Xian Xinghai (short story) Zhang Baotong

In the morning, his wife said to him, "You had a cough all night last night, and you must go to the hospital today." Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 So, after breakfast, his wife took him to the hospital. However, unfortunately, a female student who had just come to Yan'an from Kaifeng, Henan Province came to Xian Xinghai. This young and beautiful girl's name is An Lan, and not long ago she sang a solo in Xian Xinghai's newly composed "Come in February" in a theatrical performance. She wore a brand-new gray semi-thin cotton military uniform, with a short haircut, and her eyebrows were delicate and slim, and she looked like an eighteen or nineteen-year-old female college student.

The girl knocked on the door and saw Qian Yunling open the door, and asked very timidly, "Is Director Xian Xinghai at home?" Qian Yunling frowned, because she was going to take her husband to the hospital, and she didn't want anyone to disturb her at this time, so she asked, "Is there something wrong with you?" The girl blushed and said hesitantly, "Yes, I have something urgent to find him." Qian Yunling had no choice but to let the girl into the house.

Xian Xinghai had already gotten out of bed, put on his shoes, and was about to go to the hospital with his wife, when he saw a girl coming in, he said, "Your name is An Lan?" The girl smiled very shyly and said, "Director Xian, I have come to look for you several times, but every time I come to the door, I dare not come in." Xian Xinghai smiled and said, "Why don't you dare to enter, am I a tiger?" Seeing Xian Xinghai's kind tone, the girl became a little bolder, and said, "If you are really a tiger, I am not afraid." I think you're a famous musician, and you're so busy composing every day that you don't dare to bother. ”

Xian Xinghai asked the girl to sit on the edge of the bed and asked, "Is there anything wrong with you?" the girl said, "I want to learn vocal music from you." Xian Xinghai asked, "Have you studied vocal music?" The girl nodded and said, "I studied vocal music for two years in Kaifeng Division. But I don't think my vocal level is high, so I want to learn from you and improve it again. Xian Xinghai said, "I've heard your singing, it's not bad, but if you want to enter the vocal department, then I have to test you first." As he spoke, he took out the "Ballad of the Yellow River" he had just finished writing and asked her to sing it.

The girl took the script, got up from the bedside, tried it twice, and then sang:

"Yellow water rushes to the east, and the river is thousands of miles long.

The water is fast, the waves are high, and the roar is like a tiger and a wolf.

Canals were opened, embankments were built, and thousands of miles east of the river became Pyongyang.

The wheat seedlings are fat, the bean flowers are fragrant, and the men, women and children are happy.

Since the devil came, the people have suffered!

**Burned, desolate;

help the old and the young, fleeing in all directions;

I lost my father and mother, and I can't go back to my hometown!

The yellow water is busy day and night,

Wives are separated, and the sky is separated!

Wives are separated, and the sky is separated!"

The girl's voice is bright, her feelings are sincere, and her singing voice is tactful and melodious, which is very pleasant. Xian Xinghai shouted after hearing the case, "Okay! I'll accept your student." The girl clapped her hands with joy, jumped up, and said, "Then I am your great music student." Qian Yunling came over and took the girl's hand and said, "I'm really happy for you." The girl said, "Sister Qian, you are really blessed, you are with great musicians all day long, you are nurtured every day, and you can become a great musician in the future." Qian Yunling smiled and said, "Don't you see that I work as a nanny for a big musician every day." When the girl heard this, she laughed and said, "That's good, so that the great musicians can create more and better works." ”

Everyone went out the door as they spoke. However, as soon as he walked to the path in front of the Catholic church, Xian Xinghai suddenly thought that there were two tunes in "The Ballad of the Yellow River" that were too low, thus lacking the indomitable spirit and hope of the people of the Yellow River. So, he said, "Go first, I'm going back to the house, and I'll be right away." He trotted all the way back to the house, picked up the fourth movement of the score, and began to revise the tune of those two phrases. He tried to sing and revised it. It took a total of five consecutive changes to be satisfied.

Then, he re-read the whole movement, and found that there were still some things that he was not satisfied with, so he continued to revise them. It wasn't until almost noon, when Qian Yunling came back from the hospital, that he remembered that he had completely forgotten about going to the hospital to see a doctor.

Qian Yunling complained and said to him, "I've been waiting for you in the hospital for a long time, and I haven't seen you coming." Xian Xinghai said apologetically, "As soon as I revised the draft, I forgot about going to the hospital." Qian Yunling said in a warning tone, "The doctor said that your illness is getting more and more serious, and you must be hospitalized well, otherwise, it will turn into a chronic disease, and at that time, you can't cure it." As he spoke, he placed a packet of medicine on the small table. Xian Xinghai said disappreciatively, "I'll talk about it when I finish writing the Yellow River Cantata." Qian Yunling poured a cup of hot water, handed it to him, and said, "Take the medicine first." Xian Xinghai took out two pills from the paper bag and ate them with water.

However, the medicine did not alleviate Xian Xinghai's condition in the slightest, on the contrary, as the creation continued and deepened, his cough worsened day and night, and the low-grade fever continued. He now has almost no day and night, and no obvious time to sleep and rest. He had lost a lot of weight due to overwork and staying up late, his cheeks were bulging, his eyes were sunken, his face was dull, his expression was tired, his eyes were black, and his eyes were red and bloodshot.

But he still sat cross-legged on the bed, hunched over the small table, and kept writing. He was so tired that he couldn't hold it anymore, so he lay down on the bed and slept for a while, and fell asleep, when suddenly he heard a gust of wind passing by the window, and a melody came to his mind, so he got up at once and hurriedly recorded it in notes. He was completely immersed in the extreme excitement of artistic creation, capturing the image of the Yellow River depicted by the lyricist, igniting the national emotions that he had pursued for many years, portraying the personality and image of the Yellow River with the music of the soul, and shaping the spirit and soul of the Yellow River.

During this time, his wife Qian Yunling was also busy almost all night, in addition to taking care of Xian Xinghai's life, she also had to draw five-line grids to help copy and organize the music manuscript. Her handwriting is delicate and neat, the music scores she copied are clear and clean, and the manuscripts she binds are neat and beautiful. She always does things quietly and hard-working. Once, she fell asleep on her table with exhaustion, and did not wake up until the next morning. But at this time, Xian Xinghai had been writing hard with her head buried, and she didn't even notice that she had fallen asleep on the table.

It was written on March 26 and completed on March 31. Six days and six nights -- how long and how short this period of time is! The musical epic of the Chinese nation, "The Yellow River Cantata," was born!

On May 11, several gas lamps were hung in the auditorium of Shaanbei Public College, the largest auditorium in Yan'an, and the entire auditorium was illuminated as if it were day. Nearly 1,000 people came to the auditorium early to watch the performance of the party celebrating the first anniversary of the establishment of Lu Xun Art Institute. Chairman Mao and other central leaders were seated in the front row.

At the party, the teachers and students of Lu Yi performed some self-written and self-performed programs. Finally, the "Yellow River Cantata" was performed by more than 100 people. Xian Xinghai heard that Chairman Mao and the central leaders were coming to watch the "Yellow River Cantata", so he organized a choir team with more than 100 teachers and students in Lu Yi for rehearsal. In order to make the band's performance more imposing, he collected three violins and erhu, sanxian, flute, guitar and some percussion instruments, and asked several comrades to make a bass huqin converted from oil drums. After a month of rehearsals, the show was about to begin.

Xian Xinghai wore the gray military uniform and held the command baton in his hand, standing on the left side of the stage, waiting to appear. He had conducted a chorus of hundreds, if not thousands, of people, but at this moment, he still felt a little excited and nervous, because he saw Chairman Mao and the central leaders sitting in the middle of the first row.

Once the choir and band were ready on stage, the curtain opened. The applause rang out for a long time. Xian Xinghai walked out of the left side of the stage. He came to the middle of the stage, bowed deeply to the audience, and then, turning to face the choir and band, raised his baton.

With the wave of the baton, the music sounded and the chorus began. Every note of the "Yellow River Cantata" was composed by him, and every instrument in the orchestra was arranged by him. Therefore, he can be said to be very handy and proficient in command. In the passionate chorus and music, he is full of energy, passion, and steering, the tenor sings, the soprano turns and listens, and the chorus and orchestra cooperate tacitly. The show was a huge success. At the end of each song, there is a round of applause. When he performed "Defending the Yellow River", he suddenly turned around and directed the stage to sing together. The audience suddenly boiled.

When the chorus was nearing its end, 1,000 people in the audience stood up and sang in unison: "Ah! The Yellow River! Roar! Raise the alarm call for battle to the suffering people of all China! Raise the alarm call for battle to the working people of the whole world!" The song was sonorous and powerful, majestic and bold, like a mountain roaring and a tsunami, like a thunder roaring and roaring.

The whole performance was over, and Xian Xinghai turned around and bowed to the audience in thanks. At this time, he saw that the audience had not dispersed for a long time, and the thunderous applause and cheers continued one after another. When he saw Chairman Mao also standing up from his seat, he clapped vigorously and shouted at him repeatedly, "Good! Good!" He didn't know whether he was moved by the chairman's applause or because of his own success, and tears filled his eyes. He bowed again and thanked Chairman Mao and everyone present.

(Xi'an, 20 August 2015) (To be continued.) )