I
Dream of Buddha With
the
Light Golden Aura
a
Mantra for Baritone and
Piano
June
6-11,
2003, composed at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Lyrics by Padmasambhava
Melody by Steven Foster, Arranged by Bill Robinson
premiere performance Feb. 24, 2013 by DeMar Neal, baritone,
and Kent
Lyman, piano,
at
Meredith College, Raleigh, NC
video (YouTube)
MP3 recording WAV recording (CD quality)
Lyrics: Om Vajra
Guru Padme Siddhi Hum
PDF Score
Largetto
[2:37]
Pronunciation:
As
this mantra is used primarily in Tibetan Buddhism, one can
pronounce
the words
in the Tibetan or Sanskrit style—of which there are many
variants. OM
can be sung in three connected sounds, A
as in father, U as in moon. The Sanskrit short a
is like the u
in mud and is the only a in the mantra. The
“i”s in siddhi are
short. ddh is slightly aspirated, but this turns
out to be a fine point
in my humble opinion, especially in this context.
Musician Biographies
DeMar Austin Neal IV, a North Carolina native, joined the Meredith
faculty in
2010, where he teaches applied voice, lyric diction for singers,
and art song
repertoire. With a special talent for light opera and comedic
roles, Neal made
several praiseworthy debuts during the 2011-2012 season,
including: El Dancaïro
(Carmen) with North Carolina Opera; Papageno (Die Zauberflöte)
with Varna
Opera; and Ko-Ko (The Mikado) with Greenville Light Opera Works.
The Greenville
News lauded his turn as the cheap tailor-cum-executioner saying,
“His Ko-Ko is
bitingly crisp in expression and action – a performance artful and
frequently
hilarious. Neal possesses the soul of a true Savoyard.” He has
performed a wide
variety of stage roles, including: Junius in Britten’s The Rape of
Lucretia,
Belcore in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, Don Andres de Ribeira in
Offenbach’s
La Périchole, and Falke in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus.
Dr. Neal is also an
active recitalist, adjudicator,
masterclass technician, and researcher. He has received
grants from the
Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst, the Elon University
Academic
Technology and Computing Committee, Phi Kappa Phi honor
society, Varna Music
Academy, Songfest Professional Program, and the
Franco-American Vocal Academy.
In addition to university service, Dr. Neal currently holds
the position of
Secretary for the North Carolina chapter of the National
Association of
Teachers of Singing. He is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda,
NATS, Phi Kappa Phi,
and the National Opera Association. His current scholarly
interests focus on
rehabilitative semi-occluded vocal tract voice therapy and
the art songs of
contemporary American composer Jake Heggie.
Kent
Lyman is a Steinway Artist, and has
distinguished himself as
a soloist and chamber musician throughout much of the United
States, in South
Korea, China, and in Brazil. He has performed and/or
lectured in many
venues, including the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston,
South Carolina,
the National Conference of the Sonneck Society for American
Music in Worcester,
Massachusetts, the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and
Humanities in
Honolulu, the Temple Square Concert Series in Salt Lake City,
Utah, the Hollins
Keyboard Festival in Roanoke, Virginia, and on concert series
at Bemidji State
University, the College of Charleston, Winthrop University,
Francis Marion
University, and Indiana University in Indiana, Pennsylvania.
