Ru
EnE. Kiseyeva
Theatrical devices in Tan Dun’s instrumental music
This article explores the artistic concept of instrumental music by Tan Dun, one of the most prominent representatives of the contemporary musical avant-garde. His works offer an original interpretation of academic genres, characterized by the incorporation of a variety of theatrical techniques. These techniques evoke associations with the national drama xiqu, shamanic rituals, the theatrical rites of nuo and guixi, and the traditional culture of China as a whole, rooted in ancient times. The author focuses on works associated with the theatrical term “opera” – the orchestral concertos “From Peking Opera” and “Ghost Opera” examined from the perspective of their individual interpretations of the genre and the corresponding instrumental dramaturgy. Using these works as examples, this article analyzes, on the one hand, the artistic processes conditioned by the formation of stage theatricality, including costumes, plastique, the musicians’ movements, and the dialogues between on-screen images and live acoustic performance. On the other hand, it analyzes the immanent musical expressive means, including thematism, measure and rhythmic organization, sound effects, and non-academic methods of playing instruments, which encourage associative parallels with musical and stage genres. Particular attention is given to theatrical techniques, which originate from the ritual practices of China’s southern provinces and are an integral part of Tan Dun’s artistic conception. Their influence on musical dramaturgy, which reflects the course of the ritual, is noted; the composer’s principles of working with words in the creation of a quasi-libretto are characterized. The article examines the specific use of such techniques in other works by Tan Dun. The author’s recommended approaches to performing these works partly contradict the academic traditions of instrumental music in European culture, as the theatrical interpretation of the performance process fosters the emergence of a performance-like spectacle. These features are subsequently correlated with Tan Dun’s creative explorations in the field of instrumental theatre.
Key words
instrumental work by Tan Dun, theatrical adaptation of concerto genre, “Ghost Opera”, “Out of Peking Opera”, instrumental theatre, art of performance.
For citation
Kiseyeva E. Theatrical devices in Tan Dun’s instrumental music. In: South-Russian Musical Anthology. 2025. No. 3. Pp. 99–111.
