Mystery 14 Ηuman Requiem in Eleusis, the much-awaited site-specific performance of 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture, directed by Jochen Sandig and choreographed by Sasha Waltz, with the participation of the 60-member Berlin Radio Choir (Rundfunkchor Berlin), will be coming to the Eleusis archaeological site from 29 September until 1 October. A transcendental musical creation-reflection on the same existential questions that the legendary Eleusinian Mysteries posed for almost two millennia.
Mystery 14 Ηuman Requiem in Eleusis is a re-creation of the Human Requiem specially designed for the Eleusis archaeological site based on the work by Johannes Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem). The ancient sanctuary of Eleusis becomes an open communal space of collective catharsis, where text and body, space and sound, merge into a single work of art. This is not a mass for the dead, but rather a rite celebrating life: a memento mori (remember you must die) being transformed into a carpe diem (seize the day). An experience of collective catharsis rooted in the recognition that mortality unites all human beings in a singular fate.
Human Requiem was created in 2012 by German director Jochen Sandig, choreographer Sasha Waltz, visual artist Brad Hwang and many collaborating artists for the Berlin Radio Choir. It is based on the piece by Johannes Brahms titled Ein deutsches Requiem, a moving interreligious work of consolation for the living, which Sandig followed to the letter and transformed into a human Requiem, an extraordinary concert event. A milestone of Rundfunkchor Berlin’s interdisciplinary series, Human Requiem has toured around the world, from New York to Hong Kong, Berlin and Athens to Adelaide, and from Amsterdam to Granada. In 2016 it won the Classical:NEXT Innovation Award, while the New York Times acclaimed it as “an anthem for our time.”
As early as 2016, Jochen Sandig’s encounter with Eleusis and its universal narrative – resonating in the Eleusinian Mysteries – provided him the crucial inspiration that ultimately defined the work Mystery 14 Ηuman Requiem in Eleusis. Transforming the deeply human and interreligious message of the Requiem into a sensuous experience, this performance focuses on the love that transcends pain and sorrow, celebrating life in its finite nature. The Rundfunkchor Berlin, conducted by Gijs Leenaars, presents a diverse work as each of its singers fill the space with their voices as soloists.
* The premiere of Mystery 14 Ηuman Requiem in Eleusis is the culmination of the international symposium Mystery 299 “How to Change our Mind, to Change the World,” which will take place from 27 to 29 September at the IRIS factory in Elefsina. Exciting debates, experiential workshops and artistic actions in an innovative three-day symposium on ancient knowledge, medicine, humanities, spirituality, art and ecological civilization, with the participation of distinguished speakers from all over the world. Please find more information here.
