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  • ACTION（梓人） WANG（王）
    ACTION（梓人） WANG（王）    Group moderator
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    Person ：Wang Yi，Ode to the Downfall of a Finance Emperor
    To become a famous composer, Wang Yi didn't have to read music. All he needed was the power to regulate securities markets.

    By staff reporters Yang Binbin, Yu Ning and Chenzhong Xiaolu

    A few months ago, the musical score was a star and its composer a living legend.

    Oddly, China's modern classic Ode to China was composed by a man who has trouble reading music. But it was an enormous success, drew raving reviews, became a performance staple for the China National Symphony Orchestra (CNSO), and enchanted listeners in January at the famous Musikverein concert hall in Vienna.

    Almost overnight, however, the piece was scratched from the orchestra's repertoire in June. And the composer, Wang Yi, disappeared from public life.

    Wang was unexpectedly detained by Communist Party discipline officials as part of an ongoing investigation into securities market violations. The alleged misconduct occurred while he served as a vice governor at the China Development Bank (CDB), a policy bank. He's been ousted from CDB, and today remains in custody.

    Meanwhile, the symphonic gem that some called China's version of Mozart's legendary Requiem has become something of an embarrassment for the nation's classical music community.

    Caijing learned that, since 2006, public and private officials seeking to curry Wang's favor spent millions of yuan on tickets to CNSO concerts where Ode to China was performed.

    Indeed, the score's rise and fall offers a vivid picture of a music scene hungry for financing -- and now starved for integrity.

    Wang received no formal musical training. He'd never heard a full symphony before age 46. He said the inspiration for Ode to China hit him mysteriously during a trip to Tibet in 2002.

    “Facing a splendid view, I felt a strong urge to sing,” a friend recalled Wang as saying while recounting his tale of enlightenment. “It broke out into melodies that I started to hum.

    “I am not a good singer,” Wang told the friend. “But everybody liked the melody.”

    The song's popularity also had something to do with Wang's high-level status as an emperor of financial regulation. Before joining CDB, he worked as a vice chairman at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). Indeed, even before becoming a music sensation, he was one of the securities market's most influential figures.

    Among the first to experience Wang's now infamous music was Guan Xia, CNSO director and one of the country's foremost composers. Guan told Wang that “if you transcribe the melody, I will help you have it played in concert.”

    That offer fanned the flames of a newfound passion. With the aid of musical composition software, Wang churned out a dozen songs over the next two years. Many were performed by singers popular on the nation's stages.

    One song, Hope, became the official anthem for the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. It was adopted as a tribute to Wang.

    Wang's work was formally recognized by the classical music scene in 2005. That September, accomplished Chinese pianist Yin Chengzong played a piece written by Wang during a CNSO concert marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the Sino-Japanese War.

    As Wang's star rose, so did his ambition. He started work on a symphony.

    A leap from simple songs to symphony “is no easier than the evolution from monkey to men,” explained one experienced composer. But Wang succeeded with neither basic musical training nor the ability to read music. Instead, he typed out melodies on his computer keyboard and handed printouts to professional musicians who added the necessary elements for voice and instrumental arrangements.

    After two years of composing, Wang presented 20 pages of music containing five songs and a few intermezzo pieces to a team of musician ghost writers. Working frenetically, they finished Ode to China by a December 2006 deadline for its debut performance.

    That month, the score was performed at the Beijing Music Hall. Wang stood triumphantly on stage, draped in Tibetan style kha btags and surrounded by hundreds of musicians, confidently immersed in a sea of applause.

    Backstage, however, a debate raged over the nature of the composition. Wang insisted on calling it a symphony, making sure all promotional brochures and CD covers bore that word. But musicians interviewed by Caijing said the piece was actually a collection of songs. Guan told the media that Wang's piece was best categorized as a song cycle, not a symphony. And it was not universally popular. For example, a CNSO musician who performed the work -- and asked to remain anonymous -- described it as “amateur level.”

    Guo Wenjing, a composer and professor at China's Central Conservatory, said although professional ghost writers made Wang's piece technically qualified for performance, it may not deserve elevation to professional status. “It's more suitable for a community arts center,” said Guo.

    Nevertheless, the media lavished compliments on Wang's score. It also became a financial success. In 2007 alone, CNSO performed Wang's songs at 35 concerts -- one-third of the year's performances -- and earned nearly 8 million yuan through ticket sales.

    And who was in the audience? A check of ticket buyers found that most were financial institutions and local government agencies that could benefit from Wang's friendship.

    In Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, the local government financed CNSO’s performance of Ode to China. In the cities of Zhuhai and Tangshan, local officials encouraged enterprises to foot the bill.

    Among the frequent sponsors of Wang's concerts were real estate developers Shanghai Xihu and Shenzhen Jincheng; banks including Bohai Bank and Citic Bank; securities firms such as Southern Funds and Huaxia Funds; and enterprises including appliance manufacturer Gree, motorcycle producer Lifan, and apparel maker ITAT.

    Caijing learned CNSO pocketed about 200,000 yuan per concert. Local hosts for each performance generally spent more than 1 million yuan on transportation, accommodation and other expenses.

    And the business was appreciated. CNSO's talent badly needed the money. Guan declined comment, but sources told Caijing that the classical music market has been bleak for decades in China, prompting the government to dole out annual subsidies of 20 million yuan just to keep the orchestra running.

    Meanwhile, Wang savored his fame and, having conquered China's music halls, cast his eyes overseas. After getting a sponsorship from a Chongqing-based motorcycle company, Wang reached a new pinnacle in January when his score was performed by the Vienna Volksoper Orchestra in Vienna.

    Six months later, Wang's detention brought down the curtain.

    All publicity surrounding performances of Ode to China came to a halt. The People's Music Publishing House scrapped a plan to release Wang's songs later this year. And embarrassed program managers CNSO scrambled to change performance schedules. The emperor, it seemed, wore no clothes.

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    This post was modified on 31 Jul 2008 at 04:50 am.
    • 31 Jul 2008, 04:43 am