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Nine Songs (1989)
| composer |
Tan Dun (b. 1957) |
| performers |
Nine Songs Ensemble and Chorus:
Tan Dun, voice, xun, percussion
Chen Shi-Zheng, voice
Ruth Flugistaller, voice
Milene Bey, voice
Keith-Frederic Howard, voice
Minako Ohashi, voice
Christine Sperry, voice
Yasuko Yokoshi, voice
Ching Gonzalez, voice
Nien-Mari Chatz, chorus
John Eppler, chorus
Carol Flamm, chorus
Wang Zuo-Xin, chorus
James Adlesic, chorus
Doug Elkins, chorus
Navtej Johar, chorus
Margery Segal, chorus
Paul Guerguerian, percussion, winds
David Anthony, percussion, winds
Yiu-Kwong Chung, percussion, winds
Liu Qi-Chao, Chinese winds and percussion
Yao Ann, Chinese plucked instruments and percussion
Tang Liang-Xing, Chinese plucked instruments and percussion
Ethan Silverman, contrabassoon, percussion
Jorge Morera, contrabassoon, percussion
Tan Dun, conductor |
| publisher |
G. Schirmer (ASCAP)http://www.schirmer.com
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| label |
CRI 603http://www.newworldrecords.org
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| duration |
72:02 |
Tan Dun:
"Blowing on bamboo, drumming on ceramic, playing the snakeskin with the bow; singing the plain, rough sounds of the earth, dancing the movements of spirits ... What is between nature and human beings? Each day, spirit and environment become more polluted. Humanity grows colder, more ignorant, not respecting even itself.
"Har tsei! a shock from the primitive silence.
"Nine Songs is based on ancient poems of the same name by the great poet Qu Yuan (340-278 BC). Written for performance with dance, music, and drama, they are filled with the beauty of nature and the mysteries of shamanistic ritual. These qualities resonated with me, because they were also part of life in the remote rural area where I grew up. In writing Nine Songs I drew on ideas which Qu Yuan's poetry liberated in me. I learned to begin from the familiar, from the materials I know and love best.
"There are several areas which are interesting to talk about here. One is the design of the voice. I took the tones and sounds of Chinese dialects, and the declamatory style of local opera, to compose a kind of vocalizing in between chanting, yelling, speaking, and singing. The vocal line is handled in an absolutely atonal way (but not in the sense of twelve-tone pitch design). It is concerned with the relative space between pitches, of single and multiple voices, and develops single lines into more complex patterns, creating a texture similar to Chinese calligraphy.
"Then I began to think of my own method for notation of voice movement, as the classical Western system was not sufficient. Using the five lines and spaces in between, each one represents a register area of a singer's voice, from highest (the top) to lowest (the bottom). Graphic drawing around horizontal and vertical axes is also used, with timing units noted in seconds. This method can capture almost exactly the vocal character I seek.
"In instrumentation, I used the ancient Chinese idea which classifies instruments according to their material, and divided sound into six sections: skin (drums), wood, bamboo, silk (in the strings of plucked instruments), metal, and ceramic, plus the human voice. I thought of a system of ceramics consists of four sections: struck, blown, bowed, and plucked.
"In dramatic structure, Nine Songs is non-narrative, even surreal. The text is a multi-language construction of abstract sound and form, making an independent but integral contribution to the musical scoring. It builds on the ritual form of the original poetry, without dramatic development linking the sections; rather, it is the process of development within each section which is important. The ritual character of the original is also reflected in the score: for example, in the opening, the conductor acts as a shaman, instructing musicians and audience how to begin, and continues to conduct through voice and action.
"Through these means, Nine Songs may also express the ancient relationship of nature, spirit, and humanity which is the essence of Qu Yuan's poetry. I hope it may bring the openness, the longing, the strong and dark sense of fate, the search for all kinds of beautiful things, to contemporary people in a tortured world."
Composer and conductor Tan Dun (b. 1957) brings together a wide range of musical traditions and techniques in his work -- classical and nonclassical, Eastern and Western, sacred and secular, indigenous and avant garde. Central to his oeuvre are series of pieces which reflect his individual compositional concepts and personal ideals. Among them are Orchestral Theatre, which bring his childhood memories of shamanistic ritual into symphonic performances; Organic Music, which incorporate elements from the natural world; and Concerto Multimedia. Tan has written a number of operas and film scores, including the Academy and Grammy Award-winning soundtrack for Ang Lee's film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).
Tan Dun was born in Simao, Hunan Province, China and raised during the country's Cultural Revolution. In his youth he served as a rice planter and violinist and arranger of Beijing Opera; he later studied with Zhao Xindao and Li Yinghai at Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music. By the early 1980's he was recognized as one of the leading composers of the Chinese 'New Wave', and encountered restrictions from the Chinese government. Tan moved to New York City in 1986, where he has been based since, and studied at Columbia University with Chou Wen-chung, Mario Davidovsky, and George Edwards.
Tan's music has been performed by orchestras, opera companies, and at festivals throughout the world. His 2000 Today: A World Symphony for the Millennium (1999) was broadcast internationally by 57 television networks on January 1, 2000. He is a recipient of the Grawemeyer Award, Glenn Gould International Protégé Prize in Music and Communication, and commissions from the Edinburgh Festival, International Bach Academy, Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, and NHK Japan. Current commissions include a new work for the Berlin Philharmonic and an opera for the Metropolitan Opera to be premiered in 2007. Tan's music is recorded on the Sony Classical label as well as Avant, CRI, Deutsche Grammophon, Koch International Classics, Marco Polo, Nimbus, Nonesuch, Ondine, Teldec, and Virgin Classics.
As a conductor, Tan has led orchestras including the BBC, Boston, Montreal, NHK, and Sydney Symphonies, London Sinfonietta, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Orchestra de France, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He was music director of the Tanglewood Contemporary Music Festival in 1999 and artistic director of London's Barbican Centre Festival in 2000. Currently, he is music director of a multimedia festival with the Orchestre de la Radio Flamande.
related websites
http://www.tandun.com
The Nine Songs Ensemble and Chorus was assembled by Tan Dun for this performance of his ritual opera Nine Songs. The group was comprised of nine solo voices, chorus, and Western and Chinese winds, plucked strings, and percussion, including over 50 ceramic instruments created by the composer in collaboration with potter Ragnar Naess.
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