The Paper's reporter Liao Yang intern Liu Lining
On the evening of October 17th, the "Premiere Series" of the new era version of "Long March Suite Song" sponsored by the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee of Education and Health Work and rearranged by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music ushered in the last one - the "Stars Edition" led by Shangyin Dean and singer Liao Changyong, which was staged at the Shangyin Opera House.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, the whole staff came to the theater and conducted the last rehearsal before the performance. Liao Changyong sang the sixth song in the group song, "Over the Snowy Mountain Meadow".
Liao Changyong
Before rehearsal, he said that the new era version of the "Long March Group Song" is the way for Shangyin to learn the "Four Histories" during the study of the "Four Histories" in Shanghai: "There is a sentence in the group song that 'officers and soldiers are unanimous in their happiness and bitterness', and we are 'teachers and students studying together in Shangyin', teachers and students are on the same stage, rehearsing and performing together, and teaching each other. The main force of this performance is the 'post-00s' students of Shangyin, who paid tribute to the 'post-00s' of that year with live performances, reflecting their love for the motherland and the party. ”
In the audience, there was a very special visitor, xiao Xia, the daughter of General Xiao Hua, the lyricist of "Long March Group Songs", who readily agreed to serve as an art consultant after learning the news of the red classic of shangyin rearrangement.
The night before, she also watched the "youth version" led by shangyin young teachers and students.
Xiao Xia
"It is not easy for children to sing the 'Long March Suite' and to sing it in understanding, because the Long March more than eighty years ago was too far away for them." After the performance, she found that the students were gathered in the backstage yard, exchanging feelings with each other, very excited, "This is their spirit!" They sang the song and drew strength from the song, so they were all excited. ”
How was "Long March Suite Song" born? Xiao Xia recalled that her father's creation was between September and November 1964, when it was the thirtieth anniversary of the victory of the Red Army's Long March, and many newspapers and magazines came to him to ask for manuscripts.
Xiao Hua had an idea that instead of writing a poem, it would be better to write a group of poems to reflect the entire process of the Red Army's Long March in the form of poetry. At the same time, he did not use the Tang and Song poetry formats such as five words and five laws and seven words and seven laws, but used an innovative model: three seven open, that is, three words and four sentences, seven words and eight sentences, presented in a group way.
The scene of the star edition of "Long March Suite Song"
There are 12 paragraphs in the "Long March Group Poem", and the "Long March Group Song" selects the first ten paragraphs, a total of 680 words, each paragraph is 68 words - starting from the Long March, it has been written until the three main forces of the Red Army, such as the First Front, the Second Front, and the Fourth Front, and the Huining Division.
"My father was a man who never shed tears, he had experienced too many wars and too many deaths, but in the process of composing the "Long March Group Poems", his tears often wet the manuscript. Thinking of those comrades-in-arms, he was so sad. ”
In 1965, "Long March Group Song" was simultaneously handed over to the Beijing Military Region Comrades-in-Arms Cultural and Labor Corps and the General Political Affairs Cultural and Labor Troupe for creation.
The first time Xiao Xia listened to "Long March Group Songs", it was four composers from the Comrades-in-Arms Literary and Labor Troupe who came to the house to sing to her father, "The four composers are all men, some are sopranos, some are mezzo-sopranos, some are tenors, some are basses, and they sing in full swing. "It has left an impression ever since.
In the summer of 1965, Premier Zhou Enlai asked the two literary troupes to perform separately, and after the performance, he asked which one was better, and Xiao Hua said that each had its own advantages. The 5 children of the Xiao family were present, and Premier Zhou asked Xiao Xia, the youngest and less than 14 years old, and she blurted out that she liked the comrades-in-arms literary troupe," the premier said, why? I said it's easy to sing, it's easy to remember. Later, the public performance version really chose the comrade-in-arms literary troupe.
"There are a total of 680 words in the Long March Suite, each word has a meaning behind it, and each word is repeated many times." For example, if the Wujiang River is dangerous and heavy, why use a "heavy" word?
Xiao Xia explained that the first time the Red Army crossed the Wujiang River from the south to the north, the cliffs and cliffs, the river was turbulent, and it was difficult to cross it, "The Red Army was caught at that time, on the right was Hu Zongnan's troops, on the left were the local Tibetan bandits, if you can't get rid of these enemies, the Red Army may be completely annihilated." Therefore, Chairman Mao decided to cross the Wu River again, return from the north to the south, and throw the enemy away. My father used a 'heavy' word to describe the chairman's strategy and tactics. ”
In the past 55 years since the first performance, every time she listens to "Long March Suite", Xiao Xia will burst into tears, because it is too familiar and her feelings are too deep.
Xiao Xia's parents both experienced the Long March. When my father was twelve or thirteen years old, he stood on the streets of Xingguo County, Jiangxi Province, talking to the people and calling on everyone to become the Red Army. Growing up in the Red Army unit, his understanding of the Red Army and his feelings for the Red Army exceeded that of many people. Also because he had experienced all the brutal battles of the Red Army's Long March, he could write vividly.
My mother also went on the Long March at the age of 11, and as a member of the Fourth Front, she experienced two snowy mountains and three meadows," my mother said, "Other people's Long March was walked on two legs, and my Long March was run on two legs. Because she was so young, she kept running with the troops, every day. ”
This re-arrangement of the new era version of the "Long March Group Song", the upper tone follows Xiao Xia's father's last wishes, did not change a word, did not change a song, but added modern elements in terms of choreography and costumes, and added two chapters of "Qi" and "Hope" at the beginning and end respectively - "Qi" is a tribute to the predecessors of the same age, "Hope" is to take the current long march road of the motherland construction.
"This is also an innovation, what is the most important significance? It lies in how we inherit the spirit of the Long March from generation to generation, how to make the 'post-90s' and 'post-00s' better understand what the Red Army and the Long March mean to them, and what they need to pass on. Whether it is the education of party members or students, this is a very good educational opportunity and is of great significance. Xiao Xia said.
Editor-in-Charge: Zhang Zhe
Proofreader: Zhang Liangliang