Reflection Journal - "Internet Symphony"

Internet Symphony No. 1 "EROICA" by Tan Dun



When I first heard that Tan Dun has composed the Internet Symphony (commissioned by Google and Youtube), I was very excited about what I was about to hear. The "Internet Symphony" itself seems to be something like an oxymoron, if I've used the correct word for this. Usually when we think of "Symphony", we think of the big masters (e.g., Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, etc) of the past and the word "Internet" doesn't seem to connect well with the "past" as it is something so modern.

My first few thoughts/guess even before hearing this symphony:

1. Is this going to be some kind of computer music, with computer-generated tones or effects?

2. Knowing that Tan Dun is a 20th Century Composer, would I expect something very non-tonal (*I am not generalising that all 20C music are non-tonal*)?

3. Will it be something similar to his famous "Ghost Opera"?

4. Is it going to sound very "Chinese" since he is a Chinese himself; perhaps something like "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon"?


I first heard the Internet Symphony on Youtube; and with the visual aid of the orchestra performing on youtube, listening to this piece of music has made the music sound more humane (alive) to me, comparatively to just listening to the audio version of it alone. In the introduction, a pi-pa (one of the string instruments found in the Chinese Orchestra) sounding instrument was heard, and it was actually done on the Harp. My initial response or hint I was getting from just the introduction alone was that this piece seems to be heading in the oriental (Chinese) direction. I wasn’t sure about my assumption as it may be too early to tell. An unconventional use of the brake-drum in the standard orchestra was also spotted, with each automobile brake drum responsible for a specific pitch. In particular the motif on the music seems to hover around the notes C-A-E, which was introduced by the brake-drum and pizzicato strings. The use of such an instrument (or probably just an automobile part for some) in the orchestra interest me pretty much. I have to admit though, I have experienced a brake-drum part written for a wind band, but have never heard one that was used in an orchestra.

An then, there was the beautiful lyrical trumpet solo passage which to me, was obviously very tonal, and in fact very oriental-sounding (major pentatonic-ish). The next thing that came to my mind was the question, “Is this piece trying to imitate the sounds of the Chinese Orchestra?” What prompted me to raise the question was not only the melodic element that I heard, but also the way in which the orchestral instruments (such as pizzicato strings) were played as well as the very close timbre of the Chinese Orchestra instrument that was coming out from the instruments. At times, I think it did sound like a Chinese Orchestra, especially when you hear it without any visual aid. One more thing that struck me was the use of some brassy-gliss from the French horns which very much sound like a falling effect to me – more “effect-element” rather than “melodic-element”. Probably the last 2nd or 3rd section, there seem to be also some elements of a dance as the strings were busily bowing the main theme in a more rhythmic style.


What I found out…

This work was conceived during the China-Olympics and the composer stumbled upon a few brake-drums when he bypassed the garage along the street. He played with those brake drums and was very much captivated by the beautiful sounds which he heard from them, and thus the emergence of the motif that was heard at the beginning of the symphony. He then began to experiment with the motif and realized that this was the spirit of the young and the spirit of today. From it, he heard Beethoven and the echo of the orchestra with the same kind of chord which was essential to form his second motif of the symphony – Beethoven and today’s street noise. According to Tan Dun, it is very important for the symphony culture to be related to today’s street sound. Anything could be a language to communicate to the audience/listener. He added that the Internet Symphony provided a platform for anything you want to say through the sound, voice, any instruments or any tools or objects (stones, water, etc.). All the sound is actually the language of your heart and not very much related to technique -that’s the future expression of music!


More about the structure...

The structure of the Internet Symphony is very new to Tan Dun himself. It is very interesting to him because the micro-structure of it somehow explained philosophically the phrase, “small is big”.

The symphony consists of four movements:

Movement I – Focus on street car noises and automobile brake drums with the motif on the notes C-A-E.

Movement II – The trumpet melody motif of the Olympic echoes

Movement III – Rhythmic (C major and E major together) element similar to Carmen and Swan Lake and many other music. In terms of performance, he intended the style to be like French, but tried various styles with the orchestra such as the “Russian way” or the “London way” as he termed. He then finally settled on the “London way” after experimenting out with the orchestra. He realized the vibrancies in the playing style with the “London accents”, with pop, rock and hip-hop influence in it.

Movement IV – Similar melodic idea as II but played in a rhythmic manner like III.

He also commented that, “Music is Life, and Life is Music”. The symphony provides wonderful examples of it - one can just solely practise the music but it is actually reflecting the mirror of one’s life.


Doing some random search also allowed me to discover a Chinese Orchestra transcription performance of the Internet Symphony. It was a very interesting experience to hear how the Chinese Orchestra transcription tries to “imitate” the original scoring of Tan Dun’s Symphony Orchestra version.



VERY INTERESTING! Is this Internet Symphony in general some kind of "East meets West" influence?