Our Music
Perilous Journey
- fauq n-nakhl
- yeselim
- laz bar
- bir demet yasemen
- nassam alayna el-hawa
- muhabbet
- muluya jaana
- disko oro
- noura
- nihna wil amar
- sut ictim dilim yandi
- rampi rampi
- grey eyes
- shatti ya diniyi
- uskudara gideriken
Total run time: 60:28
Liner notes
by Michael J. Keberlein
fouq n-nakhl
Traditional Syrian tune "atop the palm tree," in maqam hijaz over beledi
(masmoudi saghiir) and malfouf rhythms. The opening doulab (introducing
the maqam hijaz) is one commonly associated with this song - providing
an example of how both B flat and B half flat (awji) are used within the
maqam, but the initial descending motif is otherwise not all that common
in maqam hijaz.
yesilim
Instrumental version of turkish folk song about a girl wearing a green
cotton dress. Her infidelity caused tuberculosis (verem) in the
disappointed composer of this tune. Hicaz makam (Turkish spelling, same
mode as arabic maqam hijaz) is played over ayyoub rhythm, but we use the
southern egyptian saiidi rhythm in the second section B where the verse
lyrics would normally be sung.
laz bar
Our version came from a transcription by Mimi Spencer and is different
from what has been recorded under this same title by other artists. Our
version is covered with a very different arrangement by Souren Baronian
on his Transitions CD. It is an Armenian dance from Turkey, in a
7/8 rhythm referred to as laz or rachinitza, which splits 4-3 in
contrast to the Arabic dawr hindi rhythm, which splits 3-4.
bir demet yasemin
A bouquet of jasmine (is the only reminder of my love), an old Turkish
love song in nihavend makam that we transpose into g melodic minor. The
beledi initial rhythm changes to Turkish ciftetelli (the word meaning
"two strings"), which is related to the egyptian rhythm wahida w
nuss.
nassam alayna l-hawa
Rhabbani brothers song made famous by Fairuz. The lyrics make a play on
words in that hawa can mean love or a breeze of air: O breeze, O love,
take me home for the sake of love. We play it in maqam kurd on G with
saiidi as the dominant rhythm.
muhabbet
Muhabbet is supposedly Turkish for "excited small talk." Our
arrangement comes from Hagopian. The first motif is the well-known
Egyptian traditional tune A Ya Zein (Oh, Beauty), which itself is a
little too brief to make an interesting performance piece, but it
establishes the hicaz makam. The second section sneaks in the B half
flat (awji) and the high E natural, a modulation to rast makam (on
G).
pesrev muluya jaana
Pesrev is a song form, muluya jaana might be translated as "royal
paradise." Maqam saba does not repeat at the octave but instead echoes
the shehnaz tetrachord heard at the 3rd (F, Gb, A, Bb) from the 7th (C,
Db, E, F). Although it sounds odd to western ears accustomed to
tempered scales, this maqam is fingered very naturally on the nay. The
rhythm is masmoudi kabiir, the stretched-out version of masmoudi saghiir
(beledi).
disko oro
Macedonian Roma Ilmi Jasarov and his son Ferus Mustafov have recorded
this tune, but we're still trying to track down its origin. Balkan
music connects with Turko-Arabic music via the reach of the Ottoman
empire and the distribution of nomadic Romani from the levant into the
Balkans. The two part harmony in the second section of this tune is
distinctly not Arabic, but we use Arabic rhythms (wahida, saiidii and
malfouf).
noura
A song popularized by Farid el-Atrache (but attributed to the vocalist
Hameed Al-Shaaria�i) which we do as an instrumental piece featuring Mark
on the nay. The maqam is bayati on D, which has an E half flat (sikah)
that distinguishes it from the western phrygian (with E flat) and aolian
(with E natural) scales on D. The rhythm is maqsoum.
nihna wil 'amar
Lebanese song by the Rahbani brothers popularized by Fairuz in 1960,
when she was 35 years old, five years after she had married Assi
Rahbani. The title is more properly said to be "niHna wil qamar
jiiraan," or "We and the moon are neighbors." (Egyptians pronounce "q"
very gently and it is sometimes omitted from transliterations - their
dialect gained relative dominance due to the success of their
entertainment industry). This song was so popular that one of Fairuz�s
many nicknames was "Neighbor to the Moon."
sut ictim dilim yandi
Another simple cover of a Turku instrumental cover based on a popular
traditional song from Asia Minor. The rhythm is ayyoub throughout, and
the makam is bayati. We might eventually do this as a vocal, once we
better understand the rather strange lyrics.
rompi
Another old Turkish folk song, the title of which used to come from the
first line of the lyrics, cadirimin ustune ship dedi damladi, "rain
dripped on my tent." The more popular title "rompi" comes from the scat
line of the chorus. The 9/8 karsilama rhythm is regarded as perfectly
natural in Turkey and conveys a Romany mood (there is a rhythm actually
called Romany, which is 18/8 and blends over two measures of
karsilama).
grey eyes
Ukrainian tune that is very distinct from the more familiar Roma song of
the same name. Once again we are using an Arabic rhythm (saiidii) to
make this tune a bit more danceable for raqs sharqi performers. The G
melodic minor tonal center of this piece would be called farahfaza
(nahawand on G) within the Turko-Arabic tradition, but of course there
is more to the maqam system then just scales.
shatti ya diniyi
As an example of the difference between a maqam and a simple scale, this
tune is in maqam hijaz which has the same notes as farahfaza (basically
a western g minor) but the root note is actually D4 (293 hz) and the
first tetrachord (D, Eb, F#, G) is stable either ascending or descending
(cf G melodic minor which would use F natural in descent). The
modulation to rast nawa (G, A, B half flat, C) in the B section also
marks this as maqam hijaz rather than farahfaza or just the fifth mode
of G harmonic minor.
uskudara gideriken
Our arrangement of this Turkish folk song, "While going to �sk�dar" (a
suburb across the bridge from Istanbul), features concertina and violin.
It follows the form performed by Turku. Rhythms used include wahida and
wahida w nuss. The tonal center is simple D minor (aeolian).
Violinists may have noticed by now that all our tunes with violin are
done with standard Arabic tuning (GDGD).