Ode to the Red Flag

Lu Qiming's orchestral overture, premiered in May 1965 at the opening of the sixth Shanghai Spring festival, is among the most frequently performed of all Chinese orchestral works. Built on motifs from the national anthem, "March of the Volunteers," it opens with a trumpet fanfare evoking the first five-star red flag rising at the founding ceremony of 1949, unfolds a long lyrical hymn, and drives to a march-like peroration. The composer completed his definitive revision in 2019.