Xiao Shuxian (

Simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one that is simpler (usually shorter), according to a well-founded ordering. Examples include: ...

: 萧淑娴;

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

: 蕭淑嫻;

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: Xiāo Shúxián; sometimes spelled Hsiao Shu-sien) (April 4, 1905 – November 26, 1991) was a Chinese composer and music educator.

Life

Xiao was born in

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

into a highly cultural Chinese family, some of her relatives were known people in Chinese history. After a period of music studying in China, she went to the Royal Conservatory at Brussels, winning a prize there in 1932. From 1935 to 1954 she was married to

Hermann Scherchen Hermann Scherchen (21 June 1891 – 12 June 1966) was a German conductor, who was principal conductor of the city orchestra of Winterthur from 1922 to 1950. He promoted contemporary music, beginning with Schoenberg's '' Pierrot Lunaire'', follow ...

, a conductor; their daughter, Tona Scherchen, became a composer. Xiao spent 14 years working in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where she helped to promote

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the Cradle of civilization#Ancient China, world's earliest cultures, said to originate five thousand years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia called the Sinosphere as a whole ...

with her music and writing. Her 1938 ''Chinese Children's Suite'' for voice and piano was among the first works by a Chinese composer to become known in the West, as was her suite for

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

, ''Huainian Zuguo'' (''A Commemoration of My Homeland''). In 1950, motivated by a desire to help her homeland's development, and a wish to have a career of her own, Xiao returned to China with her three children, not knowing that she herself would not be able to see her husband ever again. From then until her death she taught in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

at the Central Conservatory. A substantial number of today's successful Chinese composers benefitted from her teaching, and among them recollections of Xiao is vivid. Her value as a teacher depended on the fact that she was among the earliest Chinese who had first-hand experience in Western art music, as well as all sorts of compositional techniques. Yet, her role as a composer was largely ignored, as during the most of her lifetime a self-dependent composer was impossible in China. It was not until a few years before her death that finally a concert consisting entirely of her own music were given in the Conservatory, followed by the publication of scores. In addition to her work as a teacher and composer, she translated various texts on Western musical thought into Chinese. She died in

Musical style

In a limited compositional output, Xiao's style combines elements of Chinese folk culture with traditional Western techniques. She developed it mainly through teaching

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...

in the 1950s. Most of her works are written for small mediums such as vocal and piano solo music. The best among them, for example, the Piano Sonatina, can be described as having a neo-classical style.

References

* Joyce Lindorff: "Xiao Shuxian", in: ''The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers'', ed. by Julie Anne Sadie and Rhian Samuel (New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1995), p. 505. {{DEFAULTSORT:Xiao, Shuxian 1905 births 1991 deaths 20th-century Chinese musicians 20th-century Chinese classical composers 20th-century Chinese translators 20th-century Chinese women writers Chinese expatriates in Belgium Chinese expatriates in Germany Chinese expatriates in Switzerland Chinese women classical composers Educators from Tianjin Musicians from Tianjin Translators to Chinese Writers from Tianjin 20th-century women composers