By Obelit Yadgar
From the
beginning, the Mesopotamian Nights productions have served a feast of Assyrian
musical gems backed by a big symphony orchestra. With new operas performed in
Assyrian to ballets danced in dazzling traditional costumes, the musical events
have offered something for every taste. All that trimmed with clusters of sweet
and sentimental songs by past and present composers.
What a treat to
experience the artistic heights the Assyrian performing arts can reach.
The 2013
production promises another musical extravaganza packed with new works and
fresh ideas. This year it’s the re-discovery of the Assyrian choir. “The choir
is more than just a few people singing together,” says Artistic Director Fred
Elieh. “It’s people with different backgrounds, ideas and feelings all becoming
one and delivering a melodic message.”
George Somi, the
exceptionally talented young Assyrian composer, starts the big works with two
movements from his orchestral suite The
Assyrian Legacy. The movement titled Hammurabi’s
Law celebrates the code of law that is known as the first law code. “The
music capitalizes on ancient Near Eastern tones by using the Hijaz Maqam, a scale readily
identifiable as Middle Eastern,” explained Somi. “The rhythms are deliberate
and vigorous, representing the content of the Law Code.”
The fourth
movement, titled The Fall of the Great
Empire, represents the fall of Nineveh, in 612 B.C. “The Fall is cinematic and grave,” added Somi.
Noted Assyrian
composer the Rev. Samuel Khangaldy offers a wealth of choral works for the 2013
production. Some are original and some arrangements of works by other
composers. That included the Mar Benyamin
Oratorio, a work written originally for a small choir and piano written by
Nebu Isabey. The oratorio recounts the betrayal and subsequent murder of the
Assyrian Church of the East patriarch in the 1917 genocide.
Khangaldy has
arranged and orchestrated three songs, from old recordings, by Rabi Yacoub Bet
Yacoub for solo voice with choir. “‘Girls Look Like Angeles’ and ‘My Beloved
Young Man’ are combined into a medley,” said Khangaldy. The third song is “Echo
of Wisdom.”
Rabi Yacoub, born in Urmia, Iran, in 1896, was an
Assyrian scholar, educator, writer and poet. “His music was very simple and
filled with sweet innocence,” he added.
Khangaldy regards The New Mesopotamia, which closes the
first half of the program, as his masterpiece. He set it to a poem by the
Assyrian writer, poet and educator Marcel
Josephson. Khangaldy recalled the words touched his heart and soul so much that
he felt compelled to write the music for the poem.
“This is about the
new Mesopotamia that calls for her sons and daughters to put all their
differences aside and to unite in building a new Mesopotamia, our own
homeland,” he explained. “I didn’t have to change any words. Everything about
it, from rhythm to syllable, was perfect and I had no problem writing the
music.”
French composer
Michel Bosc returns to Mesopotamian Nights with a tender and poignant instrumental
work titled “The Prayer of Assyrian Nation.” The music is a good lead in the
second half of the program into Samuel Khangaldy’s The Marriage Proposal. This charming musical comedy for five solo
singers draws a light-hearted picture of life and marriage in an Assyrian
village. In spirit, it recalls the bubbly English light musicals of Gilbert and
Sullivan.
The musical is an
arrangement and orchestration of a song written by the noted Assyrian writer,
composer and musician William Daniel, published in the early 1940s. “The whole
song as Rabi Daniel wrote it was about four or five minutes long,” Khangaldy
pointed out. “I added new music to it and more dialogue to make it about
fifteen minutes long.”
The Marriage Proposal serves as a primer
in the second half for a celebration of songs made popular by two Assyrian
legends: the late Biba and Shamiram. In Iraq, Edward Yousif, known as Biba, was
called “King of Singers.” Assyrians loved him, for his music served as the
reflection of their lives: the joy, the love, the suffering.
Biba said he and
his musical collaborator George Ishu were always looking for a new sound,
something never heard before by Assyrians. “We did not want to imitate Western
music,” he said. “We wanted to continue in the path of Eastern music, but
posses a new sound, provide a new dimension.”
Shamiram Urshan,
in neighboring Iran, was already a song and dance artist by age eight. She was
born in Tehran, where she explored the wide spectrum of the performing arts.
Even after immigrating to the U.S. and settling in Seattle, Washington, with
her husband, and even during the years she raised her three children, Shamiram
remained the consummate Assyrian song and dance artist.
She turned professional singer when her
children were grown up. That she had a wealth of Assyrian songs in her treasure
chest already, songs written by her late father Daniel Gevargis Urshan, her
career soared internationally. Her first album, recorded in 1978, was a major
hit among Assyrians worldwide.
“We will have four
different Assyrian singers singing nine of their songs,” said Artistic Director
Fred Elieh.
The popular
Assyrian artists George Gindo, Avadis Sarkissian, Stella Rezgo and Rita Toma
Davoud will romp through nine of Biba and Shamiram songs. George Somi and Devin
Farney have arranged all the songs. The music of each artist will be preceded
by a short biographical documentary.
“We have not even
started utilizing the wealth of Assyrian talent out there,” noted Mesopotamian
Nights producer Tony Khoshaba. “Not even explored the musicians from Western
Assyria — commonly known as the Jacobites — tradition.”
The biggest
challenge still remains, Khoshaba admitted, and that is to expand the audience
beyond the Assyrian community and taking Assyrian arts to the mainstream. “We
need to figure out how to do this,” he added. “We have created enough material
that could be appealing to people outside our community.”
With a string of
successful musical gems from Mesopotamian Nights, as well as much needed
support from Assyrians proud of their culture and artistic heritage, Khoshaba’s
dream can only be just around the corner. It takes vision to realize the
potential in the Assyrian performing arts. It also takes willing hands to throw
open the curtain and watch them soar.
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