# modern chinese classical
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-chinese-classical/257132
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 27, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-chinese-classical/257132 "2004-07-27T18:01:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-chinese-classical/257132/1 "2004-07-27T18:01:36Z")
Are there any composers or recordings people would recommend of modern Chinese symphonic music or modern takes on traditional Chinese music. I guess classical, but not western and not ancient, if that makes sense. (Also, not military band or patriotic stuff.) Thanks.
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-chinese-classical/257132/2 "2004-07-27T18:26:13Z")
I _think_ what you’re looking for is [Tan Dun](http://www.tandun.com/) - not my cup of tea, but a widely-recognised composer who certainly fulfils ‘east-meets-west’ criteria.
On the other hand, the _Yellow River Concerto_ might be more what you’re after - a progaganda tool for the Chinese not through it’s triumphalism, but by it being composed by a “composers’ collective”. The truth of which is, ummm, questionable… Nonetheless, a passable piece of Romantic piano writing.
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### Author:  [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2004, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-chinese-classical/257132/3 "2004-07-29T14:39:31Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#):
>
> I _think_ what you’re looking for is [Tan Dun](http://www.tandun.com/) - not my cup of tea, but a widely-recognised composer who certainly fulfils ‘east-meets-west’ criteria.
>
> On the other hand, the _Yellow River Concerto_ might be more what you’re after - a progaganda tool for the Chinese not through it’s triumphalism, but by it being composed by a “composers’ collective”. The truth of which is, ummm, questionable… Nonetheless, a passable piece of Romantic piano writing.
Thanks. I also ran into the works by A R Rahman which are excellent and some of the Silk Road Project albums.
Any more artists?
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-chinese-classical/257132/4 "2004-07-29T18:56:37Z")
According to the liner notes, [The Butterfly Lovers violin concerto](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000009OMB/qid=1091127063/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-4579275-3984044?v=glance&s=classical) is “the most popular of all Chinese compositions.”