March of the Volunteers originally featured in Children of Troubled Times, a movie produced by Shanghai's Diantong Film Company, which told the story of young people leaving their lives of leisure to volunteer to fight the Japanese invaders. The movie premiered in May 1935 and was scripted by Tian and Xia Yan (1900-1995). It was a great success, along with the song.
"Back in the revolutionary era, soldiers greeted victory on the battlefield by humming March of the Volunteers," Liao says. "Today, as the national anthem, the song is in our blood. It represents China's national spirit. In presenting the opera, we hope to introduce this group of young revolutionary artists to a wider audience, show their passionate love for the nation, their creativity, and what brought them together to achieve what they did."
"In the opera, we tell stories based on historical events and include characters based on real people, such as Nie Er, Tian Han and Xia Yan. They were young at the time and used their talent to create art with ambition and determination to inspire a national sense of patriotism and the spirit of collectivism to protect the motherland," says the opera's scriptwriter You Weizhi.
"Many of their stories are little known, so through the opera, we want more people today to learn about them."
Meng Weidong, who is known for his scores for movies, TV dramas and pop songs, wrote music for the opera. He says that he remained loyal to the writers of March of the Volunteers. The song appears three times, and he says he was deeply touched when audience sang along with the performers at the end.
"Both Nie Er and Tian Han were great songwriters. I often read Tian Han's lyrics over and over again for inspiration," Meng says. "I wrote songs for the opera in a lively and cheerful style, to convey the atmosphere of high-spirited victory celebrations."
According to the Shanghai Opera House, the opera has been staged 30 times since its premiere, including shows for students from primary and middle schools as part of an educational program.
chennan@chinadaily.com.cn
