Spiegel Strijkkwartet . Liu Fang

Did you know that the Spiegel string quartet play with water, metal, stone and paper? In 'Ghost Opera', a five-piece work for string quartet and pipa (Chinese lute) by the Chinese composer Tan Dun you can experience it for yourself. Tan Dun (b. 1957) is one of the most celebrated composers of his generation. Nature and Taoism form an important point of departure in his music. Dun talks about 'a reflection on human spirituality that is buried deep in a bombardment of urbanization and rapid technological progress'. 'Ghost Opera' contains elements from the Chinese, Tibetan and American cultures and combines the classic European concert tradition with Chinese shadow puppet theatre, traditional folk music and rituals from shamanism. As happens quite often in concerts by the Spiegel string quartet, there is another new creation included in the programme, this time by the amazing young Malaysian composer Kee-Yong Chong (b. 1971). Until recently, he studied at the Brussels conservatory and has won a number of international composition competitions in Europe and Asia. The Japanese Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996) learnt western music by listening to his father's jazz records. As an autodidact, he mixed the influences of Debussy and Messiaen with traditional Japanese music. For 'A Way Alone' he took passages from James Joyce's 'Finnegans Wake' as his inspiration.