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
Moscow, May 9 /Xinhua/ — There are musical works that very accurately reflect their time and the collective unconscious of millions of people. They arise at turning points in history and shape the historical memory of peoples.
During the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the great Victory in Russia, the song “The Holy War” by Alexander Alexandrov is heard, and in China, the cantata “The Yellow River” by Xian Xinghai is heard. Despite the fact that these works were born in different years and in different countries, they have become cultural symbols for the peoples who fought together on the fronts of World War II.
MONUMENTS OF THE NATIONAL SPIRIT BORN IN THE FIRE OF WAR
During the World Anti-Fascist War, China was the main theater of military operations in Asia, and the USSR was in Europe. The Chinese people were the first to rise up in the fight against the Japanese militarists, waged the longest war and, like the Soviet Union, suffered colossal losses.
The legendary Yellow River Cantata was created in 1939, when the Chinese people had already been fighting Japanese aggression for almost eight years. The 34-year-old composer Xian Xinghai wrote it in six days and nights in the communist-liberated area of Yan’an (Shaanxi Province, Northwest China). He was inspired by a patriotic poem by Guan Weiran, which formed the basis of the lyrics.
“They both shared the same aspiration of expressing the nation’s voice during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression through music,” said Liu Ni, director of the Yan’an Revolutionary Memorial Museum.
The piece was first performed in April 1939 and soon spread throughout China, becoming a symbol of national resistance to Japanese aggressors. “The cantata, in which the Yellow River symbolizes the nation, sounded like a powerful battle cry for the people of China,” said Liu Meng, a professor at the Yan’an Cadre School.
“A work like the Yellow River Cantata means that the Chinese nation and the Chinese people cannot be defeated by external enemies,” said Zuo Zhenguan, a renowned composer and musicologist who has researched the life and work of Xian Xinghai.
“Arise, great country, rise to mortal combat with the dark fascist force, with the damned horde!” — these words from the Soviet song “Sacred War” performed by the Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Army named after A. V. Alexandrov send shivers down your spine. This song, like an eternal memory of the feat of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, has lived for more than 80 years and is performed by the ensemble at concerts both in Russia and abroad.
According to the head of the ensemble – artistic director Gennady Sachenyuk, in the first days after Germany’s attack on the USSR, composer Alexander Alexandrov saw in one of the newspapers the poems of the poet Vasily Lebedev-Kumach that struck him. According to the recollections of eyewitnesses of those events, he immediately went to write music, and the next day the musicians were already rehearsing the song in the ensemble’s building. “This song was probably needed like air, precisely in those days,” said G. Sachenyuk.
On June 26, 1941, the song “Svyatnaya Voina” was first performed at the Belorussky Station in Moscow, from where trains with Red Army soldiers were leaving for the front. It was a one-song concert and its premiere. “You always imagine the faces of the people who went through all this, how it all united them, especially when people stand up in the audience. And they stand up during this song at every concert,” says Dmitry Trunov, an artist of the choir of the A. V. Alexandrov Ensemble.
According to the rector of the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music, Alexander Ryzhinsky, these two great musical works provided spiritual support for the fight against Japanese militarism and German fascism, and also became monuments to the national spirit of China and Russia.
“VICTORY OVERTURES”
In May 1940, Xian Xinghai, on the instructions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, went from Yan’an to the Soviet Union to complete work on a documentary film about the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. In the Soviet Union, he made corrections to “Yellow River” and completed its editing.
“This cantata is a spiritual monument to the Chinese nation. The Yellow River has the same effect on Chinese citizens as the Holy War has on Russians, being a symbol of struggle, a symbol of victory, an impulse to further aspiration to live and remain strong,” Nikolai Kirillov, chief conductor of the A. V. Alexandrov Ensemble, told Xinhua. “Each of them, at one time, produced such an effect for their country, for their people, provided such assistance, such support, which was needed at that moment.”
“Both the Yellow River and the Sacred War cantatas combined the national musical language with the fight against the enemy, becoming a powerful spiritual weapon in the anti-fascist war,” said Ren Xuewen, deputy director of the Department of Party History and Party Construction at the Yan’an Cadre School. He noted that during World War II, the Soviet Union performed the Yellow River, and the Soviet song Sacred War was distributed in China on the radio.
“The Yellow River” and “The Holy War” are “victory overtures” created by life itself, which testify to a great friendship forged in blood.
On April 18, 2025, the Chinese Embassy in Russia held a photo exhibition, “Sincere Friends Tempered in Trials,” dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. “The joint celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Anti-Fascist War will help bring peace to all of humanity,” military retiree Vyacheslav Pechugin, a visitor to the event, said in an interview with Xinhua.
During the war, many events took place that united the two nations. More than 2,000 Soviet pilots defended the skies of China, delivering powerful blows to the Japanese aggressors. Chinese pilot Tang Do participated in the Great Patriotic War as a deputy squadron commander of a fighter aviation regiment. Chinese journalist Hu Jibang wrote about the decisive struggle of the Soviet people.
“The cooperation between China and the USSR during the anti-fascist war was not only interstate strategic mutual assistance, but also a demonstration of friendship established by peoples at the expense of their lives and sacrifices,” Ren Xuewen emphasized.
THE MAJESTIC POWER OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Every time there are important holidays, the Yellow River Cantata is performed in Yan’an, the birthplace of the great work. It is also a compulsory performance at local music colleges. “It is a masterpiece that most reflects the national spirit of China,” said Guo Qiang, deputy director of the Xi’an Conservatory of Music.
For 86 years since the Yellow River appeared, it has been performed many times in concert halls in Russia. This has become a good tradition and part of the growing humanitarian exchanges between the two countries. At the same time, Holy War has been constantly performed by Chinese musicians, appeared in TV programs and films, and has become known to many Chinese.
“These two pieces of art born in the fire of war have become a cultural heritage that knows no national boundaries,” said Zhou Zhou, a Chinese graduate student at Russia’s V.S. Popov Academy of Choral Art who has conducted Chinese and Russian student choirs performing “Holy War” and “Yellow River” on numerous occasions.
During the war, the two countries shared hardships, and today they are developing together. Relations between China and Russia, good neighbors and true friends, are constantly moving forward. In particular, cooperation in the humanitarian sphere is dynamic.
A rich and varied program has been developed within the framework of the China-Russia Cross Years of Culture /2024-2025/. For example, about 1.5 million people attended hundreds of events within the framework of the “Chinese New Year in Moscow” festival, which took place from January 28 to February 9.
“Russian-Chinese cooperation in the humanitarian sphere is the most important component of the multifaceted complex of bilateral relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction. We are always pleased to note its progressive development in all areas,” said the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.
“Today, when the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind is gaining popularity, the time and space of the symphony of sounds of the Yellow River and Holy War cantatas tell us that only by continually strengthening the ties between people and preserving the hard-won peace can we pay tribute to our ancestors,” Liu Meng said. –0–