The sacred and mystical "roof of the world" can be enjoyed vicariously at the Forbidden City Concert Hall on March 14 with the National Opera of China's Tibetan Symphonic Concert for the New Century.

Under the baton of Gao Weichun, the orchestra will play six works specially composed for the concert which comprehensively explores Tibetan history, culture, religion and customs.

To prepare for the concert, the two Tibetan composers and four Han composers were invited by the sponsors to the plateau in July to collect folk songs and dances. They travelled tens of thousands of kilometres to get a real understanding of the Tibetan people's life and culture.

"Tibet has music that could make all musicians' heart thumped," said Zhang Xiaofu, a professor with the Central Conservatory of Music.

"When I arrived there, I was inspired by its unique natural scenes and cultural interests," Zhang said. "From the Potala and Jokhang Monastery to Nam-tso Lake and Yalung Tsangbo River, both the palaces and the waves turned into rhythmic melodies in my mind."

Coming back from Tibet, he composed the symphony Yalung Tsangbo, combining the natural vocal talents of Tibetan singers and electro-acoustic music to extol Yalung Tsangbo River, the mother river of the Tibetan people.

"The long and roaring river gave birth to ancient Tibetan culture and the water overflows with the ardent fervor of the Tibetan people," Zhang said.

He also explained that adding the electro-acoustic music to the symphony creates a mysterious mood for the philosophic themes expressed by the magnificent form of symphonic music.

Some traditional Tibetan percussion instruments, such as the Tibetan bell, a ritual implement, are used to enrich Tibetan flavour.

Guo Wenjing, director of the Department of Composition at the Central Conservatory of Music, composed Rising Sun on the Land of Snow.

It is a colourful piece consisting of three main themes: dark, white and red. It portrays a vivid picture of a red sun breaking through darkness, rising in the plateau of snow-covered land and the Tibetan people having a happy life on this bright land.

"As a Han composer, I did not pay much attention to the ethnic music until I went to Tibet in 1985 for the first time," said Guo.

"Its culture, which is very different from what I had grown up with, stunned me and inspired me to compose. I hope, as a composer, I have benefited from it."

The concert also include young Tibetan composer Bam Nor's Purity, Jue Ga's Debating On the True Essence, American-Chinese Yang Yong's The Mountain's Spirit and Zhao Jianmin's Look into distance Guge of Ngari Tibet.

The concert will end with pastoral songs sung by four Tibetan singers. Their natural and earthy voices are expected to bring the audience closer to this sacred and beautiful plateau.

(China Daily March 11, 2002)