Issue No. 36: Mandala
This past weekend was a truly special experience for me. I had the opportunity to return to my alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi, for a retirement celebration of saxophone professor Dr. Lawrence Gwozdz. The School of Music organized an hours-long event filled with performances, speeches, and video messages from Gwozdz’s former students and colleagues. To commemorate this occasion, I composed and premiered a new work: Mandala for solo performer.
When writing the piece I was inspired in particular by the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of sand mandalas. Monks will often spend days or even weeks building these elaborate artworks only to ritualistically sweep them away when complete. Every grain of sand is a blessing and the action of destruction is a reminder of the impermanence of all things.
I reflected that sand mandalas are a metaphor for what we do as musicians and educators. We build ever so carefully over long stretches of time, knowing that what we do is inherently ephemeral.
Mandala consists of a series of eight improvised sound complexes that are introduced one by one then are eliminated by order of appearance. In this way, the composition is a combination of newer additive/subtractive processes and the older tradition of the chaconne (with improvisational elements as well). I also specify that the piece should be performed by only one person yet the soloist must play/sing two different instruments simultaneously. For the premiere I played piano with my right hand and saxophone with my left.
Of course this presents a bit of a challenge, but I believe a critical part of the aesthetic of the piece is the inherent tension that emerges as the performer attempts to shape an improvisation through different modes of musical expression.
Video of the entire concert. Image from the score of Mandala.
Visually, I designed the score to mirror the geometric intricacy of sand mandalas. I was also influenced by my recent performance of two James Tenney pieces with Versipel New Music here in New Orleans.
To hear me perform the world premiere of Mandala, view the video posted here by the USM School of Music (my portion begins around 1:07:30).
To purchase the score (with performance instructions included) CLICK HERE.
Let me know what you think! Also, I’m available to answer questions regarding the score and to coach you as you shape your performance.