At once evocative and incomprehensible, Tan Dun's Symphony 1997 is a monumental auditory and cerebral tour de force which combines a modern symphony orchestra with a choir of 2,400-year-old bronze bells known collectively as a bianzhong. A set of sixty-five specifically tuned bells, probably intended to be played by at least five musicians, the bells for which the work is written are a specific set uncovered in 1978 in China's Hubei Province. Evidence indicates they were buried in the tomb of a high-ranking Chinese nobleman, Marquis Yi, in the year 433 BC. Each bell may be struck to produce two different tones and the set can produce a range of five octaves. In relation to each other, the bells are in nearly perfect Western-style chromatic scale intervals in their fundamental tones and can thus produce near-perfect twelve-tone tempered chromatic scales throughout the five octave range. The composer found them thus to be the perfect bridge in constructing a work of both Western and Chinese forms.

Cast in three great sections entitled Heaven, Earth, and Mankind, the symphony also features parts for solo cello and a children's choir. It was written to commemorate the reunification of Hong Kong with China, which formally took place 01 July 1997. The composer's dedication reads: "I dedicate Symphony 1997 to the people who wish to love and be loved."

Through its seventy-two plus minute length, the work contains cello solos in both conventional Western notation and Chinese style and choral passages in both styles, reflecting the unique cultural mix which has been Hong Kong for the centuries in which it was a part of the British Empire. To Western ears, the work alternates between the mystic and the familiar and contains sounds as diverse as the twenty-four hundred year old bells and the strains of a Temple Street opera in Hong Kong, recorded on location in 1997.

Each of the three main sections is further divided. After a brief introductory Prologue, the first section, Heaven, features an opening 'cello solo and the children's choir. This leads to passages evocative of the traditional Chinese dragon dance, the Phoenix, Jubilation, and the previously mention Temple Street opera. In spite of the ethereal title, this is the most conventionally grounded portion of the work to Western ears.

The second section, Earth, features a self-contained cello concerto in the more traditional ancient Chinese style and features the bianzhong, struck in different ways, to produce a kaleidoscopic effect of pure sounds. Three following segments within Earth are Water, Fire, and Metal, and these are abstract in Western terms and purely Chinese in conception and effect.

The final part, Mankind, contains three sections. The first is a tribute to all who fought in wars, particularly the Opium Wars and World War II. The second is a lullaby, based on a poem of Tan Dun's own which is a sort of translation of a Chinese folk song, sung by the children's choir. The final section is Song of Peace, another poem by Tan Dun which is deliberately reminiscent of Schiller's Ode to Joy. The work closes dramatically with Western symphonic eloquence.

Symphony 1997 is significant as a major symphonic work which combines cultures, instruments, and technologies which are twenty-four centuries apart into a giant cross-cultural musical experience. And beyond being merely a brave attempt, the piece is brilliant in the extreme.

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