I gazed at the faded and precious photograph in front of me, immersed in memories of the past. This is a group photo of my father and Nie Er in Shanghai in the early summer of 1933. At that time, it was after his father introduced Nie Er to join the Communist Party of China. At that time, his father was thirty-five years old, and Nie Er was only twenty-one years old. They hugged each other, and on their young and clear faces, there was a serious and determined expression. Half a century has passed, and they have all left the world, but their intimate fighting friendship, their longing for light, confident sanity and image, will be unforgettable to me.
In those long nights, my grandmother and I were in Shanghai with my father, but in order to deal with the tracking and pursuit of Kuomintang agents, my grandmother had to take me to another place. We also moved a lot, and I had to change my name when I went to school, and I had a difficult childhood in a turbulent life. In 1930, due to the persecution of the Kuomintang and warlords, the young Nie Er had to leave Yunnan and come to Shanghai through Vietnam and Hong Kong, and immediately joined the "Shanghai Anti-imperialist League". Later, he worked as a violinist in the Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe. During this period, he worked hard to learn revolutionary literary theory, through various artistic practices, self-study and acoustics, composition and foreign languages, and began early musical composition.
In the spring of 1931, my father met Nie Er for the first time in the Mingyue Song and Dance Troupe, and had a cordial long conversation with this young man who was fourteen years younger than him from the distant southwestern frontier, learning about his difficult family life and extraordinary experiences. He lost his father at an early age and was raised by his hardworking and virtuous mother. His beautiful hometown was oppressed by imperialist and feudal forces, which gave him progressive ideas of resisting darkness and pursuing revolution from an early age. After graduating from secondary school, he wandered the rivers and lakes on his own and explored the path of life. He served as a soldier in Hunan and was admitted to the Drama Research Institute chaired by Comrade Ouyang Yuqian in Guangdong, and he loved music and hoped to use music as a weapon to engage in revolutionary causes. His father talked with him very speculatively, and he had a feeling of hating each other. This conversation laid the foundation for their close cooperation in revolutionary music.
In 1932, my father introduced Nie Er to join the Zuo Lian Music Group and worked with Comrades Zhang Shu, Lv Ji, An E, and Ren Guang. In 1933 he participated in the musical group "Friends of the Soviet Union". That same year he composed the music for "Mining Song" from my father's film "Maternal Light", which was the first song they collaborated on. In the summer of 1934, he composed the music for the theme song "Graduation Song" for the movie "Tao Li Robbery" composed by my father. This work, which fully expressed the anti-Japanese patriotic enthusiasm of the vast number of young students, became one of the most popular songs at that time and is still loved by young people today.
"Huh-ho! Where to move! Humph ho! Where to move! From morning to night, from night to dynasty, eyes are confused, bone shelves are scattered! On the banks of the Huangpu River, on the piers on the Bund, dock workers shouted trumpets, stooped and carried sacks and wooden boxes heavier than their bodies, trembling and struggling step by step on the narrow springboard between the huge ocean freighter and the pier, including gray-haired old people and underage child laborers, who lived a life inferior to cattle and horses for two inadequate meals.
My father had long wanted to write a script based on the miserable life of dock workers. During this period, my father often went to the Bund with Nie Er at night to observe the life of the dockers, and sometimes took me with him. Nie Er recorded all the tunes they shouted while carrying wooden boxes and ramming. In the dim light of the pier, my father pointed to the suffering brother, who was overwhelmed by the bulky wooden box and groaned in pain, and said to me:
"You see, on Chinese soil, Chinese people still live such a slave-like life!"
With an angry look, he pointed to the foreign character marks on the big wooden boxes and asked me:
"Do you know what's in the box?"
"I don't know."
"It contains munitions, which were brought in by Japanese imperialism to fight Chinese."
"Ugh!" I looked up at him in amazement, my father's brow furrowed so tightly, and his eyes so grim.
With great indignation and passion, his father and Nie Er composed the opera "Storm on the Yangtze River" in 1934. It is also the only opera composed by Nie Er. There are many episodes in the play, and the lyrics are written by comrades such as Pu Feng, An E, Sun Shiyi, Sun Yu, Xu Xingyuan and other comrades, in addition to those written by his father, all composed by Nie Er. Nie Er also personally played the main role in the play, docker Lao Wang, and served as the director of the whole play. In the musical creation of this opera, all his hard work was condensed. At that time, his basic musical cultivation was not very deep, but he was talented and enthusiastically dedicated to the pioneering work of revolutionary music, which made his works shine dazzlingly.
In Shanghai under imperialism and Chiang Kai-shek's traitorous regime, it was extremely difficult to publish an anti-Japanese play or find a theater to perform. At that time, there were some progressive teachers and staff members of Shanghai Myron Middle School, and the principal Comrade Shen Tilan used the name of fundraising for the construction of the school gymnasium to borrow the Baxian Bridge Youth Association Auditorium for the first performance of "Storm on the Yangtze River". The actors participating in the performance included Zheng Junli, Wang Weiyi, Xu Tao, Lulu, Yu Xuewei and other comrades, and the chorus was conducted by Comrade Lu Ji. I was in junior high school at Myron Middle School and also participated in the show. I play Xiao Tether, the grandson of the docker Lao Wang. During rehearsals, I was often with Comrade Nie Er and he made an unforgettable impression on me. Comrade Nie Er was energetic, and he worked tirelessly. He was busy composing, and he often discussed the script with my father; He must not only create his own characters, but also be responsible for the director of the whole play. He was so young, but he organized the class so well. He treats his comrades like the warmth of spring and treats his work with the same enthusiasm as fire. He is serious and meticulous, and in rehearsals, every scene and one action is not ideal, and he has to repeat it several times and strive for perfection. Living conditions were difficult, but our spirits were extremely pleasant. He wasn't married, he didn't even have a girlfriend. During the lunch break, he used to take me to the stall to buy a few baked cakes, a bowl of Yangchun noodles, and talk while eating. Back in the theater, we sat in the seats offstage, and he talked to me about the beautiful scenery of his hometown, the past of his childhood, the death of his father, the ups and downs of life, his mother's love and education for him... I originally thought that Yunnan was a remote and barbaric land, but listening to him talk about his hometown with deep affection: Kunming is like spring in all seasons, the grass and trees are evergreen, the ethereal smoke waves of Dianchi Lake, and the twists and turns of the Longmen Trail in Xishan are really fascinating. However, the cruel exploitation of imperialism and warlord landlords has made it impossible for the people of this rich land to live in peace. His conversation was so eloquent and his attitude was so kind and cordial that it soon made me take a deep interest in him. I always asked him long and short questions, until the actors arrived to start rehearsals, and I still couldn't leave him. When my father saw it, he smiled and said to him: "Look, Hainan kisses you more than I am!" ”
In July 1934, "Stormy on the Yangtze River" was performed for the first time. A total of three performances, two performances a day, tickets have already been sold, the performance is unprecedented. No one expected that this small new opera would be so contagious to the audience! When the dock workers were unwilling to carry the arms and threw them into the Huangpu River, and the Japanese sailors shot and killed the workers Yu Zilin and the little tether, the docker Lao Wang sadly and indignantly held the dying little tether and led everyone to sing the war song: "Victims, everyone has one heart and struggles with our Tianming." We are not afraid of death, do not scare us with death. We will not be slaves of the country, we will be the masters of China. Let's form a great wall of iron and drive out all the robbers! At this time, the crowd on and off the stage was enthusiastic and boiling. The audience stood up and chanted: "Down with Japanese imperialism!" "After the play, the audience applauded warmly, did not go for a long time, the curtain could not be lowered, and many people were so excited that they shed tears. My little sister Tian Ye, who was only a few years old at the time, was also watching the play offstage, and when she saw me being killed by a secret agent on stage, she cried loudly offstage:
"My brother was killed by secret agents! My brother was killed by special agents! ”
Her cry also enhances the theatrical effect. At that time, Soviet journalists reported the enthusiastic situation of the performance to the Soviet press. The success of the performance of "Stormy on the Yangtze River" was a great demonstration by the people of Shanghai under the leadership of the Party against Japanese imperialism and reactionaries.
In the winter of 1934, my father wrote the film script "Children of the Wind and Clouds" based on the theme of Chinese youth rising up to resist Japan and save lives, and wrote "March of the Volunteers" as its theme song, which was prepared to be filmed by Dentsu, but the split-shot script could not be written, and one night in February 1935, shortly after he sent Mr. Mei Lanfang abroad to perform in the Soviet Union, he was arrested at home. Comrade Xia Yan continued to complete the work of the split-shot script of "Children of the Wind and Cloud". When Nie Er heard the news, he immediately went to Comrade Xia Yan and said:
"I heard that Mr. Tian's "Children of the Wind" has a theme song "March of the Volunteers", please give me the composition?" Without waiting for Comrade Xia Yan to answer, he resolutely repeated: "Please leave it to me, I will do it, I think Mr. Tian will definitely agree." ”
Nie Er composed this piece with amazing enthusiasm and speed. In this song, his incomparable hatred for Japanese imperialism was poured out, and his hope and love for the people of the motherland were expressed. He displayed his outstanding talent and wrote this immortal piece that later became the national anthem of the People's Republic of China. The lyrics "When the Chinese nation reaches the most dangerous time, everyone is forced to make a final roar" is very difficult to deal with in composition, but Nie Er handles it very naturally and sonorously.
In the summer of 1935, the film "Children of the Wind" was released, and the song of "March of the Volunteers" soon spread throughout Shanghai and China, giving great encouragement to the Chinese people in the War of Resistance Against Japan.
Comrade Liu Liangmo conducted a chorus of 10,000 people at the Shanghai Public Stadium, singing revolutionary songs such as "March of the Volunteers," "Road Song," and "Graduation Song." Many people sang this song and rushed to the front line of resistance against Japan and salvation. This song has also spread abroad, and many international friends who sympathize with and support the Chinese people's resistance war will also sing it.
At this time, the news came that the Kuomintang reactionaries wanted to arrest Nie Er. According to the instructions of the party, Nie Er left Shanghai for Japan to prepare to study in the Soviet Union. On July 17, 1935, while swimming on the shores of Kusunuma in Kanagawa, he was unfortunately swallowed by rough waves, and the Chinese lost a lovely young musician who had been through battle.
When the bad news came, the people of the whole country expressed great grief and condolences over his death. A memorial service was held for him in Shanghai, and many people spontaneously participated in the memorial service. At that time, my father was being imprisoned by the Kuomintang in Nanjing, and when he heard the news of Nie Er's death in Japan, he suffered irreparable losses for the Chinese music industry and felt infinite grief for the loss of one of his closest collaborators. He wrote a eulogy and sent it to the memorial service, expressing his deep sorrow for Nie Er:
A series of Jinling May more, so the bud fell a few swallows.
Gao sing together to shock the world, and Xiao Bei He is separated from death and life.
The country is now a huge immersion, and the frontier is the second worst Great Wall.
The heroic soul should return to the wild waves, so that he could sue the people for grievances.
Because my father lost his freedom, he could not go to Shanghai to personally present a bouquet of flowers to the spirit of the people's singer and confidant, Comrade Nie Er, to express his condolences.
From 1931, when my father and Nie Er first met, to 1935, their friendship lasted only four short years. But because of their common interests, they were brothers and sisters at first sight, and the close cooperation in revolutionary theater, film, and music deepened the fighting friendship between them. In the short two years from 1933 to 1935 alone, Nie Er composed more than thirty immortal songs in between his participation in the intense revolutionary movement, most of them in collaboration with my father. If Nie Er can live to this day, what a contribution he will make to the revolutionary music cause! But the relentless waves swept away his young life. My father was tortured to death by the Gang of Four. Although they have both passed away, the friendship they forged during the battle is eternal. The songs they wrote together for the people are their most precious monuments.
(Tian Hainan, Beijing, July 1982)