Music from the Muslim World at the Freer|Sackler

The Muslim world is deeply represented not only in the visual arts at the Freer|Sackler but also among our concert podcasts, which are enhanced with program notes, photos, and images of related artwork. These concerts feature musicians from across the Islamic world covering genres ranging from traditional and classical to jazz and crossover styles.

One special treat is a performance by the Cairo-based composer and ‘ud (lute) artist Naseer Shamma, a native of Iraq who studied at the Baghdad Conservatory before relocating to Egypt. He appeared at the Freer in 2012 during his first US tour in ten years. His evocative solos and refreshing arrangements feature an ensemble of ‘ud, violin, flute (nay), dulcimer (qanun), cello, and percussion.

Another Iraqi-born ‘ud artist, Omar Bashir (now based in Budapest), played original music to celebrate the legacy of his legendary father, Munir Bashir, widely considered the greatest ‘ud master of the twentieth century. Omar performed gorgeous improvisations on Arab modes (maqams) in addition to several of his father’s most famous compositions, including Love and Peace, Seville, and Andalusian Señora.

Rahim Alhaj, who studied under Munir Bashir, was joined by percussionist Souhail Kaspar to perform selections from his Grammy-nominated album When the Soul Is Settled: Music of Iraq. For a jazz take on Arab music, the Iraqi American trumpeter Amir ElSaffar and his quintet performed Two Rivers, an original work inspired by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the recent strife in Iraq, and the common ground between American jazz and Iraqi classical music.

Three-time Grammy nominee Kayhan Kalhor is a virtuoso on the Persian fiddle (kamānche) and an original member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble. He has appeared repeatedly at the Freer to perform Persian and Persian-inspired music. Kayhan opened and closed this recital in the melodic mode called rāst-panjgāh, which is comparable to the Western major scale, but (like all Persian modes) has its own trademark phrases and moods. Rāst-panjgāh expresses mostly positive sentiments but, in its lower range, conveys a more serene and contemplative mood. In between these opening and closing solos, Kayhan offered a thirty-minute meditation on the ancient mode called segāh, one of the oldest in Persian music.

Another giant in Persian music is the two-time Grammy nominee Hossein Alizadeh, a master of the Persian lutes called tar and setar. In addition to his performing career, he wrote the soundtracks for the Iranian films Gabbeh, Turtles Can Fly, and A Time for Drunken Horses, all screened in the United States and internationally. A fascinating instrument of Persia is the delicate yet powerful santur (hammered dulcimer), played here at the Freer by two wonderful Iranian American artists, Dariush Saghafi and Kazem Davoudian.

Among the younger generation of Persian classical musicians is Paris-based virtuoso Bahman Panahi, who performed at the Freer on setar (lute) with percussionist Ali Mojallal. They played entirely in the mode named for Iran’s ancient capital city, Esfahan. For an original take on Persian vocal music, listen to this concert by Los Angeles-based vocalist Mamak Khadem recorded during our annual Nowruz (Persian New Year) celebration. She adapted melodies from Iran as well as Armenia, Kurdistan, Baluchistan, and Turkey, accompanied by an unusual ensemble of clarinet, saxophone, keyboard, santur (hammered dulcimer), and percussion.

One of our most unusual podcasts from the Muslim world is our 2013 concert by artists from Iran and Syria who joined together to perform a program they called Sound: The Encounter. These four jazz-oriented musicians—Saeid and Naghib Shanbehzadeh, Basel Rajoub, and Kenan Adnawi—merged Middle Eastern traditions with modern improvisations on bagpipe, double clarinet, saxophone, ‘ud, and drums. You won’t hear anything like it anywhere else.

Also in the jazz idiom, Lebanese pianist Tarek Yamani performed his renditions of classic Egyptian songs from the 1950s. Folk-based music is heard on our podcast by the Saudi Ensemble, including melodies for weddings, fishing expeditions, love songs, and other occasions performed on violin, ‘ud (lute), nay (flute), tabla (drum), and qanun (zither). Our only podcast of musicians from Palestine features faculty of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Jerusalem from their debut American tour. The conservatory was famously endorsed by both Edward Said and conductor Daniel Barenboim for its teaching of Western and Arab music to Palestinian youth. For a taste of gorgeous music from the Turkish Ottoman period, listen to the outstanding Neva Duo on tanbur (lute) and ney (flute).

Our music from Islamic cultures extends beyond the Middle East to music from India, including the Chisti Sufi Sama Ensemble as well as gamelan music from the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, Indonesia.