An exhibition that opened on Monday in Taipei commemorates Taiwanese composer Tyzen Hsiao (蕭泰然, 1938-2015) by recounting his legacy and showcasing his belongings.
The Taiwan Music Institute is featuring more than 150 items on loan from Hsiao’s family in an exhibition called “Vagabond Homecoming — A Memory Exhibition of Taiwan Composer Tyzen Hsiao.”
Sections of the exhibition detail Hsiao’s life, his close relationships, his faith, his works and his awards.
Photo: Ling Mei-hsueh, Taipei Times
Hsiao, a neo-romantic, won international acclaim for his compositions, which featured elements of Taiwanese folk songs and had a rich tonal style. He earned the reputation of being “Taiwan’s Rachmaninoff.”
Hsiao’s most widely performed large-scale pieces are Ode to Yushan; Formosa Symphony, opus 49; 1947 Overture for soprano, chorus and orchestra; Violin Concerto in D, opus 50; Cello Concerto in C, opus 52; and Piano Concerto in C minor, opus 53.
The Golden Melody Awards in 2011 honored Hsiao with a Lifetime Achievement Award. He won Best Composer in 1999, 2004 and 2010.
Born in Kaohsiung in 1938, Hsiao majored in music at National Taiwan Normal University from 1959 to 1963, before studying at Tokyo’s Musashino Academia Musicae from 1963 to 1967, where his focus shifted from piano performance to composition.
In 1977, Hsiao moved his family from Taiwan to the US, where, over the next 18 years, he composed some of his most famous pieces.
Returning to Taiwan in 1995, Hsiao premiered his famous 1947 Overture, while Ode to Yushan premiered four years later.
Hsiao had a stroke in 2002 and moved back to Los Angeles. In 2015, he died of lung cancer at the age of 77.
His music has touched many people, said Stephen Hsiao (蕭傑文), the composer’s second-eldest son.
“Even foreigners have felt the powerful passion of his music, because he dug deep into the roots of our soil and blood of being part of Taiwan,” he said.
The family members are thinking of donating the composer’s possessions — which are being archived — to Taiwan, Stephen Hsiao said.
“That’s something Dad would do, because his music belongs to the people... We are just archivers,” he said.
However, a donation would only happen once Taiwan is “independent,” he added.
The exhibition is open to the public until Aug. 30.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS