Shalom Shanti Salam

Karl Jenkins, the Welsh contemporary composer, composed the first of the 17 songs of this choral work on a line from the Gospel of Matthew, one of the four canonical gospels and the first book of the New Testament. “Blessed are the Peacemakers for they will be called the children of God”, reads Matthew 5:9. The other songs contain words of peace from a range of ‘peacemakers’, iconic world-changing figures such as Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Sir Thomas Malory, Rumi, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, Albert Schweitzer, and Anne Frank. Also included are religious texts from the Qur’an, St. Seraphim of Sarov, Francis of Assisi and the Bahá’u’lláh, and the poetry of Shelley, Terry Waite and Carol Barratt.

Not all songs from The Peacemakers were presented at this performance. “I was a bit overwhelmed and not entirely convinced when I first saw the score and listened to a few recordings of The Peacemakers on YouTube,” says conductor Nuria. “Then I found a version where Karl Jenkins himself conducts – and that made all the difference. It was beautiful! I thought, if we could do this! For The Peacemakers is very suitable for Auroville. The world is a mess, as you can read in the news every day. If for a moment we could bring something of another vibration, of peace and hope, something in harmony with the ideals of Auroville – ‘a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace’ – it would be wonderful. So we started.”

The song Inner Peace, based on a text by the Dalai Lama, particularly resonates with Auroville’s ideals, she says.

We can never have peace in the world if we neglect the inner world and don’t make peace with ourselves. World peace must develop out of inner peace. Peace starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace we can be at peace with those around us.”

Jenkins wrote The Peacemakers for chorus and ensemble. But Nuria only had the vocal score with piano accompaniment, which was useful for practice but not suitable for a performance. “As we didn’t have all the instruments proposed in the score, the idea came up to do it with the instruments we have in Auroville. Matthew, the band leader, offered to arrange the songs for the small ensemble we could get together: one violin, two Indian bamboo flutes, a western transverse flute, two keyboards, a saxophone, a fretless electric bass, an electric double bass, electric drums and ethnic percussion. Inspired by Karl Jenkins’ work, he also composed a small ‘Intermezzo’.” The result was very much appreciated by the audience and performers.

The performance this year, says Nuria, was a trial. “We are contemplating the possibility of performing the complete work, and perhaps also some other works on peace, in the Matrimandir amphitheatre for the 50th anniversary of Auroville. The first performance would be on February 18, 2017, to inaugurate the anniversary year, and the final performance at the year’s closing, on March 3rd, 2018.”

“Our aim with this performance is a collective aspiration for peace in the world,” Otto announced on the introduction to the performance.” A line from the 13th century Persian mystic poet Rumi sums up the ethos of this piece: ‘All religions, all this singing, one song.’

Every war and every conflict between

human beings

has happened because of some

disagreement about names.

It is such an unnecessary foolishness,

because just beyond the arguing

there is a long table of companionship

set and waiting for us to sit down.

What is praised is one, so the praise is one too,

many jugs being poured into a huge basin.

All religions, all this singing, one song.

The differences are just illusion and vanity.

Sunlight looks a little different on this wall

than it does on that wall

and a lot different on this other one,

but it is still one light.

We have borrowed these clothes,

these time-and-space personalities,

from a light, and when we praise,

we are pouring them back in.

Rumi

“Shalom. Shanti. Salam.” sang the choir – the words for ‘peace’ in Hebrew, Hindi and Arabic. One song.

A video recording of the Peacemakers by Fred Cebron can be seen at https://vimeo.com/160693535 and by Manohar at youtube.com/watch?v=jxYXR2DqGHU&feature=youtu.be