Inspired by the sound of the beer-drinking Olympic crowds... and Carmen.

Via wired:

Google is putting together a YouTube Symphony Orchestra that will take to the Carnegie Hall stage in five months to perform -- for the first time together -- Chinese composer Tan Dun's Internet Symphony No. 1, Eroica. Classical and non-conventional musicians can submit YouTube videos of themselves playing Tan's composition and a piece of standard repertoire in order to get into the orchestra. Judging will be done by a panel of experts appointed by Google and by the YouTube community.

Tan Dun has written the piece in a "modular" way so that the chosen musicians' audition videos can be assembled into a single Youtube performance.  (Kind of like Beaker's 9th that I linked to in the last post.)  "In composing the piece, he says, he was inspired by the sound of the beer-drinking Olympic crowds, Beethoven's Third Symphony, elements of Tchaikovsky and the opera Carmen." 

Here's an introduction from the composer himself:

Probably the best thing to do is check out the youtube channel.

Greg Sandow weighs in with an opinion here.

Inspired by the sound of the beer-drinking Olympic crowds... and Carmen.