Composer Tseng Chung-ying (曾仲影), who received the Special Lifetime Contribution Award in the publishing category at the 31st Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music last year, passed away on the evening of Dec. 11 at the age of 100.
Having just visited Tseng, the Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te expressed his condolences upon hearing the news of his passing. Minister Lee pointed out that Tseng has devoted his whole life to musical composition, and his works not only reflect the developmental process of Taiwan’s music history but also profoundly impacted Taiwan’s culture. Thus, the MOC will be petitioning for a presidential citation to be bestowed upon Tseng.
Tseng Chung-ying composed more than 600 pieces of music over his lifetime, spanning genres such as musical theater, film, pop. Since the 1950s, he had successively composed soundtracks for hundreds of films in addition to soundtracks and musical arrangements for thousands of Taiwanese opera series on television. The combination of Taiwanese opera, Huangmei opera, folk songs, Chinese opera, and pop music compositions helped Tseng establish himself as an important player in Taiwan’s film and music scene. In addition to musicals, operas, film and television soundtracks, he also composed popular songs such as “Blue Dream (藍色的夢)” and “A Meteor (一顆流星),” leaving behind a lasting legacy in Taiwan's music history.
In 2019, at almost 100 years old, Tseng donated many precious documents such as score manuscripts and soundtrack scripts to the Taiwan Music Institute, which the center will promote and put on display. Shortly before his passing, he continued to win awards, including the first New Taipei Cultural Contribution Award in 2017 and the Special Lifetime Contribution Award in the publishing category at the 31st Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music in 2020.
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