Let Me Die Before I Wake

concerts / Opera

Let Me Die Before I Wake

Rencontre entre musique, texte et mouvement

There is no society in the world that does not have funerary rituals. They reflect in a profound and codified way all that defines a human society. For their programme of music, words and movement titled Let Me Die Before I Wake, United Instruments of Lucilin and Renelde Pierlot have chosen to focus on the funeral, on how the rituals are expressed, experienced and presented in different societies. Also in evidence will be the four elements of earth, fire, air and water. These four are not only the very essence of life but also vital ingredients of funerals. Air, for example, will be represented by the breath of the actor, or the dancer soaring through the air. Water, used for the cleansing and purification of the deceased before burial or cremation, will be present in the filled crystal glasses, the unconventional instruments required for an extract of George Crumb’s 1970 war lament Black Angels included in the programme. Let Me Die Before I Wake brings the audience together in a place with its own sacred history, the Théâtre des Capucins, a deconsecrated church that may now be a cultural place but nevertheless retains an echo of its religious past.