New Sounds from Arab Lands

New Sounds from Arab Lands

Kinan Azmeh, clarinet
Basel Rajoub, tenor saxophone
Jasser Haj Youssef, violin, viola d’amore
Feras Charestan, qanun
Khaled Yassine, percussion

New Sounds from Arab Lands was presented at the Freer Gallery of Art on February 16, 2013, in collaboration with, and curated by, the Aga Khan Music Initiative, a program of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

Provided by the composers

Works by Kinan Azmeh

Rituals
One of the earliest pieces I wrote for Hewar, my Damascus-based ensemble, “Rituals” is in 7/8 time and marks the beginning of my long fascination with odd meters and the subtle complexity they represent.

Wedding
“Wedding” consists of two contrasting sections—the first calm, and the second fast and energetic—in 15/8 meter. The piece tries to capture the mood of a Syrian village wedding party, which is usually held in the public square for everyone to attend. These parties are always exciting and never predictable.

November 22nd
A meditative work that depicts sonic homesickness for the familiar ambient sounds of childhood. I wrote this piece while living abroad, inspired by memory of the sounds of the market that used to exist behind my parents’ apartment in Damascus, and the way the slow and steady rhythm of life keeps moving regardless of one’s emotions.

Dream
The main theme of an original soundtrack that I composed for the Filipino-American film Rigodon, by Keith Sicat and Sari Dalena. The piece takes the shape of a music box in which repetitions are inevitable, yet hopefully enjoyable.

Works by Basel Rajoub

Asia
Evoking simultaneously the region that has long been a source of inspiration for my work and the first name of my sister, to whom the piece is dedicated, “Asia” expresses my gratitude for the sheer power of support, understanding, and nourishment I receive from both every day.

Turquoise
This piece depicts a traditional Syrian wooden box with mosaic inlay. In traditional Syrian woodworking, every box is decorated with mosaic carefully arranged in different motifs. No two boxes are identical, and each one tells a different story. In a musical analogy, the melody of “Turquoise” serves as a mosaic that is enhanced through the addition of composed and improvised decoration.

My Gypsy Home
This piece explores deeply rooted connections to Roma culture both in the traditional music of Syria and in my own music. Discovering this connection is a journey in itself—a journey expressed musically through sadness, hope, and energy. “My Gypsy Home” is a hidden homeland I return to every day for solace, inspiration, and magic.

Works by Jasser Haj Youssef

Friggiya
This composition traces an imaginary traveler’s journey from Turkey to Tunisia via the Middle East in Ottoman times. The various regions through which the traveler passes are represented by music from the historical era of his journey.

Samai
This composition stems from an assignment given to me by my maqam teacher in 1999, who asked me to write something in the Samaï rhythm (a classical Arab rhythmic cycle consisting of ten beats) in maqam Nikriz. I didn’t want to do exactly what he asked, and thus added modulations to other Arab maqams and also used certain phrases drawn from Gypsy music.

Echoes
An improvisation for viola d’amore in Arab classical maqams.

Kinan Azmeh, clarinet, won the Opus Klassik award in 2019, Germany’s highest award in classical music. He is originally from Damascus, Syria. He has appeared at the Opera Bastille in Paris, Tchaikovsky Grand Hall in Moscow, Carnegie Hall in New York, Royal Albert Hall in London, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Philharmonie in Berlin, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, and the Damascus Opera House. He has also appeared as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Dusseldorf Symphony, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the Qatar Philharmonic, and the Syrian Symphony Orchestra. His recent compositions were commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the Knights Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Elbphilharmonie, Apple Hill string quartet, Quatuor Voce, Brooklyn Rider, Cello Octet Amsterdam, and the Aizuri Quartet. In addition to his own Arab-Jazz Quartet CityBand and his Hewar trio, he has also performed with the Silkroad Ensemble since 2012, whose 2017 Grammy Award-winning album Sing Me Home features Kinan as a clarinetist and composer. He is a graduate of New York’s Juilliard School, the Damascus High Institute of Music, and Damascus University’s School of Electrical Engineering. Kinan earned his doctorate in music from the City University of New York. His first opera is scheduled to premiere in Osnabrück, Germany, in June 2022.

Basel Rajoub, tenor saxophone, is a composer-improviser whose inspirations include traditional Middle Eastern rhythms and melodies as well as jazz. Born in Aleppo, Syria, Basel graduated from the Damascus High Institute of Music and has been active in performing ensembles that bring together music and musicians from the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, and Europe. A winner of Radio Monte Carlo’s Moyen-Orient Music Award, Basel Rajoub divides his time between performing, teaching, composing, and recording.

Feras Charestan, qanun, is from the city of Al-Hasakah in the northeastern Syria and studied qanun at the High Institute of Music in Damascus. He has performed as a qanun soloist with symphony orchestras and has been a member of popular bands as well as contemporary music ensembles that are creating new music rooted in Middle Eastern traditions. Feras Charestan currently lives in Stockholm, Sweden.

Jasser Haj Youssef, violin and viola d’amore, is originally from Tunisia. He performs on violin and on the Baroque viola d’amore, whose resonant sympathetic strings are ideally suited to the modal melodic forms of Arab music. Haj Youssef is a consummate fusionist, at home in jazz, classical music, and Arab maqam.

Khaled Yassine, percussion, is an award-winning self-taught percussionist based in Beirut. He has performed and recorded with local and international artists such as Al Di Meola, Warda, René McLean, Erik Truffaz, Bojan Z, Charbel Rouhana, Arthur Satyan, Oumeima, Soumaya Baalbaki, Ghazi Abdel Baki, and Ilham al-Madfai. In 2003, Khaled cofounded the renowned Lebanese fusion band Fun Jan Shai, which has collaborated with many well-known musicians including Lebanese oud player and composer Ziad al-Ahmadieh and Jordanian singer Macadi Nahhas. Khaled has worked extensively scoring dance-theatre and flamenco performances and serves as musical director and producer on the productions of the Lebanese Contemporary dancer Khouloud Yassine.

This podcast was coordinated by Michael Wilpers, manager of performing arts. Audio recording and editing by Andy Finch and Suraya Mohamed. Photographs are courtesy of the Aga Khan Music Initiative. Web production by Gio Camozzi. Copyediting by Ian Fry and Nancy Eickel. New Sounds from Arab Lands was presented at the Freer and Sackler Galleries on February 16, 2013, in collaboration with, and curated by, the Aga Khan Music Initiative, a program of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Special thanks to the artists for granting permission to share their performances at the Freer and Sackler Galleries.