Nicholas Smith went to China over 30 years ago, his Cambridge music degree fresh in his hand, initially as a VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) volunteer with a two-year contract in China to teach English. Teaching English led to learning Chinese and immersing himself in Chinese culture. A stint of teaching a postgraduate music course at the Wuhan Music Conservatory was followed by a move to Beijing, initially as a translator. And so, 30 years pass. Now, composer, conductor, arranger, and music educator Smith returns to London with his new opera.

Nicholas Smith

One of his translation projects was for the Chinese novelist Hong Ying. She created a series of children’s books set in 1970s Chongqing. Her first works were about her adult life in Chongqing, and life in China under the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and afterwards. For her children’s books, she combines ancient legends from the mythical Kingdom of Ba with life in 1970s Chongqing. Her magical Sangsang series of children’s books, which include The Girl from the French Fort and New Moon Rise, are about the young modern boy Sangsang and his interactions with the Kingdom of Ba.

As an example of his music, Changchun Impressions was written for the Changchun Film Symphony Orchestra; he chose a local folksong and used it as his evocation of ‘film music, green spaces, revving motors and other traffic noise, amid the gentility of the Manchuria period. The folksong, which appears in full at the end, is about girls getting dolled up for a wild night on the town’.

Nicholas Smith: Changchun Impressions (Royal Ballet Sinfonia; Gavin Sutherland, cond.)

Hong Ying

Nicholas Smith saw in these stories an opportunity to tell the stories through music. New Moon Rise has been written into opera as The Stone God.

Set on the shores of the mighty Yangtze, we see a young boy, with courage and resourcefulness to match the sweeping currents of the huge river, engage with a colourful collection of characters: a wrathful warrior spirit imprisoned within a statue, a local sorceress with ancient powers, and a charming girl of his own age caught up in a primaeval quarrel based on a case of mistaken identity

We asked Smith about his audience, and he said it was intended for audiences of all ages. He made an analogy to the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas, which appeal to everyone.

A companion work to The Stone God is an ‘orchestral illustration’ of the first book in the series, The Girl from the French Fort. Set much like Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, but with an expanded percussion section, The Girl from the French Fort takes Sangsang back to the Kingdom of Ba, but when he returns, his day away has become a years-long disappearance. His mother has died of grief in his absence. At a performance of the work in 2019 at the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, the 2,000-seat house was filled with children and parents. When the story reached the point where the mother died, half the audience burst into tears. Fortunately, the hero and heroin’s decision to turn back time and change the outcome led to a happy ending for all.

Nicholas Smith

Smith founded the Peking Sinfonietta in 1997, which, unfortunately, is still suffering the international effects of COVID. He hopes that by the season start in October, things may be back to a form of normal. COVID badly damaged the Chinese classical music scene, and it will be some time before it gets back to its previous vitality. He also leads a children’s choir, and with these two institutions, he’s increasingly able to write the music he wants to write.

The music for The Girl from the French Fort was originally written as incidental music on piano to accompany a puppet play. This gradually evolved into something for two performers and multimedia, and, as many projects do, faded away. Smith rescued the music and needing a companion piece for the unique orchestration of Peter and the Wolf, rewrote the music for that ensemble: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horns, trumpet, trombone, strings, and percussion. The percussion section for The Girl from the French Fort is expanded from the Peter and the Wolf original.

For Smith, living in Beijing is still a life of interest and excitement. We caught him on a rare trip to London where he’s showing his 4-year-old son all about England. With COVID, this is his son’s first trip out of China.

The Stone God will receive its London premiere at the Bloomsbury Theatre, November 1–3, 2024, paired with The Girl from the French Fort. The Girl from the French Fort is scheduled for recording in late 2024 with narration in English and Chinese.

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