The Last Manvantara

Oehler, Thomas

About the work

This piece is about time perception and the cultural representation of it. In the Hindu tradition, time is perceived as cycles happening at different levels, each level named differently. A Manvantara is one of the biggest one. According to some people, the way time is passing would evolve along the cycles, providing an effect of growing density and acceleration. There are theories about the present times being the end of one of those big cycles, hence the sensation of an acceleration of events and shortening of time over the last centuries. The Last Manvantara reflects some of those thoughts.

First Performance: Royal Academy of Music, Feb 2008, CoMA London Ensemble

Origin

Call for Pieces Entry: Open Score RAM student 2007