Huang Tzu

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Huang Tzu
Background information
Born	(1904-03-23)23 March 1904 Shanghai, China
Died	9 May 1938(1938-05-09) (aged 34)
Genres	Classical Chinese music, Choir, Symphony
Occupation	Composer

Huang Tzu (simplified Chinese: 黄自; traditional Chinese: 黃自; pinyin: Huáng Zì; Wade–Giles: Huang Tzu; 23 March 1904 - 9 May 1938), courtesy name Jinwu (Chinese: 今吾; pinyin: Jīnwú; Wade–Giles: Chin-wu), was a Chinese composer of the early 20th century.^[1]

Huang was born in Chuansha, Shanghai, during the final years of the Qing Dynasty. His father Huang Hongpei was a factory manager, and his mother Lu Meixian founded the first women’s school in Shanghai.^[2] He was also a distant relative of Huang Yanpei. He was accepted into Tsinghua College in 1916 and was introduced to Western music there. While at Tsinghua, he studied piano and vocal music, and was well-known within the local community.^[3] At that time, he was also influenced by the May Fourth Movement, which occurred in 1919.^[4]

After his graduation in 1924, Huang went on to study psychology in Oberlin College in Ohio, United States, assisted by the Boxer Indemnity Scholarship.^[2] There, he studied music theory, sight-singing, dictation, and keyboard harmony.^[3] In 1928, he was accepted into Yale University, where he studied Western music. In Yale, he composed the overture In Memoriam, which is the first large-scale orchestral work by a Chinese composer.^[5] There, he also composed another overture called "Nostalgia", which was played at the Yale School of Music’s graduation concert."^[3]

In 1929, Huang returned to China and taught in the University of Shanghai, National Music College and other music schools. After the Mukden Incident in 1931, Huang wrote patriotic songs such as Resist the Enemy Song (抗敌歌).^[6] During this time, he also faced censorship from the Chinese government, and had to change "enemy" for "Japan" in the song's title.^[7] In 1935, he established the Shanghai Orchestra, the first all-Chinese orchestra. Some of his students, including He Luting, Ding Shande, Zhu Ying, Jiang Dingxian, Lin Sheng, Lin Shengxi and Liu Xue'an, became famous musicians later.

Huang's best-known works include: Philosophical Song (天倫歌); Plum Blossoms in the Snow (踏雪尋梅), a 1933 large cantata based on Bai Juyi's poem Chang hen ge; Flower in the Mist (花非花); Lotus Song (採蓮謠); Benshi (本事). He also composed the National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China. Huang died of typhoid fever in Shanghai in 1938.