Tan Dun: Ghost Opera

Tan Dun: Ghost Opera

Tan Dun: Ghost Opera
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CD Details

Brand: KRONOS QUARTET
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1997-03-18
Music Label: Nonesuch
Soundtracks:
  1. Ghost Opera For String Quartet And Pipa With Water, Stones, Paper, And Metal: Act I: Bach, Monks, And Shakespeare Meet In Water
  2. Ghost Opera For String Quartet And Pipa With Water, Stones, Paper, And Metal: Act II: Earth Dance
  3. Ghost Opera For String Quartet And Pipa With Water, Stones, Paper, And Metal: Act III: Dialogue With 'Little Cabbage'
  4. Ghost Opera For String Quartet And Pipa With Water, Stones, Paper, And Metal: Act IV: Metal And Stone
  5. Ghost Opera For String Quartet And Pipa With Water, Stones, Paper, And Metal: Act V: Song oOf Paper

Music reviews of Tan Dun: Ghost Opera

Music Review: The Ghosts are in your memory!
Rating: 4 Stars

Three disclaimers to start my review:
1. I like Avant-Grade/Experiental music.
2. I adore Chinese music!
3. I generally do NOT like Tan Dun's music.
That said, I have listened through Tan Dun's "Ghost Opera" five times in a row since I purchased it. To neatly pigeonhole it, the music is experimental, multi-cultural and for lack of a better term, "post modern." Tan Dun is one of the best-known representatives of the "Sent Down"/"New Wave" generation of composers. (Others include the CHEN Yi, ZHOU Long, CHEN Qigang, HE Xiantian and GUO Wenjing). Growing up during the Cultural Revolution, these young men and women were sent into China's hinterlands both to represent the revolutionary values of the Party and to share in the experiences of the peasants first hand. These musically gifted teenagers absorbed - and several of them catalogued and transcribed -hundreds of folk songs. When the Cultural Revolution ended, this same group was among the first students admitted to China's newly re-opened conservatories and universities and were the first to have exposure to the modern music of the west.
TAN Dun is certainly more fortunate than most of his generation, is better marketed and is a bit of a musical chameleon in comparison. His scores for Hero, Crouching Tiger and most recently The Banquet are very different from his "concert" music. Yet there are similarities. What sounds audacious in a concert is perfectly suitable in a soundtrack for a epic martial arts film.

I do not know if TAN Dun would agree, but upon my listening to this piece, I found that the "Ghosts" alluded to in the title are indeed, the Ghosts of Memory. Passages of Bach weave in and out of textures generated both by natural sounds (TAN's signature use of water sounds...), traditional Chinese gestures (brilliantly performed by WU Man on the Pipa) and extended playing techniques from the Kronos Quartet. The use of the voice - often in hushed whispers or fragmentary vocalizations - is ANYTHING but jarring. To even suggest that this music may have been influenced by Peking Opera is ill-informed. This music sounds more like George Crumb at his most "oriental", poetic and dream-like rather than anything you'd ever hear in Chinatown.
FINAL WORDS: While not a fan of this composer, I found the music poetic, creatively scored, brilliantly performed, at times quite beautiful and profoundly sad. To the ignoramus who likened this to Kabuki, well, first off Kabuki is JAPANESE! This composer is from CHINA! I think there is a difference! And whoever heard "yowling"... what were YOU listening to? JEESH!
More Tan Dun: Ghost Opera free music reviews:
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Description of Tan Dun: Ghost Opera

Written by Chinese composer Tan Dun, this is a dramatic five-movement composition for string quartet and pipa (a relative of the lute), with vocalizations and percussive effects from water, metal, stone and paper, performed on this recording by Wu Man.
Genre: Classical Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 18-MAR-1997

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