A Dream of Mountains by Reber Clark

vijñāna-santāna (rebirth), the third movement of Christopher Coleman's The Caves of Dunhuang.

vijñāna-santāna (rebirth)

A bitter wind blows though our lives: our humanity is increasingly being taken from us.  We work more hours than ever before, and are less satisfied.  The people who would control our lives seek to do so only for their own benefit.  Altruism and compassion are rapidly disappearing, teaching and learning are being replaced by manipulation and marketing. Lies go unquestioned and truths are attacked.  Independent thought is discouraged in favor of dogma and catch-phrases.  Diversity and originality are publicly praised but not valued; conformity is king.  Quantity reigns supreme over quality.  We are being turned not into machines—which would at least require an effort to replace—but into leaves of a diseased tree whose individual lives and deaths seem of no consequence whatsoever.   Only through a difficult but vital appraisal of our true situation and our real needs can we fight the bitter wind which otherwise promises catastrophe.

Bitter Wind was originally commissioned by Kiyonori Sokabe for his newly created Zephyros trumpet—a trumpet with both valves and a trombone-like slide. The version in this recording is a new revision--significantly rewritten for standard trumpet in C.

Bitter Wind for trumpet and piano

Christopher Coleman, HK

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