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Performance and Recording Credit: Stanislav Ovchinnikov, Novosibirsk, Siberia
Ballet Ritual. Opus 17
Episodes in the Temple of the Great Emperor Akbar
by Hidayat Inayat-Khan
This work, inspired by a page in the history of ancient India, is a musical illustration of the fabulous festivals which took place centuries ago in a fairytale-like setting known as ‘The Universal Temple of All Religions,’ erected by the great Emperor Akbar.
This work, inspired by a page in the history of ancient India, is a musical illustration of the fabulous festivals which took place centuries ago in a fairytale-like setting known as ‘The Universal Temple of All Religions,’ erected by the great Emperor Akbar.
Once upon a time there was a great Emperor, whose name alone awakened fear in conquerors, warriors, story tellers and legendary magicians alike. His power was so great that no army was able to resist his invincible will in pursuit of glory.
However, contrary to appearances, the Emperor’s dream was of a victory more noble than simply powerful domination. He took upon himself the tremendous task of sowing the spirit of tolerance and the ideal of altruism in the hearts of all his subjects, thereby consolidating unity in a society which had been corrupted by divergent fanatical traditions and a lack of moral behaviour. His goal was one of both military and intellectual supremacy.
At the head of a selection of princes and paupers, among whom numbered religious representatives of all denominations as well as unbelievers, the Emperor majestically presided over enormous festivals, upon which occasions all were invited to join in contests of eloquence, with the object of bringing forth in a superb manner the tragic deficiencies evident in all speculative theories, either religious or material, and the obvious reality of the unity of religious ideals.
These episodes are illustrated in the musical thematic elements of the ‘Ballet Rituel,’ which seem to awaken from old legends, placing the listener within the decor of the immense historical ‘Universal Temple of All Religions’ bequeathed by the great Emperor Akbar to the generations to come, perpetuating in gigantic blocks of marble the immortal principles of the ‘New Being’ of which he dreamt…