Shen Yun Performing Arts
  • Home
  • About
    About Us
    About Shen Yun
    Performing Arts
    About Shen Yun
    Symphony Orchestra
    Challenges We Face
    9 Characteristics of Shen Yun
    The Artists
    Press Releases
    FAQ
  • News & Reviews
    Featured
    News
    Reviews
  • Videos
  • Blog
  • Explore
    Chinese Dance
    Music
    Vocal Music
    Shen Yun Costumes
    Digital Projection
    Shen Yun Props
    Stories and History
    Shen Yun and Traditional Chinese Culture
  • Support
  • Employment
  • Shop
  • English
  • 中文正體
  • 中文简体
  • 日本語
  • 한국어
  • Česky
  • Deutsch
  • Español
  • Français
  • Indonesia
  • Italiano
  • Nederlands
  • Polski
  • Português
  • Pусский
  • Svenska
  • Việt
  • עברית
  • Search
    Tickets
    Menu
    Tickets
    What’s New
    Menu
    • Home
    • About
      • About Us
      • About Shen Yun
        Performing Arts
      • About Shen Yun
        Symphony Orchestra
      • Challenges We Face
      • 9 Characteristics of Shen Yun
      • The Artists
      • Press Releases
      • FAQ
    • News & Reviews
      • Featured
      • News
      • Reviews
    • Videos
    • Blog
    • Explore
      • Chinese Dance
      • Music
      • Vocal Music
      • Shen Yun Costumes
      • Digital Projection
      • Shen Yun Props
      • Stories and History
      • Shen Yun and Traditional Chinese Culture
    • FAQ
    • Guestbook
    • Shop

    What Makes Us Unique?

    DISCOVER THE 9 CHARACTERISTICS
    • Employment
    • Support
    • Subscribe
    • Search
    Language
    • 中文正體
    • 中文简体
    • 日本語
    • 한국어
    • Česky
    • Deutsch
    • Español
    • Français
    • Indonesia
    • Italiano
    • Nederlands
    • Polski
    • Português
    • Pусский
    • Svenska
    • Việt
    • עברית
      News
      Back News > Behind the Notes: The Mystical Udumbara

    Behind the Notes: The Mystical Udumbara

    Traditional Chinese music is replete with tributes to nature. Delicate, graceful, and subtle, the udumbara flower is honored in the Buddhist tradition for blooming once every three thousand years.

    Ancient Buddhist scripture, attributed to the words of the historic Buddha Shakyamuni, speak of a flower from the realms of the gods that will occasionally appear in the mortal world. It heralds the coming of the Holy King Who Turns the Wheel, and an age of hope and renewal on Earth.

    Over the years, Shen Yun has featured the udumbara in several dances. The diminutive, snowy blossoms perch on thread-like stems that can attach to practically any surface. Lithe dancers move with agility and grace to convey the flower’s ethereal beauty and strength.

    As a composition, now performed on the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra tour, the music of The Mystical Udumbara demonstrates the expressive abilities of Chinese instruments when combined with symphonic sound. This concert tour season, audiences in Asia and North America are joining the musicians in marveling at this auspicious flower in a presentation of traditional Chinese music.

    Combining Sounds of China and the West

    The Mystical Udumbara, by composer Yuan Gao, charmingly displays Shen Yun’s trademark integration of sounds East and West. It explores blends of tones, like harp and pizzicato strings with Chinese instruments, to fill the canvas with subtlety and elegance.

    Melodies sing in ya yue tonalities, a scale traditionally used in Chinese court music, to underscore the flower’s regal poise. For new listeners, the change is so subtle it’s barely discernable, but the instantaneous effect is spellbinding.

    The most arresting features of the piece, however, are in beauty of its simplicity. Each section is clearly marked by a change in tempo and character while retaining unity. Just one raised tone transforms the pentatonic scale into a voice that is dignified yet unassuming. It salutes a tiny, remarkable flower that has come to symbolize reverence and hope.

    See Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra’s fall performance schedule.

    RELATED CONTENT
    • Syso Tour Taiwan Japan Thumb
      Symphony Orchestra’s Asia Debut
    • Fiona Zheng 650px
      Soloist Fiona Zheng Returns to Carnegie Hall
    • Moosically Challenges Playinglutetoacow Thumb
      Moo-sically Challenged?
    • Chani Blog Symphony Thumb
      Don't Make Me Leave Japan

    Previous

    Interview: Taiwanese Musicians on Touring Formosa

    Next

    Symphony Tour Photos of the Week 1
    Most Recent
    • Feature Article: Principal Dancer Victor Li
    • Symphony Tour: Behind the Scenes in the United States
    • 7 Ways Shen Yun Revives Authentic Chinese Culture
    • Symphony Tour: Behind the Scenes in Taiwan (II) and Canada
    • Beyond the Notes, Episode #2: The Orchid Pavilion
    • Symphony Tour: Behind the Scenes in Taiwan
    • Beyond the Notes, Episode #1: Dunhuang
    • East-West Orchestra: A New Frontier in Classical Music
    • Backstage with Shen Yun: Intro to Beyond the Notes
    • Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra Embarks on 2019 Tour
    Most Popular
    • All
    • News
    • Blog
  • 1 East-West Orchestra: A New Frontier in Classical Music
  • 2 A Dancer Cannot Hide
  • 3 7 Ways Shen Yun Revives Authentic Chinese Culture
  • 4 Stories of Gratitude from Ancient China
  • 5 Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra Embarks on 2019 Tour
  • 6 Chinese Idiom: 'Paint the Dragon, Dot the Eyes'
  • 7 Feature Article: Principal Dancer Victor Li
  • 8 Backstage with Shen Yun: Intro to Beyond the Notes
  • 9 Symphony Tour: Behind the Scenes in Taiwan
  • 10 Symphony Tour: Behind the Scenes in the United States
  • Show More
  • 1 East-West Orchestra: A New Frontier in Classical Music
  • 2 7 Ways Shen Yun Revives Authentic Chinese Culture
  • 3 Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra Embarks on 2019 Tour
  • 4 Feature Article: Principal Dancer Victor Li
  • 5 Backstage with Shen Yun: Intro to Beyond the Notes
  • 6 Symphony Tour: Behind the Scenes in Taiwan
  • 7 Symphony Tour: Behind the Scenes in the United States
  • 8 Beyond the Notes, Episode #1: Dunhuang
  • 9 Beyond the Notes, Episode #2: The Orchid Pavilion
  • 10 Symphony Tour: Behind the Scenes in Taiwan (II) and Canada
  • Show More
  • 1 A Dancer Cannot Hide
  • 2 Stories of Gratitude from Ancient China
  • 3 Chinese Idiom: 'Paint the Dragon, Dot the Eyes'
  • 4 A Guide to Traditional Chinese Festivals
  • 5 Four Things I've Learned
  • Show More

    Interact with Shen Yun:

    Guestbook Newsletter What’s New

      Shen Yun Performing Arts is the world's premier classical Chinese dance and music company, established in New York in 2006. It performs classical Chinese dance, ethnic and folk dance, and story-based dance, with orchestral accompaniment and solo performers. For 5,000 years, divine culture flourished in the land of China. Through breathtaking music and dance, Shen Yun is reviving this glorious culture. Shen Yun, or 神韻, can be translated as: “The beauty of divine beings dancing.”

      About
    • Shen Yun Performing Arts
    • Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra
    • Challenges We Face
    • Shen Yun & Spirituality
    • Meet the Artists
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Press Releases
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Videos
    • Latest & Featured
    • About Shen Yun
    • Meet the Artists
    • Reviews
    • News & Blog
    • News & Reviews
    • Featured
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Explore
    • Chinese Dance
    • Music
    • Vocal Music
    • Shen Yun Costumes
    • Digital Projection
    • Shen Yun Props
    • Stories and History
    • Shen Yun and Traditional Chinese Culture
    • Shen Yun Shop
      Friends of Shen Yun
      Tian Yin Music Store
      Guestbook
    • Support
    • Subscribe
    Shen Yun Performing Arts Official Website Friends of Shen Yun Shen Yun Shop Copyright ©2019 Shen Yun Performing Arts. All Rights Reserved.
    Contact us Terms Privacy Site map