Interview with Syrian composer and pianist Malek Jandali
The touch of the hand on the piano is the purest expression of the soul. At least this is how I feel
Is it possible to create music compiled between melody based on the oldest music notation in the world, discovered in the ancient city of Ugarit, Syria dating back to 3400 B.C. and modern classical tunes? Yes, of course…when the creator is Malek Jandali!
Malek Jandali-“Piano Dream”
Born in Germany to Syrian parents in 1972, he started his piano studies at the Jugendmusikschule, then at the Arab Conservatory of Music and the High Institute of Music in Damascus with Vladimir Zaritski and Victor Bunin from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. As a young child, Malek enjoyed all forms of art and at the age of 9 he appeared in his first public piano recital in his home town of Homs. Having studied classical piano from an early age, and despite his enthusiasm for the compositions of JS Bach, Beethoven and Rachmaninoff, he soon began displaying a gift of improvisation.
In 1995 he received a full scholarship to the United States to pursue advanced studies in music at the North Carolina School of the Arts with Eric Larsen. Active as a performer for many years, he decided to shift his attention to composition after graduating with a BA in music from Queens University. During his studies there under Paul Nitsch, he received numerous prizes including the Stegner Foundation for the Arts Fellowship and the 1997 Outstanding Musical Performer Award. He studied composition and orchestration with Eddie Horst, Harry Bulow, Lawrence Dillon and Richard Prior. In 2004, he completed his Master Degree from the University of North Carolina.
In the recording studio he has created an eclectic body of compositions. Malek has a deep interest in writing music for dramatic purposes and has often drawn upon visual images for musical inspiration. His compositions range from solo instrumental pieces to large ensemble and orchestral works. His music is dynamic, energetic and powerful, combining orchestra with piano and Arabic modes and melodies.
Could we start with your latest news, project and upcoming concert tours?
My pleasure! Currently, I am working on new music for my upcoming concert at Damascus Opera House with the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra. This will be on Thursday, April 1 at the Opera Theater in Damascus. My 2010 concert tour will include Dubai, Cairo, Istanbul, Damascus, Homs and Beirut before I head back to the US to continue my tour in Washington, DC, Detroit, Los Angeles and end it with the Ludwig Symphony Orchestra in Atlanta where I currently reside. Europe is not on my list in this tour since I was there just last year.
You have been to many prestigious concert halls all over the world. From Paris, London, Cairo Opera House to Moscow, New York and Atlanta. If you are invited in Bulgaria, could you do a concert in Sofia?
This would be an honor for me. Sofia is so beautiful with its architecture, concert halls and amazing symphony orchestras not to mention The Sofia Symphony Orchestra which is a one of the most illustrious orchestras in Europe!
How about album signing session at Virgin?
Well, I had a number of CD signing sessions at Virgin and my upcoming one is going to me on March 11at Virgin Megastore Dubai in their Mall of the Emirate branch. This is a great opportunity for me to actually meet my wonderful fans.
Could you please tell us how did you meet music? Is there a musician in your family?
Becoming a musician is more a matter of self discovery than it is a choice. I discovered my love to music early on in my life through concerts, the records of my father and playing on the piano we had in our living room. I remember that one concert when I went with my parents. I was 8 at the time in Homs, a small city in Syria. At the end of the piece, before a long applause, I thought “I want to do that” I knew I couldn’t live without my piano when I got my first taste of playing my own music with an orchestra. There are music lovers in my family but no musicians. Without the support of my family friends and loyal fans, I would not be where I am today.
What is the meaning of music for you?
Music is magic performing its tricks with love. Music makes me look deeper in search of beauty and truth. All you really have that really matters are feelings. That’s what music is to me…I believe that the soul can’t live without music.
“Pristine clarity and logic“ wrote the Observer, USA f– Strong words and very true. What do you feel in your own music? What is your philosophy?
I search deep into my heart to feel love and peace. My philosophy is to love what you do and do what you love. It is as simple as that.
What inspired you to combine different genres of music?
I really love Classical music but adore our Arabic modes and rich melodies. Since I was trained as a classical pianist, it was natural for me to incline the music in that direction. However my appreciation for the rich Syrian culture really boosted my desire to incorporate folk music and the Arabic maqams in my piano and orchestra works. The ancient tablet of Ugarit, the oldest music notation in the world, was also a huge inspiration.
What is the story behind your album “Echoes from Ugarit”? Could you please share some details on the clay tablet and the importance of this project for you?
I have been composing for years, and lately, I have been greatly inspired by the folk and ancient music of Syria. Since its inception in our great land, music has become a cultural phenomenon; it is something people relate to on emotional, instinctive, intellectual and many other levels. Syria is the birthplace of alphabet and music notation. The interpretation of the music notation of Ugarit is a challenge and several “reconstructions” have been published. The evidence that both the 7-note diatonic scale as well as harmony existed 3400 years ago flies in the face of most musicologists’ views that ancient harmony was virtually non-existent or even impossible. This has revolutionized the whole concept of the origin of Western music.
This work is founded on the oldest music notation in the world discovered in the ancient Syrian city of Ugarit. The clay tablets contain a hymn to the moon god’s wife, Nikkal. Although hundreds of such tablets were discovered over the years, these very tablets contain words and notation of a song all composed in the same “maqam” or mode (called nîd qabli). Further, they contained instructions for a singer accompanied by musicians, as well as instructions on tuning the strings of the instrument.
I arranged the hymn into a melancholic piano work preserving its rhythmic structure and building a musical bridge to the past. The song of this woman’s marriage was filled with pain at not having children for her husband and her family. Apparently, the song is a lament, “the plaintive cry of an infertile woman” seeking the answer to her barrenness from the moon goddess.
The main goal of my project “Echoes from Ugarit” is to shed the light on this very important historical fact to tell the world that Syria has the oldest music notation in the world!
Your recent album “Echoes from Ugarit” has an interesting name. It makes me wonder whether you hear echoes from Syria in your daily life in the States? What is the story behind the title?
I have been composing for years, and lately, I have been greatly inspired by the folk and ancient music of Syria. Since its inception in our great land, music has become a cultural phenomenon; it is something people relate to on emotional, instinctive, intellectual and many other levels. It has affected me greatly as well; and instilled in me a desire to unite the primal and the contemporary to create music that tugs at the heart and mind. Thus the birth of my new album, “Echoes from Ugarit”.
Syria is the birthplace of alphabet and music notation. The interpretation of the music notation of Ugarit is a challenge and several “reconstructions” have been published. The evidence that both the 7-note diatonic scale as well as harmony existed 3400 years ago flies in the face of most musicologists’ views that ancient harmony was virtually non-existent or even impossible. This has revolutionized the whole concept of the origin of Western music.
The oldest music notation in the world was discovered in Ugarit, Syria?! Tell us more about the music, the clay tablets and the hymn?
This work is founded on the oldest music notation in the world discovered in the ancient Syrian city of Ugarit. The clay tablets contain a hymn to the moon god’s wife, Nikkal. Although thousands of such tablets were discovered over the years, these very tablets contain words and notation of a song all composed in the same “maqam” or mode (called nîd qabli). Further, they contained instructions for a singer accompanied by musicians, as well as instructions on tuning the strings of the instrument.
I arranged the hymn into a melancholic piano work preserving its rhythmic structure and building a musical bridge to the past. It contains certain hints and echoes of bygone tempests, of doubt and rage and questionings, but softened and subdued like the sound of a distant sea, sobbing itself to sleep in some sheltering cave as the lush of evening falls after a wild day of futile fury. I also harmonized the piece with parallel sixths and modified the scale to the modern “D Minor”.
The song of this woman’s marriage was filled with pain at not having children for her husband and her family. Apparently, the song is a lament, “the plaintive cry of an infertile woman” seeking the answer to her barrenness from the moon goddess, Nikkal.
The following excerpt from the Ugaritic hymn provides us a glimpse into the people, mood and music of this primordial culture.
She (the goddess) let the married couples have children,
She let them be born to the fathers
But the begotten will cry out, “She has not borne any child”
Why have not I as a true wife borne children for you?
You are a Syrian artist who was born in Germany and now you live in the US. How did this diverse environment affect your personality and your music?
I was exposed to numerous cultures and all different types of music throughout my life. As you know, I was born in Germany and I grew up in Syria, then I continued my advanced studies of music in the United States. Lately, I have been touring many different countries. Over the years, through travel and the Internet, this exposure has naturally increased.
I hear music all the time, even if it is only a short phrase or an idea, and for that moment I can be completely immersed. During that experience, that unknown music could be my favorite project — until the next one — and has great influence beyond the simplicity of enjoyment: I am exposed to these strangers’ expressions and a brief, yet realized, snippet of different lives and culture.
These continuous moments of exposure & realization not only have broadened my musical tastes, but have, from a young age onward, developed in me an interest in and acceptance of other cultures, an excitement for the unknown, an appreciation for the variety of personal expressions, an awareness of the growing interconnectedness of our global society, and a reminder that individual people, working together on many levels and from different cultures and backgrounds, can continuously create in harmony.
So you started as a classical pianist and shifted toward music composition. Tell us about your journey?
Studying composition gave me the ability to meld together various types of influences into one album – sometimes into a single work of music. On the other hand, the world of orchestration and my background as a classical pianist provided me the tools to color my music and combine different genres and messages creating art with such a diverse texture. At the end of the day, all what I am trying to do is to “tell a story” since my music is dedicated to my fans and to you, the listener. May you find harmony!
Have you ever tried impromptu performances? If you have, how is the experience different from performing pre-composed pieces?
Both improvisation and composition are processes of discovery. A solo improviser discovers the music at the same time as the audience. I prefer to carefully consider my ideas then improvise on expressing these ideas with my audience, especially in my piano & orchestra works. In fact, my performance always depends on the audience and the same piece of music is presented in a unique way at different concert halls depending on my audience.
Most of the time improvisation is clearly planned. Compositional principles are used, as well as standardized formulas. On the basis of a natural connection between performing, improvising and composing, I try through my solo piano performances to find a way of bridging the gap between improvising and performing my pre-composed pieces, and creating new music in which the depth of tradition can be heard.
There are situations, in music as in everyday life, when one may try to convey the impression that one’s ideas and actions are not spontaneous but have in fact been carefully considered. The perception that something has been carefully considered often tends, rightly or wrongly, to give it greater intellectual validity and respect.
Do you think music can make a difference? Do you believe that music transcend culture and civilizations?
Throughout my travels I have thought about the culture, religions and ideas that have been influential for centuries along the historic land and sea routes that comprised the Arab world, and have wondered how these complex interconnections occurred and how new musical voices were formed from the diversity of these traditions.
Music has the power to transcend barriers, build bridges of love, peace and understanding among peoples of the world. It has the capacity to draw people and cultures closer together. How did the Oud, a pear-shaped stringed instrument that dates back to the Uruk period in Southern Mesopotamia (Syria & Iraq), come to be decorated with baroque design, for example? Most probably the lute was introduced to Western Europe by the Arabs who established the Umayyad Caliphate of Andalus on the Iberian Peninsula beginning in the year 711 AD. There is no question that the West evolved from the East and throughout history music was the language of all cultures and civilizations.
Rather than measuring the heights of the skyscrapers of a country, its cultural and historical depths are more meaningful on a global scale. I believe that your music appeals to an international audience because it is distinctly Syrian rather than being entirely Classical. In your opinion, what is the key to your success?
In music, the term “key” is used in many different ways. As you know, there are 88 keys in a grand piano! And in Westerns music theory there are 12 minor keys and 12 major keys! I was always intrigued to see if there were any correlations with a song’s key and its success during certain time periods.
Back to your questions, the key to success in the music industry is to use your talents to create art and music that fulfills. I always try to do what I love and love what I do in search of truth and beauty so I can reach the heart of my fans. I am committed to present the rich heritage of my homeland Syria for the simple fact that the oldest music notation in the world was discovered in Ugarit.
One of things I learned early in my career is hard work that involves getting yourself into a deep sense of personal commitment to your art, and the business of your art. Your hard work will pay off, if not always, at least with a sense of personal satisfaction for having done the best work creating and performing great music.
We live in a diverse climate of cultures and the music industry is hardly immune to this international climate. This new musical diversity is even reflected in the Grammy awards! Winners of this prestigious award come from countries that have no skyscrapers and places that we barely know. My message is clear: Bridging the gap between cultures, presenting the rich culture of Syria while promoting love, peace and harmony to the world.
Yafa, one of your musical compositions, is dedicated to the Iraqi and the Palestinian people who face war everyday. How is music different from expressing such concerns through art or literature?
Music, like literature and the other forms of art you mention, is an expression of individual thought and feeling achieved through the creative process. Artists seek to share their experiences, observations, and understanding (their “truths”) through the medium that most effectively lends itself to their personal skills and abilities. Whether artists are writing stories, composing music, or painting pictures, they are expressing their relationship to the world around them at that moment. Their works share certain expressive elements, such as structure, theme, and tone. Art connects human beings to each other in a way that it allows us to share each other’s perceptions, emotions, and experiences. A gifted artist may capture creatively what we feel but cannot express ourselves.
Whether music has the power to express something beyond the work itself such as non-musical idea or emotion has been the central question of musical aesthetics. I am in the business of asking for, telling, and creating stories. This is what I try to do with my music. Yafa was an attempt to tell my own story of the people of Palestine, selectively and thoughtfully, but honestly. I listen and then share the ones I know will connect with my audience. I thrive to make connections with my fans throughout the world to promote harmony and peace.
Do you incorporate other notable instruments, genres or styles into your music, other than Arabic and Classical?
I tend to color my “piano” music through orchestration by incorporating instruments of the western symphony orchestra in an attempt to tell the story and draw a complete picture of my work. The main goal is to achieve maximum effect to present the rich melodies. It really depends on the work and the story behind it. For example, I used the harp in “Echoes from Ugarit” to mimic the sound of the Kinara, the instrument used for the Ugaritic hymn of this ancient Syrian civilization.
Some treat the terms genre and style as the same. I believe that genre and style are two separate terms, and that secondary characteristics such as subject matter can differentiate between them. A music genre could be defined by the techniques, the styles, the context, the themes as well as the geographical origin.
As a Syrian pianist, I build my work around my instrument from the music of my culture and environment. The touch of the hand on the piano is the purest expression of the soul. At least this is how I feel.
Who do you look to for inspiration, musical or personal?
Inspiration sparks from the most unexpected sources. The real world is always a great source of inspiration. There is so much variety and so much going on that it never gets boring. You can always find something new. The great Impressionists of the late nineteenth century found the city of Paris to be their primary source.
Dreams are another great source of inspiration for me. As we sleep, our subconscious is free to wander around and indulge in some of its own creativity. Dreams have been an inspiration for art for centuries. They have helped to create entire art movements such as Symbolism and Expressionism. My “Piano Dream” for instance was one of the direct results of such inspiration. On the other hand, my love for my country and its rich culture and heritage was the greatest inspiration for my album “Echoes from Ugarit”.
What makes you famous is not just your music. Many people say good things about your character and donating to charities. Is your character in your music or your music sets you as a person?
I try to do good in everything I do. At the end of the day, we all are going to leave this planet and my hope to put a smile on a sad child or help someone in need. I believe music is very powerful especially if it enters your heart…and that happened only when it comes from the soul in search for beauty and truth in this world. My music is my character and I am my music! There is no question in my mind that music makes you a better human being and a good person. Have you met or heard of a “bad person” musician or a composer? I personally have not…
Your album was among top sellers at CD Baby, iTunes and Virgin. What is the secret behind this success story? And who would you like thank?
Well, I would like to thank God! A heartfelt thank you goes to my wonderful fan base and my friends of music. I invite them all to my Facebook fanpage to stay in touch and keep them posted on upcoming events and news. I am very lucky to have such wonderful people in my life…my family, my friends and my best friend, the piano!
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