Concert pays tribute to a brilliant composer
Grandson of Aaron Avshalomov takes the baton as audience experience a heartfelt performance, Zhang Kun reports in Shanghai.
He created a synthesis of Chinese musical elements and Western techniques of orchestra composition, including several operas based on Chinese folklore and historical figures, such as Kuan Yin, The Twilight Hour of Yan Kuei Fei, and The Great Wall.
Many of his important works were premiered in Shanghai, receiving widespread critical acclaim.
The Great Wall, for example, was sponsored by Soong Ching Ling, the wife of Sun Yat-sen, a pioneering Chinese revolutionary leader, and her younger sister Soong Mei-ling, and was highly praised and recommended by leading figures in the literary and art scene, such as Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang, playwright Xia Yan and director Fei Mu.
In 1935, Aaron Avshalomov was requested by renowned Chinese musician He Lyuting to orchestrate the theme song composer Nie Er produced for a movie about Chinese fighting against the Japanese aggression in 1935. This made him the first to orchestrate what would become the national anthem of the People's Republic of China — March of the Volunteers.
