On the subject of music, I’ll give my take on the local music I’ve been exposed to over the last few weeks.
The main thing you need to know about Palestinian music is the oud, a stringed instrument with eleven strings (I think) and no fret board. It looks like a fat mandolin, has been described to me as the grandfather of the lute and is similar to the Spanish laud. (For a photo of a man playing the oud, see the previous post.)
The oud is usually used to accompany Palestinian folk songs, something that is itself hard to describe. I would post a link, but I can’t find one that’s a good enough example of what I’ve heard here. Mind you, no video would do justice to the experience of hearing the songs live with the locals joining in for the choruses.
One folk song I heard sounded strangely similar to “Hey Ya” by Outkast.
The most common artist you would hear on the radio, or in local cafes and restaurants, would be Fairuz, a Lebanese singer. I would attempt to explain Fairuz by comparing her to someone in the West, but there isn’t really an equivalent. She’s 74 now and has been the most famous singer in the Arab world for decades. I have found a link for her.
Despite the fact that both are hugely different from any music I have listened to before, I have grown to love both the folk music and the songs of Fairuz. Maybe it’s because they both seem to fit the landscape, the people and the whole feel of Palestine so well.
However, the musical highlight for me so far has involved a musical style much closer to home. At the Open Mic night at Al-Chifa hamam, there was four lads (maybe aged between 10 and 13) from Balata camp performing on the Irish whistle. They have been part of a music project run by Stuart for Project Hope. They were a really good example of the talent and creativity that the children and young people have over here, even those living in the refugee camps, or maybe that should read "especially" those living in the refugee camps. (This was further demonstrated by a performance of physical theatre and hip-hop dance by some young people in Old Askar camp last week.)
It was also testament to the hard work put in by Stuart on his music project. I love the fact that there are now a handfull of Palestinian children playing céilidh music on their tin whistles all over Nablus.
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| THE BALATA LADS |
1 comment:
You might be interested to know that your aunt Margaret has an oud in Fort William. So you can treat us to a recital next time you're here (we're at FW at present for the w/e). She also has tapes of Fairouz. She was one of Wagih's favourite singers. It's a small world.
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