Andrea Clearfield - Tse Go La (At the Threshold of This Life) [All Movements]

Written by Andrea Clearfield
Performed by the Michigan State University Musique 21 New Music Ensemble (2015)
Co-commissioned by the Mendelssohn Club and Pennsylvania Girlchoir

Images used are from the composer's travels to Lo Monthang, Nepal.

This cantata is inspired by the composers treks to the restricted and remote Himalayan region of Lo Monthang, Nepal to study and document indigenous Tibetan music. The work incorporates 5 songs from the gar-glu (court) and tro-glu (common) traditions. Katey Blumenthal and Andrea recorded over 130 songs that had not been previously documented. Their fieldwork is part of the World Oral Literature Project at the University of Cambridge.

0:00 I. Kye (Birth)
4:07 II. Shar Ki Ri (Mountain to the East)
11:50 III. Tse Go La (At the Threshold of This Life)
17:08 IV. & V. Kusum
24:23 VI. Shi (Death)

[nezcue]

This piece gives me more joy than I can describe. I had the honor of learning this piece in choir and we performed it out in nature which added a peacefulness and stillness that I have hardly ever felt before. Tse Go La is such an incredible piece that I hope to be able to sing again in a choir setting.

[dashiellhouse]

You're absolutely stunningly amazing Andrea

[catrinasn]

This piece deserves more love! We performed it in Princeton Girlchoir and had the honor of working with the composer. It's definitely not a conventional western choir piece but we all ended up loving it. Thank you for bringing this piece into our lives!

[renzo]

For a discussion of this work, see Michael Parloff’s video Music and Spirituality.