Tan Dun: Why should people listen to water?

"Water" is a theme that runs throughout composer Tan Dun's musical exploration.

As early as 1994, he cleverly integrated water, stone, paper, etc. as musical instruments into the performance of pipa and string quartet in "Ghost Show".

In 1999, Tan Dun was invited by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra to complete the "Water Symphony Concerto", which cleverly combined the unique timbre of water music with the rich sound of the orchestra.

In 2000, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Bach's death, he created "Journey to the Resurrection", in which 17 transparent water basins are arranged in a cross on the stage, playing a symphony of water.

Tan Dun also brought his "water music" to the Water Music Hall in Zhujiajiao, Qingpu, Shanghai. This is the only house in the world that can play music and is also a UNESCO water culture base.

On June 6, he will join hands with the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra to present a symphony concert titled "River and Sea" at the Shanghai Symphony Hall, continuing his deep love for the theme of "water."

This concert will perform Tan Dun's "Water-Symphony Concerto", suona concerto "Dunhuang Three Music Gods", Czech composer Smetana's "Vltava River" and British composer Britten's "Four Pieces" "Intermezzo of the Sea" presents the understanding and expression of water in different Eastern and Western cultures.

One day in 1996, Tan Dun was waiting for a plane at the San Francisco Airport when he heard the news that his old friend, the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, had passed away. Tan Dun couldn't believe it, because a few days ago, Takemitsu wrote to Tan Dun from the hospital, saying that everything was fine and that he was composing an opera.

Tan Dun's heart was filled with sadness: Toru Takemitsu has been writing about nature and dreaming about nature all his life, leaving the natural beauty in the hearts of Oriental people to the world. Tan Dun had an impulse to write a piece of music using the sounds of nature to commemorate the master. Later, the New York Philharmonic asked Tan Dun to write a symphony for the coming 21st century. Tan Dun said that he wanted to write it with water. The other party said that as long as it doesn’t overwhelm the band, I can write whatever I want.

As a result, Tan Dun completed the "Water-Symphony Concerto" in 1999, which premiered at the Lincoln Center with Kurt Masur conducting the New York Philharmonic and chief percussionist Christopher Lang. In this symphony concerto, Tan Dun experimented with the possibility of using water as a musical instrument, exploring the various sounds of water and demonstrating its tangible and intangible spirituality.

In 2006, "Water-Symphony Concerto" was performed at the Stockholm Concert Hall at the Nobel Prize Ceremony. Photographed by Jan-Olav Wedin

Tan Dun grew up with his grandmother in the countryside of Hunan when he was a child. At that time, he was a barefooted wild child. He often listened to the sounds of the guests washing clothes, washing vegetables, bathing and pouring water by the Liuyang River. Grandma is a vegetable farmer, and he often helps her water and plant vegetables. The organic living environment in his childhood planted the seeds for his later creation of "organic music". In his memory, the villages in the countryside of Hunan always had beautiful scenery, and the air after the rain was always sweet and refreshing. "Water-Symphony Concerto" contains Tan Dun's sense of belonging, and the praise of life brought by the sound and rhythm of water.

When composing "Water-Symphony Concerto", Tan Dun felt that the most difficult thing was to integrate the sound and shape of water with the symphony orchestra. When creating the dynamics of the melody and the instrumental performance method, he tried his best to capture and imitate the sound shape, sense of space and rhythm of water, and also created many new timbres and new performance techniques for the symphony orchestra.

Water exists in various forms: wells, streams, rivers, lakes, seas, rain, clouds, blood, tears... As a global goodwill ambassador of UNESCO, Tan Dun believes that water not only provides an environment for human beings to survive. , also provides us with spiritual support and spiritual driving force. He hopes that through the "River and Sea" concert, more people will listen to the sound of water and arouse people's appreciation of the earth's water resources.

UNESCO Night held at Shanghai Zhujiajiao Water Music Hall

In "The River and the Sea" Tan Dun and the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra Concert", the element of water cleverly ran through the entire performance.

In "Water-Symphony Concerto", percussionist Lin Zhe will be the soloist. Lin Zhe studied at the Central Conservatory of Music, the University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart in Germany, Bruckner University in Austria and Queen's University in London. He is currently a percussion teacher at Zhejiang Conservatory of Music. In "Water-Symphony Concerto", she uses water as an instrument to create different sounds, and together with the orchestra, she creates an endless sound of nature.

During his creative career, Tan Dun has been searching for an endless river of sound from the long river of history that has flowed for thousands of years. The Suona Concerto "Three Music Gods of Dunhuang" is the waves he picked from the long river of history. This work is Tan Dun's second time to put the "voice of Dunhuang" on the stage after "Dunhuang Five Music Gods" and "Dunhuang Ode to Mercy".

Liu Wenwen, who plays the solo role, was born in a suona family. Her father is the seventh generation inheritor of "Little Bronze Suona" in southwestern Shandong Province, and her mother is the 12th generation inheritor of "Liu's Suona Ka Opera". She is China's first suona doctor and is currently in the Taught at Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

After discussing with Tan Dun, Liu Wenwen used three distinctive suonas to represent the three Dunhuang music gods: the first movement used a giant northern suona to vividly express the Nuo culture in Dunhuang sacrifices and folk culture; the second movement used an extra-long whistle The suona expresses the affection and tenderness of the Dunhuang desert; the third movement uses the small copper suona inherited from Liu Wenwen's family to share the joy and joy in the Dunhuang murals with the audience.

The Vltava River is known as the mother river of the Czech Republic. "Vltava River" composed by Czech composer Smetana is excerpted from his masterpiece "My Motherland". It is known as the "second national anthem" of the Czech Republic because of its deeply rooted melody. "Vltava River" starts from the source of the river. The flute blows flowing phrases like the sound of gurgling water. Two small rivers flow out from the depths of the Bohemian forest, one is rapid and the other is calm. They twist and turn. They flow together to form the magnificent Vltava River.

The "Four Sea Intermezzos" described by the British composer Britten is selected from the opera "Peter Grimes" and captures the hazy "dawn", the hustle and bustle of "holiday morning", and "moonlight". The confusion and the ferocity of the "storm". Britten showed his unique perception of the band's colors in his orchestration, and the music's tension, contrast, and atmosphere reached their peak.

In order to bring better artistic quality and aesthetic experience to the audience, the artists and the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra have made intense and orderly preparations. The Ningbo Symphony Orchestra is a young orchestra founded at the end of 2015. It brings together more than 100 outstanding performers who graduated from world-renowned music academies and has performed in Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, South Korea and other countries. After the Shanghai performance, "River and Sea" will be performed at the Ningbo Cultural Square Grand Theater on June 8.