Tan Dun

Tan Dun, significant Chinese composer; b. Si Mao, central Hunan Province, Aug. 18, 1957. While working among peasants during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, he began collecting folk songs. After playing viola in the Beijing Opera orch. (1976-77), he entered the recently reopened Central Cons, in Beijing in 1978 to study composition (B.A.; M.A.). In the 1980s he attended guest lectures given by Goehr, Henze, Crumb et al. In 1983 his String Quartet won a prize in Dresden, the first international music prize won by a Chinese composer since 1949. His Western compositional leanings led to a 6-month ban on performances or broadcasts of his music soon thereafter. In 1986 he settled in N.Y., where he accepted a fellowship at Columbia Univ. and studied with Chou Wen-Chung, Mario Davidovsky, and George Edwards. His early works are romantic and florid; after 1982, they reveal a progressing advancement of dissonance and sophistication, while retaining Chinese contexts. Many of his compositions require instrumentalists to vocalize in performance.

Works

dramatic: 9 Songs, ritual opera for 20 Singers/Performers (N.Y., May 12, 1989); Marco Polo, opera (1993-94). ORCH.: Li Sao, sym. (1979-80); Piano Concerto (1983); Symphony in 2 Movements (1985); On Taoism (1985; Hong Kong, June 28, 1986); Out of Beijing Opera for Violin and Orch. (1987); Orchestral Theatre I: Xun (1990), II: Re (1992), and III: Red (1994); Death and Fire: Dialogue with Paul Klee (1991-92; Glasgow, March 27, 1993); Yi, cello concerto (1993-94). CHAMBER: Feng Ya Song, string quartet (1982); 8 Colors for String Quartet (1986-88); In Distance for Piccolo, Harp, and Bass Drum (1987); Elegy: Snow in June, concerto for Cello and 4 Percussionists (1991); Circle with 4 Trios, Conductor, and Audience (1992); Lament: Autumn Wind for Any 6 Instruments, Any Voice, and Conductor (1993). Piano : 5 Pieces in Human Accent (1978); Traces (1989; rev. 1992); R;Beatles (1990); CAGE (1993). VOCAL: Fu for 2 Sopranos, Bass, and Ensemble (1982); Silk Road for Soprano and Percussion (1989).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire