(deutsche Beschreibung ist weiter unten...)
GREAT NEWS:
Live premiere Saturday 20 November 2021 at 7:00 p.m. in Munich, Stephanuskirche, Nibelungenstr. 51; Program:
Ein Tyroler Requiem (Rainer Bartesch)
Vater Unser (Leos Janácek)
OUR WORLD IS ON FIRE - live permiere including video screening!
on 20+27 August 2021 this video, that originally was created to the oratorio music, had two screenings at the international Fünf Seen Filmfestival in the Starnberg region, south of Munich!
For the festival video I exchanged the computer generated orchestral simulation by the recordings of the participants of the global virtual performance. Since the global virtual oratorio performance project ist still active, everyone can participate!
here the oratorio website: our-world-is-on-fire.org
You can download the instructions and the vocal score here:
our-world-is-on-fire.org/instructionsx12_languagesx_and_vocal_score.pdf
Originally this video is created to get screened along with the live performance of the oratorio, but since there are no live performances now, I mounted the video together with an audiomix containing real singers and a "virtual orchestra" in order to present the idea behind the project.
Since the great majority of people have heard about climate change, but still refuse to accept, that everyone has to act, I was looking for a different approach to reconnect the inside and the outside, so both sides really get in touch again, creating real emotions.
Therefore I chose the way of empathy instead of blank numbers and scientific models. I took the path of music and musical storytelling. In my oratorio there are two groups of people, the "nature people" and the "money people". The audience is watching them, sharing their experiences and emotions. There is no judging going on from my side.
Within the group of the nature people a young boy (sung by David Schilde from the Münchner Knabenchor/ Munich Boys Choir) is giving his voice to St. Francis from Assisi, one of the great spititual leaders, that were well connected to earth and nature.
While both groups take turns telling how they are doing, the nature people get more and more troubled about unexpected, strange changes in nature, while the money people get more and more enthusiastic about their increasing profits. The audience also feels an invisible connection between both groups and both faiths. When the natural crisis escalates, leading to extensive bushfires, a tenor soloist rises his voice and names the whole picture, similar to the speech Greta Thunberg did in 2019 in Davos.
This is the darkest moment in the oratorio. Here everything seems to be lost and over. But instead of giving up, there is a call to act and the energy is floating towards hope, acting, community building, providing a clear vision of what is next to be done now.
in the upcoming global virtual performance, that is likely starting in February, I hope I will get 500 singers to perform this passage....
In the end, after clearly naming the choices we have, the reappears St. Francis in a kind of unreal hyper-natural environment, singing about the beauty of nature and being greatful. Since this scene is a complete contrast to what has been before, the people in the audience have to decide for themselves in which way both scenes are linked together. In order to do that they have to find their own position within the scenario. My hope is, that no one will leave the concert untouched and that this will lead to a better future for all of us.
Rainer Bartesch
Am Samstag den 20.11.2021 findet um 19:00 Uhr in der Stephanuskirche in München (Nibelungenstr. 51) die URAUFFÜHRUNG statt!
Das Konzertprogramm: Ein Tyroler Requiem (Rainer Bartesch), Vater Unser (Leos Janácek), Our World is on Fire (incl. Videozuspielung)
Am 7. März 2021 feierte ganz kurzfristig mein Klimaschutz-Oratorium "Our World is on Fire" seine digitale Premiere in Madison, USA.
Inzwischen ist zusätzlich ein globales virtuelles Oratoriumkonzert gestartet, bei dem Menschen aus der ganzen Welt mitsingen können. Alle Infos, Noten und Links, die man zum Mitmachen benötigt sind in der Mitmach-Anleitung (PDF) enthalten, die ich inzwischen in vielen Sprachen hier bereitstelle: our-world-is-on-fire.org/instructionsx12_languagesx_and_vocal_score.pdf
hier die Oratorium-Website: our-world-is-on-fire.org
Rainer Bartesch
