Instrumentation

3(III=picc).4.3(III=bcl).3(III=cbsn) – 4.4(I=ptpt).2.2 btrbn.1 – perc(5): I: crot/2 susp.cym/4 wdbl/tpl.bl/bamboo cluster/large BD II: 4 wdbl/2 tpl.bl/Tibetan.cym/Tibetan bell III: c.bell/high wdbl/Tibetan.cym/tam-t IV: t.bells/susp.cym/Tibetan.cym/Tibetan bell V: Tibetan.cym/large BD/timp – harp – pno – strings:(1st vlns.2nd vlns.8 vlc.6 db) NB no violas

Availability

Score 0571518494 on sale, parts, and Tibetan cymbals and bells for hire

Programme Notes

The score is headed "...reside in the mandala, the celestial mansion, which is the nature of the purified gross body". I was in North India recently where I witnessed purification rituals in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. This work is influenced by those experiences. The famous low horns, tungchens, the magnificently raucous 4-note oboes, gelings, the distinctive rolmo cymbals - all these and more were played by the monks in deeply moving ceremonies full of lama dances, chanting and ritual actions. There is a fierce wildness about some of the purifications, as if great energy is needed to purge the bad ego-tendencies. But also great exhilaration is present. And calm. The body, when moved with chanting, begins to vibrate and warm at different chakra points and 'sing' internally. As it were, 'lit up' with sound. Jonathan Harvey

Body Mandala

Tchaikovsky Concert Hall (Moscow, Russian Federation)

State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia/Vladimir Jurowski

Body Mandala

19:30

Filharmonia Narodowa Warschau (Warsaw, Poland)

Warsaw Philharmonic/Jacek Kaspszyk/Marco Blaauw

Body Mandala

Hear and Now recording from 2011 Edinburgh Festival

BBC Radio 3 (United Kingdom)

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Ilan Volkov

Body Mandala

Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse (CNSMD) (Lyon, Rhône-Alpes, France)

Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique/Pascal Rophé

Body Mandala

Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse (CNSMD) (Lyon, Rhône-Alpes, France)

Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique/Pascal Rophé