Hussein Al Adhami (Iraq)IRAQI MYSTICAL SONGS AND POEMS
The Baghdad school of music, especially famous in the Arab-Muslim world, was born of a complex mixture of Kurdish, Persian Turkish and Semitic contributions. Known as Maqam Al Iraqi (the mode of Iraq) the school developed erudite forms, with little separation between the profane and the sacred. The school influenced much of the religious music of the Mesopotamian Basin, transposing its repertoire into the language of mysticism. The aim of this music is to obtain Tara, that musical emotion which transports singer and listener and carries the soul towards harmony (insijam) and ecstasy. The word Maqam comes from the trilateral root QWM, from which
are derived a number of phonemes, substantives and verbs having
a variety of meanings (to rise up, stop, stay eternal, etc.).
The word Maqam is firstly used to mean a sojourn, then it means
dignity and rank, and also a prophetic sacred place (the Maqam
of Ibrahim in Mecca). The beauty of the ancient refined Iraqi Maqam style transports the listener back to the golden age of the Abbasid and Ommeyad empires. Amongst the most illustrious names of composers and musicians, Jewish and Christian musicians figure along side the Muslim masters. The traditional ensemble (Tshalghi Baghdadi) is most often made up of a qanoun (a stringed citar), a joza (a vielle with a pic) percussion instruments, and for several decades, an oud (lute). The orchestra, which alternates between sung and instrumental parts serves mainly to support the singer who is the most important element. The poetic repertoire sung in classical Arabic is distinct from the Arab-Andalusian repertoire sung in the Maghreb. The Book of Song by Abu Al Faraj Al Isfahani is one of the collections from which the poems of this repertoire were drawn which includes mystical poets such as Ibn Farid, Attar, Hafiz or Omar Khayyam. Hussein Al Adhami was born in Baghdad in 1952 into a family of musicians. After a stint as a policeman, he began his career as a singer and hymnist in 1973 integrating the Music Patrimony Group founded by the much missed Iraqi Lute master Mounir Bachir. In 1974 he became a soloist member of the Iraqi Radio-Television. Like many singers of Maqam, he has a dual musical background - profane and sacred. Having been trained in Koranic incantation (tajwid) and various types of calls to prayer (al azan) he directs an ensemble of sacred music that officiated at the Great Al Azhamiya Mosque in Baghdad. Hussein Al Adhami, who previously performed at the Fes Festival
in 1998, is one of the most eminent singers of his country and
has given numerous international concerts.
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