The QANUN - In Tune - R3 - Tuesday 29th

[ardcarp]

There were two items of particular interest (to me anyway) the first being about Maya Youssef who plays the Arabic Qanun. I'm ashamed to admit I'd never heard of it but I found this:

https://www.arabinstruments.com/blog/7-interesting-facts-about-the-arabic-qanun%E2%80%AC%E2%80%8F-musical-instrument

(I thought the piano accomp was a bit OTT on the programme, but that's a minor thing.) Her latest CD is called Finding Home, presumably based on music of her Syrian homeland.

The second was the interview with James Runcie about his new book on the Bach (J.S.) household and the Matthew Passion. (Title: The Great Passion.)
It seems he has gone to great lengths to authenticate the domestic goings on. Apparently the young Silbermann (son of the famous organ builder) lived with the Bach family for some time.

[kernelbogey]

There were two items of particular interest (to me anyway) the first being about Maya Youssef who plays the Arabic Qarun. I'm ashamed to admit I'd never heard of it but I found this:

https://www.arabinstruments.com/blog/7-interesting-facts-about-the-arabic-qanun%E2%80%AC%E2%80%8F-musical-instrument

(I thought the piano accomp was a bit OTT on the programme, but that's a minor thing.) Her latest CD is called Finding Home, presumably based on music of her Syrian homeland.

The second [....]

I'm glad to see you posted this, Ardie, because I fell across a fascinating interview with Maya Youssef on the World Service, and had been wondering how and where to post about it, and then gave up and (slightly) forgot:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct3jzh

The Compass: Emotional Baggage
Maya Youssef
Musician Maya Youssef talks about her painful decision not to return to her parents' house in Damascus when the civil war in Syria began. She reveals how playing music brings back such vivid memories of her homeland that she feels she has returned to her birthplace, even though she has not been there for over a decade.
The interview is fascinating, not least because of the deep empathy of the interviewer Henrietta Bowden-Jones, a distinguished psychiatrist.

I, too, had never heard of the Qanun, which is in the zither family (played on the musician's lap). Her story is fascinating - she 'fell in love' with the instrument the moment she heard it as a child, and she now lives in UK, and teaches it. She has some concerts coming up in April (Oxford Sunday 2/4, then others): see https://mayayoussef.com.

[ardcarp]

I, too, had never heard of the Qanun (note spelling), which is in the zither family (played on the musician's lap).

Thanks for the spelling correction, kb. It reminded me of the zither, not least because Mrs A and I have recently wathded (or should I say re-watched after decades!) The Third Man, whose film score is almost entirely based on zither music including, of course the famous Harry Lime theme.

I think the qanun is a zither with knobs on.....i.e. it has extra levers for changing the pitch of chosen strings by microtones. This presumably aids the production of Arabic modal sounds. I'd love to have a fiddle with one...but it seems unlikely I'll come across one.

PS Thanks for the link to the Emotional Baggage programme. Am listening now.

[kernelbogey]

I think the qanun is a zither with knobs on.....i.e. it has extra levers for changing the pitch of chosen strings by microtones. This presumably aids the production of Arabic modal sounds. I'd love to have a fiddle with one...but it seems unlikely I'll come across one.

You could go to one of Maya's concerts, and ask for 'a fiddle' - or go to one of her courses and learn how to play it!

PS Thanks for the link to the Emotional Baggage programme. Am listening now.

A pleasure! I hope you enjoy it. I thought the whole programme fascinating, partly because of the empathy of Henrietta Bowden-Jones (who is Italian, and has some personal understanding of 'emotional exile').