SOUNZ Centre for NZ Music's video: SARAH BALLARD: A s a bandha Hope against Hope

SARAH BALLARD: Āśā bandha "Hope against Hope" Sarah Ballard’s ‘Āśā-bandha’ is today’s Resound film, seen performed by its commissioners Hannah Darroch (flute) and Andrew Crooks (piano) at St Andrew’s On The Terrace. Sarah writes: “Āśā-bandha was inspired by talks by world-travelling monk Devamrita Swami on making positive progress in life. Āśā-bandha is a Sanskrit term meaning “hope against hope”, and this hope refers to the hope that if one continues to persevere in living the best life one can for oneself and others, lead by the torchlight of knowledge, one will surely attain the desired goal – pure, unconditional love. Asha-bandha is discussed in the text Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (The Nectar of Devotion), written by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, a devotional teacher, poet, and philosopher of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. It is written in the spirit that we are all family, all interconnected and bound by the original loving nature of the self and the Supreme self. And so this piece was written for Andrew and Hannah in the mood of giving and sharing in this sense of eternal camaraderie and with the hope that the listeners will also receive the benefit of this collaboration.” Composition commissioned with funding from Creative New Zealand. Audio engineered and produced by Graham Kennedy. Film funded by NZ On Air. Further information about the composer biographies associated with these films can be discovered at https://www.sounz.org.nz/ Explore our extensive catalogue of scores, CDs, books and resource library at https://www.sounz.org.nz/info-for/sounz-collection-library Connect with on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SOUNZnz/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SOUNZnz Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sounz_nz/