Keeping the scores: China's classical history compiled

Conservatory of Music, a member of the panel. "We will then take into consideration other elements such as the age and geographical location, in order to present a panoramic picture of symphonic music composition in China."

SSO will present the pieces and make audio recordings, featuring some of China's most outstanding conductors and soloists. Some compositions have already been recorded, and "even though the recording quality may not be entirely satisfactory, we have chosen not to replace them with new recordings, because the original has a historical importance," says Zhou Ping, director of SSO.

The recordings will be published alongside an introduction to each composer, analysis of the piece, as well as background information of its composition and creation.

The book and musical recordings will be published in 2019, in tribute to the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

Aside from popular pieces such as Butterfly Lovers, Yellow River and Ode to the Red Flag, the collection will include some works that have never been published for historical reasons. "Some musicians have died, some didn't keep the score themselves, and some are hard to track down," Liu says.

Unfortunately, very few Chinese composers have worked with publishers in China to have their music scores printed and released, which is a common practice in the West. "Some contemporary Chinese composers, such as Ye Xiaogang, have worked with publishers overseas," Liu says. "In the past few years we have made efforts to convince Chinese musicians to work with us, and we have published some of their work.

"We hope to build long-term partnership with musicians, and systematically have their music scores published in China," she says.

SMPH and SSO declined to name any of the composers. Zhou of the SSO says that one of the most important missions of the orchestra is to introduce Chinese culture and music to the world.

"We play Chinese music on the international stage, and hope to have our music played by foreign orchestras," she says, "And a well-published music score is of vital importance in this process."

Contact the writer at zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn