Tan Dun, Music Planner for the 2008 Olympic Games： Making Music with Body Sound.
What kind of music will the world hear at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games? Is it rock music that stirs Guo Jingjing’s diving sound, Yao Ming’s dribbling sound and Liu Xiang’s starting rhythm? Or the Shaolin Zen music of Zhong Mingshan Forest and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? Or the mysterious music of a village tribe in China?
Tan Dun, an international musician who is famous for his innovation, always blends rich oriental charm with western pop elements.
This background undoubtedly made him a popular music planner for the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Recently, our reporter interviewed Tan Dun, who has just successfully completed the planning and creation of "Zen Shaolin Music Grand Ceremony", by email, hoping to give you an answer.
Tan Dun Music Creativity
How romantic it is to make music with the voice of athletes’ bodies. I have been touched myself, and I can also touch everyone in the world.
Bidding: Do you do physical exercise after work? What’s your favorite sport? Who is your favorite athlete?
Tan Dun: I insist on swimming every day after work, which is why I always try to have a swimming pool in my hotel when I am on a world tour. I like to brew melodies while swimming, so I often swim for half an hour without knowing it. Conceiving in water makes me feel immersed in the source of inspiration, because water is a symbol of hope and regeneration.
My favorite athletes are Guo Jingjing, Yao Ming and Liu Xiang. In my mind, all three of them are musicians, because I saw music and heard colors in their sports. The rhythm and intensity of their movements make me feel as if even the earth can be shocked and reversed. I’m doing research in this field recently, and I plan to turn Guo Jingjing’s diving sound, Yao Ming’s racket sound and Liu Xiang’s starting rhythm into rock music. I hope I can turn the athletes’ hard work and unparalleled shock into a very poetic music, which is the voice of their bodies and the rhythm of their hearts. How romantic it is to make music with their body sounds. I have been touched myself and I can touch everyone in the world.
Tan Dun Olympic Dream
I dream that Beijing Olympic Games is a world full of poetry, romance and love.
Competitive bidding: I heard that recently, IOC President Rogge watched the "Zen Shaolin Music Festival" created and planned by you at the Shaolin Temple in Songshan, the birthplace of Zen, and he excitedly raised your hands and said to all the audience and the media, "It’s so beautiful, this program deserves an Olympic gold medal! Composer Tan Dun should win the Olympic champion! " Is it true?/You don’t say.
Tan Dun: It’s true. We were all very excited at that time. This is the IOC’s great appreciation of Wushu and the traditional culture of China-Zen philosophy. Since I wrote Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I have been continuing my feelings, trying to bring China traditional sports-Wushu to a poetic and romantic realm through music. I dream that the Olympic Games in Beijing is also a world full of poetry, romance and love.
Tan Dun’s "Root" of Creation
Only new "creativity" can connect the contemporary world with the future China.
Competition: You once said that you hoped that orchestras all over the world could play your works to promote China culture and make China culture a big step forward in the 21st century. Is this an important part of your musical ideal?
Tan Dun: Yes.
My music is in sync with the world, which challenges my creation, and I must also try my best to bring surprises to the world. Can you imagine growing tea and making a tea ceremony in the desert? I just staged my new opera Tea in the desert of New Mexico. It’s so Zen. Everyone was drunk by China in the desert. I’m trying to attract a jade, which requires all art institutions at home and abroad to pay attention to the recognition of "China’s creative culture" and let the whole world know more about Chinese, so that we can have a dialogue with the world. Creativity is a bridge, and only new creativity can connect the contemporary world with the future China. Only in this way can people love a modern China.
Competitive newspaper: You said that China is the "root" of your creation. Is this an important reason why your music is widely praised in the world?
Tan Dun: This year, my new concept of "Organic Music and Green Rhythm" will be invited to tour 17 countries. The more praise the world gives me, the more I appreciate China culture. I feel that instead of praising me, I should be grateful for this magical land behind me. It is this fertile soil that gave me a golden key, which opened the doors of the metropolitan opera, the Vienna "Golden Music" Hall and the Berlin Philharmonic, the most famous art halls in the world. I believe that we can also use this "golden key" to open the holy door of the Olympic Games.
In your opinion, how will the opportunity of hosting the Olympic Games in Beijing promote the spread and promotion of China culture in the world?
Tan Dun: As I said, I have a golden key in my hand, which is a magic key made of special materials. It contains China’s profound philosophy, intelligent tradition and creative people, and I am proud to be a member of this group of people. As long as we never forget to excavate and inherit our traditional culture, we will always get inspiration and harvest from it. We must not neglect our own value, because this is precisely the reason why the whole world respects China, and it is also the capital for us to host the Olympic Games and participate in the Olympic culture.
Tan Dun Olympic Songs
A successful Olympic song, first of all, should be "mind-wandering", which is my advice to all Olympic song creators.
Bidding: Beijing is collecting Olympic songs. Is there an Olympic song that impresses you now? What advice do you have for the creators of the songs? What characteristics do you think a successful work should have?
Tan Dun: To be a successful Olympic song, we must first "take the heart" and be able to sing the heartfelt desire and passion. This is also my advice to all Olympic song creators (including myself). In addition to "mind-wandering", we should also "be innovative" and innovate a new skill, new structure and new language, pointing directly at people’s spiritual world. We should be international, ethnic and have the courage to innovate.
Bidding: Do you have any plans to create theme songs or other musical works for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games?
Tan Dun: Like all my colleagues who participated in the creation, I have exhausted my mind in the creation of Olympic music. Before that, I specially went to some cradles of China traditional culture to collect folk songs. The resources there inspired me. There, I heard the world’s expectations for China culture. Olympic songs are hymns written by God through our hands. This is the voice from heaven and the dream of harmony between heaven and earth.
Brief introduction of Tan Dun
Tan Dun, born in Hunan, was admitted to Beijing Central Conservatory of Music in 1978 and obtained a master’s degree in music. After going to the United States in 1986, he obtained a doctorate in music from Columbia University. Now living in new york.
Tan Dun’s major works include: Symphonic Drama Series, which includes five symphonic works. Among them, Tan Dun tried to bring China’s ancient witch culture into modern symphony performance; Organic music series, which integrates natural timbre into symphony, and its representative works include Water Music, Paper Music and Tao Le; Multimedia series, exploring audio-visual structure and creating new media across time and space and culture, with representative works such as Map.
Tan Dun, a composer and conductor famous for his innovation, is currently the music planner for the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. He has been involved in the music creation of films about Beijing’s Olympic bid since 2000.
Tan Dun has crossed many boundaries between tradition and modernity, between East and West, between classics and pop. For music lovers all over the world, Tan Dun is undoubtedly a cultural banner with rich oriental colors, paving a bridge for the integration of Chinese and Western cultures. Tan Dun has won the most influential and prestigious music awards in the world, including the Grammy Award and the Oscar Award for Best Original Music, and was awarded the "Composer of the Year" by the American Music Association. He was also named one of the ten Chinese who influenced the world in 2006 by the ten most important Chinese media in the world, such as Phoenix TV.
Tan Dun Olympic Fate
I am an Olympic volunteer, and I hope I can provide my knowledge and experience in music creation without reservation.
Bidding: Please tell us about the cultural and promotional activities related to the Beijing Olympic Games in the past.
Tan Dun: I have always had a relationship with the Olympic Games. Seven years ago, I participated in the music creation of China’s Olympic bid film. When it was announced in Moscow that China had won the right to host the Olympic Games, I felt honored, because my music also played a small role in China’s successful bid for the Olympic Games. I feel that I have studied music all my life. If I can participate in this once-in-a-century activity, it is our fate, and it is my fate with China culture.
Competitive bidding: What other Olympic-related work will you do now or in the coming year? In what way will you participate in the Beijing Olympic Games?
Tan Dun: I am honored to be invited by BOCOG to be the music planner for the Beijing Olympic Games. In my work, I have been looking for inspiration from eastern and western cultures, and at the same time, with the help of my friends all over the world, I have attracted these "world leaders" to this sacred work. Apart from composing theme songs, I am also planning some other Olympic-related music, such as Olympic logo music and award music. This is a huge echelon project, in which everyone is silently contributing. I am an Olympic volunteer. I hope I can provide my knowledge and experience in music creation without reservation. I hope our small contribution can contribute to the success of the Olympic Games. I am very proud of being a volunteer of the Olympic Games.
Tan Dun Beijing Impression
During the Olympic Games, Beijing should have fresh air, cool breeze and unparalleled enthusiasm.
Competitive newspaper: Do you feel that the Olympic Games have brought changes to Beijing? What do you think of this change?
Tan Dun: This is a rare opportunity in a century. With this opportunity, we will work harder to change the living environment and realize our green dream. It is indeed a very difficult task to make our sky bluer and our water cleaner, so that our future generations can live in a better environment. However, hosting the Olympic Games has greatly touched us, and people should take improving the environment as a top priority by supporting the Olympic Games. Our efforts now will be the greatest wealth for the future.
Bidding: What do you think Beijing is like during the Olympic Games?
Tan Dun: At that time, Beijing should have fresh air, cool breeze and unparalleled enthusiasm. The whole city was full of love, and the whole world was intoxicated and crazy about it. (Source: Competitive Newspaper)
Editor: Zhu Xinrui