Watch the video previews of the new DVDs from Opus Arte of both Tan Dun's Paper and Water Concertos.
Press play button to view video
Tan Dun
Paper Concerto
DVD: Opus Arte
RELEASED: 01/08/2009
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Tan Dun
We are surrounded by paper in our lives: our imaginations are captured and recorded in words or pictures, as we express newly discovered feelings about ourselves and the world around us. For a long time, I have been developing the idea of organic music, which embodies sounds of nature, water, paper, ceramics, and the mind. The environment is related to our lives, and spiritually, everything germinates from one seed of creativity.’ Tan Dun
Paper, normally a utilitarian material, becomes a solo instrument in Tan Dun’s ingenious and inventive Paper Concerto, fusing orchestral music and organic sounds to create accessible, even melodious, music that is almost beyond imagination. Intriguing sounds are created by all manner of different papers, so that they appear elemental rather than simplistic, tapping into something basic in the fabric of our lives. In a remarkable and unforgettable concert experience, Tan Dun directs the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and soloist Haruka Fujii in a vivid demonstration of his belief that orchestral music, far from being static and traditional, still has the capacity for experimentation and the power to stimulate in extraordinary ways.
Tan Dun has made an indelible mark on the world's music scene with a creative repertoire that spans the boundaries of classical, multimedia, Eastern and Western musical systems. His score for Ang Lee's film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon received Academy and Grammy Awards in 2000 and an Oscar Award for best original score in 2001. In 2008 he was selected the International Olympic Committee to write the Logo Music and Award Ceremony Music for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and composed Internet Symphony No. 1: "Eroica" commissioned by Google/YouTube as the focal point for the world’s first collaborative online orchestra.
Press play button to view video
Tan Dun
Water Concerto
DVD: Opus Arte
RELEASED: 01/08/2009
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Tan Dun
Organic music concerns both matters of everyday life and matters of the heart. These ideas find their origin in the animistic notion that material objects have spirits residing in them, an idea ever-present in the old village where I grew up in China. Paper can talk to the violin, the violin to water. Water can communicate with trees, and trees with the moon, and so on. In other words, every little thing in the totality of things, the entire universe, has a life and a soul.’ Tan Dun
Tan Dun’s hypnotic three-movement Water Concerto is intoxicating, both visually and aurally. Using water as a musical instrument, this extraordinary piece uses innovative techniques to explore the musicality of the sounds of water. Virtuoso percussionist and soloist David Cossin displays remarkable genius as he deftly creates unique, sensuous, organic and sometimes celestial sounds using a range of water-based instruments. Conducted by the composer, the distinctive accompaniment of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, reflecting Dun’s personal combination of Chinese and Western musical traditions, is carefully interwoven and combined with the water percussion to produce a uniquely enchanting performance.
Tan Dun has made an indelible mark on the world's music scene with a creative repertoire that spans the boundaries of classical, multimedia, Eastern and Western musical systems. His score for Ang Lee's film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon received Academy and Grammy Awards in 2000 and an Oscar Award for best original score in 2001. In 2008 he was selected the International Olympic Committee to write the Logo Music and Award Ceremony Music for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and composed Internet Symphony No. 1: "Eroica" commissioned by Google/YouTube as the focal point for the world’s first collaborative online orchestra.
Please click here for more eNews, audio, videos and more!
