DUNHUANG Inspirations

Both acclaimed musicians,Japanese Kitaro and Chinese Tan Dun drew inspirations from Dunhuang on the Silk Route to compose their music.Kitaro is a new age electronic instrumentalist who compoaed music for his album The Silk Route based on paintings of Dunhuang like the bell tower n the flying celestial angels.when i listen to his music,it evokes images of a trail of camel caravans crossing vast sand dunes,a cloud of sand storm in the horizon.there is the aura of tranquil refuge in reaçhing the oasis in dunhuang. Tan Dun also was inspired by the cave paintings in Dunhuang especially those of thousand year old musical instruments n large orchestras.he did extensive research on the musical notations of ancient dunhuang kept in paris,japanese n beijing museums.then he decoded the music and took 5 long years to compose his piece on Buddhas passion,heart sutras.wow such infinite spark of creativity.dunhuang has also inspired classical dances,painting n pottery of the present day.how would a musical ala zhangyimou feel if it acted on site with real camels,flying apsaras n barefooted monks.what a spectacle for audiences worldwide.just wish events are reopened and the philharmonic can bring in crowdpullers like tan dun,lang lang or kitaro to malaysia.