Noting the beauty of history

The creation

The piece of work comprises six acts, each describing an individual story from the mural paintings in the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, an oasis in the Gobi Desert on the ancient Silk Road in northwestern China. For example, the second act tells the story of The Deer of Nine Colors, which was made into a Chinese animated film.

To produce the composition, Tan made 15 trips to the world heritage site, including his first one at the invitation of the Dunhuang Academy and some of his friends.

More than 1,000 years old, Mogao Caves contain one of the world's largest collections of Buddhist art, with colored sculptures and murals decorating more than 700-plus cave temples carved into the cliffs. Music-themed murals there depict more than 4,000 musical instruments, 3,000 musicians and 500 orchestras, according to Tan.

"It's very difficult to select only six stories for six acts out of 4,000 paintings. Thousands of paintings are all about compassion, about love and about music," Tan says.

"Finally, I decided to select the paintings and music stories that reflect the whole life of Buddha. That's why I went there many, many times."

Two years were spent on researching ancient music manuscripts from the caves, after Tan learned that some of them are scattered around the world, with collections in the French National Library, the British Library and the Nara National Museum in Japan.

"I remember opening one of the manuscripts from the 10th century, and I heard the sound from 1,500 years ago. I was transported from my spot in London into the desert in ancient China and into these old stories," Tan explains, describing his experience at the British Library.

"It was a very artistic feeling," he says during a rehearsal break in London.

"As an artist, the most satisfying thing is not how many concerts you have done or how many tickets you sold. It's how much you have managed to reach the heart and soul.

"To transform the paintings and colors into the sound of music, that achievement as a composer is amazing. It's like a sportsman winning a championship. It's the same kind of experience."