Tibetan prayer
for cello
Programme note
The piece is inspired by a type of Tibetan music notation that is used for Buddhist liturgical chant. It is a form of neume writing that is similar to the early notation of Gregorian chant in Europe. The difference is that the Tibetan text of the chant is embedded into the neume signs themselves, with the Tibetan letters becoming curved to follow the shape of the melody. I took some examples of this notation and abstracted the underlying melodic line to develop a material for the cello that has a seemingly vocal character. The sincere atmosphere of a Tibetan morning ceremony is invoked by the cellist, calling to mind the sound of liturgical throat singing and of wooden percussion instruments that are used to chase away evil spirits.