Making music from mud
- Source: Global Times
- [09:17 July 20 2010]
- Comments
Tan Dun. Photo: Courtesy of Peng Sihan
According to Tan, Earth Concerto was commissioned by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great Austrian composer Gustav Mahler.
"The reason why they invited me to create this work might be because I come from the same hometown as China's most significant romantic poet, Li Bai, who was regarded as Mahler's spiritual inspiration," Tan said.
"Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde is one of my favorite pieces. It was drawn from the words of Li Bai who composed with such passion and beauty that it has always been an inspiration to me."
Tan said that in Das Lied von der Erde, what struck him most was the drinking song between Mahler and Li Bai, intoxicated by rice wine and traveling through time and space.
"They are lamenting the shortness of youth and life and embracing the sunrise and sunset of human existence, and the depth of these two maestros' misery and spiritual toil strikes my heart, and in that spirit, I created Earth Concerto," Tan explained.
Like the first two pieces of "Organic Music," Earth Concerto consists of three movements, the titles of which are similar to the three movements of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with references to Li Bai's poems.
For the premiere of Earth Concerto in Shanghai, under the baton of Tan Dun, the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra and a group of Chinese young percussionists including Zang Meng, Wang Beibei, Rong Ruwen, Rong Chenchu, most of whom have worked on Water Concerto and Paper Concerto, will bring Earth Concerto to life.
"The orchestra represents human beings. The dialogue between the sounds of nature and the voice of humans is, in my heart, the true song of the earth," Tan said.
Date: From July 23 to 25, 7:15 pm
Venue: Shanghai Grand Theater 上海大剧院
Address: 300 People's Avenue 人民大道300号
Tickets: 120 to 380 yuan
Call 6386-2836 for details
