Preview: Sound of Eternity

May 29, 2006

It took 25 years for German filmmaker Bastian Cleve to bring his life’s passion to the screen – a multimedia version of Bach’s B Minor Mass.

On July 9, catch the full-screen American premiere of “The Sound of Eternity,” with live chorus, orchestra, and soloists conducted by Helmuth Rilling.

See Bastian Cleve’s Sound of Eternity website.

And to read, here’s an excerpt from Cleves statement on the project:

For me personally, the Mass in B Minor is an incredibly inspiring, reflective, euphoric and jubilant experience, almost as if, far from a single person’s destiny, a door opens into heaven. Out of this breathtaking experience the individual films have been created.

“The cinematic form of 27 short films is based on the 27-part musical structure of the Mass itself, beginning with Kyrie eleison (“Lord, have mercy upon us”) and ending with Dona nobis pacem (“Give to us thy peace”).

“Each of the 27 episodes is a self-contained piece, in form and content thriving for jewel-like perfection. Though wordless, it is about life and lives, birth and death, about individuals, families, politics and world history. It is about art, science, intuition, and mysticism. It is about the endless pilgrimage of mankind in search for fulfillment and peace.

“The vision behind the film is to let the audience take inspiration through their ears and eyes, leave them contently carried away, feeling fulfilled and complete, and – one hopes – to keep this happiness for a little while.”