vision and show the charm of Beijing to the world through the song "Forever You and Me" in the face of such a "top-notch" international lineup and production team. "Not only to let the world understand our musical ideas, but also to use language and music that people around the world can understand to show our Spirit of the Winter Olympics."
Behind the scenes: Art and technology complete the production across time and space
Lang Lang, who toured Europe, completed the piano performance of "Forever You and Me".
As an old partner, Zhang Pingping, the lyricist of "Forever You and Me", has collaborated on a number of classic songs with home and country feelings and national cohesion, the most famous of which is the theme song "Pursuit" created by the two for the "Celebration of the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" tribute film "The Great Cause of the Founding of the People's Republic of China", which has not only been compiled into the teaching materials of the Central Conservatory of Music, but to this day, the song is still widely sung and highly circulated. Shu Nan feels that the cooperation with Zhang Heping has always had a tacit understanding like Qinse and Ming, and Zhang Heping is one of the few people who have encountered so far, and he can directly compose music without changing the word: "All along, the words created by Teacher Zhang Heping have been condensed to simplicity and dignified atmosphere, which is very popular. "Forever You and Me" is also another collaboration after "Pursuit", and he still has a few strokes in this work. ”
In Shu Nan's view, this creation is also a process of integration of art and technology, and the teams in China and Europe work day and night at the same time. Shu Nan recorded the Lei Jia part in Beijing and filmed the MV at the same time; Bocelli recorded in Milan, Italy, while shooting the picture; Lang Lang's team organized a team in Paris, France, and recorded the piano part. Shu Nan admitted that although he has a lot of experience in the creation and production of large-scale theme songs such as the song "Life and Death" for Wenchuan in Sichuan in 2008, the Olympic song "Stand Up", and the 2020 anti-epidemic song "Firmly Believe that Love Will Win" and so on, he still believes that this time "Forever You and Me" is not only an unprecedented global production, but also an international exchange with cross-time and space, so it has also encountered some unexpected challenges and difficulties.
Because the three artists are located in Beijing, Milan and Paris, due to different recording environments, they must eventually take to Beijing for post-production. In addition, the shooting environment of the MV is also different, whether it is Bocelli's recording at the Milan Opera House or Lang Lang's performance in Paris, a lot of coordinated work has become extremely difficult for European countries in a special period. It was New Year's Day, and the three teams gave up all their vacation time for the Winter Olympics, willing to dedicate their precious time and energy. My feeling is as the lyrics say 'I am always with you', whether it is the East or the West, whether it is the past or the future, whether it is the nation or the world, let us always be together, together to the future, to show the world the image of Chinese music. ”
Shu Nan recalled that in the creative process of "Forever You and Me", in order to complete this common dream, there were many moments that made him particularly moved: Zhang Heping, who is now 76 years old, would communicate with Shu Nan every night until he rested very late; Lei Jia also participated in the creation of all the artists in the busiest time of the Spring Festival; Bocelli has been maintaining creative communication with Shu Nan through the transoceanic telephone, trying to make his singing part to the extreme Lang Lang's tour in Europe, when the performance task is very busy, is still constantly concerned about the progress of song production, often taking the initiative to ask Shu Nan for suggestions for modifications in piano playing. Shu Nan said, "Music is the most direct language, so there is no language barrier between us. Whether it is from the presentation of the song or the production of the MV, the final presentation is very surprising and satisfactory. The three of them seem to have truly crossed the time and space of Beijing, Milan and Paris, and profoundly expressed the feeling of 'always together' through singing and music. ”
Liu Zhen, a senior reporter of the Beijing News
Senior Editor Tian Kaini Proofreading Chen Diyan