Famed composer introduces his new concerto to Shanghai, Zhang Kun reports.

Oscar winning musician Tan Dun decided to fashion musical instruments from earth and composed a new piece entitled, appropriately enough, Earth Concerto.

Tan Dun's Earth Concerto is inspired by ancient Chinese poems. [China Daily]

Collecting lumps of clay from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xi'an, Tan had the mud crafted into ceramic musical instruments - drums, trumpets and the traditional Chinese wind instrument, the xun.

"The international music scene has been celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Gustav Mahler, a great Austrian musician. My favorite work of Mahler is The Song of the Earth, as it was inspired by ancient Chinese poems, especially those by Li Bai," Tan told the media in the lead up to the premiere of his Earth Concerto at Shanghai Grand Theater in July.

"In The Song of the Earth, I can hear Mahler and Li Bai talk over a glass of wine, lamenting life and youth, sadness and joy, and the intoxication of spring. That's what inspired me to compose Earth Concerto as my tribute to Mahler and my response to Li Bai," Tan said.

Fascinated with sounds from the environment, Tan composed Water Passion After St Matthew and Paper Concerto, which have been performed throughout the world.

"Earth Concerto is my third piece of 'organic music'," Tan said. "I believe the Earth, like everything in nature, has its spirit and languages that can interact with humans. That's why I brought clay from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland to make musical instruments," he said.

"Their sounds symbolize Heaven and Earth, and the symphony symbolizes humans. This interaction between sounds of Heaven and Earth and the songs of humans is what I understand as The Song of the Earth."

As the cultural ambassador to the Expo 2010 Shanghai, Tan wants to take classic music to the younger generation. A group of 40 to 50 college students were invited to the press conference for the Earth Concerto. After a lucky draw, 10 students won tickets to the concert, but a generous Tan promised to buy tickets for all the students.

Also, concert organizer Hansen Media will offer 100 discounted students tickets at 30 yuan. "As long as you can present a student's ID at the door, you can enjoy the concert for only 30 yuan only - although we have to limit on the number of tickets," said Peng Hansen, general manager of Hansen Media.

"I'd love to take my music and the music of Mahler to student campuses. It's important to pass on our culture to the next generation. How young people view Beethoven and Shakespeare means how the future generation see our culture."

Also premiering at his July concerts is Tan's Internet Symphony No 1 - Eroica, commissioned by Google and Youtube. Taking the Internet as an invisible Silk Road, Tan encouraged netizens from all over the world to download a score of Eroica, pick any part and play it with any instrument or object. More than 25 million people took part in the event. Using sound clips selected from their contribution, Tan created the first Internet symphony.

Tan will also present his well-received concerto The Map, which combines classical concerto for cello and orchestra with folk music from Hunan, his home province.

7:15 pm, July 23-25

Shanghai Grand Theater, 300 Renmin Avenue

021-6386-8686

180-1080 yuan (100 tickets priced at 30 yuan for students are available each evening)