Composer Tan Dun (left) and Austrian percussionist Martin Grubinger join hands to present Tan's concerto The Tears of Nature in China. Photo provided to China Daily

But he was particularly impressed by the rich colors of the piece, which he said made the concerto especially popular among young audiences in Europe.

"The first movement is so intense and emotional, while the second movement has very simple but beautiful melodies that you may hum on the way home," Grubinger says.

Grubinger sees percussion as the most globalized of all instruments. It exists widely in all kinds of music traditions, playing an important part in tango, salsa, African drumming, funk and fusion.

"Maestro Tan, for me, is maybe the perfect composer for percussion because he is the person who connects all these words," Grubinger says, because Tan successfully combines the Western classical music composition with influences of his home country.

Tan says Chinese music has long been excluded from the Western classical music canon.

"If you want to convince Westerners that China has more than 2,000 years of musical history, percussion is a good start, because it is original and authentic of China, like Beethoven to Germany and Puccini to Italy," he says.

If you go

7:30 pm, April 11. Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, inside Zhongshan Park, west of Tian'anmen Square, Dongcheng district. 400-600-9059.

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