China News Service Hohhot, November 11 (Xinhua) -- Dedema: "Prairie Nightingale" flew to heaven

China News Service reporter Li Aiping

On the afternoon of November 11, when singer Ala Tanqige was recording a program on China Central Radio and Television, the director team temporarily adjusted her singing repertoire to "Beautiful Prairie My Home".

In the dressing room, she unexpectedly learns that her fellow countryman and "art icon" Teacher Dedema has passed away.

"At that time, I felt a 'chuckle' in my heart, but in order to be responsible for the audience, I still endured my grief and sang this classic song." On the morning of November 11, Alatan Qiqige said in an interview with China News Service's "East and West Question", "I didn't expect to pay tribute to my idol in such a way and bid farewell to Mr. Dedema." ”

On November 11, Dedema, a Mongolian mezzo-soprano singer and a national first-class actor, died of illness at the age of 28.

In the past few decades, Dedema has been well-known to the public for his classic songs such as "Beautiful Prairie My Home" and "Father's Prairie Mother's River", and has been praised as the "Prairie Nightingale" by the industry.

"Prairie Nightingale"

Alatan Qige told reporters that she had heard Dedema's singing on the radio when she was very young, "Her early songs were very atmospheric and her voice was good, and she was an idol of our time." I really like her singing "Beautiful Prairie My Home", which has also been included in her own album. ”

Dedema's hometown is in Ejina Banner, Alxa League, Inner Mongolia. In elementary school, Dedemar's musical talent was revealed. The teacher observed that Dedemar's singing voice was particularly loud, and there was a "bring your own microphone" effect when singing.

In 1960, at the age of 13, Dedema officially joined the Ejinaqi Ulan Herdsmen, becoming the youngest of the nine team members. Her Mongolian version of "Honghu Water Waves Hitting the Waves" has also made the outside world talk about it to this day.

After that, Dedema became popular with the song "Beautiful Prairie My Home". This song, composed by Huohua, composed by Alattenole, and sung by Dedema, has been sung to this day and has become a classic.

Musician Kochinv believes that Dedema is one of the most influential singers who sang original Mongolian songs, "The audience especially recognized 'Beautiful Grassland My Home', and the audience would not let her go if she didn't sing this song."

After four years of working in the Ulan herdsmanship, Dedema was sent to the vocal music research class of the Inner Mongolia Art School (now the Inner Mongolia Art Institute). Two years later, she was sent to the vocal music department of the China Conservatory of Music to study bel canto.

After graduating from the China Conservatory of Music, Dedema worked in the Inner Mongolia National Song and Dance Troupe (now the Inner Mongolia Art Theater) and other places, and was later transferred to the Central National Song and Dance Troupe until his retirement.

Defeat the disease

While fate favored Dedemar, it also made her experience the darkest moment in her life. She once thought that she was "over, not anymore", and she didn't dare to imagine that she could stand on the stage again.

In an interview with the "Art Life" column, Dedema recalled that in 1998, she visited Japan with the troupe to perform, and when she sang "Beautiful Prairie My Home", "I was singing and singing, and suddenly I felt that my hands were weak, and my eyes were dark." After I finished singing, I got down and leaned on a Japanese friend, found a chair to sit on, and didn't know anything. ”

"When I returned to Beijing, I learned that I had a cerebral hemorrhage." She optimistically told the media that the reason why she was able to return to the stage was that "many good friends helped me and supported me, without their help, I would not be where I am today."

She is especially grateful to her lover, Rasinima. For more than two years, Rasinima insisted on rehabilitating Dedema, supervising her exercise, and helping her get dressed and eat. At that time, in order to prevent Dedelmar from seeing his peers performing at the party, they often grabbed the remote control of the TV.

In 2001, Dedema also said in an exclusive interview with reporters: "I can return to the stage thanks to the power of art." ”

Affinity with Xi Murong

In Dedema's 76 years of life, Xi Murong occupies an extremely important position. Lyrics by Xi Murong and sung by Dedema "Father's Prairie and Mother's River" have also become popular classics.

In 2007, Dedema said in a joint interview with reporters from both sides of the Taiwan Strait that "Father's Prairie and Mother's River" was a song composed by Xi Murong under her "instigation".

Dedema introduced that Xi Murong once came to Inner Mongolia to "find her roots". At that time, Inner Mongolia TV Station (now Inner Mongolia Radio and Television Station) filmed a program of "Once Upon a Time on the Prairie". In the show, Xi Murong cried while telling what her ancestors' hometown was like.

On September 2018, 9, Dedema (left) talked about the singing of "Please Give Me a Song". On the same day, the song "Please Give Me a Song" written by Xi Murong held a press conference in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, which was Xi Murong's second collaboration with Inner Mongolia musicians to release the song after "Father's Prairie and Mother's River". "Please Give Me a Song" is written by Xi Murong. Photo by Liu Wenhua

"I was crying at home watching TV. I really wanted to get to know this Mongolian poet and painter from Taiwan. Later, I took an opportunity to meet and become good friends, and after that, Xi Murong wrote "Father's Prairie and Mother's River" for me. Dedema recalled that after the song was officially sung in 2000, it quickly became popular in the north and south of the country, inside and outside the grassland.

Dedema and Xi Murong's fate does not stop there.

Xi Murong (middle) talks about the creative process of "Please Give Me a Song". Photo by Liu Wenhua

On September 2018, 9, 14-year-old Xi Murong and 75-year-old Dedema "held hands" again in Hohhot to launch a new song "Please Give Me a Song". "For me, 'Please Give Me a Song' is extraordinary, it's not just a song, it's a milestone in my more than 71-year artistic career," Dedema said at the presentation on the same day. ”

Xi Murong said that it is the happiest thing to be able to hold hands with Dedema twice to collaborate on songs.

Virtue and art

"Dedema is an artist who is both virtuous and artistic." Gao Ping, a Guangming Daily reporter who had interviewed Dedema, expressed his respect for Dedema.

Gao Ping said in an interview that in 2002, Dedema founded the Inner Mongolia Dedema Music and Art College in Bayan Town, an eastern suburb of Hohhot, with six departments, including vocal music, instrumental music, dance, film and television performance, and Mongolian art inheritance. For children from poor families in rural and pastoral areas, she waives tuition fees and provides opportunities for children to learn art.

"That's what touches me so much to this day. In China, an artist like Dedema who runs a school out of his own pocket is too respectable. Gao Ping said.

"Qualified recruitment, never mistaken children". Singer Xiang Rong still remembers the deep impression this sentence left on him when he came to the school founded by Dedema in 2004. Xiang Rong, who saw his idol for the first time, said, "Teacher Dedema is very kind to people and is very responsible for every student. ”

Dedema (right) with his disciple Xiang Rong. Courtesy of Xiang Rong

What particularly touched Xiang Rong was that during his further study, Mr. Dedema gave him meticulous care. He said, "Teacher Dedema often takes me to perform, many large and small stages, and also helps me pay my tuition, just like my mother, helping me to be a person and do things." ”

What makes Xiang Rong feel honored is that in 2021, in a performance he held in Baotou, Mr. Dedema personally came to bless and sang 4 songs. Speaking of this, Xiang Rong burst into tears.

Dedemar (center) during the show. Courtesy of Xiang Rong

"Two years ago, Mr. Dedema often went to the Inner Mongolia Music Network to record. What impressed me was that Mr. Dedema always strives for excellence in his singing works, and often asks the recording engineer to do it again and again. Chang Huiyuan, vice chairman of the Inner Mongolia Musicians Association, said.

Regarding the sudden death of Teacher Dedema, Chang Huiyuan is more willing to believe that this "steppe nightingale" who has accompanied the world for decades with his singing voice has ended his mission and flown to heaven. She is immortal. (ENDS)