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Holland Festival Proms - Temple of Time

Sinta Wullur

Eighty-four bowl gongs in The Concertgebouw's Main Hall welcome you to the Temple of Time by the Indonesian-Dutch composer Sinta Wullur. This ‘gong temple’ the audience and the musicians enter together. A nine-member vocal ensemble performs songs based on ancient texts and sacred sounds from the four world religions. The lyrics are about time and the perception of time. The gongs at the concert are from the chromatic gamelan which Wullur made especially for her compositions. Temple of Time is a stunning and meditative experience for young and old.

Eighty-four bowl gongs in The Concertgebouw's Main Hall welcome you to the Temple of Time by the Indonesian-Dutch composer Sinta Wullur. This ‘gong temple’ the audience and the musicians enter together. A nine-member vocal ensemble performs songs based on ancient texts and sacred sounds from the four world religions. The lyrics are about time and the perception of time. The gongs at the concert are from the chromatic gamelan which Wullur made especially for her compositions. Temple of Time is a stunning and meditative experience for young and old.

From the brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen playing Karlheinz Stockhausen to an opera-installation by the Indonesian artist Jompet Kuswidananto. The day is being hosted by comedian and television presenter Klaas van der Eerden. In the intermissions there will be performances by conservatory students, as well as short introductions to the concerts. For only ten euros per concert – or less for those who buy a day pass – you can hear the latest and most adventurous music from around the world. There’s an afterparty that night for everyone who can’t get enough of it.

 

For a whole day, from noon until late at night, there will be a vibrant mini-festival in The Concertgebouw. The Holland Festival Proms consists of five concerts and an installation. From a concert with virtual reality to the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and the swinging music of The Nile Project.

 

folk from strictly Islamic Aceh, to modern  Indonesian composers. 

 

We show collaborations which transcend boundaries from artists from different corners of the archipelago. Rahayu Suppangah wrote the music for Setan Jawa, a new silent dance film by Garin Nugroho. Indonesian composers and musicians work with Ensemble Modern from Frankfurt in Ruang Suara. We are presenting A Night in Indonesia in Paradiso, with the latest music from the Indonesian underground, including the EDM duo Filastine & Nova Ruth and Senyawa’s acoustic metal. At the Holland Festival Proms the visual artist Jompet Kuswidananto is presenting an opera installation about censorship in art. The audience can also enter the Temple of Time by the Indonesian-Dutch composer Sinta Wullur. The context programming explores topics such as Javanese mysticism and joint Dutch and Indonesian historiography. 

 

Discover the sound of modern Indonesia.

 

Following the focus on Turkey and its neighbouring countries (2015) and on the Edges of Europe (2016), this year’s special focus is on music from Indonesia. In the islands, many styles and genres exist next to each other in a fascinating way. We present a selection of contemporary work: noise from the streets of Yogyakarta and

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dates

Sat June 24 2017 3:00 PM

information

  • Duration of performance unknown

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Temple of Time is a ritualistic installation and composition by composer Sinta Wullur and director Miranda Lakerveld. Central to the work is the gamelan that Wullur commissioned in the mid-1990s. Contrary to the Indonesian set of instruments, the gongs and kettle

Temple of Time is a ritualistic installation and composition by composer Sinta Wullur and director Miranda Lakerveld. Central to the work is the gamelan that Wullur commissioned in the mid-1990s. Contrary to the Indonesian set of instruments, the gongs and kettle

drums are tuned according to the European twelve-tone system. But just like original gamelans, the register of the different groups of instruments within the ensemble determines the tempo of the music that is played on them. In this way, the gamelan works like a clock, in which the biggest (and therefore lowest-pitched) gongs have the longest cycle, while the higher-pitched instruments move more quickly.

The four groups of big gongs in the ensemble share the space in quadrants, one for each of the religions that Wullur encountered during her youth in Indonesia: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. In Temple of Time, these religions are represented by four soloists who each sing one of the religion's singing traditions. They sing and recite parts from the scriptures of the religion; texts that shed light on the notion of time. Wullur and Lakerveld set out to find texts that express what the four religions have in common. On the basis of these texts, the work passes through the following stages: start of time (creation), the time of life, and the end of time.

Lakerveld selected the texts. She says, 'It is striking how much the four religions have in common. The story of creation. The number four in spatial arrangements, in shapes and in colours. Plagues that ravage the world at the end of time. Temple of Time lets you see and hear how sound and time are intertwined. Similar to recent theories in physics: vibration, and therefore sound, is the origin of everything. You come across the same idea in these ancient texts.'

Sinta Wullur describes the installation and composition: 'The suspended gongs form the pillars that, spaced far apart, support the whole. The small kettle gongs are the decorated tiles against the wall and on the floor. It is a building made of music. The audience can sit around and in-between the instruments. That reinforces the sense that they are part of this ritual. Because that is Temple of Time. Like almost every ritual, it has theatrical elements.'

In terms of the music, Wullur sticks to the rules that apply within each religion. 'In Islam, texts are recited without an instrumental accompaniment. So that's how we do it too. Respect is a key word, just like connection. We want to bring the religions together and bring people together in an experience that they can share with each other as well as with the musicians.'

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credits

composition, musical direction & percussion Sinta Wullur stage-director, libretto Miranda Lakerveld solo vocal Sinan Vural, Ilyas Nadjafi, Chetna Sahni Sehgal, Namgyal Lhamo solo vocal and percussion Ganesh Rumnath choir Marielle de Winter, Juliette van Dijk, Miranda Driessen, Iris Ficker percussion Marijn Korff de Gidts, Jasper Goedman, Achim Heine, Fredrike de Winter, Clara de Mik, Krishna costumes Jantine Kraaijeveld light design Robert Wit design gong standards Ernst Dullemond thanks to Davoud Perzische tapijten with the support of Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst

This performance is made possible by