Wang Jie

Author: Shanghai Music
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2000-09-01
Features: On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Communist Party of China, we decided to compile and publish the complete score of the opera Jiang Jun, as a tribute to the martyrs who bravely sacrificed for the Republic, to the comrades who participated in the creation and rehearsals of Jiang Jun over the years, and to all friends who care for and love the art of opera. Jiang Jun, written by Yan Su and composed by Yang Ming, Jiang Chunyang, and Jin Sha, was first performed by the Air Force Political Department Opera Troupe (now the Air Force Song and Dance Troupe) in Beijing in 1964. The music of the opera is primarily based on the tunes of Sichuan folk songs, while widely incorporating elements from Sichuan Opera, Wuyi Opera, Yue Opera, Hangzhou Tanyue, Yangqin, Sichuan Qingyin, and Peking Opera, creatively blending and developing them for dramatic effect. Jiang Jun is a proudest work in the field of contemporary Chinese opera and holds a particularly important position in the history of Chinese opera. "Following the Yangge Opera movement and White-haired Girl, Chinese opera underwent over a decade of exploration, accumulation, and maturation before finally ushering in its second golden age of opera. Honghu Red Guard led the wave of this renaissance, and Jiang Jun reached its peak. These outstanding works represented the highest achievements of opera creation between 1958 and 1964, especially Honghu Red Guard and Jiang Jun, which enjoyed the same revered status in the hearts of the Chinese people as White-haired Girl. Their stories and characters were so moving and widely known, and their music and famous arias were so beautiful and captivating that the saying 'Everyone competed to sing Honghu Water and everywhere echoed the praise of Red Plum Flower' emerged. Due to the brilliant success of these works, opera art became one of the most popular and beloved members of the artistic family at the time." (Excerpted from Contemporary China Series, Contemporary China Music Volume 2, Chapter 10: "Opera Music").
Since the 1960s, leaders of the Party and the state have shown warm concern for the opera Jiang Jun. Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and Jiang Zemin respectively attended performances of Jiang Jun in 1964, 1965, and 1991, greatly inspiring generations of cultural workers in the Air Force to strive for the Party's cultural cause. Jiang Jun has been rehearsed four times since 1963, 1977, 1984, and 1991, and the final formation of its complete score also underwent a long evolutionary process. It was revised five times, with dozens of major modifications, spanning nearly four decades. Six or seven comrades participated in the arrangement, revision, refinement, and compilation, with Yang Ming being the only one involved from the beginning. Others who contributed included Zhang Yida, Hu Guoning, Zhu Zhengben, Yao Xuecheng, Luo Yaohui, and Xu Chen, among others. The complete score published today (1991 performance version) is the result of collective effort and the crystallization of collective wisdom. Here, we express our heartfelt gratitude to all comrades who participated in the "common battle" and contributed their dedication, effort, and achievements to the formation of the Jiang Jun complete score. Additionally, we extend our thanks to Wu Xuan for his patient proofreading before the publication of this score!
Air Force Song and Dance Troupe of the Air Force Political Department
September 2000