Fairouz - Tahwidah

MOHAMMED FAIROUZ TAHWIDAH A Lullaby for Soprano and Clarinet in Bb

Commissioned by Alwan for the Arts

Tahwidah is the Arabic word for “Lullaby”. The first idea for this little song came from discussions I had with Mahmoud Darwish about setting some fragments from his epic poem, A State of Siege, to music.

This never materialized and Tahwidah, written in late 2008 was my first reaction to the poet’s death that year. The lullaby is scored for soprano and clarinet and represents a nocturnal image of a woman singing to her love. The poem seems unusual for Darwish in that it is metered and resembles the 6th century form of ghazal. It is not until the last lines of the poem that Darwish breaks out of the meter and reveals that the woman has been singing to her son at his funeral.

—Mohammed Fairouz

Tahwidah is recorded on "Native Informant," Naxos American Classics CD 8.559744, performed by Mellissa Hughes, soprano, and David Krakauer, clarinet.

Mohammed Fairouz, born in 1985, is one of the most frequently performed, commissioned, and recorded composers of his generation. Hailed by The New York Times as “an important new artistic voice” and by BBC World News as “one of the most talented composers of his generation,” Fairouz melds MiddleEastern modes and Western structures to deeply expressive effect. His large-scale works, including four symphonies and an opera, engage major geopolitical and philosophical themes with persuasive craft and a marked seriousness of purpose. His solo and chamber music attains an “intoxicating intimacy,” according to New York’s WQXR. A truly cosmopolitan voice, Fairouz had a transatlantic upbringing. By his early teens, the Arab-American composer had traveled across five continents, immersing himself in the musical life of his surroundings.

Prominent advocates of his instrumental music include the Borromeo and Lydian String Quartets, the Imani Winds, The Knights Chamber Orchestra, Metropolis Ensemble, violinists Rachel Barton Pine and James Buswell, clarinetist David Krakauer, and conductors Gunther Schuller, Fawzi Haimor, and Yoon Jae Lee. He has been recognized as an “expert in vocal writing” by the New Yorker magazine and as a “postmillennial Schubert” by Gramophone Magazine. Among the eminent singers that have promoted his wealth of vocal music are Kate Lindsey, Sasha Cooke, Lucy Shelton, D’Anna Fortunato, David Kravitz and Randall Scarlata.

Commissions have come from the Borromeo Quartet, Imani Winds, New York Festival of Song, Da Capo Chamber Players, New Juilliard Ensemble, Cantus Vocal Ensemble, Cygnus Ensemble, Counter)induction, Alea III, Musicians for Harmony, and many others. Recordings of his music are available on the Naxos, Bridge, Dorian Sono Luminus, Cedille, Albany, GM/Living Archive, and GPR labels.

Mohammed Fairouz is the subject of a documentary by BBC World Service TV, has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and BBC/PRI’s The World, and has been profiled in Symphony, Strings, New Music Box, and the Houston Chronicle, among others.

His principal teachers in composition have included György Ligeti, Gunther Schuller, and Richard Danielpour, with studies at the Curtis Institute and New England Conservatory. His works are published

by Peermusic Classical. He lives in New York City.

Tahwidah (Lullaby)

If you’ll not be a rain, my love, then be a tree drenched in fertility… be a tree and if you’ll not be a tree, my love, be a rock drenched in humidity… be a rock and if you’ll not be a rock, my love, be a moon in the sleep of lovers… be a moon (This is what a woman told her son at his funeral) – Mahmoud Darwish translated from the Arabic by Mohammed Fairouz

Commissioned by Alwan for the Arts for Christine Moore and Kinan Azmeh

Tahwidah

Score in C

A Lullaby for Soprano and Clarinet in B b

Text by Mahmoud Darwish (2002)

Mohammed Fairouz (2008)

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© Copyright 2013 by Songs of Peer, Ltd. International Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved

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