‘Angry Young Old Man’ Wang Xilin’s Symphonic Odyssey: ‘My Path is More Difficult than Tan Dun’s’

Beijing-based composer Wang Xilin (05) earned national fame in the early 1980s with romantic music he wrote in the 1960s. More recently he has produced works in a surprising ‘avant-garde’ idiom, culminating in his Fourth Symphony (2000). Wang is notorious for his combative spirit and his inclination to 'speak out' about cultural and social problems in his native country. In the words of conductor Li Delun, 'Wang is very talented, but he has a strange temperament.’ Others claim that he ‘talks too much.’ Whatever his reputation, his artistic metamorphosis remains remarkable. Yang Hon-Lun interviewed the composer and took a closer look at his musical achievements - notably Wang’s Fourth Symphony.