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78-404: Tan Dun ( Chinese : 谭盾 ; pinyin : Tán Dùn , Mandarin pronunciation: [tʰǎn tu̯ə̂n] ; born 18 August 1957) is a Chinese-born American composer and conductor. A leading figure of contemporary classical music , he draws from a variety of Western and Chinese influences, a dichotomy which has shaped much of his life and music. Having collaborated with leading orchestras around

156-492: A Grammy Award , and a BAFTA Award . Other film credits include the aforementioned Hero ( Zhang Yimou , 2002), Gregory Hoblit 's Fallen (1998), and Feng Xiaogang 's The Banquet (2006). Following the composition of the film score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , Tan Dun rearranged the music to create the Crouching Tiger Concerto for cello, video, and chamber orchestra. Containing edited footage from

234-955: A symphonic poem for piano for pianist Yuja Wang titled "Farewell My Concubine for Peking Opera Soprano and Piano". The work was commissioned by Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and made its world premiere on 31 July 2015 in Xinghai Concert Hall with the orchestra conducted by Long Yu and Wang as piano soloist. Though not explicitly opera, many of Tan Dun's works borrow operatic elements, in terms of both melody and staging. For example, his violin concerto, Out of Peking Opera (1987, revised 1994), quotes jinghu fiddling music often heard in Peking opera. Additionally, Ghost Opera (1994), for pipa and string quartet, includes minimal sets and lighting. Originally composed on commission for Kronos Quartet and Wu Man , Ghost Opera has been performed globally and recorded by Kronos for Nonesuch Records . Some of

312-439: A video artist . The video artist for the 1999 premiere was Elaine J. McCarthy . Many of Tan Dun's works call for instruments made of materials such as paper, stone, or water, but the compositions that he classifies as "organic music" feature these instruments most prominently. The first major work for organic instruments was his Water Concerto for Water Percussion and Orchestra (1998), dedicated to Toru Takemitsu . According to

390-517: A Bachelor's degree. All Conservatory undergraduates pursue a five-year program leading to two degrees: the bachelor of music and the bachelor of arts in a field other than music. The pursuit of these two degrees at Bard is thoroughly integrated. Conservatory students live, eat, and attend most classes with non-Conservatory students, and are fully part of the academic and social life of the College. Each Conservatory student has two academic advisers, one from

468-572: A Preparatory Division. The László Z. Bitó Conservatory Building The construction of the László Z. Bitó Conservatory Building began in October 2011 and was completed in January 2012. Made possible by a $ 9.2 million gift from Bard alumnus László Z. Bitó , class of 1960, this teaching and performance facility was designed by Deborah Berke & Partners Architects . The Bard College Conservatory of Music offers

546-443: A component—either a character or a sub-component called a radical —usually involves either a reduction in its total number of strokes , or an apparent streamlining of which strokes are chosen in what places—for example, the ⼓   ' WRAP ' radical used in the traditional character 沒 is simplified to ⼏   ' TABLE ' to form the simplified character 没 . By systematically simplifying radicals, large swaths of

624-434: A conversion table. While exercising such derivation, the following rules should be observed: Sample Derivations : The Series One List of Variant Characters reduces the number of total standard characters. First, amongst each set of variant characters sharing identical pronunciation and meaning, one character (usually the simplest in form) is elevated to the standard character set, and the rest are made obsolete. Then amongst

702-407: A few revised forms, and was implemented for official use by China's State Council on 5 June 2013. In Chinese, simplified characters are referred to by their official name 简化字 ; jiǎnhuàzì , or colloquially as 简体字 ; jiǎntǐzì . The latter term refers broadly to all character variants featuring simplifications of character form or structure, a practice which has always been present as

780-504: A five-year undergraduate program in which each student pursues two degrees concurrently: a Bachelor of Music degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree in a field other than music. At the graduate level, the Conservatory offers two two-year programs in conducting and voice leading to a Master of Music . In addition, the conservatory offers a certificate-granting Advanced Performance Studies Program for instrumentalists who have already received

858-403: A gushing, and the violins are played as percussion instruments. Orchestral Theatre II: Re (1992) expands the concept of ritual by involving the audience. The orchestra is split, with the strings, brass, and percussion onstage, while the woodwinds surround the audience. The score also calls for two conductors, with one facing the stage, and the other facing the audience. The latter conductor cues

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936-599: A newly coined phono-semantic compound : Removing radicals Only retaining single radicals Replacing with ancient forms or variants : Adopting ancient vulgar variants : Readopting abandoned phonetic-loan characters : Copying and modifying another traditional character : Based on 132 characters and 14 components listed in Chart 2 of the Complete List , the 1,753 derived characters found in Chart 3 can be created by systematically simplifying components using Chart 2 as

1014-568: A part of the Chinese writing system. The official name tends to refer to the specific, systematic set published by the Chinese government, which includes not only simplifications of individual characters, but also a substantial reduction in the total number of characters through the merger of formerly distinct forms. According to Chinese palaeographer Qiu Xigui , the broadest trend in the evolution of Chinese characters over their history has been simplification, both in graphical shape ( 字形 ; zìxíng ),

1092-623: A rice planter on the Huangjin commune. He joined an ensemble of other commune residents and learned to play traditional Chinese string instruments . Following a ferry accident that resulted in the death of several members of a Peking opera troupe, Tan Dun was called upon as a violist and arranger. This initial success earned him a seat in the orchestra, and from there he went to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing in 1977. While at

1170-476: A solo instrument. The first concerto in the series, Yi1: Intercourse of Fire and Water (1994), was written for and premiered by cellist Anssi Karttunen . The second work, Yi2: Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra (1996), combines flamenco and pipa techniques and was premiered by Sharon Isbin . Originally titled Secret Land , Tan Dun wrote a concerto for 12 solo cellos and orchestra called Four Secret Roads of Marco Polo (2004). Commissioned and premiered by

1248-760: A specially built set of 50 ceramic percussion, string, and wind instruments, designed in collaboration with potter Ragnar Naess. To emphasize the shamanistic nature of Qu Yuan's poetry, the actors dance and move in a ritualized manner. Tan Dun's second work in the genre, Marco Polo (1996), set to a libretto by Paul Griffiths , is an opera within an opera . It begins with the spiritual journey of two characters, Marco and Polo, and their encounters with various historic figures of literature and music, including Dante Alighieri , William Shakespeare , Scheherazade , Sigmund Freud , John Cage , Gustav Mahler , Li Po , and Kublai Khan . These sections are presented in an abstract, Peking opera style. Interwoven with these sections are

1326-492: A weather forecast is played. The final piece in the series, The Gate (Orchestral Theatre IV) (1999), focuses on three women of literary fame: Yu from The Hegemon-King Bids His Concubine Farewell , Juliet from Romeo and Juliet , and Koharu from The Love Suicides at Amijima . Based on the theme of sacrifice for love, The Gate is structured as a theme and variations . The style of each section corresponds to its respective character's country of origin. Additionally, Yu

1404-440: Is actually more complex than eliminated ones. An example is the character 搾 which is eliminated in favor of the variant form 榨 . The 扌   'HAND' with three strokes on the left of the eliminated 搾 is now seen as more complex, appearing as the ⽊   'TREE' radical 木 , with four strokes, in the chosen variant 榨 . Not all characters standardised in the simplified set consist of fewer strokes. For instance,

1482-454: Is derived. Merging homophonous characters: Adapting cursive shapes ( 草書楷化 ): Replacing a component with a simple arbitrary symbol (such as 又 and 乂 ): Omitting entire components : Omitting components, then applying further alterations : Structural changes that preserve the basic shape Replacing the phonetic component of phono-semantic compounds : Replacing an uncommon phonetic component : Replacing entirely with

1560-573: Is led by both a human conductor and a virtual conductor who appears on the monitors. While the human conductor leads, the monitors depict a variety of images from the 1960s and the Cold War : a collage of Mao Zedong , the Cultural Revolution , Martin Luther King Jr. , John F. Kennedy , The Beatles , Nikita Khrushchev , and hydrogen bomb testing. In addition to the video, an audio recording of

1638-809: Is now discouraged. A State Language Commission official cited "oversimplification" as the reason for restoring some characters. The language authority declared an open comment period until 31 August 2009, for feedback from the public. In 2013, the List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters was published as a revision of the 1988 lists; it included a total of 8105 characters. It included 45 newly recognized standard characters that were previously considered variant forms, as well as official approval of 226 characters that had been simplified by analogy and had seen wide use but were not explicitly given in previous lists or documents. Singapore underwent three successive rounds of character simplification , eventually arriving at

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1716-574: Is played by a Peking opera singer ( Shi Min ), Juliet by a Western opera soprano (Nancy Allen Lundy), and Koharu by a Japanese puppeteer ( Jusaburō Tsujimura ). As in Orchestra Theatre II: Re , the orchestra is distributed onstage and amongst the audience. The Gate also incorporates video, but unlike the prerecorded images used in Red Forecast , a projection screen displays live images of the three actress-soloists, manipulated in real time by

1794-609: Is referred to as the " big seal script ". The traditional narrative, as also attested in the Shuowen Jiezi dictionary ( c.  100 AD ), is that the Qin small seal script that would later be imposed across China was originally derived from the Zhou big seal script with few modifications. However, the body of epigraphic evidence comparing the character forms used by scribes gives no indication of any real consolidation in character forms prior to

1872-476: Is two-year graduate curriculum that culminates in the Master of Music (M.M.) degree. The Graduate Conducting Program offers both choral and orchestral conducting tracks. The Postgraduate Collaborative Piano Fellowship is a two-year fellowship designed to give professional experience to pianists who have a strong interest in becoming collaborative artists, with the ultimate aim of easing the transition between school and

1950-540: Is used instead of 叠 in regions using traditional characters. The Chinese government stated that it wished to keep Chinese orthography stable. The Chart of Generally Utilized Characters of Modern Chinese was published in 1988 and included 7000 simplified and unsimplified characters. Of these, half were also included in the revised List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese , which specified 2500 common characters and 1000 less common characters. In 2009,

2028-600: The Berlin Philharmonic , the work is a musical exploration of the Silk Road . To achieve these sounds, the cello soloists employ sitar and pipa techniques. Tan Dun wrote a concerto for Lang Lang titled Piano Concerto: "The Fire" (2008), a commission by the New York Philharmonic . The concerto is reportedly inspired by the composer's love for martial arts, and the soloist is instructed to play certain passages of

2106-656: The Chinese language , with the other being traditional characters . Their mass standardization during the 20th century was part of an initiative by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to promote literacy, and their use in ordinary circumstances on the mainland has been encouraged by the Chinese government since the 1950s. They are the official forms used in mainland China and Singapore , while traditional characters are officially used in Hong Kong , Macau , and Taiwan . Simplification of

2184-574: The Cultural Revolution and received musical education from the Central Conservatory of Music . His early influences included both Chinese music and 20th-century classical music . Since receiving a DMA from Columbia University in 1993, Tan has been based in New York City . His compositions often incorporate audiovisual elements; use instruments constructed from organic materials, such as paper, water, and stone; and are often inspired by traditional Chinese theatrical and ritual performance. In 2013, he

2262-549: The Qin dynasty , and his relationship with the musician Gao Jianli . Like Tan Dun's previous operas, The First Emperor calls for Chinese instruments in addition to a full orchestra, including guzheng and bianzhong . The original Met production was directed by Zhang Yimou , with whom Tan Dun had collaborated on the film Hero . Tan Dun earned more widespread attention after composing the score for Ang Lee 's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), for which he won an Academy Award ,

2340-593: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : Bard College Conservatory of Music Undergraduate faculty teach the standard orchestral/chamber music instruments and composition. The Conservatory also offers two graduate programs: the Graduate Vocal Arts Program and the Graduate Conducting Program, and a Post-graduate Collaborative Piano Fellowship in addition to

2418-411: The "external appearances of individual graphs", and in graphical form ( 字体 ; 字體 ; zìtǐ ), "overall changes in the distinguishing features of graphic[al] shape and calligraphic style, [...] in most cases refer[ring] to rather obvious and rather substantial changes". The initiatives following the founding of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) to universalize the use of their small seal script across

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2496-476: The 1986 General List of Simplified Chinese Characters , hereafter the General List . All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Chart 1 and Chart 2 in the 1986 Complete List . Characters in both charts are structurally simplified based on similar set of principles. They are separated into two charts to clearly mark those in Chart 2 as 'usable as simplified character components', based on which Chart 3

2574-508: The 1986 mainland China revisions. Unlike in mainland China, Singapore parents have the option of registering their children's names in traditional characters. Malaysia also promulgated a set of simplified characters in 1981, though completely identical to the mainland Chinese set. They are used in Chinese-language schools. All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Charts 1 and 2 of

2652-630: The 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach , the work for chorus, orchestra, and water percussion follows the Gospel of Matthew , beginning with Christ's baptism . The chorus doubles on tingsha , and the soprano and bass soloists double on xun . The score also requires Mongolian overtone singing from the soloists. As with Orchestral Theatre I: O , members of the orchestra play their instruments with techniques borrowed from non-Western traditions. Tan Dun's next major organic work, Paper Concerto for Paper Percussion and Orchestra (2003), explores

2730-470: The Chinese government published a major revision to the list which included a total of 8300 characters. No new simplifications were introduced. In addition, slight modifications to the orthography of 44 characters to fit traditional calligraphic rules were initially proposed, but were not implemented due to negative public response. Also, the practice of unrestricted simplification of rare and archaic characters by analogy using simplified radicals or components

2808-524: The Conservatory and one from a field that the student is considering as a major for the B.A. degree. In the bachelor of music program all performance majors study composition, and the Conservatory Seminar integrates music theory and music history with special emphasis on their relation to performance. The vocal arts curriculum is divided into three main components: Core Seminars, private instruction, and workshops. The program's curriculum centers on

2886-425: The Conservatory, Tan Dun came into contact with composers such as Toru Takemitsu , George Crumb , Alexander Goehr , Hans Werner Henze , Isang Yun , and Chou Wen-Chung , all of whom influenced his sense of musical style. In 1986, he moved to New York City as a doctoral student at Columbia University , once again studying with Chou Wen-Chung, who had studied under Edgard Varèse . At Columbia, Tan Dun discovered

2964-944: The Core Seminar, which meets for three hours each week. Each semester the seminar focuses on a topic that addresses different aspects of the singing life: poetry and text, international musical influences, building and sustaining a musical career, and opera. Private instruction includes voice lessons, vocal coachings, and Alexander Technique . In addition to the Core Seminars and private instruction, students participate in Acting Explorations, Diction and Phonetics, Language Translation for Singers, Movement Improvisation, Opera, Professional Development, Recital Class, Singer's Form, Vocal Chamber Music, and Vocal Ensembles Workshops. Co-directed by Leon Botstein, James Bagwell, The Graduate Conducting Program of The Bard College Conservatory of Music

3042-561: The Earth) , which in turn draws from the poetry of Li Po. Ceramic instruments include percussion instruments similar to those Tan Dun had used in previous works, as well as wind instruments and xun. In the mid-1990s, Tan Dun began working on another series of orchestral works known as the Yi series, named for the I Ching (Yi Jing in pinyin). Each numbered work in the series builds upon the original, Yi°: Concerto for Orchestra (published 2002), by adding

3120-572: The Grand Opening Theme Song of Shanghai Disney Resort . On 1 August 2019 he was appointed as dean of the Bard College Conservatory of Music . During his time at Columbia University, Tan Dun composed his first opera, a setting of nature poems by Qu Yuan called Nine Songs (1989). The poems are sung in both Classical Chinese and contemporary English alongside a small ensemble of Western and Chinese instruments. Among these are

3198-649: The acoustic range of paper. Instruments constructed from differing thicknesses of paper are used as cymbals, drums, or reeds. Additionally, sheets of paper are shaken or struck. These sounds are amplified primarily through wireless microphones worn by the musicians. This work was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the opening of the Walt Disney Concert Hall . Earth Concerto for stone and ceramic percussion and orchestra (2009) draws from Gustav Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of

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3276-402: The audience to hum along with the orchestra in certain sections of the music. The work's namesake derives from humming the solfège pitch "re". The third piece in the series, Red Forecast (Orchestral Theatre III) (1996), involves more staging elements than its predecessors, adding television monitors, lighting, and even stage directions for the musicians. In this multimedia work, the orchestra

3354-428: The character set are altered. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms that embody graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms. In addition, variant characters with identical pronunciation and meaning were reduced to a single standardized character, usually the simplest among all variants in form. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification and are thus identical between

3432-407: The chosen variants, those that appear in the "Complete List of Simplified Characters" are also simplified in character structure accordingly. Some examples follow: Sample reduction of equivalent variants : Ancient variants with simple structure are preferred : Simpler vulgar forms are also chosen : The chosen variant was already simplified in Chart 1 : In some instances, the chosen variant

3510-659: The composer, the sounds made by the soloist are inspired by the sounds of everyday life growing up in Hunan. Basins are filled with water, and the contents are manipulated with bowls, bottles, hands, and other devices. Other water instruments used include the waterphone . Various means of amplification are used, including contact microphones on the basins. The techniques devised in the Water Concerto were used again in Tan Dun's Water Passion After St. Matthew (2000). Written to commemorate

3588-465: The country's writing system as a serious impediment to its modernization. In 1916, a multi-part English-language article entitled "The Problem of the Chinese Language" co-authored by the Chinese linguist Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982) and poet Hu Shih (1891–1962) has been identified as a turning point in the history of the Chinese script—as it was one of the first clear calls for China to move away from

3666-536: The death of the protagonist's love. Percussionists play on pitched flowerpots, referred to as "Ceramic chimes" in the score. Tan Dun's most recent opera, The First Emperor (2006), was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera with the title role created for Plácido Domingo . Co-authored by Tan Dun and Chinese novelist Ha Jin , the opera focuses on the unification of China under Qin Shi Huang , first emperor of

3744-472: The early 20th century. In 1909, the educator and linguist Lufei Kui formally proposed the use of simplified characters in education for the first time. Over the following years—marked by the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that toppled the Qing dynasty , followed by growing social and political discontent that further erupted into the 1919 May Fourth Movement —many anti-imperialist intellectuals throughout China began to see

3822-473: The film, this work reverses the role of music in film by treating video as secondary. This same technique was later applied to his film scores for Hero and The Banquet , resulting in the larger work known as the Martial Arts Cycle . In 2002, Tan Dun continued experimenting with application of video in music The Map , also for cello, video, and orchestra. The Map features documentary footage depicting

3900-616: The first official list of simplified forms was published, consisting of 324 characters collated by Peking University professor Qian Xuantong . However, fierce opposition within the KMT resulted in the list being rescinded in 1936. Work throughout the 1950s resulted in the 1956 promulgation of the Chinese Character Simplification Scheme , a draft of 515 simplified characters and 54 simplified components, whose simplifications would be present in most compound characters. Over

3978-463: The first round—but was massively unpopular and never saw consistent use. The second round of simplifications was ultimately retracted officially in 1986, well after they had largely ceased to be used due to their unpopularity and the confusion they caused. In August 2009, China began collecting public comments for a revised list of simplified characters; the resulting List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters lists 8,105 characters, including

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4056-465: The following decade, the Script Reform Committee deliberated on characters in the 1956 scheme, collecting public input regarding the recognizability of variants, and often approving forms in small batches. Parallel to simplification, there were also initiatives aimed at eliminating the use of characters entirely and replacing them with pinyin as an official Chinese alphabet, but this possibility

4134-503: The founding of the Qin. The Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) that inherited the Qin administration coincided with the perfection of clerical script through the process of libian . Eastward spread of Western learning Though most closely associated with the People's Republic, the idea of a mass simplification of character forms first gained traction in China during

4212-482: The generic classifications included below are Tan Dun's own concepts, including "organic music" and "music ritual." "Organic music" refers to musical works performed on non-traditional instruments, typically involving organic materials such as paper, water, or stone. "Music ritual" refers to works derived from Chinese spiritual traditions. Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write

4290-400: The history of music as an integral part of spiritual life, as ritual, as partnership in enjoyment and spirit, is as old as humanity itself. In the first piece of the series, Orchestral Theatre I: O (1990), members of the orchestra make various vocalizations—chanting nonsense syllables , for instance—while playing their instruments using atypical techniques. For examples, the harp is played as

4368-466: The increased usage of 朙 was followed by proliferation of a third variant: 眀 , with 目 'eye' on the left—likely derived as a contraction of 朙 . Ultimately, 明 became the character's standard form. The Book of Han (111 AD) describes an earlier attempt made by King Xuan of Zhou ( d.  782 BC ) to unify character forms across the states of ancient China , with his chief chronicler having "[written] fifteen chapters describing" what

4446-459: The left, with the 月 'Moon' component on the right. Li Si ( d.  208 BC ), the Chancellor of Qin, attempted to universalize the Qin small seal script across China following the wars that had politically unified the country for the first time. Li prescribed the 朙 form of the word for 'bright', but some scribes ignored this and continued to write the character as 明 . However,

4524-561: The lives of China's Tujia , Miao , and Dong ethnic minorities . The musicians onstage, including the cello soloist, interact with the musicians onscreen—a duet of live and recorded performance. The work was premiered and commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Yo-Yo Ma . Tan Dun's most recent multimedia work, Nu Shu: The Secret Songs of Women (2013), is a 13-movement work for video, solo harp, and orchestra. Following years of ethnomusicological research in Hunan,

4602-402: The most prominent Chinese authors of the 20th century, stated that "if Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die" ( 漢字不滅，中國必亡 ). During the 1930s and 1940s, discussions regarding simplification took place within the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party. Many members of the Chinese intelligentsia maintained that simplification would increase literacy rates throughout the country. In 1935,

4680-454: The music of composers such as Philip Glass , John Cage , Meredith Monk , and Steve Reich , and began incorporating these influences into his compositions. He completed his dissertation, Death and Fire: Dialogue with Paul Klee , in 1993. Inspired by a visit to the Museum of Modern Art , Death and Fire is a short symphony that engages with the paintings of Paul Klee . On 15 June 2016, he created

4758-611: The music with fists and forearms. Other more tranquil sections evoke ancient Chinese instruments such as the guqin . In 2008, Tan Dun was commissioned by Google and YouTube to write an inaugural symphony for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra (YTSO) project. The resultant work, Internet Symphony No. 1 "Eroica", was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and uploaded to YouTube in November 2008, thus beginning

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4836-645: The open call for video audition submissions. Voted on by members of the YouTube community as well as professional musicians, the YTSO was assembled of 96 musicians from over 30 countries. In April 2009, a mashup video of the submissions was premiered at Carnegie Hall, followed by a live performance of the work. Tan Dun has also conducted the BBC Scottish Symphony to record parts of the album Away from Xuan by fellow composer Chen Yuanlin , released in 2009. He composed

4914-430: The public and quickly fell out of official use. It was ultimately formally rescinded in 1986. The second-round simplifications were unpopular in large part because most of the forms were completely new, in contrast to the familiar variants comprising the majority of the first round. With the rescission of the second round, work toward further character simplification largely came to an end. In 1986, authorities retracted

4992-465: The recently conquered parts of the empire is generally seen as being the first real attempt at script reform in Chinese history. Before the 20th century, variation in character shape on the part of scribes, which would continue with the later invention of woodblock printing , was ubiquitous. For example, prior to the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) the character meaning 'bright' was written as either 明 or 朙 —with either 日 'Sun' or 囧 'window' on

5070-741: The same name . Directed by Peter Sellars in its original production, Tan Dun's work is performed entirely in English, though one of the characters must be trained in Peking or Kunqu style. The small ensemble of six musicians performs electronics and Chinese instruments onstage with the actors. Stylistically, the music is a blend of Western avant-garde and Chinese opera . At this point in his career, Tan Dun had created many works for "organic instruments," i.e. instruments constructed from materials such as paper, water, ceramic, and stone. For his fourth opera, Tea: A Mirror of Soul (2002), co-authored by librettist Xu Ying , organic instruments factor prominently into

5148-476: The same set of simplified characters as mainland China. The first round was promulgated by the Ministry of Education in 1969, consisting of 498 simplified characters derived from 502 traditional characters. A second round of 2287 simplified characters was promulgated in 1974. The second set contained 49 differences from the mainland China system; these were removed in the final round in 1976. In 1993, Singapore adopted

5226-461: The second round completely, though they had been largely fallen out of use within a year of their initial introduction. That year, the authorities also promulgated a final version of the General List of Simplified Chinese Characters . It was identical to the 1964 list save for 6 changes—including the restoration of 3 characters that had been simplified in the first round: 叠 , 覆 , 像 ; the form 疊

5304-515: The structure of the opera itself. The title of each act corresponds to the materials of the instruments being used, as well as the opera's plot. The first act, entitled "Water, Fire", opens with a tea ceremony onstage while percussionists manipulate glass bowls of water. The second act, "Paper", features music on rice paper drums and depicts the characters' search for The Classic of Tea , the first book to codify tea production and preparation in China. The third and final act, "Ceramic, Stones", depicts

5382-427: The traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. The Chinese government has never officially announced the completion of the simplification process after the bulk of characters were introduced by the 1960s. In the wake of the Cultural Revolution , a second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977—largely composed of entirely new variants intended to artificially lower the stroke count, in contrast to

5460-817: The traditional character 強 , with 11 strokes is standardised as 强 , with 12 strokes, which is a variant character. Such characters do not constitute simplified characters. The new standardized character forms shown in the Characters for Publishing and revised through the Common Modern Characters list tend to adopt vulgar variant character forms. Since the new forms take vulgar variants, many characters now appear slightly simpler compared to old forms, and as such are often mistaken as structurally simplified characters. Some examples follow: The traditional component 釆 becomes 米 : The traditional component 囚 becomes 日 : The traditional "Break" stroke becomes

5538-592: The travels of the real-life Marco Polo , presented in a Western operatic style. Though the score calls for traditional Western orchestral instrumentation, additional instruments are used to indicate the location of the characters, including recorder , rebec , sitar , tabla , singing bowls , Tibetan horn , sheng , and pipa . The opera won the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition in 1998. That same year, Tan Dun premiered his next opera, The Peony Pavilion , an adaptation of Tang Xianzu 's 1598 Kunqu play of

5616-516: The use of characters entirely. Instead, Chao proposed that the language be written with an alphabet, which he saw as more logical and efficient. The alphabetization and simplification campaigns would exist alongside one another among the Republican intelligentsia for the next several decades. Recent commentators have echoed some contemporary claims that Chinese characters were blamed for the economic problems in China during that time. Lu Xun , one of

5694-423: The video are used in counterpoint to the live music. In the 1990s, Tan Dun began working on a series of orchestral pieces that would analyze the relationship between performer and audience by synthesizing Western classical music and Chinese ritual. According to the composer, If we look at the idea of 'art music' with its firm separation of performer and audience, we see that its history is comparatively short. Yet

5772-509: The work captures the sounds of Nüshu script , a phonetic writing system devised by women speakers of the Xiangnan Tuhua dialect who had been disallowed from receiving formal education. Considered a dying language , Tan Dun's research resulted in a series of short films of women singing songs written in Nüshu, which are presented alongside the orchestral performance. As with The Map , the songs in

5850-528: The working world of a collaborative pianist. The fellowship is open to both students who have already completed a degree in collaborative piano and those students who have completed a bachelor's degree in piano performance and have a strong interest in further study in collaborative piano. The Advanced Performance Studies Program is a nondegree-granting, four semester program for exceptionally gifted performers who wish to continue their study of music through concentrated study. Applicants must have completed at least

5928-551: The world, Tan is the recipient of numerous awards , including a Grawemeyer Award for his opera Marco Polo (1996) and both an Academy Award and Grammy Award for his film score in Ang Lee 's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). His oeuvre as a whole includes operas, orchestral, vocal, chamber, solo and film scores , as well as genres that Tan terms "organic music" and "music ritual." Born in Hunan , China, Tan grew up during

6006-461: Was abandoned, confirmed by a speech given by Zhou Enlai in 1958. In 1965, the PRC published the List of Commonly Used Characters for Printing  [ zh ] (hereafter Characters for Printing ), which included standard printed forms for 6196 characters, including all of the forms from the 1956 scheme. A second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977, but was poorly received by

6084-453: Was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador . Tan Dun was born in 1957 in a village in Changsha in Hunan , China. As a child, he was fascinated by the rituals and ceremonies of the village shaman, which were typically set to music made with natural objects such as rocks and water. Due to the bans enacted during the Cultural Revolution , he was discouraged from pursuing music and was sent to work as

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