Tan Dun, composer

When he was in the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang on the ancient Silk Road, gazing upon mural after mural of musical scenes, Tan Dun realized that those ancients were still talking to him.

Inspired, he embarked on a five-year journey to create his new monumental work, Buddhist Passion.

The celebrated Chinese composer made an appearance at the Asia Society Texas Center in Houston on Friday night and shared his creative journey, treating the audience to excerpts from a performance of the work's premier at the Dresden Music Festival in May.

"Life is short, but when you bump into certain things, or meet some interesting people, they can enhance your life and change your attitude towards life," Tan said.

Tan was invited by the Dunhuang Foundation to visit the legendary Mogao Caves. He traveled into the vast desert in western China and entered caves where he saw thousands of beautiful paintings depicting hundreds of different musical instruments, musicians and orchestras playing.

"When I showed the huge orchestra paintings to my European friends, they were shocked. Everybody thinks orchestral history is only four or five hundred years old since Baroque time," Tan said. "But maybe that history should be pushed back another thousand years."