Xilin Wang

About Xilin Wang

Wang Xilin is one of the most significant composers in China, distinct for his expressive and dramatic musical language and his subversive politics. Wang was born in Kaifeng in Henan Province of China. His father’s untimely death and family poverty led him to join an art troupe in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and in 1955 at the age of 19 he was sent to the Central Military Music Conducting School in Beijing.

In 1957, he was admitted to the department of composing and conducting of Shanghai Conservatory of Music where he studied with Liu Zhuang, Chen Mingzhi, Ding Shande and Qu Wei. Wang composed his Symphony No. 1 as his graduation work in 1962. This was followed by an appointment as Composer in Residence with the Beijing Central Radio Symphony Orchestra. Wang’s 1963 symphonic suite Yunnan Tone Poem was later awarded the highest prize given by Chinese government.

In 1963, shortly before the onset of the Cultural Revolution, a lecture Wang was assigned to give criticising the government’s art policies led to his persecution and he was banished to Shanxi Province for 14 years. Until 1971 he worked as a labourer in a Datong facing persecution, torture and imprisonment; in the subsequent years of exile he was appointed conductor of the Southeast Shanxi Song and Dance Ensemble.

Wang returned to Beijing in 1978 following the end of the Cultural Revolution and was for the first time introduced to the music of the major Western compositional figures of the 20th century, previously banned: Schoeberg, Bartók, Stravinsky, Penderecki, among others. This had a strong influence on Wang’s compositional technique as he began to employ sequencing, minimalism and tone clusters, as well as incorporate elements of local folk music into his symphonic works.

Wang’s extensive oeuvre comprises eight symphonies, numerous concertos, symphonic suites, overtures, and music for film, as well as a body of chamber and vocal works. His works have been performed throughout China and Europe. He is currently composer in residence with Beijing Symphony Orchestra.