Carles Lama News
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2024-03-28
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2024-03-15 16:06:00
Crouching composer, hidden dragon
[…] genocide was replaced by cultural genocide. The main thrust of this strategy has been the enforced migration of Han Chinese into the Tibet Autonomous Region. As a result the population of Lhasa grew by more than 50% between 2010 and 2020, with Han Chinese now comprising more than 20% of the city's population. In another example of 'irresistible transformation', in 2021 Tibet's first McDonalds opened in a shopping centre opposite the Potala Palace, the Dalai Lama’s former residence. Buddha Passion is another example of the culture-washing that the classical industry and media so enthusiastically support, with reviews echoing Decca's PR speak using headlines such as 'Tan Dun’s message of love and compassion' - Guardian, and 'An immense work that straddles East and West' - Standard. Leaving aside all that unfortunate cultural baggage, sadly the music of Tan Dun's Buddha Passion rarely rises above the level of an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, with one of […]
2024-02-18 12:27:00
Wake up and listen to the music
[…] the quartet is divided into 'cycles' depicting Samasara - the endless cycle of death and rebirth. He explains "It is as if several lives are depicted, each dying and being reborn with traces of the previous ones. Repetition, transformation; architecture and narrative; construction, dissolution: these are the characteristics of both autonomous music and what it refers to outside itself". In 2005 His Holiness the Dalai Lama attended a performance of Lou Harrison's 'Peace Piece One' at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, with Patrick Gardner conducting the Rutgers Kirkpatrick Choir. Although not a practising Buddhist, Lou Harrison participated in Buddhist rituals in the 1960s and was attracted by the tradition's core teachings which probe the causes of human suffering. Probably his most overtly Buddhist work is La Koro Sutro; this is a setting in Esperanto of the revered Mahayanan […]
2022-09-15 18:44:00
Wolfgang Rihm (b.1952): Vigilia for six voices and ensemble 1 Sonata I 2 ‘Tristis est anima mea’ 3 Sonata II 4 ‘Ecce vidimus cum non habentem speciem’ 5 Sonata III 6 ‘Velum templi scissum est’ 7 Sonata IV 8 ‘Tenebrae factae sunt’ 9 Sonata V 10 ‘Caligaverunt oculi mei a fletu meo’ 11 Sonata VI 12 ‘Recessit pastor noster 13 Sonata VII 14 ‘Aestimatus sum cum descendentibus in lacum’ 15 ‘Miserere’ Joseph Haydn (1732–1809): Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, in the string quartet arrangement 1 Introduzione: Maestoso ed adagio 2 Sonata I: ‘Pater, dimitte illis, non enim sciunt, quid faciunt’: Largo 3 Sonata II: ‘Amen, dico tibi: hodium mecum eris in paradiso’: Grave e cantabile 4 Sonata III ‘Mulier, ecce filius tuus, et tu, ecce mater tua!’: Grave 5 Sonata IV: ‘Eli, eli Lama sabachthani’: Largo 6 Sonata V: ‘Sitio’: Adagio 7 Sonata VI: ‘Consummatum est!’: Lento 8 Sonata VII: […]
2021-06-25 13:55:00
A composer explains 'I just try to listen from the heart'
[…] the Sacred Ceremonies field recordings means the multiphonic chanting and thunderous instrumental interludes of the ritual music are captured with visceral power. These classic recordings transcends any religious allegiances: in fact David Parsons explains "I am not a Buddhist, I just try to listen from the heart". I was reminded recently of how so many of the teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition also transcend religious prejudices when reading the newly published autobiography of Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche From a Mountain in Tibet. For instance this passage contains painful truths not just for the arts community, but also for the whole of humanity as we struggle to emerge from the shadow of the pandemic."Most of us live as if we are half asleep. We are distracted and caught up in our thoughts, and as a result miss so many opportunities. We take as a given that everything will be […]