Buddhist music a universal language

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Shanghai, China -- A concert of Buddhist music - classical, contemporary and crossover - will be staged during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday to express hopes and prayers for a happy Chinese Lunar New Year. Li Anlan reports.

Buddhist music, which originated in Buddhist religious rituals, is increasingly popular among ordinary music lovers for its uplifting, soothing qualities.

People feeling stress find a calming and comforting power in the ancient chants and music performed with traditional Chinese musical instruments. Musicians increasingly are tapping into this traditional form of expression.

Buddhist music is frequently described as having elegance, dignity, depth, clarity and sincerity. It can be both tranquil and joyous.

On February 22, an "Illuminating the Soul" concert of Buddhist music will be staged at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, with prayers for the coming year. The Spring Festival will begin from February 10 and go through 24.

The concert will feature Taiwanese pop singer Chyi Yu, mainland singers Sa Dingding and Sangji Pingcuo, and a monastic choir and traditional orchestra from Shanghai's Jade Buddha Temple, as well as other musicians.

Music, singing hymns and chanting in Buddhist temples are considered a way to touch deep emotions, inspire and promote reflection and meditation.

Buddhist music originated in the dignified chanting of scriptures and sutras in monasteries in India and developed different characteristics as Buddhism traveled to other countries. It acquired both folk elements and those of imperial courts.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220), Buddhism arrived in China. It became more than chanting and incorporated the tonality of Chinese folk music. Scriptures were translated into Chinese and without traditional hymns, monks adapted classical folk songs along with court music.

Cao Zhi (AD 192-232), the poet son of Wei Emperor/warlord Cao Cao (115-220), was renowned for his compositions and singing. He wrote the first Buddhist hymn composed in Chinese style, "Yushan Fanbei," which was the foundation for Chinese Buddhist music, later also also called fanbei in Chinese.

Buddhist music, which is rooted in religion, was beloved by many Chinese rulers and was deeply influenced by several emperors.

Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty (AD 502-557) loved Buddhist music so much that he himself wrote several compositions, such as "Da Huan" ( "Great Joy"), "Tian Dao" ("The Heavenly Way") and "Mie Guo E" ("Cessation of Evil and Wrongdoing").

Modernization

Today Buddhist music is being modernized. The words are simple and easy to understand, all in Chinese, and the musical style is more contemporary.

"Buddhist music is very soothing and quiet, close the heart, and it can relax the nerves to achieve a more peaceful state of mind," says Master Shengjing, a singer in the Jade Buddha Temple monks' choir.

Traditionally Buddhist masters chanted, with instrumental accompaniment. "As we formed the choir, we made it easier for the public to accept," says the master, who has been with the group for five or six years.

Some orchestra works can be very festive and loud. Folk instruments add diversity, color and richness.

In 2009, the first multimedia Buddhist musical "Master Hongyi" was produced jointly by the Shanghai Jade Buddha Temple, Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Shanghai Theater Academy.

It commemorated the 130th anniversary of the birth of Master Hongyi, a legendary Buddhist monk who was a master in music, painting, drama, calligraphy and poetry. He wrote "Farewell Song," a short song familiar to many Chinese people.

No longer used only as a spiritual aid in religious settings, Buddhist music is reaching the general public. New compositions, both traditional and crossover, attract many listeners.

"More young people are listening to Buddhist music because of the social and working pressure in modern life," says Master Shengjing. "Some come here for short-term classes and music is part of them."

The upcoming concert also features mainland performer Sa Dingding, a folk singer and songwriter known for popular crossover compositions involving Buddhist music.

Born in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, she sings in three languages: Mandarin, Sanskrit and Tibetan as well as a language she invented, which expresses emotion through "meaningless" words.

Her album "Alive" in 2007 combined pop with traditional Chinese music, including Buddhist music. It was a risky but creative merger of east and west.

Critic Robin Denselow of The Guardian rated the album with four stars saying, "The Tibetan-influenced male chanting is set against a subtle use of electronica that is far more successful than on the recent album by that other Asian diva, Uzbekistan's Savara Nazarkhan. Sa Dingding's blend of the traditional east and modern west actually works."

At the concert, she will sing her compositions "Shen Xiang," ("Holy Incense"), "Alive" (in Sanskrit) and "Xi Ran Ning Po" ("Peace and Calm"). All have strong Buddhist musical elements.

The Jade Buddha Temple performance troupe will perform two songs, and it has an orchestra.

The orchestra includes traditional Chinese instruments such as the guzheng (zither), flute, drums, erhu (two-string instrument), yangqin (dulcimer), suona (loud trumpet) and sheng (loud and piercing wind instrument).

The choir and orchestra have more than 70 performers, rehearsing every Saturday and performing regularly at the Jade Buddha Temple, especially during festivals, cultural and charity events.

The programs usually involve original compositions, says Master Shengjing. Noted local composers such as Lu Qiming and Tu Bahai have written works for the temple musicians. The temple has a new musical program every year.

Annual performances begin in January. The group has performed in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and traveled overseas to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

If you go:

'Illuminating the Soul'
Date: February 22, 7:30pm
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Arena, 1200 Expo Ave, Pudong, Shanghai
Tickets: 380-1,880 yuan

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Ancient Buddhist music used first time for a stage play on life of Buddha

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New Delhi, India -- Deb Chowdhury is a popular music director from the West Bengal state of India with strong and ancient Buddhist roots.

The drama company Rangapath of which he is the music director is the producer of a unique stage play entitled Thathagatha, based on Buddha’s life.

The stage play became more unique as Chowdhury decided to make use of thousands of years old ancient Buddhist music for the play.

To adapt such a music track for Thathagatha he did research in two Tantrayana Buddhist monasteries in India and five other monasteries in China.

Commenting on the kind of music he has invented for the play a Times of India writer Dibyajyajyoti Chaudhuri said, “Music transcends all barriers, they say. But when it comes to music associated with the Buddha, there is something in it that makes it universal.”

The writer further said, “The Erhu, Pipa, Ruan and Gu jheng may sound like words from a distant land but are actually names of Chinese string instruments used in authentic Buddhist music that have been adapted into the soundtrack of " Tathagata", a Bengali play based on the life of the Buddha, by the theatre group Rangapat.”

The man behind this feat further said, "For the music, I researched for more than two years. I visited monasteries in Bodhgaya and Mirik and recorded the music of Vajrayana Buddhism. English speaking Lamas translated the notations of the original music from the libraries at the gumphas." 

When Deb got a chance to fly to China in September 2011, he visited six ancient Buddhist places of worship there. "I was at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the Famen Temple at Xi'an, the White Horse Temple and the caves of Longmen Grottoes, both in Luoyang in the Henan Province, the Five Pagoda Temple at Haidan and the Tanjhe Temple at Memtougou, both in Beijing. I recorded the Buddhist chants and music from these places and used them in the play," Deb says. Many chants were processed at the studio and some of the music was re-created locally to get that authentic feel.

Tapanjyoti Das, the director of the play, feels that it was imperative to have that perfect music for bringing the 3,000-year-oldstory alive on the stage. "Such a deeply researched work on Gautam Buddha is perhaps being done for the first time in India. The script, written by Mohit Chattopadhyay, is a result of years of research on the Buddha. Added to that, Deb's music was the icing on the cake. The play is for a qualified audience and the first staging was only for a select few from the theatre fraternity. It was much appreciated by them," says Tapanjyoti.

"The temples are mostly 1,400 to 1,500 years old and are storehouses of Buddhists music," Deb says.

Apart from the string instruments, sounds of the Chinese flute, the Xiao, and many other Chinese percussions have been used in the play too.

View the original article here

Ancient Buddhist music in a Bengali play

Home Arts & Culture

New Delhi, India -- Music transcends all barriers, they say. But when it comes to music associated with the Buddha, there is something in it that makes it universal.

<< A scene from 'Tathagata' play

The Erhu, Pipa, Ruan and Gu jheng may sound like words from a distant land but are actually names of Chinese string instruments used in authentic Buddhist music that have been adapted into the soundtrack of " Tathagata", a Bengali play based on the life of the Buddha, by the theatre group Rangapat.

Behind this feat is Deb Chowdhury, the music director of "Tathagata". "For the music, I researched for more than two years. I visited monasteries in Bodhgaya and Mirik and recorded the music of Vajrayana Buddhism. English speaking Lamas translated the notations of the original music from the libraries at the gumphas," he says.

When Deb got a chance to fly to China in September 2011, he visited six ancient Buddhist places of worship there. "I was at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the Famen Temple at Xi'an, the White Horse Temple and the caves of Longmen Grottoes, both in Luoyang in the Henan Province, the Five Pagoda Temple at Haidan and the Tanjhe Temple at Memtougou, both in Beijing. I recorded the Buddhist chants and music from these places and used them in the play," Deb says. Many chants were processed at the studio and some of the music was re-created locally to get that authentic feel.

Tapanjyoti Das, the director of the play, feels that it was imperative to have that perfect music for bringing the 3,000-year-oldstory alive on the stage. "Such a deeply researched work on Gautam Buddha is perhaps being done for the first time in India. The script, written by Mohit Chattopadhyay, is a result of years of research on the Buddha. Added to that, Deb's music was the icing on the cake. The play is for a qualified audience and the first staging was only for a select few from the theatre fraternity. It was much appreciated by them," says Tapanjyoti.

"The temples are mostly 1,400 to 1,500 years old and are storehouses of Buddhists music," Deb says.

Apart from the string instruments, sounds of the Chinese flute, the Xiao, and many other Chinese percussions have been used in the play too.

View the original article here