Musician's legacy to live on in museum collection

To preserve the memory of her husband, the wife of deceased musician Hsu Chang-hui (許常惠) yesterday donated some of the tools and products of his trade to a national museum.

Attending the donation ceremony, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) lauded the achievements of the musician, who died nine months ago, and praised his family for their generosity in sharing his legacy with the public.

"Besides being devoted to music education, Hsu spent more than 40 years systematically researching, collecting and promoting Taiwan's folk and Aboriginal music. His vision and spirit set a great example for us," Chen said. "He came to prominence in the 1970s when he founded an alliance of Asian musicians, helping to raise Taiwan's international profile on the musical stage."

The president also took the opportunity to express his appreciation for the generosity of Lee Chih-hui (李致慧), Hsu's wife.

He said the donation has elevated Hsu's legacy, turning it into a national cultural asset.

The property left by Hsu -- a musician, music educator and former chairman of the National Cultural and Arts Foundation -- that was donated to Academia Historica included 49 boxes of Hsu's manuscripts, videos, cassettes, news clippings and books and essays penned by him.

Chang Yen-hsien (張炎憲), president of the museum, said that in order to ensure the materials are kept in the best possible condition, the museum had drafted a proposal concerning the preservation of musical material.

Under the proposal, Chang said, professional techniques will be used to preserve the items.

For most Taiwanese, Hsu -- who was born in 1929 in Changhwa County -- was a household name.

Hsu grew up in an affluent family with strong artistic traditions. His musical talents were discovered when he was 12 years old and studying the violin in Japan. After he graduated from the Provincial Teachers College, now National Taiwan Normal University, with a major in music, Hsu continued his training in France.

It was the period of time he spent in France that had the most influence on him, Hsu once said, because it was during that time that he started to contemplate how to compose music that would truly represent his country.

After returning to Taiwan from Paris, he made composing music for Taiwan and music education his two central purposes in life because he felt that Taiwan's music lacked a distinct character, as it was heavily influenced by music from Japan and China.

To research Taiwan's folk music, Hsu toured Taiwan, especially its Buddhist temples and monasteries, in the 1960s to find music that was about to die out. He collected copies of more than 2000 Aboriginal and Han Chinese songs.

In 1970, in an effort to save Taiwan's cultural assets from extinction in the face of dramatic economic growth, Hsu promoted the music of Chen Ta (陳達), whom he discovered and whose coarse, high-pitched, slightly sad voice came to be seen by many as the true voice of Taiwan.

Hsu died of a brain tumor in January. He was 72.