SADIE HARRISON Finzi Trust Scholarship Report August 2016

Transcription

1 SADIE HARRISON Finzi Trust Scholarship Report August 2016 COLLABORATION WITH THE AFGHANISTAN NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MUSIC: A ne ork or the Aghanistan Women s Orchestra Zohra Since 2013 I have been orking closely ith the Aghanistan National Institute o Music in Kabul, as their ComposerinAssociation, (the irst esterner and only oman ever to be aorded such a privilege). ANIM provides a dynamic, challenging, and sae learning environment or all students regardless o their gender, ethnicity, religious sect, or socioeconomic circumstances. The school ocuses especially on supporting the most disadvantaged children in Aghanistan orphans, streetorking vendors and girls. The Head o ANIM, Dr. Ahmad Sarmast rites: Given the tragic damage done to Aghanistan s musical culture across many decades o ar, it is my strong belie that the eorts to rebuild and revitalize Aghan music into a strong cultural voice needs to ocus on those ho ill be our uture musicians: the children and youth o Aghanistan. The Aghanistan National Institute o Music (ANIM,) hich I ounded in 2010 under the jurisdiction o the Ministry o Education, is doing exactly that. Through investing in young musicians, e are not only soing the seeds or longterm and sustainable groth in the music and culture sectors o Aghanistan but also repairing and honoring the musical heritage that is dear to the heart o every Aghan. Since its inauguration, ANIM has risen to become knon both locally and internationally as the most important, eective, and successul music education institution leading intercultural dialogue in Aghanistan and the region. Through its groth and progress, ANIM has proven that the role o music education is vital in rebuilding a artorn country and contributing to the establishment o a just and civil society. ANIM is committed to ensuring the musical rights o Aghan children,

2 promoting musical diversity in Aghanistan, transcending cultural ethnic, religious, and gender barriers, and transorming the lives o Aghan children through its many programs. I have ritten several smallscale chamber pieces or the students, all based on the country s extraordinarily varied and vibrant traditional musics. As part o an ongoing collaboration (entitled Gulistane Nur: The Rosegarden o Light Project) beteen ANIM, mysel and the US ensemble Cuatro Puntos, several o these pieces (recorded to video by ANIM s Girl s Ensemble) have been toured across the USA (September 201) and Europe in MayJune 2016 (UK, Germany and The Netherlands). The Tours ere generously supported by grants rom Arts Council England, RVW Trust, Hinrichsen Foundation, the Ambache Charitable Foundation, Ne Music USA and a PRSF Women Make Music Aard, these being a relection o the unique nature o the ork e ere undertaking. Further details about The Rosegarden o Light Project can be ound at.sadieharrisoncomposer.co.uk and.uymp.co.uk there is a longer article about ho I became involved ith the music o Aghanistan at collaboratingaghanistannationalinstitutemusicsadieharrison. Folloing the success o The Rosegarden, the Head o ANIM, Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, initially requested that I rite an orchestral piece or the Aghanistan National Youth Orchestra. Hoever, the brie changed over the eeks as the Aghanistan Women s Orchestra Zohra gre in size and proile ith the prospect o tours to Europe and the USA in On ANIM s ebsite, the AWO is described as the irst o its kind in the country. It consists o over thirty emale students rom grades Led by young emale conducting students ho are the irst emale conductors in the country s history, this ensemble is an important step in providing opportunities or emale musicians to unite in solidarity, deepen their commitment to music, and develop their skills as collaborative musicians. Additionally, the AWO has strengthened emale students motivation in practicing and has inspired the youngest girls at ANIM to ork hard in order to join the ensemble hen they are old enough. The AWO is prominently eatured on the album "The Rosegarden o Light," released internationally on Toccata Classics and Naxos in Via this album, the AWO has been heard in radio and online broadcasts all across the orld. The young emale conductors are overseen by Mr. Kevin Bishop. The Aghanistan Women s Orchestra ith conductor: Negin Khpalak

3 Sadie Harrison (2016) Plans or the European and US tours are no ell underay and I am absolutely thrilled that my ne ork SapidaDamNau (Ne Dan) ill be premiered at the Closing Concert o the World Economic Forum in Davos, Sitzerland on 18 January 2017 in collaboration ith the Orchestre de College, conduced by Kevin Bishop. Further perormances ill take place through January and February 2017 at the International College in Geneva, the University o Music Franz Liszt in Weimar, also in Berlin and at Goldsmiths, London. The process o riting SapidaDamNau began ith really understanding hat ANIM required. From the outset (and in stark contrast to the processes undertaken in my earlier Aghaninspired orks) I as not concerned about the musical politics that might be at play here. There has been a great deal o debate about hy ANIM should place such importance on understanding and playing estern repertoire alongside their on culture s music. Whilst I have entered into that debate several times ith both mysel and others in the past, I did not intend SapidaDamNau to be an expression o any political currency at the point o composition. I simply anted to rite a piece that the girls could play ell regardless o hether they ere beginners or more advanced in ability in a style that ould challenge their ears a little more than usual, hilst also being a ork that they might enjoy perorming. My brie as musically challenging. Currently, nearly all o the orchestral pieces played at ANIM are arrangements o Aghan tunes or estern classical and romantic pieces. I as asked to rite something completely ne, something modern and certainly not an arrangement o traditional songs and dances as I had done previously. Much o my initial thought as given over to inding a sound and a language that could eectively convey the unconventional orchestration ith its mixture o traditional Aghan, North Indian and contemporary estern timbres. The orchestra : 2 oboes 2 clarinets 1 trumpet hands at one piano percussionists (pitched/nonpitched) violins 2 violas 3 celli 1 double bass tanburs ghichaks dilrubas sitars rubabs qashkarchas. Oboe I Oboe II Clarinet in Bb I Clarinet in Bb II Trumpet in Bb Sitar Qashkarcha Dutar/Tanbur Rubab Piano Player 1 Piano Player 2 Glockenspiel Xylophone Crotales (ad lib.) Triangle Sus. Cymbal Violin I Violin II Viola Violoncello 1 Violoncello 2 Contrabass q = c.72 Bells! A rit. & & & { { & & / (scrape don cymbal ith metal beater) & pizz? () () & j & & & & & con ped.? J? con ped. (hold pedal don until indicated) { & A & & / & B?? SAPIDADAMNAU NEW DAWN dedicated ith admiration to the Aghanistan Women's Orchestra pizz J J arco University o York Music Press 2016 rit. j j j j

4 I as not amiliar ith the playing techniques o all the instruments and internet research is generally unhelpul even at the most basic level here instrument identiication is conusing partly through the multiplicity o regionspeciic spellings and also due to the huge variety o instruments ithin each type. Some instruments also have several names depending upon the area o the country in hich they are traditionally played. With ANIM photographs in hand, I turned initially to husband and ie team Proessor John Baily (Founder o the Aghan Music Unit in Goldsmiths, London) and Veronica Doubleday (Visiting Research Fello at the AMU), UKbased specialists in Aghan music. They gave very generously o their time in Brighton and London amiliarising me ith the instruments. Although John primarily plays the dutar (a longnecked lute) the rubab, (Aghanistan s national instrument) he also has a large collection o traditional stringed instruments. (These can been seen at the bottom o the report. The photograph as taken in May 2016 hen I as accompanied by cellist Allan Ballinger and violinist Aaron Packard during the Rosegarden o Light Pro. John Baily & Veronica Doubleday in discussion Europen Tour.) Veronica is a singer and daireh player. Having conirmed hich speciic instruments at ANIM ere being used, and researched their ranges and the conventions o their playing techniques, I began to think about the actual music and the overall character o the piece. Knoing that it ould be premiered at the World Economic Forum s Closing Concert in Davos, ith the AWO as a symbol o positivity and solidarity, I anted the ne ork to be joyul and rousing to listen to. This, together ith the unique sound o the ensemble s massed percussion, piano and harmonicrich traditional plucked strings gave me the idea o jubilantly pealing bells. The conductor o the ensemble, Kevin Bishop, had also asked that I rite something ith a certain amount o repetition ith memorable melodic lines that the traditional instrumentalists could learn by ear. Although their parts are ully notated, they generally do not use the music, learning it aurally. It seemed to me that the repetitive patterns o bellringing ould be perect. That said, church bells are not part o Aghan culture hilst being inescapable in the est, and their unction as something that had to be explained to the girls during rehearsals. With the sound o the piece in my head, I turned again to John and Veronica ith sessions on a variety o material that might be useul in the ork s composition. I as interested primarily in to aspects a rag or mode that could be played easily by both estern and traditional players and also the overall structure o classical Aghan instrumental orks the naghmaye kashals. During

5 the sessions I transcribed melodies and took aay recordings to analyse the structural details o the longer pieces more ully. Ultimately, I decided on Rag Bhairavi a Hindustani classical rag hich is used idely by Aghan musicians. (An example o this can be ound at ith the Aghanistan National Institute o Music s young rubab player, Ahmad Samim Zaar joined by Ustad Ghulam Hussain, seen belo.) Rag Bhairavi has a sombre minor character and is associated ith the hours ater midnight heading toards dan. Although SapidaDamNau is a joyul piece ith an overall major eel, the darker sound o Rag Bhairavi is heard in the opening bellsection hich punctuates the ork, gradually being overlaid ith transposed variations o itsel, like dierently tuned bells ringing out across the countryside. The groing contrapuntal complexity o the piece relects the structure o many classical Aghan instrumental pieces. In the broadest o terms, the orm o these naghmas can be divided into three main sections the shakl hich spells out the mode and expresses its characteristics, the astai hich is the ork s main section containing many variations o the main melodic material and the antara, a rather complex section made up o several short related compositions that can be played in any order but hich generally increase in diiculty, becoming aster and higher pitched. (Extended deinitions o these terms can be ound in John Baily s seminal ork Music o Aghanistan: Proessional musicians in the city o Herat , Silk Road Books and Photos Publications, Second Edition 2012). Although my piece does not directly adopt this tripartite orm, elements o the shakl, astai and antara ere integrated into its composition, in particular the introduction o the rag s characteristics at the opening and the increasing complexity o the structure through the interleaving o short, repeated sections hich are transposed higher and higher toards the end. ANIM student Ahmad Samim Zaar in a public teaching session ith Ustad Ghulam Hussain, playing a naghma in Rag Bhairavi. PROGRAMME NOTE: The AWO is unique in its integration o traditional and estern instruments, including the tanbur, ghichak, dilruba, sitar, rubab and qashkarcha, instruments hich eature alongside compliments o strings, oodind, percussion and piano. SapidaDamNau integrates the instruments into a piece hich celebrates the unique sound o the ensemble. The huge variety o sounds are transormed into jubilant peals o bells and to contrasted melodies. The irst melody is lyrical and reminiscent o the English pastoral and the second is joyous in character, inspired by an AghanIndian scale associated ith early morning. The title is suggestive o the music that might

6 be heard at dan in both my home ton o Shatesbury and in Kabul and also celebrates the ne dan o music in Aghanistan. It is particularly onderul that this rebirth is being spearheaded by the Aghanistan Women s Orchestra Zohra (Venus). I am hugely indebted to the Finzi Trust or their support o this project, alloing me to take time aay rom my quotidian ork to research instruments ith hich I as unamiliar and then to compose a ork that is no part o the essential rejuvenation o Aghan culture. The mottos or the Aghanistan National Institute o Music are: Assure Musical Rights Transorm Lives through Music Revive and Preserve Aghan Music Train Future Music Educators Lead Cultural Diplomacy beteen Aghanistan and the International Community It has been an extraordinary privilege to play a small part in promoting these values and I thank the Finzi Trust or their understanding as the nature o the piece as transormed during the period o the Scholarship accepting the Aghan ay! Above let: The Young Aghan Traditional Ensemble rom ANIM shoing a variety o the instruments also played by the young omen o the AWO. Let and above right: Students rom ANIM playing sitars, sarods and rubabs.