'LA KORO SUTRO' BY LOU HARRISON: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE, ANALYSIS AND PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATIONS

The most recent of Lou Harrison's major choral compositions, La Koro Sutro for chorus and American Gamelan (a collection of newly-constructed and "found" instruments which reproduces sonorities similar to those created by the Indonesian percussion orchestras known as gamelans) combines occidental chromaticism, oriental pentatonicism, Indian rhythmic and melodic organization, medieval, baroque and serial formal processes to create a musical experience which is both immediately accessible to the audience and rich in intellectual stimuli for the conductor, historian or analyst. The text, the Buddhist Heart Sutra in an Esperanto translation, is one of the most important documents in the history of religious literature. The presentation of this text in a combination of occidental and oriental sonorities underscores Harrison's knowledge and acceptance of the major contributions of other cultures to the philosophy of universal compassion and human rights. The purpose of the treatise is to provide for the interested reader, or a conductor who has programmed La Koro Sutro, basic practical and theoretical information which will help to understand and/or perform the work.;The first chapter provides biographical data within the framework of an historical perspective. Because Harrison participated in and was influenced by many musical traditions which are not addressed at length in typical classroom discussions of contemporary music this subject is given extensive treatment. The importance of these historical traditions and biographical events to a true understanding of La Koro Sutro and its place in what will be shown to be a specifically American tradition will be made evident in the first chapter. This first chapter also provides a brief description of the genesis of La Koro Sutro. The second chapter presents an exposition on the principles of Mahayana Buddhism addressed in the Heart Sutra followed by a specific discussion of each movement's text. Chapter Three describes gamelans, both Javanese and American. This is followed by chapters which present an analysis and a discussion of performance considerations.