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Liu Chi
Composer from Xi'an, Shaanxi, a pupil of Xian Xinghai, who scored Dai Ailian's Lotus Dance and wrote songs such as Let Us Row Our Oars.
In a palace music hall, a frame of tiered bronze chime bells hangs from dragon-carved beams, with one person standing with their back turned holding two mallets before it; a large red drum and a rack of red knotted cords stand to the left and a stone chime to the right, in evening light.
- Roles
- Composers
Liu Chi was born in Xi'an, Shaanxi, on 10 March 1921 into a poor family and as a boy learned the old Sui and Tang banquet music at a Xi'an drum-music society. In 1939 he entered the music department of the Lu Xun Academy of Arts, studying composition and conducting with Xian Xinghai, and stayed on to teach. He went on to compose for opera houses and song and dance ensembles for many years. His music for Lotus Dance, choreographed by Dai Ailian, was arranged on the Qingyang folk tune Yang Yanmai, and the dance won a prize at an international dance competition in 1953. His other works include the songs Xinjiang Is Good, Let Us Row Our Oars and My Motherland and the opera Ashima. He died on 23 October 1998.
Life and times
Dates 1921–1998