Doha, Qatar: Strengthening the place that contemporary Arabic classical music holds in Arab identity, Qatar Foundation is launching a new platform for live musical performances that offer a truly authentic listening experience.
Under Qatar Foundation’s (QF) Al Ghorrah for Literature and Arts – which celebrates the cultural heritage and arts of Arab Islamic civilizations – ‘Heart to Heart’ is a series devoted to both ancient and contemporary maqam classical music, a melodic Arabic music technique, with all performances being free of screens, amplification from loudspeakers, and mobile phones.
‘Heart to Heart’ is curated by musician, composer, researcher, and oud player Mustafa Said, founder of the Asil Ensemble, who will be the series’ opening performer on Saturday, November 1 at 7pm in the Black Box Theater at Multaqa (Education City Student Center).
Said’s performances embody his belief that the purity and authenticity of sound, melody, poetry, and the human voice lie at the origins of memory and identity, and that live music performed in this way is “the most honest dialogue between performer and recipient — from heart to heart”.
“Heart to Heart is intended to help restore people’s clarity of communication with their senses, especially their sense of hearing, and take them on a unique journey spanning the eight centuries of maqam – from the past, to the present, to the anticipation of the future,” he said.
“The calculations of wavelengths embody knowledge of natural and astronomical phenomena, such as the movement of stars, the blowing of winds, and the ebb and flow of tides. Harmony and dissonance are inherent to these calculations, which are also to be found in music. “When an audience listens directly to an oud player, for example, without the aid of a microphone and headphones, they can recognize the composition of wavelengths that creates natural harmonics, even if they have not studied acoustics. This precision in highlighting natural harmony is lacking when using amplification, because audio amplification systems cannot transmit the structure of the sound, depriving listeners of the true depth of harmony.
The opening ‘Heart to Heart’ performances will include melodies that will be heard for the first time, having been composed through extensive research into Arabic melodic manuscripts.
