Chapter 112 "Notes of Suffering" in the Music World

In 1957, the struggle in the music industry was also quite fierce. On September 24, "People's Daily" published an article "Strike Back Against the Rightists from the Development of the Music Industry" by Yu Yixuan, director of the Vocal Music Department of the Central Conservatory of Music.The article says: The rightists are all out of one nostril, and their common conspiracy is to try to remove the leadership of the party and stand on the head of the working people again.They pretended to be all kinds of experts, propagating that the party cannot lead specialized businesses, saying that laymen cannot lead experts; they lied with their eyes open, denying all achievements after liberation, and thus opposed the socialist system.Rightists Liu Xuean, Zhang Quan, etc. in the music industry are no exception. Like all comrades who love the new China and the cause of socialism, I feel extremely angry at the words and deeds of these frenzied rightists.

Yu Yixuan is a famous soprano singer and vocal music educator of the older generation.It can be seen that her article was written "by order".However, it can be seen from her article that the focus of criticism in the music industry at that time was Liu Xuean and Zhang Quan. Liu Xuean is a composer of the older generation in China, born in 1905 in Tongliang, Sichuan.In the 1930s, his song "When Will You Come Again" was popular in China.His "Great Wall Ballad" and "Trilogy in Exile" are also widely sung anti-Japanese war songs. However, in the 1950s, "When Will You Come Again" was still included in the category of "yellow songs", so Liu Xuean's slight criticism in Da Ming Da Fang was "naturally" included in the "right" list.

On August 22, 1957, "Wen Wei Po" published a critical article by musician Meng Bo: "The Struggle Between the Two Roads on the Music Front—Liu Xuean is a Reactionary Musician Who Always Attacks the People" This title is full of strong smell of gunpowder.The five subheadings in Meng Bo's article outline Liu Xuean's "rightist" profile: 1. Accompanying the reactionary class; 2. Liu Xuean's history of "progress"; 3. Vicious attacks on Nie Er and Xian Xinghai; 4. Use the rectification trend to attack the party; 5. Liu Xue'an's vain attempt to reverse the calculation.

The most intriguing thing is that the cartoon "Liu Xue'an's "Rhapsody"" published together with Meng Bo's article is the cartoon "Liu Xue'an's "Rhapsody"": the painting is Liu Xue'an singing "When Will You Come Again", and what he thinks in his mind is Chiang Kai-shek, which means "When will Chiang Kai-shek Come again"! Another "rightist" representative in the music world is soprano Zhang Quan. Zhang Quan studied in the United States in 1946, and successively obtained the titles of American Music Master of Arts, concert soloist, and opera artist.Her actual actions clearly show that she loves the motherland.

Even Zhang Quan himself couldn't figure out how she was classified as a "rightist"! Misfortunes never come singly, her husband died in a labor camp. Zhang Quan was "exiled" to Harbin.Unexpectedly, she got a blessing in disguise, but the leaders there valued her as a singer.She made a suggestion in Harbin, foreign countries have Vienna Music Festival, can we hold a "Summer of Harbin" concert in China? Her suggestion was valued and adopted by the leaders of Heilongjiang Province and Harbin City. Finally, I finally got to the point where I took off my "Rightist" hat.The mayor of Harbin Lu Qien invited Zhang Quan to have a meal of roast duck, expressing his congratulations, which moved her deeply...

In 1957, two music masters in Shanghai and Beijing were on the verge of "rightists" and almost fell into the abyss of misery. At that time, the dean of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music was He Luting, an outspoken musician.During the big talk, He Luting gave a lot of opinions.Just as the "rightist" hat was spinning on his head, Chen Yi found out.Mr. Chen, as the commander of the New Fourth Army, admired He Luting's masterpiece "Song of the Guerrillas" very much.Chen Yi said, how can He Luting be labeled as a "rightist"?Just like that, Boss Chen protected He Luting to pass the test. ①

At that time, the dean of the China Conservatory of Music was Ma Sicong, who was almost classified as a "rightist".Zhou Enlai learned that Ma Sicong escaped the disaster by protecting him—even though he was completely wiped out in the "Cultural Revolution" nine years later... By the way, what happened to Tang Biguang, a "little man" in the music industry: Tang Biguang's name is rarely known.But when it comes to the folk song "Liuyang River", it is almost a household name.The song "Liuyang River, how many bends? Dozens of miles of water to the Xiangjiang River..." was not only sung throughout the country, but also made into records and tapes and distributed in more than 80 countries and regions.In fact, "Liuyang River" was composed by Tang Biguang and published in 1952, when he received a two-yuan manuscript fee.

Tang Biguang was classified as a "rightist" in August 1957.Soon, he was sent to Dongting Lake Farm to reform through labor.From then on, "Liuyang River" was only labeled "Hunan Folk Song", and Tang Biguang's name was deleted... Tang Biguang has been "dusted" for many years, and did not return to his hometown as an "unearthed cultural relic" until after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China...