Nie Er (original name Nie Shouxin, February 14, 1912 - July 17, 1935), Chinese musician, courtesy name Ziyi (also known as Ziyi), Communist Party of China and the Republic of China Composer of the national anthem "March of the Volunteers".

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Biographical introduction

Nie Er is from Yuxi, Yunnan, and was born in Kunming. Nie Er loved music since he was a child and studied in the Primary School Affiliated to Kunming Normal University in 1918. In his spare time, Nie Er taught himself flute, erhu, sanxian, yueqin and other musical instruments, and began to serve as the conductor of the school's "children's band". In 1922, Nie Er entered the senior section of the private Qiushi Primary School, and in 1925 he was admitted as a transfer student to Yunnan Provincial No. 1 United Middle School.

In 1927, Nie Er graduated from Yunnan Provincial No. 1 United Middle School and entered Yunnan Provincial No. 1 Normal School. While in school, he participated in the student organization "Reading Club" and organized the "Jiujiu Music Club" with friends, often participating in performances inside and outside the school. During this period, he also taught himself violin and piano.

In April 1931, Nie Er was admitted to the "Ming Yue Song and Dance Drama Society" sponsored by Li Jinhui and served as a violinist. In July 1932, he published "A Short Treatise on Chinese Song and Dance" and was forced to leave the group for criticizing Li. In November 1932, he joined Lianhua Film Company, participated in the music group of the "Friends of the Soviet Union", organized the "China Emerging Music Research Society", and participated in the music group of the Left-Wing Dramatists Alliance. In 1933, Nie Er joined the Communist Party of China.

In April 1934, Nie Er joined EMI Records and took charge of the music department. At the same time, he established the EMI Chinese Band (also known as the "Sensen Chinese Band"). This was also Nie Er's most prolific year. In early 1935, Nie Er composed the famous "March of the Volunteers"

In January 1935, Nie Er was appointed director of the music department of Lianhua No. 2 Factory. On July 17, 1935, Nie Er, who was only 23 years old, unfortunately drowned while swimming in Fujisawa City, Japan.

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Main Works

Nie Er composed 37 pieces of music in his lifetime, all in less than two years before his death Among them, songs that reflect the life and struggles of the working class account for a large proportion. Nie Er often cooperates with Tian Han. In addition to the March of the Volunteers, Nie Er's representative works include "Graduation Song", "Forward Song", "Main Road Song", "Pioneer of the Road", "Dockworkers Song", "New Women", "Flying Flower Song", "Beyond the Great Wall" "Village Girl", "Singing Girl Under the Iron Heel", "Farewell to Nanyang", "Mei Niang Song", "Newspaper Selling Song", the opera "The Storm on the Yangtze River" and the national instrumental music "Spring Dawn on the Green Lake", "Dance of the Golden Snake", etc.