5 ancient Chinese instruments come alive in rousing Hong Kong concert inspired by China’s Dunhuang cave paintings
- The chiba, five-string pipa, xiqin, bili and lusheng starred in award-winning composer Tan Dun’s new work at a recent evening at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre
- Another original work by Tan performed saw the audience participate by playing birdsong from their phones, downloaded via QR code earlier in the evening
Award-winning composer Tan Dun returns to his musical journey inspired by the ancient murals in China’s Dunhuang caves, on the old Silk Road trade route, with a new work that sets out to revive the sound of five ancient Chinese woodwind and string instruments: the chiba, five-string pipa, xiqin, bili and lusheng.
The Five Muses of Dunhuang takes the wall paintings, some of which date back to the fourth century, as a reference and recreates a performance that Tan hopes will “transport the audience to another world”.
The work was the highlight of Sunday’s Sound of Dunhuang concert presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which also included Tan’s Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds and Stravinsky’s Fireworks and The Firebird Suite (1919 version).
While Tan’s 2018 work Buddha Passion, a six-part composition inspired by stories and teachings depicted on the cave murals, is contemplative in tone, The Five Muses of Dunhuang is bursting with cinematic colour, conjuring up images of the cultural melting pot that was the Silk Road.
Performed by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra under Tan’s baton, the piece unfolded seamlessly as five soloists – Ling Kwan-leung on the bili, Zhao Guanjie on the xiquin, Kenneth Sham on the chiba, Gao Sijia on the five-string pipa and Loo Sze-wang on the lusheng – took turns to be in the spotlight.
