Mudra

MUDRA is the seventh and final part of the Tantric Cycle, a series of compositions inspired by Eastern philosophy. It was written in 2009-2010 on commission from the Nieuw Ensemble and Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam. The work is inspired by hand positions (mudras), known in the East as part of Buddhism and Hinduism. Eleven mudras (expressions of protection, enlightenment, devotion, etc.) are treated not programmatically (with extra-musical meaning), but suggestively (as a source of inspiration). In Tantrism, a mudra expresses the form of a devata (a deity), a quality or a state of consciousness. The relationships between microcosm and macrocosm are sketched musically: the smallest musical gesture already contains all the material that develops further in the large time span of the musical form. Typical of MUDRA is the use of tempered tuning (division of the octave into 12 equal semitones) supplemented with microtonality (with melodic intervals smaller than a semitone) and the incorporation of heterophony (simultaneous playing of variants on the same melody) in the wind instruments. The work has a ritual character with a clearly balanced musical form. The composition consists of 17 parts and 3 interludes. Each part has its own sound world, tempo and time organisation. The melodic and harmonic material used is the tantric mode (a self-constructed microtonal scale), which forms the basis of the entire Tantric Cycle. In MUDRA, sound (mantra), form (yantra) and movement (mudra) merge. MUDRA is about energy on the one hand and a state of consciousness on the other. Two musical sections (Lotus and Om) are central to the composition. Lotusis located at the golden section of the work, in which the melodic character prevails and time and metre are treated freely. Om (referring to the Buddhist sound) - as the conclusion of the composition and also of the entire cycle - dissolves into noise among the strings, while the wind instruments at the back of the stage perform an ethnically tinged melody. The ensemble is arranged with a distinction between plucked instruments (in the middle), string instruments and woodwinds (on the outside) and resonant instruments: piano, harp and percussion (at the back). The inspiration for this was the Shri Yantra (a geometric figure that serves as a guide for meditation and the development of consciousness in the East). Structure of the composition: Devotion Offering (I, II) Teaching Discussion (I, II, III) Knowledge (I, II) Interlude 1 Lotus Interlude 2 Meditation Enlightenment (I, II) Protection (I, II) Healing Interlude 3 Om