Towards SilenceA Meditation on the Four States of AtmaTowards Silence is the most recent composition from the pen of Sir John Tavener. Scored for four string quartets and large Tibetan bowl placed within a ‘spiritual’ setting, the work explores the relationship between consciousness and creativity. It was conceived following an in-depth interview of Sir John Tavener by Professor Paul Robertson, former leader of The Medici Quartet. Robertson is founder of the Mind Music Spirit Trust and is invited widely to speak about the model of music making as an inspiration for peaceful, inter-cultural co-existence and his appearances include several at the Davos World Economic Forum. Inspired by reading René Guénon’s Man and his becoming according to Vedanta, Towards Silence can be seen as a meditation both on the different states of dying and on the four states of Atma, or consciousness: the Waking State; the Dream State; Deep State and Turiya, or that which is beyond existence. The context for the performance of Towards Silence involves The Medici Quartet re-forming to act as senior musical mentors to three other quartets ideally drawn from diverse ethnic, religious or cultural backgrounds.
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