Meditation and AwakeningCommissioned by New York Youth Symphony Wind Ensemble Transcription by H. Carl Hess Scored for Percussion and Wind Ensemble Written in 2010 Duration: 8 minutes |
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Program Note
Scored for solo percussion with wind ensemble, Meditation and Awakening features a percussion solo part consisting of Vibraphone and seven Tibetan singing bowls. Singing bowls are a type of standing bell historically crafted in Asia, dating as far back as 3000 years. Today singing bowls are commonly used in both religious and secular traditions for meditation, music, relaxation, and religious practice.
The musical ideas that eventually became Meditation and Awakening stem directly from my own experimentation with a set of seven Tibetan singing bowls that I acquired a few years ago. Entranced by their rich, complex sound and beautiful, timeless resonance, I imagined the sounding of each bowl being the origin of a wave of orchestral color, an opulent beam of light gradually rotating kaleidoscopically around the fundamental tone of the bowl.
Indeed most of the orchestral gestures in Meditation and Awakening are crafted as such around the sounding of the singing bowls, which are further enriched by the Vibraphone, played with both bow and mallets. In two sections, the piece begins in a peaceful, meditative trance and later "awakes" into a dance of transcendence. Meditation and Awakening was commissioned by the New York Youth Symphony for their 48th concert season and transcribed for wind ensemble by H. Carl Hess
Scored for solo percussion with wind ensemble, Meditation and Awakening features a percussion solo part consisting of Vibraphone and seven Tibetan singing bowls. Singing bowls are a type of standing bell historically crafted in Asia, dating as far back as 3000 years. Today singing bowls are commonly used in both religious and secular traditions for meditation, music, relaxation, and religious practice.
The musical ideas that eventually became Meditation and Awakening stem directly from my own experimentation with a set of seven Tibetan singing bowls that I acquired a few years ago. Entranced by their rich, complex sound and beautiful, timeless resonance, I imagined the sounding of each bowl being the origin of a wave of orchestral color, an opulent beam of light gradually rotating kaleidoscopically around the fundamental tone of the bowl.
Indeed most of the orchestral gestures in Meditation and Awakening are crafted as such around the sounding of the singing bowls, which are further enriched by the Vibraphone, played with both bow and mallets. In two sections, the piece begins in a peaceful, meditative trance and later "awakes" into a dance of transcendence. Meditation and Awakening was commissioned by the New York Youth Symphony for their 48th concert season and transcribed for wind ensemble by H. Carl Hess