Shocked, yeah, that's it. Shocked.
But seriously, perhaps it's a misunderstanding on my part, but how is the Prince's idea of a musical with orchestra and Tibetan gongs going to pass muster? I thought that, at least for the most fundamentalist Muslims, musical instruments (also pets, drawing the human form) are strictly verboten, whether or not in worship. Only vocalization. And a nod to Tibetan gongs? Well, I'll be curious to see if the musical materializes and if it is protested.
“But seriously, perhaps it’s a misunderstanding on my part, but how is the Prince’s idea of a musical with orchestra and Tibetan gongs going to pass muster? I thought that, at least for the most fundamentalist Muslims, musical instruments (also pets, drawing the human form) are strictly verboten, whether or not in worship. Only vocalization. And a nod to Tibetan gongs? Well, I’ll be curious to see if the musical materializes and if it is protested.”
You are probably correct fortunecookie, Muslems don’t use instruments in their services, it very well could be that no one has told Charles that fact, or he doesn’t really care, it’s what he wants to happen in his church...
The man seems like he can be a bit dense at times.
Not the Prince's idea. This is a work by the senior British composer Sir John Tavener. Tavener happens to be a devout convert to Russian Orthodoxy (which doesn't, of course, protect him from political naivete). Throughout his long career he's reflected in his music an interest in mysticism as it is pursued by many different religions - this being Sufi in the case of Islam. This interest, as well as a dabbling with Orthodoxy, is shared by Charles, which explains the connection.