Wang Luobin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wang Luobin (1913-1996) was a renowned Han Chinese songwriter who specialized in composing Mandarin-language songs based on the music of various ethnic minorities in western China.
Wang was born in Beijing in 1913. He graduated from the Music Department of Beijing Normal University in 1934 and actively participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War on China's behalf beginning in 1937 in Shanxi Province (see the external link below). In 1938, in Lanzhou in Gansu Province, Wang composed his first Xinjiang-inspired song, "The Girl from Daban City". (Ibid.) He took up residence in northwestern China for more than 50 years since then, and devoted his time there to collecting and revising western Chinese folk songs. (Ibid.) In all, Wang wrote seven operas and published six songbooks, and wrote some 700 western-style songs, the most famous of which include "Alamuhan" (inspired by a Xinjiang Uyghur song), "Awariguli" (also supposedly a Uyghur song), "Flowers and Youth" (pinyin: Hua'er Yu Shaonian, a Hui Muslim folk song), "At a Faraway Place" (pinyin: Zai Na Yaoyuan De Difang, a song from Qinghai Province), "Lift Your Veil", "Duldal and Maria" (a Kazakh folk song), "Mayila", and "The Crescent Moon Rises" (pinyin: Ban Ge Yueliang Pa Shang Lai). (Ibid.)
Wang began to win accolades for his work towards the end of his life. In 1993, "At a Faraway Place" and "The Crescent Moon Rises" were selected as the Chinese music classics of the 20th century. (Ibid.) A year later, in July 1994, Wang received the Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Exchange of Western and Eastern Cultures from UNESCO. (Ibid.) Wang was made the honorary town head of Daban City in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region by the local government in December of that year. (Ibid.)
Wang died of cancer in March 1996 at the age of 83. (Ibid.) His songs continue to be popular today, and modern adaptations of them have been recorded by the Beijing Angelic Choir, a Chinese children's choir that has earned recognition both at home and abroad; by China's popular Twelve Girls Band; and by the famous Chinese rock singer Dao Lang, who is known for his western China-themed pop music.
