For Bass, Piano and pre-recorded voices – 2020.

Bass: Nicholas Isherwood

Piano: Rami Sarieddine

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By Movement

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“Te…Telestai” is inspired by the Eleysinian mysteries from Ancient Greece; an occurrence held at the temple of Demetra in Elevsina, which is not documented and still remains a question as to what could be happening during these rituals. “Te…Telestai” attempts to create an occurrence featuring the main themes of the mysteries (descent, death, exploration, ascent), and having the singer as the person who goes through the process and shapes the ritual, and the pianist behaving as the priest/shaman who accompanies him and directs the ritual. The piece is complemented by pre-recorded voices who adopt the role of “Choros”.

The text consists of fragments taken from important tragedies from the ancient Greek literature, shaping a storyline which feature the above mentioned themes. The story presents a king who loses everything due to his ignorance and stays alone. He ends up in a deserted island where he grieves for his huge loss and finally decides to take his own life. Through his passage into the underworld he encounters his old friends, who have been re-incarnated as animals. During his stay in the underworld he goes through various emotional stages to finally become insane. Confused – as a different Ajax- he kills and eats his friends. Then he then returns as god…an enlightened state of being. 

Through this connection, evolution is reflected as a procedure where in order for someone to become enlightened he/she must let everything go, get isolated, eliminate the rational part of  their mind to finally ascend as a new form of existence.