Based on the work by Kahlil Gilbran.
An oratorio by Harvey Brough, The Prophet is a setting ofthe inspirational book by Kahlil Gibran. Published in 1923,Gibran’s book remained popular throughout the 20th century, was adopted particularly by the counterculture of the 1970s and profoundly influenced the New Age movement. It tells the story of the prophet Almustafa, who has settled on a foreign island, Orphalese, and is waiting for a boat to take him home. As he waits, he is asked a series of questions by the islanders. In Brough’s setting, the answers to these
questions become the different movements of the work, with Gibran’s poetic meditations on (amongst others), Marriage – Love – Reason and Passion – Pleasure, forming the body of the piece. Finally his boat appears, and a cry comes from the people as he leaves Orphalese. “And it rose into the dusk and their cry was carried out to sea as his ship vanished into the mist.” from the introduction to the programme.
The evening also included Adolesce by Tanis Taylor’s and Harvey Brough, with a choir from Camden School for Girls and City of London School for Girls.
Vox Holloway 