Mantra
Cantata
for SATB Chorus,
Soloists, and Orchestra
(also for Chorus and Piano
Quintet and Chorus, String Orchestra, and Piano)
(Nov. '08--Nov. '09)
Traditional lyrics in Sanskrit and
Hindi
In
memory of my sister Akanda, and my guru Neem Karoli Baba
All documents are PDF.
*Full
Orchestral Score, Legal size
Cover
Orchestral
Parts
*Piano
Quintet and Chorus Score
Piano Quintet parts Cover
String
Orchestra, Piano, and Chorus Score
String Orchestra parts Cover
String
Orchestral Score, 11"x17"
Vocal Score
Piano part for Vocal Score
Recordings from the October 21, 2012
premiere of the string orchestra and piano version with
Rodney Wynkoop leading the Chamber Chorus of the Choral Society of
Durham, Ciompi quartet as section leaders of the string orchestra,
Randall Love on piano. Someday we'll perform the full orchestral version--somehow, somewhere, somewhen!
I. Om Jaya Jagadish Hare
Brightly [9:30]
MP3 recording WAV file (CD quality) video
II. Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram
Adagio raghunatha
[6:44] MP3 WAV video
III. Hanuman Chalisa
Allegro
vanara
[19:34]
MP3 WAV video
Program to October 21, 2012 premiere
performance
Also;
Recording of Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram from the January 13, 2012
premiere of the string orchestra and piano version, arranged
for Jewelsong
MP3 recording WAV video (YouTube)
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Program Notes
I
started chanting mantras in about 1971, just before my first attempts
at
composition. This powerful practice is central to my spiritual life,
and
inspires much of my music, both instrumental and vocal. For some time I
have
intended to write a large work based on my experiences with personal
chanting,
as well as sankirtan (congregational chanting), but wanted to wait
until I had
experience and opportunities for possible performance.
My
own attention span is rather long, and I enjoy many classical
compositions
lasting well over an hour. However our modern times, and performance
realities,
dictate more modest lengths. The three movements of this cantata could
be
augmented in the future should more length be acceptable; or, maybe
I’ll write another
to use for a double Bill.
The
first movement, Om Jaya Jagadish Hare,
uses the text to the Universal Aarti.
In Hinduism, Aarti is a short ceremony in reverence to a deity or guru
with a
sung prayer and lighted lamps of clarified butter.
The
second movement uses the simple mantra Sri
Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram, pronounced Shree
Raam, Jay… It means “Honored (or
Radiant) Rama, Victorious Rama.” The
double “aa” is as in “father”.
The
third movement is a setting of the Hanuman
Chalisa, a poem by Tulsidas in forty verses in praise of
Hanuman, the
monkey devotee of Sri Rama. This is in the Avadhi dialect of Hindi.
Performance
Notes
I
have included a Sanskrit/Hindi pronunciation guide for use with the
lyrics
printed before the score, which include diacritic marks to ensure
complete
information on how the words sound when spoken by European scholars. I
use an
anglicized spelling in the score and vocal part; this simplified
pronunciation
is appropriate outside of India.
In
every meter change, except where
indicated otherwise, the duration of notes remain the same.
It
is characteristic of sankirtan to keep things simple. I have limited
the chorus
to SATB, with one very brief exception in the Hanuman
Chalisa where each voice splits in two (mm. 281-284). In
the absence of choral forces, four singers could use amplification. For
this
case at the split, the upper three voices should take the upper part
and the
bass should sing the lower part. In any appropriate passage, the
section can be
replaced by a soloist at the discretion of the choral director. The
current
pattern of solo passages is as suggested by Rodney Wynkoop, conductor
of the
premiere performance on October 21, 2012.
While
there are challenges to performers, any good college orchestra should
be able
to perform this piece. Professionals will find plenty to keep them busy.
The
double bass part has excursions
below low E. In all my orchestral scores, I write notes down to low C
with the
same notes included an octave higher in case the bassist does not have
an
extension or fifth string. It is important for this piece that some
basses can
play the lower notes.
I have made revisions and format changes and tweaks to parts and scores in October 2022.
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