It was a face-off of two musical cultures: On one side sat five members of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra; opposite were four Vietnamese-Americans wielding such traditional Vietnamese instruments as the dan tranh or the dan nhi.
“Now let's try something together,” said Elliot Goldenthal, composer and unofficial maestro of ceremonies.
The musical sounds that resulted at this informal workshop on a small stage at South Coast Repertory on Tuesday night weren't always harmonious. But it was a coming together, a search for common harmonic ground.
Goldenthal and the Pacific Symphony musicians were there to learn a little about Vietnamese music. Goldenthal, composer of film scores to “Alien 3” and “Drugstore Cowboy,” is writing ‘A Song of Healing,’ a major work for the Pacific Symphony that hopes to stand as a musical monument to the Vietnam War.
Goldenthal wants to blend elements of Vietnamese music into his hour-long piece for orchestra, chorus and soloists. A choir of Vietnamese children, for example, will be part of the work.
Set to receive its world premiere next April 26-27 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, ‘A Song of Healing’ will be recorded on the Sony Classical label.
Helping Goldenthal and the symphony musicians Tuesday night was composer Khoa Le.
“Our cultures are oceans apart,” Le told the musicians. “But we have music in common.” Le explained that much Vietnamese music is based on the pentatonic scale.
“Hey, that's the same scale as the opening of ‘Amazing Grace’,” Goldenthal said. “That's a start.”