Performers › Composers
Ren Guang
Composer from Sheng County, Zhejiang, head of music at Pathe Records in Shanghai, who wrote the film song Song of the Fishermen and the ensemble piece Colourful Clouds Chasing the Moon.
Mural of the cultural record “Chinese Works for Western Instruments”, which this person is tied to.
Also known as Pen name Qian Fa
- Roles
- Composers
Ren Guang was born in 1900 into a family of stone carvers in Sheng County, Zhejiang, and loved music from childhood. In 1919 he went to France on a work-study scheme and learned piano tuning and composition. Returning around 1928, he became head of the music department of Pathe Records in Shanghai, overseeing recordings and composing. His 1934 theme song for the film Song of the Fishermen, with words by An E, was a huge success, and in 1935 he wrote Colourful Clouds Chasing the Moon for Chinese instrumental ensemble, a lyrical piece later arranged for piano and many other forces. His harmonies show a clear Western influence. He was killed by a stray bullet in southern Anhui in January 1941, aged forty-one.
Life and times
Dates 1900–1941