Meet the Composer: Tan Dun

BACKGROUND

Tan Dun was born in Hunan, China in 1957. He began his education in China and finished it in the United States as a young adult. His music combines Chinese and Western influences. Tan Dun has always been fascinated by sounds created by objects found in nature, like water and rocks. He has created his own instruments from organic materials and used those instruments together with traditional orchestral instruments. He likes to mix elements of theater into his music and sometimes writes stage directions for performing musicians, instructing them where to stand or sit or move, like stage directions in a play or movie.

Tan Dun has composed a lot of music for films and was also commissioned, or paid, by Google to compose a piece called Internet Symphony #1 for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. He currently lives and works in New York City.

MUSIC

1. Water is a common theme in Tan Dun’s music. He composed the following piece to feature a percussionist playing “water percussion”. Watch part of the piece and see if you can define “water percussion.”

2. Tan Dun composed the soundtrack to a martial arts movie called Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. He then adapted, or re-wrote, parts of the soundtrack to be a cello concerto, which is a piece for solo cello accompanied by full orchestra. He then adapted it again for cello quintet, which is a group of five cellos. That piece got re-titled Eternal Vow. As you watch, notice how many different ways the cello is played: sometimes by plucking the strings (pizzicato), sometimes by using the bow on the strings, and sometimes using the body of the cello as a percussion instrument.

3. Birdsong has been a source of inspiration for many composers, including Tan Dun. In his piece Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds, Tan Dun finds many ways to represent birdsong. He includes recorded birdsongs and even asks musicians to play cellphones loaded with recorded birdsong. Also notice when the entire percussion section plays rocks, or when the entire orchestra whispers and sings to imitate the sound of wind. Though this is a long piece, there is always something new to see and hear.

CREATE, CONNECT & RESPOND

1. Hear more about Tan Dun and how he turned some of his music from a movie into a cello concerto in this short episode of Composer’s Datebook.

2. Water has been an essential influence on Tan Dun and his music. Many other composers have been influenced by water. Use this Listening Lesson: “Vltava” to learn how composer Bedřich Smetana used music to tell the story of traveling down a river.

3. Tan Dun has written music that helps tell stories in films. Try writing music for a story with this Music & Literacy: Create a Musical Story lesson.