Stir Cheat Sheet: 5 things to know about Tan Dun’s epic Buddha Passion

Conductor-composer to lead Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Canadian premiere of his sweeping mix of Western and Asian traditions, November 8 and 9

By Jessica Werb

Composer and conductor Tan Dun. Photo by Nana Watanabe

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra presents Tan Dun’s Buddha Passion at the Orpheum on November 8 and 9 at 8 pm

CHINESE-BORN AMERICAN composer and conductor Tan Dun steps onto the Orpheum stage next weekend to conduct the Canadian premiere of his sweeping work, Buddha Passion, with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. One of the most celebrated composers of our time, Tan draws from the formative years he spent in his native China and Western classical tradition in his writing. Here are five things to know about the artist and his epic piece.

#1

Born in 1957 in a small village in Hunan, China, Tan Dun was just nine years old when the Cultural Revolution swept the country. His parents were sent to do forced labour, leaving him in the care of his grandmother. In his teen years, Tan was also recruited to work in the rice fields of a small town, where he began transcribing the folk songs he heard being sung by the farmers around him. 

#2

Tan first heard the sounds of Western classical music in 1973, when a concert by the Philadelphia Orchestra was broadcast over the village loudspeaker. “It went boom-boom-boom-boom,” he told The New York Times in 2015. “It was Beethoven, although I didn’t know that name at the time. I was shocked. Western music was so straight-toned, so loud.” In 1976, when the death of Mao Zedong marked the end of the Cultural Revolution, he left for Beijing to study at the Central Conservatory of Music.

#3

Tan has amassed an impressive slew of prestigious awards, including a Grammy Award and Academy Award for his 2000 film score in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; a Grawemeyer Award for his for his 1996 opera, Marco Polo; the 2011 Hamburg Bach Prize, awarded every four years to “an exceptional composer of our time”; and the 2012 D.D. Shostakovich Award, among many others. He is also a UNESCO Global Goodwill Ambassador. 

#4

Tan’s Buddha Passion is monumental in both scale and scope. It’s the first “Passion” to feature a Buddhist, rather than a Christian, narrative. In place of the suffering and crucifixion of Christ, Tan’s Passion is inspired by Chinese and Sanskrit texts, and tells the journey of a prince on the path of enlightenment. Its VSO performance will feature the orchestra, six percussionists, five vocal soloists, and a dancing pipa player.

#5

Buddha’s Passion was composed over six years, after the artist visited the ancient Mogao Cave temples carved into a cliff face on the edge of the Gobi Desert. Tan was moved by the cave decorations, which include drawings and paintings of musicians, instruments, and orchestras. The resulting work mixes Western and Chinese opera, Western classical music, and Asian folk tradition.

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