Composer’s Note:

For many generations it has been said that the legendary, football sized, Fire Diamond sits in a protective box in the center of a room the size of a small mansion at the summit of the Chomolungma mountain in Tibet. This room, perfectly symmetrical with oor to ceiling windows on every side provides a constant view of the sun and blue sky. Even more, the dark space beyond the home of the Aurora Borealis is seen through the peaked crystal roof.

No aircraft has been able to successfully land near this room without lethal consequences due to an unusual and unstable gravitational pull that surrounds the summit. There is only one way to reach this room. You must climb the great Chomolungma.

The Chomolungma is the tallest mountain in the world. Many have tried to climb the treacherous peaks and valleys only to succumb to the extreme elements. A Tibetan monk teaches that only the chosen who follow the mantra, Om Mani Padme Hum, can safely ascend the mighty mountain and hope to reach the “jewel within the lotus”, the Fire Diamond.

Fire Diamond, the tone-poem, begins when the seeker reaches the summit and approaches the celestial mansion. Entering with the mantra soft on his breath the seeker sees that the room is scantily furnished, with only the diamond’s protective box and a tattered zafoo. As the famished seeker nears the protective box, we hear a royal fanfare as the room comes alive with welcoming anticipation that reaches into the windows from the spacious skies above. When the box is opened the diamond immediately begins to reect the sunlight in prism beams that leap up to join the sun’s shimmering lights coming through the crystal roof. The ascending and descending beams begin to dip and dance like a Polonaise.

The seeker is mesmerized into profound stillness. Instantly the seeker’s thoughts expand beyond the room, beyond the boundaries of prior consciousness and the seeker experiences a series of fantastical episodes of knowledge, wisdom, beauty and the trials of humanity. Episodes that seem to have no limits in space or time.

Suddenly the Seeker recognizes the change in his consciousness. Just as suddenly the dancing light dissolves. Fear melds his mind and heart into the dark unfamiliar. The Seeker tries to look away from the Fire Diamond’s beauty, but the lure of truth is not to be denied. In confusion the seeker sees the diamond’s uncommon brilliance as the danger of the Siren’s song. The struggle to choose between the darkness of fear and the light of wisdom plays out in the storms of Chomolungma.

Exhausted by the battle, worn by indecision and with tears wrung from the seeker’s core, the seeker falls in submission to the raging storm. When he slowly rises from the oor the diamond’s brilliance touches the Seeker with a quiet and gentle comfort. The seeker cautiously allows the diamond to ll his consciousness. As it does he feels fear transforming into the Diamond’s lightness. He feels himself ll with the light of compassion for what humanity has endured through the ages.

Embracing the gift of the diamond’s fearless wisdom, the seeker now gazes down on the many treacherous peaks and valleys of Chomolungma. For generations now it has been said that the seeker resides with the Fire Diamond in the humble mansion on the mountain. It is said that those brave ones who seek the jewel in the mountain may one day be assisted by a stranger helping them as they ascend the mountain. When they look back to offer a gesture of thanks all that remains of the stranger are the colors of the Fire Diamond.