Trivia
- According to an account by Xian Xinghai's daughter, Guang Weiran knew Xian was Cantonese and had a sweet tooth. Guang then asked someone to buy a kilogram of sugar, a scarcity during wartime, and gave it to Xian, who ate it for snacks while composing the cantata.
- Due to the lack of musical instruments, the orchestra for the premiere of the Yellow River Cantata consisted of only two or three violins and twenty-odd Chinese ethnic musical instruments. The rest were products of innovation: diesel barrels for bass strings and washbasins for percussion.
- Mao Zedong, who was then Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China leading the anti-Japanese resistance in Yan'an, was also present during the premiere.
Read more about this topic: Yellow River Cantata
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