Holland Festival Proms - Temple of Time

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.'