“The main hall of Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin’s contemporary art museum, presented a most unusual sight on the Saturday evening before Whitsun, shortly after 10 o’clock. People were sitting everywhere – on the floor, on the low steps leading to the side wings, leaning against supporting pillars – in eager anticipation of the German premiere of The Veil of the Temple.” Thus klassik-in-berlin described the beginning of an extraordinary concert, which was termed a “Great Railway Station of Emotions” and “A Long Journey into the Self” by the Berliner Tagespiegel and Märkische Oderzeitung.
Rundfunkchor Berlin gave the German premiere of Sir John Tavener’s seven-hour masterpiece The Veil of the Temple at Whitsun 2007 under the direction of Simon Halsey. With five choirs, European and non-European instruments, a libretto in five languages with texts from all the world religions and different periods, ranging from the Vedas of India to the present day, the gigantic score goes beyond the scope of anything imagined previously. Not surprisingly, then, this vast, culture-spanning work, in spite of its topicality, power and beauty, was receiving only its fifth performance in Berlin, following its 2003 premiere in London and revivals in New York, Amsterdam and Brighton.
Rundfunkchor Berlin presented the German premiere of the third instalment in its series Broadening the Scope of Choral Music at an unusual venue: among the works of contemporary art in Berlin’s modern art museum, Hamburger Bahnhof. Thus the work was placed in a whole new context. Although conceived for a sacred space, The Veil has an effect far transcending any religious institution. Tavener’s exploration of the mystical traditions of different religions led him to recognize that the divine essence is concealed within human beings themselves. The Veil of the Temple can be read as a seven-hour journey into the “self”. The work examines transcendental experience and asks what role religious traditions play in the search for it. Similar themes can be found in contemporary art.
The answers to such introspective questions into the spiritual aspect of life will be different for every individual. Rundfunkchor Berlin’s performance sought to create a space, a window of time, and atmosphere of concentration in which attendees could occupy themselves with such questions and possible answers, but could also simply immerse themselves in the experience itself. The Hamburger Bahnhof’s collection, and in particular the items in the special exhibition “Schmerz” (Suffering) opened up a variety of perspectives.
Dutch director Rogier Hardeman staged The Veil of the Temple as a ritualistic world journey through time periods and continents. Beginning in the darkness of non- or half-knowingness, it ended with the dawn of illumination shining down through the Hamburger Bahnhof’s glass roof. This staging engages the viewer’s whole being: his or her emotional receptivity, limits, spatial perceptions and relation to his or her fellow human beings, to time and to duration. The audience became part of a ritual leading to the very origins of theatre itself: from the purification at the beginning of the journey all the way to the communal breaking of the fast that concludes it. The audience was free to move about the ground floor of Hamburger Bahnhof, to withdraw from the “ritual action” to the restaurant or special quiet rooms, or to create their own dialogues between word, music and visual art in the exhibition galleries.
Audience reactions (selection):
"The Rundfunkchor and its guest artists have given us a deeply impressive, thoughtful start to the 2007 Whitsun holiday.” (O.R., Berlin)
"This night will be forever etched in my memory. The musical work, the venue, the staging and its superb adaptation to Hamburger Bahnhof, the quality of the performance by the choirs and their directors.” (D.S., Reppelin)
Read more about the work and downlad the programme booklet (in German only).
