Life burns like a sacred flame: Ma Geshun's Autobiography

Author: Ma Geshun (narrated by Ma Geshun, compiled by Xue Yanli)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-11-01
Features: This book, written in the author's own voice, portrays the extraordinary life of Ma Geshun, a highly respected elder in China's music and religious circles, filled with hardships and a pursuit of light, as well as his great achievements in music. Ma Geshun (1914--) was born in Nanjing, Jiangsu. From a young age, he sang in church choirs. After graduating from high school, he enrolled in the Music Department of the Education College at Nanjing Central University and studied under Dr. Otto St?usser, an Austrian musicologist. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, he went to the United States to study choral conducting at the Westminster Choir College, earning a master's degree. In 1949, he returned to China and taught at East China Normal University and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He also engaged in the study of choral training and conducting methods, authoring the book Choral Science. His choral works are characterized by accurate musical imagery, clear diction, unified and orderly sound, and a sense of "elasticity." In terms of conducting techniques, he strived to achieve "maximum effect with minimal movement." In February 1981, at the invitation of the American Choral Directors Association, he traveled to the United States to give lectures and perform concerts at twenty-one universities, and was awarded the title of "Honorary Fellow" by the Westminster Choir College. This book is not only a biography of the late Ma Geshun but also one of the most thought-provoking chapters in the long spiritual journey of the elite of the Chinese nation.