This season the RIAS Kammerchor celebrate the 75th anniversary of their foundation in 1948 and have appointed Alec Roth as their first Composer-in-Residence. On Friday February 23 they perform the World Premiere of Honig aller Wesen/Honey of All Beings. Scored for double choir a capella, the work takes a Sanskrit text from the 7th century BCE Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, which states the inter-connectedness of all beings, be they plants, animals, humans – they are the ‘honey’ of each other. The opening and five choral dances (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, All-Dance), extend the vocal line to wordless exploration. As Roth describes it,
‘For me, the unaccompanied choir is itself a most wonderful metaphor. Individual human voices are connected and bound together through the unison, polyphony and harmony of music. And the music extends the connection out to the listeners, drawing them in both individually and communally with the invisible bonds of breath, heartbeat and emotion.’
The concert also features a new version of Unborn for SATB choir, solo Tenor (from the choir) and Processional Drum by Alec Roth and Vikram Seth.
Find out more and get your tickets here.
