Arabic Lessons
Amos Elkana
About this work:
The 13 poems that make the Arabic Lessons song cycle were written by the poet Michael Roes. Dr. Roes wrote the poems in Arabic and then retranslated them into German. Professor Sasson Somekh of the Tel-Aviv University has kindly agreed to translate the poems into Hebrew from the Arabic original.
The musical score of Arabic Lessons makes use of all the three languages. Some of the songs are sung simultaneously in Arabic, Hebrew and German. Each Song is scored using various instrumental combinations. There are two purely instrumental movements - one is the instrumental introduction "4 Loops" and the other is a solo for drum-set titled "Cannon". The work is composed in a such way so that it can be performed from beginning to end with no pause (ca. 35 minutes) or each song can stand alone as a composition by itself.
The works 15 movements are:
Es Gibt
4 Loops
Delegation
Komposita
Stamme
Gegenwart
Grundwortschatz
Listen
Rede Wendungen
Mit Nichten
Zukunft
Uber Setzungen
Kairo
Cannon
Jerusalem
Arabic Lessons was commissioned by the Berlin Festival together with the city of Tel Aviv. Two days after the premier, given at the Merkaz Einav auditorium in Tel Aviv, the work was performed in the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin as part of the 50 years for Israel festival in Berlin.
Year composed: 1998
Duration: 00:35:00
Ensemble type: Voice, Solo or With Chamber or Jazz Ensemble:Two or More Solo Voices with Chamber/Jazz Ensemble 6-9 players
Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 1 Tenor Saxophone, 1 Trumpet, 1 Drum Set, 1 Cello, 1 Electric Bass, 3 Soprano