A Voyage through Tea: An Interview with Tan Dun 02-09-2010 View a video clip from Tea: A Mirror of Soul! Grammy and Oscar-winning composer Tan Dun’s contemporary masterpiece Tea: A Mirror of Soul, which makes its East Coast Premiere with the Opera Company of Philadelphia on February 19th, draws from both Chinese and Japanese rituals, weaving a mesmerizing story of love, loss and honor. In the opera, Seikyo, a former prince, has become a monk following a bitter love loss. He recounts the story of Lan, the princess he loved, and their noble quest together to find the true Book of Tea. Filled with treasured secrets and ancient wisdom, the book spurs a journey -- and the deadly jealousy of Lan's protective brother. Tea blends lush Western lyricism with Asian motifs, drawing on non-traditional sounds like water, paper and stone to create a spectacular landscape of sound. “In my research for Tea I traveled around Japan and China, and learned that Japanese tea is a ‘mirror of the soul,’” Tan Dun explained in a 2002 interview at the opera’s World Premiere at Suntory Hall in Tokyo. “When I was in the southern regions of China which is, of course, the home of tea, I had the opportunity to interview an eminent nun. She always presents to her first-time guests an empty tea bowl, and on such occasions she herself also puts an empty tea bowl to her lips, as if to drain it of its contents. In this very action her spiritual world-view becomes vividly apparent. For me, there was something greatly enlightening about the spirit of Chinese tea as made manifest in her, and about the spirit of Japanese tea. In this opera—my ‘Voyage through Tea’—I make use of these two elements on several occasions.” In addition to drawing on such ancient practices, the libretto by Tan Dun and Xu Ying references many well-know Asian works of literature, including The Journey to the West, The Golden Lotus, and of course, The Book of Tea. Tan Dun explains that all of these works appear in his libretto. “The Journey to the West is about a quest in search of the true Buddhist Sutra. That scenario is seen in the opera when the voyagers set off to look for The Book of Tea, which is also known as The Sutra of Tea. Also, in Act I, scene 2, the little brother is mimicking the Monkey King (a character from The Journey to the West) in a play within a play. In Act III, when he steals The Book of Tea, notice that he uses exactly the same words as he does in his charade in Act I, scene 2. Furthermore, when the Emperor sings his song of lamentation upon hearing the news of Lan’s death, the same words and accompanying music are recapitulated. We incorporated aspects of The Journey to the West storyline for its philosophical symbolism, and it also shares structural or plot-related links with Tea on many levels.” But while all of these works influenced the story, many of the opera’s most poignant lines such as ‘though bowl is empty,’ which opens the piece and is used several times thereafter, and ‘Without you, life is living death,’ came from Tan Dun himself. “I drew on traditional stories as a basis for the libretto, but the text itself was written freely in my own words; for example, the phrase ‘to see the sound, to hear the color.’ Excerpts from The Golden Lotus and other expressions of nature have been used to reflect these words and give them a double meaning. The music has been designed to convey the duality of the spiritual inner space and its physical, external counterpart. This form of expression is encapsulated in, and structured by, the concept of ‘organic music.’” “Organic music” has long been a part of Tan Dun’s life. Orchestral pieces that set the sounds of elements such as water and paper to music have long been a central part of this composer’s body of work, such as his Water Concerto for water percussion and orchestra in 1998 and Paper Concerto for paper percussion and orchestra in 2003. “For many years I have continued to experiment with the use of water, paper, and earthenware as instruments in my music,” the composer acknowledges. “As I was traveling around ‘researching tea’ in China and Japan, I came to the realization that ‘organic music’ already existed in these two countries. For instance, before entering a tea ceremony room in Japan, one doesn’t merely wash one’s hands. Rather, in the action of washing the hands, the soul is washed and cleansed too. As is suggested in this example, ‘organic music’ concerns both matters of everyday life and matters of the heart, and I have attempted to underpin Tea with this concept. In The Book of Tea itself, the author Lu Yu writes about water, wind (the sound of paper), fire, and earthenware. I wanted to assimilate all of these elements into my work, because they are all essential to the aesthetics of tea.” Tan Dun's Tea: A Mirror of Soul has only been seen once before in the United States, at Santa Fe Opera in 2007. This much-anticipated East Coast Premiere offers just five performances and is the only opportunity on the East Coast to experience this contemporary masterpiece. Don't miss it! February 19, 21m, 24, 26 & 28m at the Academy of Music. Buy tickets to Tea Now! Click here to read more about Tan Dun. Click here to learn more about Tea: A Mirror of Soul. – Excerpts from a 2002 interview provided courtesy of Keiko Manabe and Suntory Hall (translation: Leo Alexander Imai).
View a video clip from Tea: A Mirror of Soul!
Grammy and Oscar-winning composer Tan Dun’s contemporary masterpiece Tea: A Mirror of Soul, which makes its East Coast Premiere with the Opera Company of Philadelphia on February 19th, draws from both Chinese and Japanese rituals, weaving a mesmerizing story of love, loss and honor. In the opera, Seikyo, a former prince, has become a monk following a bitter love loss. He recounts the story of Lan, the princess he loved, and their noble quest together to find the true Book of Tea. Filled with treasured secrets and ancient wisdom, the book spurs a journey -- and the deadly jealousy of Lan's protective brother. Tea blends lush Western lyricism with Asian motifs, drawing on non-traditional sounds like water, paper and stone to create a spectacular landscape of sound.
“In my research for Tea I traveled around Japan and China, and learned that Japanese tea is a ‘mirror of the soul,’” Tan Dun explained in a 2002 interview at the opera’s World Premiere at Suntory Hall in Tokyo. “When I was in the southern regions of China which is, of course, the home of tea, I had the opportunity to interview an eminent nun. She always presents to her first-time guests an empty tea bowl, and on such occasions she herself also puts an empty tea bowl to her lips, as if to drain it of its contents. In this very action her spiritual world-view becomes vividly apparent. For me, there was something greatly enlightening about the spirit of Chinese tea as made manifest in her, and about the spirit of Japanese tea. In this opera—my ‘Voyage through Tea’—I make use of these two elements on several occasions.”
In addition to drawing on such ancient practices, the libretto by Tan Dun and Xu Ying references many well-know Asian works of literature, including The Journey to the West, The Golden Lotus, and of course, The Book of Tea. Tan Dun explains that all of these works appear in his libretto. “The Journey to the West is about a quest in search of the true Buddhist Sutra. That scenario is seen in the opera when the voyagers set off to look for The Book of Tea, which is also known as The Sutra of Tea. Also, in Act I, scene 2, the little brother is mimicking the Monkey King (a character from The Journey to the West) in a play within a play. In Act III, when he steals The Book of Tea, notice that he uses exactly the same words as he does in his charade in Act I, scene 2. Furthermore, when the Emperor sings his song of lamentation upon hearing the news of Lan’s death, the same words and accompanying music are recapitulated. We incorporated aspects of The Journey to the West storyline for its philosophical symbolism, and it also shares structural or plot-related links with Tea on many levels.”
But while all of these works influenced the story, many of the opera’s most poignant lines such as ‘though bowl is empty,’ which opens the piece and is used several times thereafter, and ‘Without you, life is living death,’ came from Tan Dun himself. “I drew on traditional stories as a basis for the libretto, but the text itself was written freely in my own words; for example, the phrase ‘to see the sound, to hear the color.’ Excerpts from The Golden Lotus and other expressions of nature have been used to reflect these words and give them a double meaning. The music has been designed to convey the duality of the spiritual inner space and its physical, external counterpart. This form of expression is encapsulated in, and structured by, the concept of ‘organic music.’”
“Organic music” has long been a part of Tan Dun’s life. Orchestral pieces that set the sounds of elements such as water and paper to music have long been a central part of this composer’s body of work, such as his Water Concerto for water percussion and orchestra in 1998 and Paper Concerto for paper percussion and orchestra in 2003. “For many years I have continued to experiment with the use of water, paper, and earthenware as instruments in my music,” the composer acknowledges. “As I was traveling around ‘researching tea’ in China and Japan, I came to the realization that ‘organic music’ already existed in these two countries. For instance, before entering a tea ceremony room in Japan, one doesn’t merely wash one’s hands. Rather, in the action of washing the hands, the soul is washed and cleansed too. As is suggested in this example, ‘organic music’ concerns both matters of everyday life and matters of the heart, and I have attempted to underpin Tea with this concept. In The Book of Tea itself, the author Lu Yu writes about water, wind (the sound of paper), fire, and earthenware. I wanted to assimilate all of these elements into my work, because they are all essential to the aesthetics of tea.”
Tan Dun's Tea: A Mirror of Soul has only been seen once before in the United States, at Santa Fe Opera in 2007. This much-anticipated East Coast Premiere offers just five performances and is the only opportunity on the East Coast to experience this contemporary masterpiece. Don't miss it! February 19, 21m, 24, 26 & 28m at the Academy of Music.
Buy tickets to Tea Now!
Click here to read more about Tan Dun.
Click here to learn more about Tea: A Mirror of Soul.
– Excerpts from a 2002 interview provided courtesy of Keiko Manabe and Suntory Hall (translation: Leo Alexander Imai).
