Lullaby for a hectic world

According to Tu Song, program director of the festival, Sleep premiered in 2015 in Berlin. Last year, the piece was staged outdoors for the first time in Los Angeles' Grand Park for two nights.

"Performing Sleep at the Great Wall, such an iconic location, is a very special opportunity," says Tu. "On Oct 5, the sun will rise at around 6:13 am and the final hour of the composition accompanies the sunrise when the audience wakes up."

He also notes that the piece was actually designed to send the listener to sleep and the composer adopted a scientific approach to writing it. The composer worked with neuroscientist David Eagleman to align the music with the human brain and the body's natural sleep rhythms.

"This performance is more than a normal long concert or any other form of entertainment. It's about music, which becomes something else. It's an eight-hour lullaby," Tu says.

Celebrating its 22th year, the 2019 Beijing Music Festival, with the theme of "timeless music into the future," will stage 22 performances over Oct 4-28, including operas, symphonic concerts, recitals, chamber music concerts and virtual reality music experiences. The festival will also present more than a dozen free educational events, from children's concerts to master classes and lectures.