Hagia Eirene, Istanbul
Friday 22nd June 2007
Presented by İKSV and BRITISH COUNCIL
British Council, in partnership with * Istanbul Kültür Sanat Vakfı, presents the international premiere of The Beautiful Names (Allah’ın Güzel İsimleri) composed by Sir John Tavener at this year’s Istanbul International Music Festival.
Sir John Tavener is one of Britain's most popular and respected composers of religious or "sacred" music. The Beautiful Names, his latest major choral work sung in Arabic will be performed by over 200 musicians from the celebrated BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (hyperlink to B) at Aya Irini in Istanbul. Making his strongest reference yet to Islam, the 99 names for Allah in the Islamic tradition form the basis and inspiration for this remarkable piece.
The piece has been commissioned by HRH Prince Of Wales. ‘Inspiration for the piece came to me as a vision,’ says Tavener, ‘I contemplated the meaning of each of the 99 names, as well as the sacred sound of the Arabic, and the music appeared to me spontaneously’. The composer has worked closely with the Arabist Michael Macdonald to ensure correct pronunciation and stress.
The 70-minute work is divided into eleven groups of nine ‘tonal zones’ and the start of each new section is prefaced by a magisterial calling out of Allah. Tavener calls upon Sufism, Hinduism and Buddhism in his choice of structure, instrumentation and tonality for this extraordinary piece conducted by Jiří Bĕlohlávek with John Mark Ainsley as tenor.
British Council, as the cultural agent of the UK, plays a key role to provide a platform for a greater interchange between respective cultural traditions and contemporary experience. Intercultural dialogue is one of the key pillars of the new British Council strategy across the wider Europe, and Turkey is the major gateway to the sharing of values within civil societies across Europe
Istanbul will be the first international performance after the world premiere at Westminster Cathedral in London on June 19th. Don’t miss this incredible concert in Istanbul on 22 June.
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*The body İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) is committed to bringing together different cultures and contributing to the creation of a platform for multicultural dialogue. International İstanbul Music Festival, along with its organising body İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, will celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2007.
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