Xian Xinghai (June 13, 1905 – October 30, 1945) was one of the earliest generation of Chinese composers influenced by western classical music and has influenced generations of Chinese musicians.
冼星海是中國(guó)早期受西方古典音樂(lè)熏陶的作曲家之一，他的作品影響了中國(guó)幾代的音樂(lè)人。

In 1926 he joined the National Music Institute at Peking University to study music and in 1928 he entered Shanghai National Music Conservatory to study violin and piano. The same year he published his well-known essay The Universal Music.
1926年冼星海就讀于北京大學(xué)音樂(lè)傳習(xí)所，1928年進(jìn)入上海音樂(lè)專科音樂(lè)學(xué)校，學(xué)習(xí)小提琴、鋼琴。這一年他發(fā)表了論文《普遍的音樂(lè)》。

In 1929 he went to Paris under government sponsorship and in 1934 he was the first Chinese student admitted to the Paris Conservatory to study senior composition. During this period he composed Wind, Song of a Wanderer, Violin Sonata in D Minor, and other works.
1929年冼星海赴巴黎留學(xué)，1934年考入巴黎國(guó)立音樂(lè)學(xué)院肖拉?康托魯姆作曲班，這期間他創(chuàng)作了《風(fēng)》、《游子吟》《d小調(diào)小提琴奏鳴曲》等作品。

During the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), he wrote vocal works that encouraged the people to fight the Japanese invaders, including Saving the Nation, Non-Resistance the Only Fear, Song of Guerrillas, The Roads Are Opened by Us, The Vast Siberia, Children of the Motherland, Go to the Homefront of the Enemy, and On the Taihang Mountains, among others.
抗日戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)期間，冼星海創(chuàng)作了大量聲樂(lè)作品，包括《救國(guó)軍歌》、《只怕不抵抗》、《游擊軍歌》、《路是我們開》、《茫茫的西伯利亞》、《祖國(guó)的孩子們》、《到敵人后方去》、《在太行山上》。

He became dean of the Music Department at Lu Xun Institute of Arts in 1938. It is at this time that he composed the famous Yellow River Cantata and the Production Cantata.
1938年冼星海出任延安魯迅文學(xué)藝術(shù)學(xué)院音樂(lè)系主任，這期間他創(chuàng)作了著名的《黃河大合唱》，同時(shí)寫有《生產(chǎn)大合唱》等其他作品。


鋼琴大師殷承宗版《保衛(wèi)黃河》

In 1940 Xian went to the Soviet Union to compose the score of the documentary film Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army. In 1941 the German invasion of the Soviet Union disrupted his work and he attempted to return to China by way of Xinjiang but the local anti-communist warlord, Sheng Shicai, blocked the way and he got stranded in Alma Ata, Kazakhstan. It was here that he composed the symphonies Liberation of the Nation and Sacred War, and the suites Red All Over the River and Chinese Rhapsody for winds and strings. He developed pulmonary tuberculosis due to overwork and malnutrition. After the war, Xinghai went back to Moscow for medical treatment but could not be completely cured and died of pulmonary disease on October 30, 1945 in a hospital nearby the Moscow Kremlin at the age of 40.
1940年，冼星海前往蘇聯(lián)，為紀(jì)錄片《延安與八路軍》進(jìn)行后期制作與配樂(lè)。1941年，德國(guó)入侵蘇聯(lián)，冼星海的工作被迫中斷，他想經(jīng)由新疆回國(guó)，然而當(dāng)?shù)剀婇y盛世才阻撓，未能成功，被迫羈留于哈薩克的阿拉木圖。在那里他創(chuàng)作了《民族解放交響樂(lè)》、管弦樂(lè)組曲《滿江紅》以及管弦樂(lè)作品《中國(guó)狂想曲》。勞累和營(yíng)養(yǎng)不良導(dǎo)致冼星海的肺炎開始惡化，戰(zhàn)后他回到莫斯科接受治療，1945年10月30日，終于病逝，享年40歲。

Xian Xinghai composed over 300 works, published 35 papers, including Nie Er—the Creator of New Chinese Music and On the National Styles of Chinese Music. His influence in Chinese music won him the title People's Composer.
冼星海一生中創(chuàng)作了300多部作品，發(fā)表了35篇論文，包括《聶耳--中國(guó)新興音樂(lè)的創(chuàng)造者》、《論中國(guó)音樂(lè)的民族形式》，他被授予“人民音樂(lè)家”的稱號(hào)。