the Beloved is all, the lover only veils him.
Y'all, I'm ridiculously in love with the piece we're singing at my choir concert Friday night. It's John Tavener's "Lament for Jerusalem" and it's just... It's transcendental.
Tavener's the one who, several years back, composed 'The Veil of the Temple'- a piece for multiple choirs, soloists, and orchestras, with a text made up of Sufi poetry as well as Christian, Islamic and Hindu passages that lasts over seven hours, meant to be performed as an all-night vigil. I remember reading about it at the time- the audience was free to come and go, to sit on cushions and meditate, to absorb what they could and move on or to stay.
That's the kind of aesthetic that permeated this piece- again, it's made up of texts from different traditions: a countertenor sings text from Rumi, a soprano sings lines from Psalm 137, and the choir has a refrain in New Testament Greek. All these pieces are woven together, with a repeated refrain in Greek: Eklafsen ep afteen (He wept over her). Tavener says that the piece is about Jerusalem as a universal paradise that we've lost- he calls it 'a love-song, lamenting our banishment from home, and the temporary loss of our Beatific vision' in the notes before the score. The influence of the Orthodox on the music is clear, as is Tavener's meditative aesthetic- it's a difficult piece to sing only because it sustains a tension for so long, and there's a constant drone underneath it all that drives the piece forward even while it maintains an eerie calm. It's supremely emotional in a way that bypasses Romantic swells and exuberant flourishes- more than a lot of other composers' work that I've sung, Tavener's pieces truly feel like an extension of the act of meditation into music. It's beautiful and deeply moving and an incredible experience to sing and hear.
I AM SUCH A CHOIRGEEK. I KNOW. But this one feels special, so forgive me if I gush. Interested parties can hear little snatches of the piece on the publisher's website here, or buy it for $8 on iTunes, OR come SEE ME on Friday night. ;)
Tavener's the one who, several years back, composed 'The Veil of the Temple'- a piece for multiple choirs, soloists, and orchestras, with a text made up of Sufi poetry as well as Christian, Islamic and Hindu passages that lasts over seven hours, meant to be performed as an all-night vigil. I remember reading about it at the time- the audience was free to come and go, to sit on cushions and meditate, to absorb what they could and move on or to stay.
That's the kind of aesthetic that permeated this piece- again, it's made up of texts from different traditions: a countertenor sings text from Rumi, a soprano sings lines from Psalm 137, and the choir has a refrain in New Testament Greek. All these pieces are woven together, with a repeated refrain in Greek: Eklafsen ep afteen (He wept over her). Tavener says that the piece is about Jerusalem as a universal paradise that we've lost- he calls it 'a love-song, lamenting our banishment from home, and the temporary loss of our Beatific vision' in the notes before the score. The influence of the Orthodox on the music is clear, as is Tavener's meditative aesthetic- it's a difficult piece to sing only because it sustains a tension for so long, and there's a constant drone underneath it all that drives the piece forward even while it maintains an eerie calm. It's supremely emotional in a way that bypasses Romantic swells and exuberant flourishes- more than a lot of other composers' work that I've sung, Tavener's pieces truly feel like an extension of the act of meditation into music. It's beautiful and deeply moving and an incredible experience to sing and hear.
I AM SUCH A CHOIRGEEK. I KNOW. But this one feels special, so forgive me if I gush. Interested parties can hear little snatches of the piece on the publisher's website here, or buy it for $8 on iTunes, OR come SEE ME on Friday night. ;)