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Tan Dun & Yo-Yo Ma
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Tan Dun & Yo-Yo Ma · Tan Dun is a Chinese composer who is at home both in Western classical music and in the Chinese tradition. Yo-Yo Ma is a cellist who is known all over the world and likes to collaborate with musicians from other musical cultures. Together they made the music for the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon from 2000, directed by Ang Lee. Tan Dun wrote the score, and Yo-Yo Ma played the cello solos.
Music and breakthrough
The music of the film is a blend of a Western orchestra, Chinese instruments and the singing, searching sound of the cello. This creates a sound that suits a martial arts film that is also a love story. The Eternal Vow is a piece from that music. The cello carries the melody while the orchestra lays the atmosphere beneath the soloist. The sound is soft and melancholy, even when the film itself becomes spectacular.
Influence
The film music proved to work far beyond the cinema. The score won an Oscar for best original score in 2001, and brought the sound of the Chinese tradition to a large Western audience. For the film music part of the course, this is a good example of how a composer and a soloist together build a musical world of their own, without the music remaining subordinate to the images.
Listening
The Eternal Vow · Tan Dun & Yo-Yo Ma, 2000
In School of Rock
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