MISSA MELASUREJ
shalom pax salaam
an interreligious cycle For peace
after Palestrina
MELASUREJ is a word reflection of Jerusalem: the Latin letters (analogous to the language of the Roman Catholic Church) are “mirrored” from right to left, which is reminiscent of the reading direction in Hebrew and Arabic. With its many synagogues, mosques and churches, Jerusalem is considered the spiritual center of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. At the same time, as a city at the political focal point of the Middle East conflict, Jerusalem reminds us of scenes of violence and the destructive power of religious fanaticism.
The new compositions by Maximilian Guth, Ehsan Ebrahimi, Justus Czaske and Abdulrahim Aljouja reflect Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli in a new way and combine it with religious and cultural musical traditions from Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
In addition to the instrumental asambura ensemble and a chamber choir or vocal ensemble, MISSA MELASUREJ also includes an educational format, including workshops for school classes or children’s choirs.
MISSA MELASUREJ aims to build artistic bridges for cultural and interreligious dialog.
MISSA MELASUREJ is an interreligious cycle, a collaboration of musicians from different biographical, cultural and religious backgrounds; the composition was also created in a diverse cultural dialog.
Radiobericht MISSA MELASUREJ
“With MISSA MELASUREJ, the asambura ensemble has once again set an outstanding milestone for the respectful encounter of different cultures and religions. The courage to create such a new work on the basis of a major work of church music deserves the highest respect. The result is brilliant. Musically and theologically subtle, subtle, without being too bold or kitschy. For example, sound carpets and collages are created around prayer passages and give pause for thought.”
Prof. Dr. Christoph Dahling-Sander – Hanns-Lilje-Stiftung
“Again and again, prayer texts about peace are whispered and recited in Arabic, Hebrew or Latin, overlapping, sounding together and creating an “interreligious sound cloud”.
Very touching music that invites you to reflect.”
Lamya Kaddor
Islamwissenschaftlerin, Publizistin und Islamische Religionspädagogin
“MISSA MELASUREJ is an impressive collaboration between composers and musicians from very different cultures and religious backgrounds. In this respect, the project is exemplary for the possibility of engaging with the traditions, origins and knowledge of others and creating something new together.”
Lavinia Francke – Stiftung Niedersachsen
“The asambura ensemble must be seen as an artistic collective that aims to “research” Christian, Jewish and Islamic sounds in intensively lived and resounding interaction. The ensemble’s main intention is to go beyond stereotypes and create new audible approaches that not only break new aesthetic ground, but also make a direct artistic contribution to peace on the basis of mutual respect.”
Prof. Dr. Raimund Vogels
Musikethnologe
“a wonderful ensemble that is characterized by great diversity and can therefore credibly convey the value of pluralism.”
Dr. Johannes Janssen – Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung
“Thus the composers do not choose the simple path of simply alternating Palestrina’s Mass chants with Islamic or Jewish chants, but combine them in a combination of genius and reverence […]”
Peiner Allgemeine Zeitung
“..opens up intercultural dialogue on several levels – musical and social. On the one hand, these conversations relating to Jerusalem as a place of spiritual importance are presented through musical encounter, presenting elements of different religions to the audience. On the other hand, the performers and audience members themselves from different cultural and religious backgrounds are united through their engagement with the music. Thus, with MISSA MELASUREJ the ensemble promotes exchange and reflection, opening new doors for future conversations and collaboration.“
Dr. Miranda Crowdus
European Centre for Jewish Music
“Introit: musicians enter the church and gather in different places in the room. A whispering begins, and a quiet, almost Babylonian babble of voices begins around me, gradually spreading through the church space in the middle of which I am sitting.
“Babylonia” is the name of the whispering motet that forms the first act of MISSA MELASUREJ.
How wonderful that young musicians thread and tune in so ambitiously and subtly, how clever the new compositional version! With MISSA MELASUREJ, the Asambura Ensemble has created a musical space for absorbing the longing for peace and encounter and shaping it with musical forms.”
Loccumer Pelikan – Dr. Silke Leonhard
“Instrumental and vocal colors from different traditions blend to create new sounds, an enormous spectrum of colors in the vocal and instrumental ensemble captivates the audience. Fifty seconds of silence after the last sound, then prolonged applause and enthusiastic feedback from the audience. What is so often not possible on a political and social level succeeds on this evening in concert: traditions, music, prayer and people send a common message for peace.”
VDKC. Verband Deutscher Konzertchöre
“The variety and sophistication of the instrumentation never cease to amaze.”
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
“The asambura ensemble is an outstanding role model and living mediator of contemporary music culture. The work of asambura is characterized by a great joy in experimenting together, in listening to each other, in responding to each other, in breaking new ground together. This requires a high degree of mutual esteem and respect for each other’s musical skills. After all, music is by no means a universal language per se. The musical traditions from which we originate give us a certain way of listening and a certain way of playing. These aesthetic and technical imprints can initially lead to misunderstandings in joint intercultural ensemble work and it is one of the great merits of the asambura ensemble to face these challenges in the midst of a complex topic and to transform them into a productive cooperation. The MISSA MELASUREJ thus points far beyond the artistic and symbolizes social responsibility, the power of encounter, interreligious and inter-cultural dialogue.“
Friederike Ankele – Leitung Kulturbüro Hannover
“This was unlike anything that has ever been heard in Verden Cathedral before: a mass concert in which the three great monotheistic world religions were heard peacefully side by side and together. The musicians of the ensemble mastered the full diversity of their intercultural instruments and produced sounds that transported the audience into completely new musical worlds. In the expansive power and energy of the choir, often complemented by the brightly blossoming children’s voices from the organ loft, the spiritual dignity and substance of the Palestrina Mass unfolded as well as its clarity and moving beauty. The concert concluded with the 2000-year-old plea for peace, followed by whispered prayers, after which the audience remained in reverent silence.”“
Verdener Nachrichten