Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
ALMATY, June 17 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly told a touching story of friendship between China and Kazakhstan: “More than 80 years ago, Chinese and Kazakh composers Xian Xinghai and Bakhytzhan Baikadamov met and became friends in Almaty, and their brotherly friendship transcended the borders of their countries… In difficult times, when Xian Xinghai was alone, sick and poor, Kazakh composer Bakhytzhan Baikadamov provided him with shelter.”
This year marks the 120th anniversary of Xian Xinghai’s birth. B. Baikadamov’s nearly 80-year-old daughter, Baldyrgan Baikadamova, who recently recovered from a serious illness, gave an interview to Xinhua at her home in Almaty.
She says that Xian Xinghai often repeated two cherished wishes: first, to find his family and tell them about his life in Almaty; second, to take his latest works to China. “Stories about these two cherished wishes are still told today, and this proves that true friendship can transcend time and space,” she says.
“KAZAKHSTAN-CHINESE FAMILY”
In May 1940, Xian Xinghai left Yan’an for the Soviet Union to work on the documentary film “Yan’an and the Eighth Army”. In 1941, due to the war, the film’s production was suspended, and Xian Xinghai was unable to return to his homeland. At the end of 1942, he reached Almaty, but still could not find a way to leave for China. B. Baikadamov, whom he had never met before, extended a helping hand to him.
B. Baikadamov, meeting Xian Xinghai on the street, saw a thin, poorly dressed young man sitting on a suitcase with a violin in his hands. Despite the language barrier, he realized that this man needed help and brought him to his home. The two composers supported each other in difficult times, inspiring the people with their music in the fight against fascism. The story of their friendship, which went through trials, still remains in the memory of the peoples of the two countries.
“Over the years, my father’s stories and the memories of relatives made me feel like I was a witness to this history,” says B. Baikadamova. Before retiring, she held the position of vice-rector of the Almaty Conservatory. On the walls of her office, you can see many folk instruments, and in the bookcase by the wall, there is a photograph of her father.
B. Baikadamova says that the days when Xian Xinghai and B. Baikadamova’s family lived together were difficult. Food was rationed, and there was very little of it. “/We/ planted potatoes, beets, carrots, and that’s how we survived… Grandma could exchange potatoes, for example, for butter. She always worried about Xian Xinghai, saying: “He’s too thin.” In the cold winter, Xian Xinghai didn’t have warm clothes, and Grandma remade an old coat for him,” she says.
After the death of composer B. Baikadamov, his family continued to remember Xian Xinghai’s wishes. In 1986, after numerous efforts, B. Baikadamova managed to contact Xian Xinghai’s daughter, Xian Ning. “When Xian Ning first came to Kazakhstan, we had a long conversation about her father’s life here. This was the beginning of our friendship, and one could say that our two families became one Kazakh-Chinese family,” she says.
B. Baikadamova believes that the history of “brotherly friendship that transcended the borders of countries,” which Chairman Xi Jinping spoke about, is a symbol of friendship between Kazakhstan and China and “an ideal example of people’s diplomacy.”
As the keeper of this friendship, she often interacts with the Chinese and feels part of this country. She has witnessed how the story of her father’s friendship with a Chinese composer continues to promote cultural exchanges between Kazakhstan and China, and is pleased to see the blossoming of practical cooperation between the two countries in various fields. “And the more people know about this story and the details of this story, the closer our peoples will become,” says our interlocutor.
“HIS WORKS HAVE RETURNED INSTEAD OF HIM”
Music always sounded in B. Baikadamov’s house. Music was the most important language in the communication between the two composers.
During the war years, Xian Xinghai never stopped yearning for his homeland and loved ones. Symphony No. 1 “National Liberation”, Symphony No. 2 “Holy War”, Suite “The Whole River is Red” /”Manjianghong”/… Each piece, each manuscript carried a piece of the composer’s soul.
On the advice of B. Baikadamov, Xian Xinghai took on the task of creating a symphonic poem about the hero of the Kazakh people, Amangeldy. Based on the folk songs collected by the Kazakh composer, Xian Xinghai created the poem “Amangeldy”, which inspired local residents. In Kazakhstan, Xian Xinghai also taught music theory, taught how to play musical instruments, and held concerts, receiving wide recognition.
In early 1944, on the advice of B. Baikadamov, Xian Xinghai went to Kostanay to work in a local musical ensemble as an accompanist. In 1945, while touring in a remote village, he fell ill with pneumonia and soon died in Moscow.
According to B. Baikadamova, Xian Xinhai wanted to bring the works written in Kazakhstan to China. “There is nothing more important and valuable for a composer than his work, it is his brainchild. /He wanted/ the Chinese people to know, hear and understand what he was thinking about in his last years,” she says, adding that the last works mean a lot to a musician, “like his last breath, like his last exhalation.”
“My grandmother, father and aunt were gone, and fulfilling Xian Xinghai’s wishes, returning his last works to his homeland – this mission fell on me, and I had to fulfill it,” she adds.
Due to the limited conditions, “Amangeldy” was originally written as a piano duet. Many years later, B. Baikadamova commissioned the Kazakh composer Bakir Bayakhunov to create an orchestral arrangement of the work and actively contributed to the poem’s return to China.
Xian Xinghai was born in Panyu City, Guangdong Province. In December 2023, the Xian Xinghai Concert Hall in Guangzhou hosted the “Musical Evening in Honor of the Friendship of Chinese Composer Xian Xinghai and Kazakh Composer B. Baikadamov”. The orchestral arrangement of “Amangeldy” was performed for the first time in the homeland of the Chinese composer.
“It was a great happiness, I said to myself: “You finally did it!” — recalling that moment, B. Baikadamova is very excited. “He did not return /to his homeland/, but let his music return,” she adds.
“SPREADING A COMMON VOICE AGAINST OPPRESSIVENESS AND AGGRESSION”
“To survive, we must join forces and protect our homeland, which is more precious to us than our mother,” Xian Xinghai wrote in one of his letters to his mother.
Xian Xinghai was born into a poor family of boatmen and raised listening to his mother’s folk songs and his grandfather’s flute. In 1929, the 24-year-old went to Paris to study and work, pursuing his musical dreams. He wrote an article expressing his aspirations: “a person who studies music” should “assume the heavy responsibility of saving China in decline.”
“Saving China in Decline” — this phrase became the main idea of Xian Xinghai’s life and work. In 1935, he returned from Paris after completing his studies and actively joined the work of creating and distributing songs about resistance to Japanese aggression and saving the country. In 1938, he came to Yan’an and began teaching at the music department of the Yan’an Lu Xun Institute of Arts.
It was very cold in the cave house in the winter, but Xian Xinghai’s enthusiasm for creating songs about saving the country was hotter than fire. In an old photo, the composer, wrapped in a cotton coat, sits at a small table, his brows slightly furrowed, and ponders something with a pen in his hand. It was here that he worked for six days and nights on the cantata “Yellow River.”
In April 1939, the premiere of the work took place in the hall of the North Shaanxi Public School in Yan’an, and it was a huge success. “Defend the Motherland! Defend the Yellow River! Defend North China! Defend all of China!” These words, coming from the depths of the soul, were a fierce call to fight against the Japanese invaders, a melody written in defense of justice. From there, they spread throughout China, throughout the world, and can still be heard today.
“The Yellow River Cantata embodies Xian Xinghai’s twenty years of experience and efforts in the field of musical creativity. At the decisive moment of the World Anti-Fascist War, Xian Xinghai used music to convey the great fortitude of the Chinese nation and convey the common voice of the people of the world against oppression and aggression,” said Liu Ni, director of the Yan’an Revolutionary Memorial Museum.
At that time, Yan’an was short of material resources and lacked instruments for performing symphonic music. Therefore, the original version of “Yellow River” was written in simplified musical notation. After arriving in the Soviet Union to work, Xian Xinghai completed the overture and orchestral accompaniment score for the cantata.
In 2005, the musical notation of the cantata “Yellow River” was published, on the systematization of which his daughter Xian Ning worked for eight years. It includes the “Yan’an version” and the “Soviet version”. Thus, Xian Ning “did what her father could not”.
“PRECIOUS MEMORIES ARE PASSED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION”
“We have performed the Yellow River cantata on stage many times. In my opinion, it is one of the most outstanding and touching works of China. Everyone, from musicians to ordinary people, can appreciate it, understand it and draw strength from it,” Beimbet Demeuov, chief conductor of the B. Baikadamov Kazakh State Choir, told Xinhua.
In 2024, it was 85 years since the premiere of the cantata “Yellow River”. In October of the same year, B. Demeuov headed the Kazakh State Choir named after B. Baikadamov, which gave a concert in Wuhan. When the inspiring melody sounded and the Kazakhs sang in Chinese, the hall burst into prolonged applause.
“In recent years, relations between the two countries have become increasingly close, from close high-level contacts to rich cultural exchanges,” Demeuov said, expressing hope that President Xi Jinping’s visit to Kazakhstan to attend the second China-Central Asia Summit will contribute to “further deepening cooperation between the two sides in all areas.”
Roza Bakbergenova, soloist of the B. Baikadamov Choir, said that the brotherly friendship between Xian Xinghai and B. Baikadamov is a valuable memory of the friendly relations between the peoples of the two countries, and expressed hope for deeper cultural exchanges between the two countries in the future.
According to B. Demeuov, Xian Xinghai’s “Amangeldy” and “Yellow River” have amazing power, reflect the composer’s deep study of the Kazakh people, culture and history, and are very popular with the local population. “Many thanks to Xian Xinghai for writing such works for us,” said B. Demeuov.
Like Xian Xinghai, the famous Kazakh composer B. Baikadamov was also a patriot, inspired people to resist oppression with music, and dedicated his entire life to collecting, recording, and preserving Kazakh folk music. His works, such as “Dombyra” and “Su tasushi kyz” /“Water Carrier Girl”/ are still widely known.
Yu Yafei, a teacher at the music department of the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou, noted that awakening the spirit of resistance, unyielding will and confidence in victory in the people through national music was the common goal of Xian Xinghai and B. Baikadamov, as well as the spiritual force that allowed the cantata “Yellow River” and the poem “Amangeldy” to overcome space and time. “This is the true meaning of why we still remember them, remember history and maintain friendship,” he added.
In Almaty, Xian Xinghai Street is located next to Baikadamov Street and there is a monument on it with an inscription in Chinese, Kazakh and Russian: “The street is named in honor of the outstanding Chinese composer, an ambassador of friendship and culture between the peoples of Kazakhstan and China.”
“The younger generation of Kazakhstan should know and continue this beautiful friendship, and I believe that in the future there will be even more beautiful stories about the friendship between Kazakhstan and China,” says local resident Ulan Bekmukhanbetova.
Old age and illness do not prevent B. Baikadamova from traveling to promote friendship. The elderly woman plans to visit Guangzhou again this August to donate several valuable items that belonged to Xian Xinghai, as well as historical materials related to him. She also plans to take her granddaughter with her to see Xian Xinghai’s hometown. “I hope that this familial friendship between our fathers and the precious memories between our countries will be passed on from generation to generation,” says B. Baikadamova. –0–
