Gulangyu Island, a world cultural heritage site, is known as the "island of music". The island is the hometown of world-renowned musicians such as Yin Chengzong, Zhou Shuan, and Xu Feiping. On Gulangyu Island, there are two musical instrument-themed museums, namely the piano museum in Shuzhuang garden and the organ museum in the landmark Bagua building. The establishment of these two museums must be linked to Hu Youyi, an Australian Chinese who loved his hometown. He was a lover of music all his life, especially collecting all kinds of pianos and organs. In his later years, he dedicated all his collections and established two museums on Gulangyu Island.
Hu Youyi was born in 1936 in Gulangyu, and his ancestral home is in Yongding, Fujian. His father, a Christian, took him to Trinity Church on the island as a child to listen to sacred music. Hu was influenced by church hymns and the rich music atmosphere on the island, which shaped his character, and stimulated his love for music.
At the age of 14, Hu went to the Shanghai Conservatoire of Music for further study and went to the Royal Conservatoire of Music in Brussels, Belgium in 1965. Since then, he was engaged in music teaching in Europe, Australia, and other places.
Hu invested most of his family fortune in his piano collection and purchased more than 100 pianos from foreign churches, schools, and families, some of which are treasures with a history of more than 100 years. He once said fondly, "The piano is like my child."
Although they lived in a foreign country, Hu and his wife Huang Yulian returned to Gulangyu Island several times in the 1990s.
On one occasion, Hu was delighted to learn that the Xiamen government was preparing to build a Gulangyu music and culture brand. After discussing with his wife, they decided to dedicate all their life's treasures and to settle in Gulangyu to show the unique music culture of the island.
When his beloved piano set sail from Melbourne, Hu always paid attention to the weather changes for fear that bad weather like typhoons would cause damage. When the piano arrived at the Gulangyu wharf, he went there to supervise and was not relieved until the piano and accessories were carried into the museum with a pallet truck.
With the introduction of the piano museum, Hu dedicated a piano collection containing many treasures. For example, "a 1928 American-made, expensive, fully-automatic" Hana's "famous piano, with rolls of perforated ancient piano scores, realistic playing of works from Beethoven, Chopin and Brahms, which has become the background music of the museum and accompanied by the sound of the waves on the shore of Gulangyu."
These exhibits span several centuries, some of which have survived the impact of the two world wars and are still well preserved. Through a tour around, one can get a glimpse of the development history of the world piano.
In addition to the piano, Hu also set up an organ museum, which has a collection of dozens of organs, large and small. One of them is a huge woodwind "Kathvent" he bought from Boston, USA. It is 13 meters high, 12.5 meters wide and weighs 35 tons. It has 7451 windpipes and 133 sound plugs. It is the "Townhall treasure" of the Organ Museum.
"Putting a treasured piano in Gulangyu Island is like bringing your beloved home, it is always reassuring." This sentence expresses his heartfelt dedication to cherish this all his life.
(This article is originally published in Gospel Times. The author is a Christian from Xiamen. The views in this article only represent the author's standpoint.）
- Translated by Nonye Nancy
世界文化遗产鼓浪屿被称为“音乐之岛”，岛上音乐氛围浓郁，是殷承宗、周淑安、许斐平等享誉世界音乐家的故乡。而在鼓浪屿上，有两座以乐器为主题的博物馆，分别为位于菽庄花园内的钢琴博物馆以及地标建筑八卦楼内的风琴博物馆。
这两座博物馆的建立，是与一位热爱家乡的海外华人胡友义分不开的。他一生酷爱音乐，尤其是收藏各种钢琴、风琴。而到了晚年他更是把所有的珍藏奉献出来，在鼓浪屿建立了两座博物馆。
胡友义1936年生于鼓浪屿，祖籍在福建永定。他的父亲是位基督徒，从小就带着他到岛上的三一堂去聆听圣乐。胡友义在教堂赞美诗的乐声中耳濡目染，加上岛上浓郁的音乐氛围，陶造了他品格，更是激发了对音乐的热爱。
14岁那年，胡友义前往上海音乐学院深造，并于1965年赴比利时布鲁塞尔皇家音乐学院学习。此后在欧洲、澳大利亚等地从事音乐教学工作。
胡将大部分家产都投入到钢琴收藏中，从国外的教堂、学校、家庭收购了100多架钢琴，其中不乏一些拥有百年历史以上的珍品。他曾深情地说到：“钢琴就像我的孩子一样。”
虽然身处异国他乡，胡带着夫人黄玉莲在上世纪九十年代时多次回到鼓浪屿。
有一次，胡得知厦门政府准备打造鼓浪屿音乐文化品牌，这让他非常高兴。经过与夫人的商量，他们决定把一生的珍藏全部奉献出来，让其落户鼓浪屿，以展现岛上独特的音乐文化。
当所爱的钢琴从墨尔本起航时，胡总是关注着天气变化，生怕遇到台风等恶劣天气，对运输造成损害。而当钢琴抵达鼓浪屿码头时，他亲自来到现场督阵，直到一家家钢琴和配件在板车的运载下进入博物馆才放下心来。
根据钢琴博物馆的介绍，胡奉献的钢琴中，包含不少珍品。比如“一台1928年美国制造、价值昂贵的全自动‘海那斯’名琴，用一卷卷打孔的古琴谱逼真地弹奏出贝多芬、肖邦、勃拉姆斯的作品，成为博物馆的背景音乐，与鼓浪屿的拍岸涛声相伴。”
而这些展品时间跨度长达几个世纪，有的甚至经历了两次大战的冲击仍保存完好，通过游览基本可以窥见世界钢琴发展历史。
除了钢琴，胡还设立了风琴博物馆，这里收集了大大小小几十种风琴。其中有一架巨型管风“凯思文特”是他从美国波士顿购入的。它高达13米，宽12.5米，重35吨，共有7451个风管和133个音栓，是风琴博物馆的“镇馆之宝”。
“把珍藏的钢琴放在鼓浪屿，就像是把心爱的东西带回家里一样，总让人放心。”此语道出了胡友义奉献一生珍爱的心声。
注：本文原登载于福音时报。作者系厦门一名基督徒，文中观点代表作者立场。
http://www.gospeltimes.cn/article/index/id/57927
他奉献了一生所爱，打造了中国首家钢琴博物馆
Gulangyu Island, a world cultural heritage site, is known as the "island of music". The island is the hometown of world-renowned musicians such as Yin Chengzong, Zhou Shuan, and Xu Feiping. On Gulangyu Island, there are two musical instrument-themed museums, namely the piano museum in Shuzhuang garden and the organ museum in the landmark Bagua building. The establishment of these two museums must be linked to Hu Youyi, an Australian Chinese who loved his hometown. He was a lover of music all his life, especially collecting all kinds of pianos and organs. In his later years, he dedicated all his collections and established two museums on Gulangyu Island.
Hu Youyi was born in 1936 in Gulangyu, and his ancestral home is in Yongding, Fujian. His father, a Christian, took him to Trinity Church on the island as a child to listen to sacred music. Hu was influenced by church hymns and the rich music atmosphere on the island, which shaped his character, and stimulated his love for music.
At the age of 14, Hu went to the Shanghai Conservatoire of Music for further study and went to the Royal Conservatoire of Music in Brussels, Belgium in 1965. Since then, he was engaged in music teaching in Europe, Australia, and other places.
Hu invested most of his family fortune in his piano collection and purchased more than 100 pianos from foreign churches, schools, and families, some of which are treasures with a history of more than 100 years. He once said fondly, "The piano is like my child."
Although they lived in a foreign country, Hu and his wife Huang Yulian returned to Gulangyu Island several times in the 1990s.
On one occasion, Hu was delighted to learn that the Xiamen government was preparing to build a Gulangyu music and culture brand. After discussing with his wife, they decided to dedicate all their life's treasures and to settle in Gulangyu to show the unique music culture of the island.
When his beloved piano set sail from Melbourne, Hu always paid attention to the weather changes for fear that bad weather like typhoons would cause damage. When the piano arrived at the Gulangyu wharf, he went there to supervise and was not relieved until the piano and accessories were carried into the museum with a pallet truck.
With the introduction of the piano museum, Hu dedicated a piano collection containing many treasures. For example, "a 1928 American-made, expensive, fully-automatic" Hana's "famous piano, with rolls of perforated ancient piano scores, realistic playing of works from Beethoven, Chopin and Brahms, which has become the background music of the museum and accompanied by the sound of the waves on the shore of Gulangyu."
These exhibits span several centuries, some of which have survived the impact of the two world wars and are still well preserved. Through a tour around, one can get a glimpse of the development history of the world piano.
In addition to the piano, Hu also set up an organ museum, which has a collection of dozens of organs, large and small. One of them is a huge woodwind "Kathvent" he bought from Boston, USA. It is 13 meters high, 12.5 meters wide and weighs 35 tons. It has 7451 windpipes and 133 sound plugs. It is the "Townhall treasure" of the Organ Museum.
"Putting a treasured piano in Gulangyu Island is like bringing your beloved home, it is always reassuring." This sentence expresses his heartfelt dedication to cherish this all his life.
(This article is originally published in Gospel Times. The author is a Christian from Xiamen. The views in this article only represent the author's standpoint.）
- Translated by Nonye Nancy
Hu Youyi, Who Built China's First Piano Museum
