Omnisutra
Megas Hellas
Omnisutra was formed in 2013 and has performed at festivals, in private recitals, and at spiritual centres in the ten years since. Under the leadership of Gavin Shri Amneon, Omnisutra has released a total of 18 albums comprising ancient Holy songs recreated in a multitude of languages including : Ancient Egyptian, Sumerian, Ancient Greek, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Ge’ez (Ethiopian), Japanese, Arabic and Coptic. In its current incarnation Omnisutra comprises Gavin Shri Amneon on vocals, percussion and shruti box; Michael Green on bass and soprano clarinets, and Aulos; and Will Thompson on bouzouki and oud.
The ancient works which inspire Omnisutra are often described in the literature as poetry, although they were often more ‘sung’ than recited. In the original rendition these works typically included a musical accompaniment, and in addition often featured dance or performance. In its reworking of these ancient texts Omnisutra seeks to breathe life into the soundscape through careful attention to the text and to what we know of the musical structures of the time, although it is often impossible to attain any degree of certainty as to the precise ‘sounds’ of the original work beyond the instruments that may have accompanied it, and an often rudimentary understanding of the musical structures of the time.
The original performances which inspire Omnisutra were often featured in ceremony and ritual and thus sought to evoke within the audience and performers a sense of the numinous. At the same time they needed to hold the attention of the audience through the presentation of a musical structure familiar to the listener. In mixing the old with the new Omnisutra strives to create this same balance within a framework of honour to the origins of the work.
Recent Work
Omnisutra’s recent work has included The Sephir Yetzirah, the oldest book of the ancient Kabbalah and, earlier this year, a presentation of an ancient Greek poem, Hesiod’s Theogeny, set to music. This latter performance, titled ‘Megas Hellas’ (in English literally ‘Great Greece’), is the work we are offering to bring to Womadelaide.
Work on Megas Hellas commenced in 2016 and the performance has been presented at a number of private and public events since. The work is a sung rendition of Hesiod’s Theogony, an ancient Greek poem describing the arrival of the Gods on earth and the birth of the nine muses of ancient Greece. The poem dates from around 700BC and is sung in the original ancient Greek in Omnisutra’s performance (along with a spoken English translation at the opening of the performance). The recital is accompanied by bass and soprano clarinet and Greek bouzouki, as well as a pair of Aulos (ancient Greek double ‘flute’). This instrument was often used to accompany performances in ancient Greece and the pair used in this performance are reproductions of instruments found in archeological excavations dated from around 300BC. Thus it could well be that this form of Aulos may have accompanied the early original recitals of Theogony in ancient Greece.
A studio recording of Megas Hellas was released in 2019, see:
https://omnisutra.bandcamp.com/album/omnisutra-megas-hellas
A film version was released earlier this year, see trailer here:
2023 Performance
The March 2023 performance of Megas Hellas at The Open Space was recorded live by radio station 3zzz for later transmission on their Saturday night Polyfonix show. The mix produced by 3zzz is available for listening on the Soundcloud links shown below.
Also below are video excerpts from the same March performance at The Open Space. Please note the Soundcloud recording is a direct feed via mixer so a more faithful reproduction than the lower sound quality of the video (phone camera microphone).
Omnisutra are also hoping to take Megas Hellas to Melbourne’s major Greek cultural festival (the Lonsdale St Festival previously known as the Antipodes Festival) in 2024.
Omnisutra are currently working on a new performance of a Gnostic liturgy from the Nag Hammadi library, dated from around 300BC and sung in Egyptian Coptic. The work will be staged in Melbourne in November 2023 and will incorporate a dance performance by solo dancer Madhu Honey. If we were successful in our application to bring Megas Hellas to Womadelaide, we believe the incorporation of a dancer into that work would be both faithful to the original renditions of the work as a performance piece, as well as creating a strong visual presence to the contemporary production.
We would be delighted to bring this production to Adelaide and thank you for your consideration.
