Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

Mandala 3 consists of three parts: Chorus, Sonata, Ruhe sanfte. The Chorus is a somewhat anachronistic transcription of the original Bach for flute, clarinet, viola, cello and piano which gives way to the formal sonata played by the winds and strings. A Chinese temple bell occasionally drifts across the sonata, as does the piano, with fragments of the chorus. In turn, the sonata gives way to Ruhe sanfte. During this last movement, the wind and strings offer quiet reflections to the piano's music and, towards the end, they complete the Bach chorus.

The musical elements, occupying quite different temporal planes and harmonic styles, are apparently very disparate; the new work became another Mandala in so far as it is a meditation on the possibility of discovering a unity at the music's source.

Work Details

Year: 1978

Instrumentation: Piano, flute/alto flute, clarinet in B flat, viola, violoncello, Chinese temple bell.

Duration: 34 min.

Contents note: 1. Transcription of Chorus from St Matthew Passion, no. 78 -- 2. Sonata -- 3. Ruhe sanfte, sanfte ruh' : piano solo with reflections.

Dedication note: "To the memory of Jannice"

First performance: by Ron Lumsden, Peter Wiegold, Gemini — 8 Nov 78. Bristol, UK

Analysis

Article: Creating a musical mandala
by Andrew Ford — © John Fairfax Holdings
Source: Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 16 September 1989, pp.87

Article: Identity and memory: temporality in the music of David Lumsdaine / Andrew Schultz.

Article: Creating a musical Mandala / Andrew Ford.

Article: The country of my childhood : reflections on David Lumsdaine's music / by Michael Hall.

Book: The music of David Lumsdaine : Kelly Ground to Cambewarra / Michael Hooper.