On the evening of January 4, 2021, in the Xiangjiang Hall of Changsha Concert Hall, after the intermission of Tan Dun's "Ode to Dunhuang Ode to Mercy" performance, the symphony orchestra and choir were already in place, and the whole audience waited for the conductor to appear.
Some spectators whispered from their seats: Why are there two basins of water? Is it to sprinkle water?
In the first movement of the second half, "Zen Garden", two percussionists beat the water with water cups, and the sound of "water drums" was strange and flexible. After the choir finished singing the twenty-eight words of wuchao Zen master, the sound of water ticked, and the sound of bells went away.
The audience stood up straight, their eyes closely following where the sounds came from, and finally leaned back in their seats and whispered: Oh!
The trumpet of the next movement, the Heart Sutra, sounded, and the scene shifted from a tree-lined mountain to a desert with yellow sand.
This is the second time Tan Dun has played "Dunhuang Ode to Mercy" in his hometown of Changsha. Among the audience, there were Mayor Zheng Jianxin and celebrities from all walks of life. At this moment, they are all Fellows, old friends, music lovers, and supporters of Tan Dun's works.
Every time Tan Dun returns to Changsha to perform, the atmosphere of the scene is always different from other places, it is difficult to find a ticket, and the curtain time is up to a movement, but the exchange and interaction on and off the stage is a familiar atmosphere with pride, many melody fragments, the hometown people understand it when they hear it, and admire that he can elevate them to the rut that can close the symphony and transform into a musical language with an international standard.
His old friend, the Changsha writer He Liwei, saw it and said:
In six acts, "Ode to Mercy" has a clear narrative and a climactic drama, with solo, duet, multi-part chorus, and symphony, telling the ancient philosophical stories of the East about faith in buddhist scriptures, interpreting the various characters and their lives in the Dunhuang murals. It is different from his pure music extracted from Chinese cultural symbols such as "water music", "paper music", "map", "women's book", and "nine songs" that I have heard. The work is more ambitious, more human and worldly. The "compassion" it celebrates is faith, love, the equality of all beings, and peace and tranquility. This is the common value appeal of all countries, peoples, cultures, religions and the entire human race on the earth, and it is also the highest wisdom pursued by mankind.
Tan Dun in his works infuses his surging love, passion, and his understanding of the value of the whole world and human life. Through the vast Dunhuang murals, he thought about the power of goodness, the power of compassion, and the eternal spiritual and faith conversion of life.
Throughout the music, what I heard was Tan Dun's stronger spiritual breath than ever.
He transformed the visual image of the Dunhuang murals into a musical image, so that the ears of the world can hear and understand the wisdom of the East, and feel the power of compassion from it.
The inspiration for dunhuang ode to mercy comes from dunhuang mural stories and musical documents. Tan Dun found the Dunhuang scrolls that had been sealed for many years in the National Library of Paris, the ink stains of the Tang Dynasty, the incense of the years, and the first page that appeared in front of his eyes was actually the "Changsha Female Introduction"! The pipa score of 1,200 years ago, interpreted and translated, is still a familiar minor tune in the alleys of the Countryside of Hunan.
He finally selected six stories from a large number of materials to write six movements, which was also the truth of being a man that his grandmother told him when he was a child shaking a fan.
Being kind, not betraying friends, all beings equal, and people and all things in harmony are all well-known stories.
In Tan Dun's music, "water" is an important musical instrument, symbolizing life and the endless cycle of life. Writing "Dunhuang Ode to Mercy", Tan Dun, in addition to using his iconic organic instruments water music and stone music, also restored the Xiqin on the Dunhuang murals according to the literature, and the "rebound pipa" that can really play the melody while dancing.
Liujin Dunhuang, "Dunhuang Ode to Mercy" was also written for six years. When he premiered in Dresden in 2018, Tan Dun brought two sets of costumes to prepare the audience to throw eggs, but he did not use them. Since then, the global tour, the 2019 national tour, the media, the audience have been applauded, saying that "there is an ode to joy in the west and an ode to compassion in the east".
In 2020, when human beings have entered the darkest moment of nearly a hundred years, Tan Dun reflected on whether a certain species is too arrogant and violates the laws of nature. He appealed with the "Twelve Gongs of Wuhan" and prayed.
Music is light, shining on us with the new sunshine of 2021, and Tan Dun's "Ode to Dunhuang Mercy" that has been sublimated after the epidemic. This time, it was at the Changsha Concert Hall in his hometown, at the confluence of the Liuyang River and the Laodao River, ringing the "Bell of Peace", "Heaven and Earth Dedication, Enbi Mountain High, Heaven and Earth Pay, Embi Sea Deep", a sound of praise, as if out of the fontanelle, straight to the heavenly court, there is the last sentence of the most brilliant "Heaven and Earth People"!
Performance groups
Lanzhou Concert Hall Choir, Lanzhou Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Tan Dun
Baritone: Zhang Xiaomeng
Mezzo-soprano: Wu Hongni
Tenor: Wang Chuanyue
Soprano: Guo Sen
Pristine soprano: Zeren Yangjin
Raw bass: Hasbagon
Dunhuang rebound pipa and music dance: Chen Yining
"Dunhuang Ode to Mercy" tour is produced by Hunan Radio, Film and Television Group Co., Ltd., Hunan Radio and Television Media Co., Ltd., Yunhong Communication Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai Tingyin Pathfinding Cultural Exchange Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd., 2021-2022 planned performance cities include: Nanning, Luzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, Hangzhou and other places, the chief partner Luzhou Laojiao Guojiao 1573 as always, the whole process of full support, together with music to let the world taste China.