Mandala #2
Lawrence Axelrod
About this work:
This work for piano, like my first work with this title (for solo guitar) gets its name from the sacred circular artwork found throughout the Buddhist and Hindu worlds. Using the concept of concentric circles of symbols and colors as a basis, the piece begins with a bar of repeated minro thirds in sixteenth notes with isolate eighth notes around them. These measures are repeated over and over again, simulating the way the eye is intended to move around a mandala toward the center in meditation. Yet, with each repetition, a note value is extended or a new note inserted. Thus, each repetition is only slightly different from that which precedes it. By the end of the piece,however, long arching phrases with varied rhythms and dynamics have emerged from the original bars of regularly flowing notes.
Year composed: 1995
Duration: 00:00:00
Ensemble type: Keyboard:Piano
Instrumentation: