Features of the interpretation of the Passion genre in Tan Dun’s "Buddha Passion"

Axayskova Ekaterina Olegovna ORCID: 0009-0004-6824-0067 Postgraduate student; Department of Music History; Rostov State Conservatory named after S. V. Rachmaninov 50 Chukotskaya St., Rostov-on-Don, Rostov region, 344103, Russia eaksayskova@mail.ru

Introduction. Tan Tung's name is a landmark for Chinese and American culture of the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. He became one of the pioneers of the direction of organic music, possessing a unique creative talent, developed the principles of post-dramatic theater in musical genres, developed original vocal techniques and orchestral writing. E. Hang calls the composer a leading figure in modern academic music ^{[14, p. 601]}. The composer's philosophical and aesthetic views are based on the idea of synthesizing the cultures of the East and West, which is reflected in the combination of elements of traditional Chinese and Tibetan musical cultures and academic avant-garde techniques of music of the XX century. In addition, the synthesis is carried out at the level of genre interpretation, Tang Dong combines the features of European opera and symphony with national elements of Beijing drama, shamanic rituals, folklore tunes and dances. In the opera genre, the composer: "relies on an organic fusion of eastern and Western musical and theatrical traditions, which is manifested in vocal techniques that combine elements of Beijing, Kunshan, and Italian opera" ^{[4, p. 111]}.

In this context, passion is undergoing the most interesting genre transformations in Tan Tung's work. The composer has created two works in this genre – Water Passion After St. Matthew (2000) and Buddha Passion (2018). The very appeal of Tang Dong, who represents Chinese culture, to passion, a genre that developed mainly in Western European liturgical practice and is its distinctive marker, becomes a point of intersection between Western and Eastern traditions, which is carried out at different levels: conceptual, structural, musical drama, linguistic and, as a result, at the libretto level. It is worth noting that in his first work in this genre, Water Passion After St. Matthew, Tang Tung retains a deep connection with the Western European tradition, focusing on the model of J. S. Bach's passions. In Water Passion After St. Matthew, this is reflected in following the Passionate Story of the last days of Jesus Christ, relying in the libretto on the text of the Gospel of Matthew, and having three central structure-forming choral episodes. In addition, the tradition of Bach's passion plays can be traced in the role of the choir, it is entrusted with the introductory and final sections, commenting on events and the functions of the turbae. Unlike the first work, in Buddha Passion the composer demonstrates a different interpretation of the genre, departing from the traditional model of passion, which is the subject of this study.

A review of the literature devoted to the study of the Buddha Passion. Tan Tung's work, which has occupied an important place in modern musical art, has been widely covered in a number of scientific papers. Among them are Ding Zhong's dissertation ^[3], articles by E. V. Kiseeva and V. Yu. Kiseeva ^[4], O. V. Sinelnikova ^[7] and V. N. Yunusova ^[10]. It is worth noting that, along with other compositions by the composer, the passions have not become the subject of detailed analysis in modern musicology. The exception is the dissertations of E. R. Rau ^[6] and Luo Xinjie ^[5], each of which examines one of the passions. In the first work, the author analyzes Tan Tung's Water Passion After St. Matthew from the point of view of the problem of the general development of the genre in a historical context, outlining ways to develop the Bach model of oratorio-type passions in the works of modern composers. The second dissertation contains a brief analysis of the instrumental layer of the Buddha Passion from the perspective of the implementation of the traditions of Chinese national culture associated with fret, metrorhythmic, timbre features. As the author notes: "The main feature of the Buddhist Passion is that it uses Western music to show Eastern culture ^{[5, p. 143]}. Thus, the work under study was not considered from the point of view of the embodiment of genre alloys in it, the libretto, musical drama and composition were not considered in detail, which determines the purpose of this study.

Buddha Passion was created by Tan Tong in 2018, commissioned by the Dresden Music Festival in collaboration with the Los Angeles, New York and Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestras. The premiere took place on May 23, 2018 at the Dresden Festival in Germany. The soloists were: Sen Guo, Kang Wang, Shenyang, Huiling Zhu, Tang Weiwei, Batubagen and Wenqing Shi. After the successful premiere, the work was performed on iconic stages by renowned orchestras from different countries. The London premiere took place on Chinese New Year's Day on January 22, 2023 at the Royal Festival Hall, performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chinese Philharmonic Choir and soloists: Sen Guo (soprano/indigenous singer), Huiling Zhu (mezzo-soprano), Kang Wang (tenor, finalist of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2017), Shenyang (bass-baritone) and Batubagen (indigenous singer). The Asian premiere took place in 2019 at the Hong Kong Cultural Center, followed by a series of premieres on mainland China in Xi'an (Shaanxi Province), Dunhuang, Changshi (Hunan Province), Qingdao (Shandong Province) and finally in Shanghai and Beijing.

Among the numerous productions of Buddha Passion, the performance at the MGM Theatre in 2024 should be singled out separately. The premiere was timed to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the 25th anniversary of the transfer of sovereignty over the Chinese Autonomous Region. Tang Dong, together with MGM, created a grandiose show using digital technologies, including a screen with a resolution of 28,000,000 pixels, which displayed a visual series containing images of frescoes and a fifteen-meter statue of the reclining Buddha located in the Mogao caves.

The performance of Buddha Passion at the MGM Theatre was of great importance for both the theater and the composer: "My goal in creating this work is to present the Dunhuang frescoes on the world stage through music, through which I hope to revive the cultural, artistic and philosophical spirit of ancient Dunhuang. This time, I am pleased to collaborate with MGM and present for the first time in Macau a performance of “The Passion of the Buddha” based on millennia-old Dunhuang frescoes using MGM's advanced theater technology. Through the harmonious combination of sound and visual elements, we created an innovative atmosphere that conveyed the compassionate and kind spirit of Dunhuang culture to the audience in Macau. Through this performance, I want to bestow blessings on Macau and spread the voice of Dunhuang culture and the great stories of Chinese culture around the world on the international stage."^[15]

The idea of the piece arose as a response to Christian Passions that combine the cultural and religious strata of East and West, as Tang Dong mentions in one of his interviews: "In this composition, the stories of the Buddha are told using Western orchestras and Western singers. Buddhism came to China two thousand years ago. Five hundred years ago, it was declared the state religion. Today, it largely determines the spiritual life of many Chinese. And yet in the West we don't hear it sung in concert halls in the same way as music about Western religions. I hope to change that."^[12]

In Buddha Passion, instead of the traditional Christian Passion story about the last days of Jesus Christ, the composer used images and plots related to the life, deeds and teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni. He is considered the founder of Buddhism, the historical Buddha, a man who, at the moment of Enlightenment, formulated the basic concepts of Buddhism, led preaching activities and reached the highest state of Nirvana. As Tang Dong notes, "The Buddha Passion is a bridge between Dunhuang and Europe, between tradition and modernity" ^[16]. In Passion, the biblical theme of the suffering of Christ is replaced by Buddhist compassion, which, according to the author's idea, is designed to unite humanity and lead to peace.

Unlike the plot of traditional passion plays, the events of which are described in the Gospel, the canonical biblical scripture, the stories related to Shakyamuni Buddha are contained in the Buddhist canon, a corpus of multi–volume collections of writings numbering thousands of sutras, vinaya (rules) and commentaries. In addition, the plots of these texts have received their visual embodiment in the frescoes of one of the oldest temple complexes of Buddhism. In this regard, the conceptual, musical and textual basis for the Buddha Passion was the ancient Buddhist artifacts stored in the caves of the Mogao Temple complex ("Cave of a Thousand Buddhas"), located near the city of Dunhuang, in the Chinese province of Gansu.

One of the important events on the way to creating the idea of the work was the invitation of the composer to the Mogao Caves from the Dunhuang Foundation, as well as a conversation between Tang Dong and the director of the Dunhuang Academy, Fan Jinshi, who asked the composer: "Could you turn these paintings into music? We cannot transport these frescoes, but we can move the orchestra and musicians so that they become a bridge connecting the past and the present, bringing the culture of Ancient China to the world."^[13] Therefore, one of the important tasks that the composer set when forming the idea of the work was to create sound paintings based on Dunhuang frescoes. Thus, the composer uses the story of the fresco of King Shibi from cave No. 254 as the basis of the first act. The second act reveals the story of the "Nine-colored deer" depicted in the fresco of cave No. 257. The fourth act is based on the stories of the Buddha's teachings, reflected in the frescoes from cave No. 185, and in the third act of Buddha Passion, the central figure is the Bodhisattva Avolokiteshvara, depicted in the frescoes of cave No. 3.

In addition, Tang Dong studied ancient manuscripts found in caves while working on the creation of Buddha Passion. In passion, the composer used texts of Chinese and Indian sutras, mantras and poetry in Sanskrit and Chinese.

The annotation to the Buddha Passion contains the primary sources of the libretto – two sutras, Chinese poetry by Wang Wei and texts by the modern mentor of Chan Buddhism, Xin Yun ^[11]. A detailed examination reveals other Buddhist sources: the Heart Sutra (Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra), the Eleven-Faced Avalokiteshvara Sutra, the Sixth Patriarch's Platform Sutra, the Nirvana Sutra (Mahaparinirvana Sutra), and the Namo Amitabha mantras. In addition, the composer uses fragments from the treatises of the masters of Xuan Zang (Tang Dynasty), quotations from the book "Tao Te Ching" by the philosopher Lao Tzu.

Despite the presence of sources in the work under study that are not characteristic of passion, there is a reliance on the genre archetype in the approach to working with texts and their interpretation. One of the main techniques is text editing. In addition, individual phrases from the sutras are quoted and repeated many times, which creates an allusion to a Buddhist ritual. For example, in Act 1 of the first act and Act 1 of the fifth act, quotations from the Heart Sutra are given: "The noble and Enlightened Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, practicing deep Prajnaparamita, truly saw the five skandhas and they were empty in their own essence" ^{[2, p. 9]}. Act No. 3 of Act 1, Act No. 5 of the second Act, and Act No. 1 of the sixth act contain the opening line of the Great Compassion mantra: "I worship the Three Jewels (I take refuge in the three jewels: Buddha, Dharma and Sangha)" ^{[2, p. 30]}. Tang Dong quotes a gatha spoken by Shenxiu: "Our body is a Bodhi tree, our heart is like a stand for a bright mirror, always diligently clean it, do not let the dust settle" ^[8]. The composer also subjects the texts of the jatakas (parables) to free re-interpretation and fragmentation. Tang Dong selects individual event episodes from the parables and combines them with other sources, for example, in Acts No. 1, 3 and 5.

The structure of the Buddha Passion, on the one hand, has practically no similarities with the traditional one for Bach's oratorio passions. The work consists of six acts, each of which reveals an independent story related to the teachings of the Buddha, which creates a multifaceted drama. The main stages of its development can be traced both at the level of the whole and within individual parts. The drama of Buddha Passion is based on the juxtaposition of parts according to the pictorial principle, conflict is outlined in some parts.

The work presents such unusual alloys that the genre basis is blurred. The composer retains only some of the external attributes of the passions (the role of the choir, its compositional, edifying function, the use of chorale in the spirit of Bach's passions, declamatory recitatives). The second genre basis is opera, as indicated by the subtitle of the work "opera in six acts" ^{[17, p. 1]}; the conditional division of the composition into acts; a large number of notes in the score indicating the state of the characters, stage situations. However, the work cannot be correlated with any particular genre model. It contains only some linguistic features of the Baroque opera (the intonations of the arias bravura and lamento, some techniques of instrumentation). European academic genres are combined with traditional Oriental genres here. In addition, elements of Buddhist religious chants are found in the work (the use of hoomei throat singing, quoting melodies of the "Mantra of Great Compassion" and the sutra of the "Sacred Name of Nammo Amitabha", an expanded group of percussion, including Tibetan and Chinese instruments, non-academic methods of performance on academic instruments), as well as Beijing drama ("speech intonations" with glissando at the end of phrases in the parts of soloists and chorus, an appeal to national modes).

Let's take a closer look at the archetypal features of the passion genre in the work under study. Thus, the Buddha Passion reveals four plans of drama that were formed in Bach's passions ^[1]: external (epic or narrative), internal (psychological), religious-symbolic and meditative (prayer sections), but these plans undergo significant changes. Along with the epic plan traditional for the genre, presented in the Evangelist's recitatives, in Buddha Passion the narration is conducted on behalf of different characters, their individual lines and dialogues contain a description of the events taking place.

In the first act, the epic plan is presented in the phrases of the Little Prince and the Boy; in the second act, the story of events is contained in the parties of a Deer and a Drowning Man; in the third, the narrative is conducted on behalf of Princess Miaoshan, the Emperor and the Court Guard; the events of the fourth act are narrated by the fifth patriarch of Chan Buddhism Daman Hongren and the woodcutter, the future sixth Patriarch Huineng; in In the fifth act, the story is told on behalf of the minstrel monk Kongxiang and Nina; in the sixth act, the event layer is contained in separate remarks by the Buddha and his disciples.

The next plan is psychological – according to the genre tradition, it reflects the inner feelings of the characters. But in the Buddha Passion, this layer is represented in a more diverse way. Each act shows the existential choice facing the main characters and consists in making a difficult decision to save another hero, requiring the manifestation of moral qualities of mercy and compassion. After all, the heroes turn to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas for help.

Musically, the psychological plan is reflected in the detailed lines of the characters, reminiscent of arias, which corresponds to the genre tradition. Such episodes include No. 4 "The trees want to rest, but the wind does not stop" from the second act. Here, the Deer's experiences are shown through an aria with lamento intonations, melodies of wide breathing. In No. 3, "Dear Father," from the third act, Princess Miao Shan's detailed aria is played about her decision to give up her hands and eyes to save a woman. Nina's last lines before her death in Act 5, "Love is Destined to Part," are laced with lyricism.

The other two planes, the religious-symbolic and the meditative, are presented in a different way in the Buddha Passion compared to the Baroque passion. According to tradition, the religious and symbolic layer is contained in the chorales, and the meditative layer is contained in the episodes of personal prayer of the characters. Due to the presence of Buddhist mantras in the work under study, which are prayer and meditation, these two layers are combined. Mantras are sung in the parts of the choir in the original language of Buddhist prayers, among them: mantra A rya-Avalokite varo bodhisattva in No. 1 (Act I); Namo ratna trayaya in No. 3, 4 (Act I), Nilakantha dharani in No. 3 (Act I), No. 5 (Act II); Namo Amitabha in No. 5 (Act I), No. 5 (Act II), No. 4 (Act III); Gate, gate, paragate in No. 5 (Act V). In addition, the meditation plan includes the stylization of the Tibetan mantra performed in the khoomei technique into syllables: "Wu-Ah-Ai-M", for example, in No. 1 (act I), No. 5 (Act V). The religious and symbolic plan includes the Buddha's remarks, which contain his instructions to the characters, for example, in Act One No. 4, and in all numbers of Act six, as well as the characters' appeals to sacred images: the Deer's request for the protection of the Buddha (No. 4, Act II), the prayer of Princess Miaoshan to Bodhisattva Guanyin (No. 4, Act III), Nina's address to the Bodhisattva (No. 1, Act V).

A parallel with passion is also found in the functions of the choir. He is charged with commenting on events, for example, in No. 4 "Under the Bodhi Tree" (Act 1), the choir comments on the episode of the Prince's trip to the Bodhi tree, in No. 1 "The Nine-colored Deer" (act 2), the opening part of the choir describes the main character of the Deer and puts this act into effect.

The choir is endowed with an edifying function, for example, in No. 4 "Under the Bodhi Tree" (Act I), the words of the Mantra are duplicated in its remarks: "Your heart and body pain cannot compare with the pain of a bird... Remember Me daily, and then the scales will balance, and your mental and body pain will be relieved." In addition, in the Buddha Passion, the edifying function of the choir, as well as in oratorio-type passions, is embodied in chorales, which contain comments on behalf of believers. These episodes are placed in No. 5 "Karma" (Act 2), No. 5 "My Dear Father" (Act 3), No. 4 "Zen Dream" (Act 4), No. 6 "Nirvana" (Act 6).

Tang Dong also preserves the choirs of the turbae crowd. In each act, the crowd appears in different guises according to the plot. So, in the second act in No. 1, "The Nine-colored Deer," the choir personifies the Deer's sisters, who dissuade him from saving a Drowning Man, and in No. 3, "The Traitor," the choir acts as a fierce mob wanting to kill the Deer for profit. In the fourth act, "Zen Garden" shows the disciples of the fifth patriarch through the lines of the choir, and in the sixth act, "Nirvana", the disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha.

In addition, the genre tradition is observed in the compositional role of the choir, as well as in the arrangement of the choral scenes. Thus, three large-scale central choirs can be distinguished, which form two arches – the choir from Act 1 of the first act, which opens the work, the second from Act 4 of the third act, and the final work in Act 6 of the sixth act. The above choral episodes are based on a single musical material, which is reflected at the intonation-thematic level. The last two choruses (No. 4, Act III and No. 6, Act VI) turn out to be almost identical. This suggests the presence of a structural division into two parts in the work under study, which is typical for the passion genre.

It is worth noting that the remaining acts of the Buddha Passion also end with a choral number (Act II, No. 5; Act IV, No. 4; Act V, No. 5). These numbers serve as a semantic summary of each act, and are also based on the thematicism contained within the acts. These finales create a system of "small" arches within a two–part structure, and their execution from act to act generates the principle of cyclicity, subordinated to a spiral type of movement - each turn contains a philosophical outcome, which at the end of the passion leads to the final idea of achieving Nirvana.

In accordance with the genre tradition, Buddha Passion retains a fixed anchoring of its voice to the characters, here several characters are also given to each voice. However, there are no parallels with traditional passions in the distribution of voices due to the different plot content of the essay under study. The characters are different from the characters of the genre archetype, their number is much higher than the traditional composition of passion characters. So, the baritone characters are given to the Mantra, the Emperor, the Fifth Patriarch, Master Hongren, the Buddha; the alto voice is entrusted to the Little Prince and Princess Miaoyin; the Nine-colored deer and Princess Miaoshan sing the soprano; the tenor part is given to the Court Guard, the Drowning Man and the Woodcutter Huineng (the future Sixth Patriarch). In addition, the composer introduces voices that are not typical of the genre, as evidenced by the notes in the score: "male and female voices from indigenous Chinese peoples." The female voice is given to the character Nina, and the male voice is given to the monk Kongxiang. The personification of the Mantra as a separate character becomes interesting, which resembles the oratorical passions of Telemann and Handel, distinguished by the presence of supernatural characters, for example, the voice of a sinful soul.

Along with this, the Buddha Passion reveals the features of the opera genre. At the structural level, this is reflected in the division of passion into six acts, each of which is subordinated to a numbered structure. At the level of a musical playwright, the connection with opera is reflected in the presence of structural components peculiar to musical drama – the exposition, the initiation of conflict and its development, the climax, denouement and epilogue. Despite the preservation of the designated stages, in the passion under study, each act has an independent completed logic of development. In addition, upon detailed analysis, it can be noted that drama is not based on external conflict (in the traditional passion, this is expressed through the events of betrayal, trial, execution), but on internal transformation and spiritual enlightenment, which is typical of the genre of Beijing drama. In Buddha Passion, the direct conflict of characters inherent in the opera drama is expressed indirectly, it does not involve external struggle or internal contradictions, but has a philosophical character and is revealed in the process of understanding the issues of life and death, good and evil, loyalty and betrayal, and its resolution is carried out through spiritual enlightenment during the ritual.

The musical images in Buddha Passion are presented through a meditative and contemplative perspective, and the contrast between them is expressed through intonation complexes. The commonality of the musical material is achieved due to the presence of microprocesses in the parts of soloists and orchestra. In passion, two main intonation cores are formed, on the basis of which musical material is built. It is important that these complexes undergo minor transformations, rhythmic and tempo, which does not affect their recognition. The first complex is represented by the theme of a mantra, with the words: "arya valokitesvaro". It is based on the quarter-fifth ascending movement "e-h-a-d-e", it opens the passion and for the first time sounds in the part of the choir singing the mantra. The second complex also sounds on the text of the mantra: "namo ratna". It consists of several elements – recitations on one tone "c", followed by an upward movement on the quart "c-d-f" and a further "rotation" around the designated tones. The mantra is exposed in Act 3 of the first act in the chorus part.

The features of Beijing drama are reflected in the use of national modes. Here are some examples: the theme of "arya valokitesvaro" is based on the Chinese seven-tone ya-yue fret, the theme of the dialogue between the Nine-colored Deer and the Drowning Man (No. 2, Act II) is based on the pentatonic shang fret, and the lines of Princess Miaoshan (No. 3, Act III) contain the pentatonic gong fret.

In addition, the passion uses vocal performance techniques typical of Beijing drama: a special manner of singing in a compressed voice in a high register, on which Nina's lines in the fifth act are based; "speech intonations" with glissando at the end of phrases in the soloists' parts (lines of the Boy and the Little Prince in No. 1, Act I; Nine-colored Deer No. 1, Act III; The King in No. 3, Act III, Nina in the fifth act), as well as in the choral parts, for example, in the opening chorus No. 1 of the first act, in the second act.

An equally important component of the genre fusion of Buddha Passion are elements of Buddhist religious chants based on the performance of hoomei singing in a throaty manner, which is reflected in the chorus parts to the words: "A-wu-m" in Act 4 of the first act, Act 2 of the fourth act; as well as in the lines of the characters, a striking example are the parts of Kongxiang, where he sings on the same tone (Act V). Along with this, it is possible to indicate the quoting of a fragment of the melody of the Buddhist mantra "Namo Amitabha" at the end of acts 1, 2 and 3, as well as the mantra "Gate, gate paragate" in No. 5 of the fifth act.

Conclusions. In Buddha Passion, the composer created the Buddhist equivalent of a Christian story. By choosing as a basis the famous deeds and teachings of the Buddha (the rescue of a bird by a little prince, the death of a magical deer, the sacrifice of Miaoshan to save a young woman and her child, the dispute between the patriarch and the woodcutter, the compassion of a Buddhist monk for the dying Nina, the conversation of the Buddha with his disciples about the philosophy of life), Tang Dong rather creates a ritual atmosphere in which listeners they can independently imagine the ideas they have laid down, thereby expanding the semantic field of the essay.

Due to the inclusion of elements of opera, Beijing drama, and Buddhist mantras, an original genre fusion appears, thanks to which the archetype of passion is transformed. Despite the presence of operatic features, the passion under study cannot be attributed to this genre either. The conflict is poorly represented, there is no system of leitmemes, despite the presence of stages of opera drama, its development is so rapid that it creates a sense of kaleidoscopic shifts in the stories of each act. In this regard, Buddha Passion does not fit into any of the designated genre models. Due to the synthesis of the European genre tradition of passion, Buddhist ritual and meditation practices and traditional Chinese drama, the work under study can be designated as quasi-passion.

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