Universom
For the Pavelhaus Choir, and together with choirmaster Matija Horvat, I wrote the musical score titled UniversOm. The singers performed UniversOm at the opening of Psst... there is still space in outer space! exhibition in Pavelhaus on October 22, 2016.
The project UniversOm - referring to a specific venue* and the theme of the exhibition - intended to bring together two different levels of our comprehension regarding space and ourselves: on the macro level, outer space, and on the micro level, Pavelhaus. The aim of the project was to merge them at the individual human level in a musical performance by the Pavelhaus Choir.
The musical piece UniversOm was assembled from songs in the choir's repertoire, with singing in Slovenian, German, Latin, and the Porabje dialect. The first part was followed by a single melody with the text "Universum", in which the singers slowly transformed the last syllable from "um" to "om". In certain Eastern religions "Om", sung as a mantra, represents the sound of cosmic creation; the beginning of the universe.
*Pavelhaus (Pavel's house) is a cultural society situated in a small village in Austria close to the Slovenian border, and was initiated by Slovenian minority. It stands for national coexistence and, in addition to other activities, has been gathering local people together in a multinational choir for several years.