Track Listing

1. On Taoism
2. Orchestral Theatre I
3. Death And Fire: Portrait
4. Death And Fire: Animals At Full Moon
5. Death And Fire: Senecio
6. Death And Fire: Ad Parnassum
7. Death And Fire: Self-Portrait
8. Death And Fire: Twittering Machine
9. Death And Fire: Earth Witches
10. Death And Fire: Intoxication
11. Death And Fire: J.S. Bach
12. Death And Fire: Death And Fire

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #697871 in Music
• Released on: 2001-10-23
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Early works, but Dun's combination of modernism and Chinese tradition shines through even his immaturity
This Koch disc, now out of print, is of note for featuring Tan Dun's breakthrough piece. "On Taoism" for orchestra (1985) was written as the Chinese composer was finishing his studies in China, before his move to New York where he swiftly fell in with John Cage and the minimalists alike. The piece opens with the wild meaningless vocalisms of a shaman-like singer, who seems to invoke the orchestral music into being. He then remains silent until the climax of the piece, and the orchestra produces sudden violent sounds separated by highly suggestive silences. There must be some measure of inspiration by Toru Takemitsu here. "On Taoism", while clearly a youthful effort, does make a great impact on this listener through the combination of a somewhat modernist language and a palpable ritualistic atmosphere.

"Orchestral Theatre I" (1990) is the first in a little series of pieces where Dun brought this concept of ritual to maturation. (The second piece can be heard on an Ondine disc). Here the music initially consists of isolated gestures that sound for all the world like Helmut Lachenmann: the squeak of a distorted cello tone, a voice making a hushing sound, a harp note repeatedly plucked. Only a few minutes in does the composer make a more overt reference to Chinese tradition with a pentatonic flute melody and Peking Opera-like percussion. The piece is entertaining enough, but like the ones following it I feel you probably have to see them live to really get them. The composer revised this piece in 2000, but I don't know how much it differs from this 1994 recording.

The only truly low point of the disc is "Death and Fire" (1992), a hommage to the painter Paul Klee, nine of its ten movements alluding to a specific work or general aspects of his art. This wide orchestral scope is often unfocused, and I find it a generally unremarkable piece, as colourful as the touches of nocturnal animals' calls are.

Tan Dun's work is inconsistent. For every great triumph like "The Map" or the "Water Passion" he has produced some cringely bad pieces that do little but pander to the public. But if the composer really intrigues you, you'll want to hear "On Taoism" eventually, and this disc looks like it's still the only place you can do that.