Passion Music at the Turn of the XX and XXI Centuries, Part II: Tan Dun and Osvaldo Golijov
Passion Music at the Turn of the XX and XXI Centuries, Part II: Tan Dun and Osvaldo Golijov

Summary/Abstract: The Passion 2000 project, which came about through the initiative of Helmuth Rilling, posed a particular challenge for composers from outside of European culture and different religious traditions. However, the Chinese composer, Tan Dun, and the Argentinian composer, Osvaldo Golijov, met this challenge by composing the Water Passion and La Pasión Según San Marcos, respectively, and opening up the traditional Passion genre to new perspectives. Both composers began their works with the words of the Gospels and then added in new texts to imbue their works with a more universal message. These interpolations, which refer to twentieth-century tragedies, bring the concept of Christ’s suffering into modern times. By adding aspects of their own cultures to their works, Dun and Golijov essentially broke with the tradition of the Passion genre by presenting the events of the Passion contained in the Gospels through the prism of Far Eastern instrumentation and South American rhythms, while still maintaining the power of Helmuth’s request. Despite obvious references to Johann Sebastian Bach, these works present an unconventional approach to the Passion genre and open this form of religious music up to new possibilities for communication between the artist (composer) and the listener.

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