NDR Vokalensemble / Elbtonal Percussion / Klaas Stok
Leeuw / Ohana
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Start 19:00
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Interval
Zyklische Tonreihen voll kosmischen Lichts
»Behold, the whole universe shines with light. The whole sky is filled with a mysterious music!» – The verses of the Indian poet and mystic Kabir lend themselves perfectly to being set to music. Ton de Leeuw could not resist these words; he was already fascinated by foreign cultures. With his »Cinq hymnes«, the Dutch composer, who died in 1996, delved deep into Kabir’s world of thought and created sacred incantations that revolve around themselves in cyclical series of notes.
Maurice Ohana, on the other hand, was preoccupied with the magic cults of the Caribbean. But whether the spirit of the water goddess rises from the Caribbean waters when her followers invoke her with »Yemaya«? We will never know, nor what the words »Iya-Ngô« mean, to which the believers gather. Because when Maurice Ohana wanted to transfer the Afro-Cuban rituals into his own musical language in 1991, he had to promise to keep the content of the prayers to himself. They are considered sacred by their followers. The composer, who was born in Casablanca in 1913, developed the powerful-sounding oratorio »Avoaha« from the mysterious texts. Ohana uses three percussion instruments to bring the elemental forces conjured up by the rite to life. Above all, however, the French composer is a master of vocal artistry and expressive microtonality.
For the third work of the evening, the NDR Vokalensemble commissioned a new composition. The Russian-Dutch composer Alfred Momotenko, who was born in what is now Ukraine, is also often influenced by spiritual sounds in his musical language.
Performers
NDR Vokalensemble
Elbtonal Percussion
N.N. Solist:innen
Rupert Burleigh piano
Ulrike Payer piano
director Klaas Stok
Programme
Ton de Leeuw
Cinq Hymnes
Alfred Momotenko
New work (world premiere)
– Interval –
Maurice Ohana
Avoaha / Oratorium in zwölf Abschnitten
Promoter: NDR