Kali-Yuga

Tavener, John

About the work

Kali-Yuga is a short, symbolic piece for choirs, representing in a simple, almost child-like way the last days of the Kali-Yuga – the Dark Age of Hinduism. We live in these days.

The ‘ugliness’ of the modern world is portrayed in the first two sections, as the singers from Choir II are given a free rein to represent ‘triviality’ in the first song, and ‘ugliness’ in the second, while the singing chorus in Choir I describes the events in Schuon’s German poetry.

The third section represents “weeping humanity” personified by the two women and two men from the choirs, as the rest sing with great dignity and solemnity about the Kali-Yuga.

Technical notes

The musical material is tightly knit throughout, and the performance should be as vivid and imaginative as possible.

Origin

CoMA commission, Open Score 2006