'Sounds for Sacred Spaces' at York Minster, 10/Feb/2007

(The first draft of this entry was done a while ago but was abandoned for some reasons. Now it seems that I have a better idea about how to talk about this concert.)

'Sounds for Sacred Spaces' is a perennial concert in which vocal and instrumental religious music is presented in a fascinating audioriam: the York Minster.

This extraordinary space for concert and Gamelan, a traditional musical instrument from the central Java, have been two main attractions of the concert. And these they indeed worked together very well when the Minster allowed the oriental sounds to flow through the enormous space and to create enchanting echoes. Sounds of Gamelan provide a base melody with which the audiences' imagaination and mediation created resonance.

Perhaps the combination of these 2 elements was the main reason why the concert last year got it's name: 'Echoes from the Far East'.

This year's music feast was a success as usual, but it was even more intriguing for its 'experiments of music within sacred spaces' rather than merely 'sounds for sacred spaces'. As the programme said, it is an acoustic adventure.

The spirit of the concert--being spiritual and inspirational--was maintained, but more alternatives were added to the program. Last year's concert featured a stream of immaculate vocals and sounds of which the styles were rather traditional and monotonous and the themes were consistently religious. This year, however, both secular and sacred music were heard. There were spiritual songs of folk religions and some extracts from opera pieces. The flow of the music throughout of the concert was enriched by a good alternation between musical instruments, a short medieval opera and several pieces of choruses.

The internalized profiles of musicians this year definitely helped add a new dimension to the concert and to common perception of reglious music. YoMaMa, among other choirs in the performance, is a good example.