Constantinople explores a city that was, for centuries, a centre of globe-altering events and iconic battles of religion and politics. The work explores the crossing of faith and secularism, East and West, ancient ritual and modern practice. This is a multidisciplinary work bridging a number of media.
An electroacoustic setting of an old Sufi song composed by Muhammad ‘Uthman (Egypt 1855-1900). The texts are considerably older; they were written by Sana’ il-Mulk (Egypt 1155-1211). The text is a poetic adoration of clouds: “O clouds adorn the crowns of the hills with garlands/And make the bending stream a bracelet for them/O sky, in you and i...
« Christos Anesti », le chant byzantin de Pâques de la résurrection, est chanté en grec par la mezzo-soprano, tandis que l'alto entonne et murmure des textes similaires de la foi islamique.
Les deux voix – représentant deux mondes différents, deux paradigmes culturels – chantent ensemble. Les textes sont « La Mort de Dighenis », un poème sur un héros byzantin, et le Dies Irae.