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Artist: Tan Dun

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Tan Dun:

Buddha Passion

The world-premiere recording of Tan Dun’s Buddha Passion – an epic choral work which will also launch the Edinburgh International Festival this summer – is set for release on Friday 4 August.

Described by the New York Times as “a kind of rock star of the modern music scene”, the multi-award-winning composer and UNESCO Global Goodwill Ambassador conducts as he begins his recording partnership with Decca.

Tan Dun’s Buddha Passion is a captivating tale of wonder, truth and gentle but irresistible transformation. The monumental work involving massed choirs, large orchestra, six percussionists and an array of soloists including indigenous singers, traditional Chinese instruments and a dancing pipa player, is the first such ‘Passion’ on a Buddhist rather than Christian narrative.

Set at the foot of the Himalayas and inspired by Chinese and Sanskrit texts, the story follows a little prince as he finds enlightenment and becomes Buddha, meeting an array of characters before reaching Nirvana. The life-affirming score fuses the ancient wisdom of Buddhism with the musical tradition of JS Bach’s Passions, featuring hypnotic orchestral textures and Eastern vocal techniques.