为发展中国交响乐鸣锣开道——贺指挥家袁方先生八秩华诞

Chinese Conductor Yuan Fang Who Paved the Way for the Development of Chinese Symphonic Music

20世纪70年代末,有一位来访的挪威记者问中国广播交响乐团艺术指导、首席指挥袁方：＂中国有交响乐吗？＂这使袁方深为震惊,他为此苦思良久,深感在改革开放的形势下,作为一名指挥家肩负着特殊的历史使命。好在音乐本身是一种美好的、无需翻译的世界性语言。于是袁方决心要为发展中国交响乐鸣锣开道,通过自己的指挥艺术实践活动,努力介绍中外交响乐作品,让世界了解中国,让中国了解世界。

The Chinese conductor Yuang Fang, who will soon celebrate his 80 th birthday, has made great contributions and fruitful achievements in terms of realizing the prosperous development of Chinese symphonic music, promoting Chinese national music composition, upgrading the level of Chinese symphonic music performance, and introducing symphonic music to the audience. In 1953, Yuan Fang was admitted into the Composition Department of the Northeast Music School (today's Shenyang Conservatory of Music). In 1956, when he graduated from the school, he was awarded the Medal of Outstanding Student, and in the same year he went abroad to study conducting with Prof. Willi Nipolt (1913-1983) in Berlin Academy of Music in the German Democratic Republic. In 1958, he made his debut in conducting Haydn's Symphony No. 101 in D Major, and graduated from the academy with excellent grades. After returning to China, he became music editor and director at Shenyang Radio and Television. In 1964, he was transferred to be a conductor of the China Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra in Beijing and since then has been working there for fifty-five years as an outstanding and world renowned symphony orchestra conductor. In the late 1970's, when a visiting Norwegian journalist asked Yuan Fang, who was Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of China Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, the question ' Is there symphony in China?', he was deeply shocked. After having thought about this for a long time, he became aware of the significant mission of a conductor in the new era of reforms and opening up to the outside world. Seeing that music is an international beautiful language that needs no translation, Yuan Fang made up his mind to pave the way for the development of Chinese symphonic music, and, by introducing the Chinese and foreign symphonic music to the audience through his conducting practice and performances, attempted to let the world know China and let China know the world. Yuan Fang made a rule for himself: symphony works by Chinese composers should be substantially supported and promoted. Since then, he not only conducted special concerts of Chinese symphonic music in China, but also introduced and promoted Chinese symphonic music in a planned manner during his overseas visits. On the afternoon of April 12, 1995 at the Hilton Hotel Beijing, the Chinese conductor Yuan Fang was awarded the Medal of Honour of the Republic of Portugal by the visiting Portuguese President Dr. Mário Soares. In 1999, he received the Certificate of Achievements in the 20 th Century granted by the International Biographical Centre of Cambridge, UK. Mr. Yuan Fang will as always pursue the art of music persistently. ' It is a difficult task to develop the cause of Chinese symphonic music, ' he said affectionately. 'It is the unshirkable responsibility for our generation as it will take several generations to make China a great country of symphonic music.'