Chinese composer and conductor Tan Dun conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in a performance of suites from his stirring scores for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee), Hero (Zhang Yimou) and The Banquet (Feng Xiaogang), accompanied by visuals from the films.
Bringing together three masterpieces of Chinese cinema, Tan Dun’s trilogy sets the Martial Arts tradition originally found in Chinese opera into a modern context, giving it an international appeal through film. Traditional delicate solos on cello, violin and piano, thundering percussion and the soaring strings of a live orchestra; all these elements of Tan Dun’s score play an essential role in the big screen depiction of clashing armies, flying warriors and forbidden romances.
While Tan Dun first attracted attention with works that mixed Chinese folkloric instruments and techniques with elements of avant-garde Western classical music, it was arguably the scores for his Martial Arts Trilogy that propelled him to international fame.
‘The film and music is one big drama… melting together it becomes something very powerful’ – Tan Dun
