Lamentations for a Soldier
With Oguz Mülayim, Ney (Turkey) and Ekrem Mülayim, Composer/Performance artist (Australia)
The haunting sound of the Turkish flute or ‘ney’ and the transcendental dance of the dervish form the anchor of our 2015 Easter program. East and West collide through the juxtaposition of Robert White’s beautiful setting of the biblical Lamentations and traditional music from the Sufi tradition going back to the central figure of Rumi (1207-1273).
According to Rumi or Jalãl ad-Dín Muhammad Balkhí, music is the language of God
and the ney represents a person who has reached perfection or ‘Insan-i Kamil’. As the ney suffers to produce a sound, a human also suffers till the
breath of God vibrates in his or her soul. The dignity of human life is central to both Jeremiah’s Lamentations and Rumi’s thinking. At a time
when we commemorate the tragic events at Gallipoli as well as the immense losses on the Western front 100 years ago, this message rings truer than ever, from both East and West.
Program
Robert White
(1538-1574)
Lamentations for six voices
Ekrem Mülayim
New setting of Rumi verse
Traditional
Turkish sufi music
Tour Schedule
Blue Mountains Saturday 18 April, 3.00pm, Blackheath Uniting Church
Melbourne Tuesday 21 April, 6.00pm, Melbourne Recital Centre
Newcastle Thursday 23 April, 7.00pm, Newcastle Conservatorium
Wollongong Sunday 19 April, 3.00pm, Wollongong ART Gallery
Sydney City Tuesday 14 April, 7.30pm and Wednesday 15 April, 7.30pm
Blacktown Saturday 11 April, 8.00pm, Blacktown Arts Centre