Milarepa in the cave of Horse Tooth White Rock

Milarepa - a brass sculpture from Central Tibet, late 14th to 15th centuries
Milarepa - brass sculpture from Central Tibet

“Tibet's Buddhist saint-poet-yogi Milarepa lifts his right hand to his ear in a gesture that has become his trademark. As though listening to the voice of inspiration, he sings the song of the Buddha Dharma, teaching his listeners through the poetic beauty of vernacular Tibetan. As a yogi, he sits on the skin of an antelope, which is draped over the broad-petaled lotus seat with its horned head in front. His pose is relaxed, with the right leg slightly raised. He is garbed in the white cotton cloth that he wore even during the bitter cold of the Himalayan winters. A large earing with a swirl design hangs prominently from his left ear (the right one is missing), and his right arm has some simple ornaments. A meditation belt, used during long sessions of meditation to keep the body upright, is slung across his right shoulder. It may be that the small thin bowl held in the left hand is the famous nettle-shell bowl. During the early years of his contemplative practice, Milarepa survived by eating the nettles he found growing outside his cave. One day, when his clay cooking pot broke, it revealed the nettle shell that had formed from the dried nettle soup. It was later kept by his followers as a relic of his austerities.”

The Field of Opportunity (1994) 10'

Chamber orchestral arrangement of second movement of Horse Tooth White Rock

Orchestration: 2(pic)1(ca)22(cbn)/2220/2perc/cel(pf)str[5.4.3.3.2]

First performance 6 December 1994
Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble conducted by Timothy Weiss
Finney Chapel, Oberlin, Ohio

Dedicated to Hans Werner Henze

PROGRAMME NOTE

The Field of Opportunity is a chamber orchestral arrangement of the second movement of my orchestral work Horse Tooth White Rock, which was commissioned by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and premiered in 1994 under the baton of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. This work is an extended tone-poem inspired by the life of the Tibetan sage Milarepa. The second movement draws its images from an extraordinary chapter in his history.

Having caused much death and destruction through his youthful misdeeds, Milarepa is overcome by remorse and vows to look for a perfected lama (teacher) who can help him find a true path out of suffering and evil. His search leads him to Marpa, a highly evolved Tibetan master-teacher. Marpa initially appears harsh and terrifying, making impossible conditions and requiring Milarepa to undergo extreme ordeals and hardships. Through submission to this extreme discipline, Milarepa chooses to walk a path of humility and gentleness. All thoughts of hatred, anger and revenge on others leave him. He is thus freed of the impurity of past action. He gains the affection of his teacher and finally obtains from him the wise and compassionate instruction that leads to Enlightenment. This radiant exchange is symbolised here by the duet between the cor anglais and the cello. Through meditation Milarepa's life gradually awakens to a new quality of luminosity and purpose. In a serene and moving scene, he takes leave of Marpa.

My work takes its title from the fact that Milarepa first encountered his teacher ploughing a field - an occasion he commemorated by naming it 'the Field of Opportunity'.