Mo Wuping

b. 1958, Hengyang, Hunan; d. 1993

Composer

Mo Wuping enrolled in the Central Conservatory of Music in 1983. He studied composition with Luo Zhongrong, with whom he formed a strong friendship, and who guided him in the systematic study of contemporary Western composers. In 1987 Mo’s Shui Diao Ge Tou won an Honourable Mention in China’s first art-song composition contest. In 1988 he went to Hong Kong to attend an international modern music festival, and his second string quartet, Sacrificial Rites in the Village, won second prize in a composition competition for young Asian composers.

In the next year, the quartet received its European debut in Amsterdam and the score was published in Beijing.

Mo went to France in 1990 to study at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. During his first year in Paris, Mo experienced severe financial difficulties and suffered from depression. He managed to complete Fan I, written for nine players and male voice. The piece was commissioned by the Dutch Nieuw Ensemble and premiered by that group with Mo himself as vocalist; the score was published by Éditions du Visige in Paris in 1992. Mo returned to China in January 1993 where he was diagnosed with liver cancer. He died at home in June 1993. Mo’s music is known for its drama, rich timbre and exquisite melody. His works were compiled and edited by his widow, Li Shuqin, a musicologist, and were published in Beijing in 1994.

JIN PING