"Proceedings of the Liu Beimao Memorial"

Author: Liu Yuxi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-02-01
Features: Liu Beimao (1903-1981), originally named Shouci, was from Xixing Street in the city of Jiangyin. He was the younger brother of Liu Banong and Liu Tianhua. Under the influence of his older brother, he developed a deep love for poetry and music from a young age. In 1927, he graduated from the English Department of Peking University and successively served as an associate professor at Jinan University, Peking University, Women's College of Arts and Sciences of Peking University, and Northwest University, engaging in professional English teaching and research on Shakespeare's works, poetics, and writing guidance. To inherit his younger brother Liu Tianhua's legacy of "improving traditional Chinese music," he diligently studied the playing techniques of the erhu and pipa and engaged in the creative practice of folk music. In 1931, he resolutely gave up his teaching position at Northwest University and became a professor at the National Conservatory of Music in Qingmuguan, Chongqing, fully dedicating himself to music teaching, composition, and performance. His erhu solo compositions such as "Hanjiang Tide," "Forward Tide," "Song of the Wanderer," and "Little Flower Drum" were widely popular in the rear areas and liberation zones and became commonly used repertoire for erhu performance and teaching. After the victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan, he moved with the National Conservatory of Music to Nanjing. On May 20, 1936, during the student movement against hunger, war, and oppression, he firmly stood with the progressive students and participated in the performance of the famous composition "Chu Hu Chun Xiao" by the people's musician Nie Er. In 1949, during the "April 1st Tragedy," he defied the white terror and held a performance to comfort the injured students. After liberation, he served as a professor at the Central Conservatory of Music, Anhui Art College, and Anhui Normal University. He composed over 100 erhu solo pieces such as "The Sun Shines on the Frontier of the Motherland," "Happy Dance," and "A Thousand Li of Huai River Compete with Jiangnan." In his later years, despite being paralyzed from the legs and plagued by illness, he composed "Lament" and "Melody of Leaving" out of reverence for the revolutionary predecessors. He passed away on September 24, 1981.