Tamar

Whilst exploring Jewish mysticism Rupert Hubner came across two distinct but ultimately entwined themes: firstly, the name of God, and secondly tamar – the date fruit, and these became the starting point for the musical installation Tamar.

Der Name Gottes (The Name of God): in the rituals of the old-testament period, before the advent of King Solomon, speaking the name of God was the sole privilege of the high priest.  In preparation he had to fast and burn incense in the holiest part of the temple before he was permitted to speak aloud the secret (and no longer extant) name of God. The musical installation Der Name Gottes alludes to this ancient ritual. Three Butoh dancers and five musicians fast for four days. Then the dancers energise the performance space, prior to Markus Stockhausen and his ensemble performing the intuitive text-notated composition. Goldstaub, from the collection Aus den sieben Tagen. According to the composer’s instructions, musicians must fast before performing Goldstaub. Thereafter ChorWerk Ruhr will sing J.S. Bach’s motet, Singet dem Herr ein neues Lied.

Tamar: the Jewish Genesis tells of the Tree of Life that stood in the middle of the Garden of Eden. In the Kabbalah, i.e. Jewish mysticism, the palm tree has several properties: the scent of incense, the colour of gold and fruits such as dates.  Across the whole of the early Orient, the date fruit has always been of great importance. Even in pre-Islamic times, the palm tree stood for life-force, survival, fertility, augury and protection, and a date was always handed out ritually to break fast. The significance of the palm tree lies at the heart of Tamar, a musical installation by Rupert Hubner, which was further developed and enriched by a music research trip to Oman in March 2009 with the singers of the ChorWerk Ruhr.

Acknowledgment

With the utmost gratitude to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, قابوس بن سعيد آل سعيد, Sultan of Oman, and his Advisor for Cultural Affairs, H.E. Abd al-Aziz bin Mohammad al-Rowas and to Prof. Dr. Issam El-Mallah for their generous and extensive support of ChorWerk Ruhr and Tamar.

Fastenbeginn (Start of Lent)

According to the express instructions of Karlheinz Stockhausen, performers must fast before performing Goldstaub. The fast is inaugurated by a musical gathering, in which Markus Stockhausen’s ensemble stage the text compositions Treffpunkt, Intensität und Unbegrenzt from the collection Aus den sieben Tagen by Karlheinz Stockhausen.

An additional performance of Tamar, especially for children will take place on the 24^th September at 11 am.

Tamar by Rupert Huber is a Ruhrtriennale production. A co-production with ChorWerk Ruhr.