A musical lesson for the cultures of the world: to exist in counterpoint with one another

In an opinion piece for the New York Times, Mohammed Fairouz, an Arab-American composer, wrote about the "increasing cosmopolitanism of the musical world in which we find ourselves":

Composers from China to the Middle East are among the most important working in America today. (The current Pulitzer Prize winner, Zhou Long, from China, is a notable example.) What is even more exciting is that nearly all composers are reaching for, and drawing musical materials from, their roots. These roots can be a drum kit, a bluegrass fiddle, folk dances from Mount Lebanon, DJ mixes, Arabic Maqam (modes), the bending notes of the sitar or the nay and infinite others. These composers are now comfortable articulating in fresh ways the music in which they have been most immersed.

Fairouz adds that this is about more than just "fusion" or "cross-over," but rather seeking "contrapuntal synthesis" (even though counterpoint is apparently not the most attractive part of composing):

There is a concern among many of the world’s cultures (the Arab culture perhaps most prominent among them) about losing one’s identity in a globalizing world. In a contrapuntal passage of music, each line, even when woven together with other lines to form a cohesive tapestry, retains its own beauty. In this musical technique I see a lesson for the cultures of the world: to exist in counterpoint with one another, with each retaining its individual cultural traits, but enriching the whole.

The video above is of the world premier of Fairouz's Tahrir for Clarinet and Orchestra, performed by soloist David Krakauer, at Merkin Concert Hall, New York, on June 9. It should be pointed out that Krakauer is a noted klezmer musician, klezmer being the musical tradition of East European Jews.

Source article:

• After Tahrir, New Voices in a Global Fugue (The New York Times)