Xinhua News Agency, Shanghai, July 7 Title: People's Musician Lu Qiming: Integrating Life into This "Red Flag"
Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Xiaoqing
On June 29, with the music of "Ode to the Red Flag" composed by himself, Lu Qiming, a 91-year-old people's musician, walked into the Golden Hall of the Great Hall of the People.
"I was so excited! What a familiar music, solemnly played in the centenary of the founding of the party! Crane-haired and childlike, he calmly walked on the red carpet of the "July 1st Medal" awarding ceremony, smiling and waving to the surroundings.
This is Lu Qiming, the recipient of the "July 1st Medal" (photographed on June 29). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xie Huanchi
"Ode to the Red Flag" was "refined" in this way
【35-year-old first, 54 years of grinding】
Beijing, China, Tiananmen Tower, the wind display red flag is picturesque.
"How to write and write "Ode to the Red Flag" is a big problem, and at that time I thought about it for a long time, to form a collision between history and reality, reason and feelings, I wanted to find an entry point in this middle." Lu Qiming recalled.
This is a proposition "composition" of the 1965 "Shanghai Spring" concert, the famous conductor Huang Yijun gave this question to the 35-year-old young composer Lu Qiming, and a group of old artists also supported and helped him. "At that time, as a junior, I was very afraid. What to do, the first thing is to go to the front line to experience life. Lu Qiming said.
The birth of "Ode to the Red Flag" is not accidental. Lu Qiming integrated his body and mind into this "red flag". He joined the New Fourth Army with his father at the age of 10, joined the Communist Party of China at the age of 15, and entered Shanghai with a large army with his beloved violin at the age of 19.
"In my mind, I finally locked the 'red flag' in the historic five-star red flag that was raised in Tiananmen Square when the people's Republic of China was founded. The melody at the beginning of the "March of the Volunteer Army" was selected, and the theme of "Ode to the Red Flag" was closely followed. He said.
In order to create, he went to the shipyard production line to experience life, saw the scene of the construction of new China in full swing, he was full of pride, and added a vigorous and powerful march rhythm to "Ode to the Red Flag".
For many years, he has also felt that the "Ode to the Red Flag", which was first performed in 1965, is "still shallow" and has not reached the level of "one hammer and one tone". He still repeatedly deliberated and revised, and this work he changed for more than half a century.
In 2019, the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China, it is also 54 years after the premiere of "Ode to the Red Flag", and the final draft is finally announced.
This is a portrait of Lu Qiming (taken on June 28). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li He
【The nation is the world'
Lu Qiming was one of the first outstanding symphony composers trained in New China, and also a famous film music composer and soundtrack worker. He has composed music for more than 60 films, more than 200 TV series, and more than 10 large and medium-sized symphonic works. In addition to "Ode to the Red Flag", his representative works include "Playing My Beloved Earth Pipa", "Who Doesn't Say My Hometown is Good", etc., and many songs have been widely sung; his film works with music include "Railway Guerrilla", "Red Sun", "Lushan Love", "Old Things in Seongnam", "Jiao Yulu" and so on.
From playing the violin to mastering multiple instruments and becoming a composer, although proficient in Western symphony, Lu Qiming always insisted that "the national is the world". The well-known movie "Railway Guerrilla" episode "Playing My Beloved Earth Pipa" is a classic case. In scoring the film, he insisted on using grounded folk instruments.
The music created by Lu Qiming represents China to the world. The legendary classic "Ode to the Red Flag" has attracted foreign conductors such as Zubin Meita to conduct in China; "Play My Beloved Earth Pipa" highlights the characteristics of Shandong folk songs, complements the plot of the movie, and is welcomed by Chinese and foreign music lovers.
On June 9, Lu Qiming (second from left) discussed the score with conductor Lin Yousheng at the scene of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra recording a windspring version of "Ode to the Red Flag". Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Ying
Red gene becomes the "music code"
The red gene is the life code of the Chinese Communists to always maintain their true colors, and for Lu Qiming, it is also the "music code" that motivates him to continue to create.
[Joined the party at the age of 15 under the dim oil lamp of his hometown]
One summer night in 1945, at the garrison of a certain division of the New Fourth Army, under the dim oil lamp of his hometown, Lu Qiming, together with two other teenagers, raised his right hand, clenched his fists, solemnly swore an oath to a party flag made of ugly and simple, and volunteered to join the Communist Party of China.
At that time, the three party members were only fifteen or sixteen years old. What Lü Qiming did not expect was that later in the war, two comrades who joined the party on the same day as him were killed. "I have always felt that I am a survivor, and I must persist in doing things for the party and the people, and I will create music for the people all my life." He said.
[There are also thoughts of my father in "Ode to the Red Flag"]
What influenced Lü Qiming to take the revolutionary road in his life was not only his companion who died young, but more importantly, his father, the revolutionary martyr Lü Huisheng.
Lü Qiming recalled that in the autumn of 1945, shortly after joining the party, he did not know that his father Lu Huisheng had been captured by the enemy on the Yangtze River during a major retreat. "It was not until the spring of 1946 that the news of my father's heroic resignation in November 1945 reached the New Fourth Army." He choked.
"My father was the leader of my revolution, and it was he who sent me to the New Fourth Army Anti-Enemy Theater Troupe; later I was guided by He Luting and other musicians of the older generation and began to learn violin in the army." After becoming a literary and artistic soldier at a young age, Lü Qiming did not have many opportunities to meet and get along with his father, but the elders taught him bit by bit, and he was often pregnant with his chest.
"I remember that my father used Mr. Lu Xun's poems to test me. I was asked stupidly, I didn't know the meaning of 'horizontal eyebrow cold to a thousand fingers, bowing down to the widow cow', and my father taught me that 'horizontal eyebrow coldness' means to resolutely struggle against the enemy, and to serve the people wholeheartedly like 'being a cow and a horse'. ”
"My father dedicated his life to the cause of communism and gave his life! "Ode to the Red Flag" praises the party and the people, praises the martyrs, and there are also thoughts of my father. Lu Qiming said.
On June 6, Lu Qiming revised the score in front of the piano at home. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ren Long
The hero's "red flag" sets off again
【Live to old age, dedicate to old age】
In Lu Qiming's eyes, it is necessary to have a spirit of dedication to art. Many years ago, the Nanjing Yuhuatai Martyrs Memorial Hall invited him to compose music for the memorial, and he did not hesitate to accept the "task". However, there are three chapters of the law with the museum: one does not get paid, the second does not live in high-end hotels, and the third is not to see the media and does not publicize. As an ordinary party member and literary and art worker, he went to the memorial hall to study, looking for creative inspiration, insisting on writing for more than ten hours a day, and half a year later, the "Rain flower festival" was born. This 15-movement, one-hour musical composition, is deep, euphemistic, and makes people feel a lot of thoughts. After that, he was obliged to create the "Longhua Festival", dedicated to the martyrs who sacrificed for the liberation of Shanghai.
In 2020, in the prevention and control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, millions of medical workers across the country are fighting in the frontline of the fight against the epidemic. Lü Qiming was deeply moved, he took the original suite of the film "Doctor Bethune" as the material in the early years, and went all out to create a single-movement caprice "Bethune in Jinchaji", after nearly a year of concentrated polishing, this year's "July 1st" eve was officially finalized.
On June 6, Lu Qiming hummed "The Military Song of the New Fourth Army" in an interview at his home in Shanghai. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ren Long
【The wind version of "Ode to the Red Flag" came out]
"This year is the centenary of the party, and it is said that tens of thousands of amateur brass bands across the country are looking forward to the total score and score of the wind version of our "Ode to the Red Flag", and also to record the entire track, which is very important." Lu Qiming told reporters on the eve of "July 1st" that there was a hint of urgency in his composure.
One afternoon in June, Lu Qiming came to the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra to make the final "carving" with wind musicians and conductors. It took about 2 hours for the band to complete the recording of "Ode to the Red Flag" based on his newly revised wind version of the total score and score.
Shanghai in early summer is cloudy and rainy, and the heat is unbearable. Lu Qiming directed the recording throughout the process, and his loud voice echoed in the sound mask of the rehearsal hall.
"I hope that the latest wind sheet music version of "Ode to the Red Flag" published by Shanghai Music Publishing House can help more bands eager to perform "Ode to the Red Flag", which is a new variety in the spectrum of "Ode to the Red Flag"." He burst out laughing.
For more than 90 years on the road of life, Lu Qiming has always insisted on using music to pour out his love for "red flag". "I have only done one thing in my life, that is, to create for the party and the people!" The old man's eyes revealed perseverance and persistence.