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Oscar winner Tan plans 'bird music' concert
By Zhang Qian |
May 26, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
HAVE you ever wondered what a bamboo forest sounds like? Shanghai Chinese Orchestra plans to answer that very question with its performance at Shanghai Oriental Art Center on June 2.
Conducted by Oscar-winning Chinese composer Tan Dun, the orchestra will play Tan's famous erhu concerto "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," which won an Academy Award for original music and is often remembered for the bamboo forest scenes.
Young erhu (two-stringed bowed musical instrument) player Tan Wei will be the soloist. Dadawa, the Chinese singer known for "Sister Drum," will cooperate with the orchestra in "The Impromptu with 12 Birds."
The evening's program list also includes plucked music poem "Jin Mu Shui Huo Tu" (metal, wood, water, fire and earth), string music poem "Heaven Shadow" and "Olympic Overture 2008."
"The Impromptu with 12 Birds" will be a very interesting experience for performers and the audience. Twelve actual birds will sing during the concert while Dadawa and the orchestra will improvise to perform in harmony with the birds. Tan allegedly has ways to get the birds to sing.
It is said that Tan conceived the idea of "bird music" years ago when the country was threatened by the bird flu outbreak.
Everybody at the time was afraid of birds spreading disease, but Tan wanted to create such a work to arouse love and care for birds, lest humans kill them all one day.
"It is a dialogue between humans and birds," Tan says. "Through the communication between the musician and birds, including mutual understanding, suggestion and amusement, we may possibly understand nature; understand what the birds tell us and what we want to tell them."
Gaining world popularity with his scores for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in 2000, Tan charts a musical path somewhere between traditional and non-traditional.
This combination has created inspired pieces such as "Water Passion," where he used amplified bowls of water in lieu of percussion instruments, and "Paper Concerto," which relied solely on the manipulation of paper to create music.
He is also known for adding multimedia aspects such as orchestras that interact with video or audience participation.
A winner of the Shostakovich Award earlier this year, Tan says much of it is due to Chinese culture.
"I attribute much of this award win to the deep influence of Chinese culture," Tan says. "I have kept injecting traditional Chinese philosophy into music education, performances and creation throughout the years.
"Only when traditional Chinese culture is accepted by the world, can modern Chinese culture broaden its world influence."
This is also true for traditional Chinese music. Only by connecting with the world can traditional Chinese music march forward.
Date: June 2, 7:15pm
Address: 300 People's Ave
Tickets: 50-380 yuan (US$7.97-US$60.60)
Tel: 962-388
Conducted by Oscar-winning Chinese composer Tan Dun, the orchestra will play Tan's famous erhu concerto "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," which won an Academy Award for original music and is often remembered for the bamboo forest scenes.
Young erhu (two-stringed bowed musical instrument) player Tan Wei will be the soloist. Dadawa, the Chinese singer known for "Sister Drum," will cooperate with the orchestra in "The Impromptu with 12 Birds."
The evening's program list also includes plucked music poem "Jin Mu Shui Huo Tu" (metal, wood, water, fire and earth), string music poem "Heaven Shadow" and "Olympic Overture 2008."
"The Impromptu with 12 Birds" will be a very interesting experience for performers and the audience. Twelve actual birds will sing during the concert while Dadawa and the orchestra will improvise to perform in harmony with the birds. Tan allegedly has ways to get the birds to sing.
It is said that Tan conceived the idea of "bird music" years ago when the country was threatened by the bird flu outbreak.
Everybody at the time was afraid of birds spreading disease, but Tan wanted to create such a work to arouse love and care for birds, lest humans kill them all one day.
"It is a dialogue between humans and birds," Tan says. "Through the communication between the musician and birds, including mutual understanding, suggestion and amusement, we may possibly understand nature; understand what the birds tell us and what we want to tell them."
Gaining world popularity with his scores for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in 2000, Tan charts a musical path somewhere between traditional and non-traditional.
This combination has created inspired pieces such as "Water Passion," where he used amplified bowls of water in lieu of percussion instruments, and "Paper Concerto," which relied solely on the manipulation of paper to create music.
He is also known for adding multimedia aspects such as orchestras that interact with video or audience participation.
A winner of the Shostakovich Award earlier this year, Tan says much of it is due to Chinese culture.
"I attribute much of this award win to the deep influence of Chinese culture," Tan says. "I have kept injecting traditional Chinese philosophy into music education, performances and creation throughout the years.
"Only when traditional Chinese culture is accepted by the world, can modern Chinese culture broaden its world influence."
This is also true for traditional Chinese music. Only by connecting with the world can traditional Chinese music march forward.
Date: June 2, 7:15pm
Address: 300 People's Ave
Tickets: 50-380 yuan (US$7.97-US$60.60)
Tel: 962-388
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