Somnium al Salaam - Dream of Peace
Studium Chorale, dir. Hans Leenders, with Paloma Lázaro Arteaga (Arabic alto), Rianne Wilbers (mezzosoprano), Nima Pournaghshband (Persian tenor/countertenor), Marianne Noordink (ney, recorder) and Stefan Gerritsen (electric guitar)
- Jun 13, 2025, 20:00, Maastricht, Onze Lieve Vrouwebasiliek
- Jun 15, 2025, 14:15, Amsterdam, Orgelpark
- Jun 18, 2025, 20:00, Maastricht, AZC (François de Veyestraat 6)
All too often we see different cultures clashing, which leads to a lot of misery and sadness. Yet you don’t want to stop hoping that one day we can all live together peacefully. A dream or Fata Morgana?
In this composition you hear that different cultures can play their music at the same time while the music still forms a whole.
I have tried to build a musical bridge between different cultures by combining baroque choral sounds with Latin, Iranian, Spanish, Arabic and Hebrew music. You would expect this to create an incoherent musical cacophony that doesn't make sense. But the opposite is true: a multi-colored whole was created in which everyone can play their own melody. And it all turns out to fit together in a wonderful way that creates a contemporary harmonic music that everyone can understand.
"Somnium al Salaam / Dream of Peace" is the second part of the triptych "Somnium al Salaam / Dream of Peace".
With this triptych I have tried to show the arduous path that we all, from whatever culture, follow in search of the ultimate dream of light, peace and blissful paradise for everyone.
When I wrote the first part of this triptych, it had everything to do with the disastrous events in Afghanistan a few years ago. It is about the loss of what was dear, in stark contrast to the peaceful Western sounds that suggest that everything will be fine if you just have faith. Unfortunately, we have now had several more wars.
The next two parts of the triptych express the search for a way, in spite of the many conflicts, to realize the ultimate dream of paradise for everyone.
The Western and Arabic soloists that in the last two movements are joined by a Persian singer express for me the despair and loss that is felt by anyone who experiences war.
But the combination of Western and Eastern cultures in this music shows that there is common ground between them, suggesting that communication between East and West should be less difficult than you might think.
If only we would listen to each other...
In the three movements I have combined the different languages and lines that the soloists sing, with a Western electric guitar, an Eastern flute and a choir that sings French baroque and Gregorian music.
In the triptych "Somnium al Salaam / Dream of Peace" you really don’t have to understand the exact words and sentences that are sung. There are too many different languages for that, and often at the same time: Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Spanish and Latin.
Just try to hear the emotion with which the words are sung, then you will already understand the music.
In this composition you hear that different cultures can play their music at the same time while the music still forms a whole.
I have tried to build a musical bridge between different cultures by combining baroque choral sounds with Latin, Iranian, Spanish, Arabic and Hebrew music. You would expect this to create an incoherent musical cacophony that doesn't make sense. But the opposite is true: a multi-colored whole was created in which everyone can play their own melody. And it all turns out to fit together in a wonderful way that creates a contemporary harmonic music that everyone can understand.
"Somnium al Salaam / Dream of Peace" is the second part of the triptych "Somnium al Salaam / Dream of Peace".
With this triptych I have tried to show the arduous path that we all, from whatever culture, follow in search of the ultimate dream of light, peace and blissful paradise for everyone.
When I wrote the first part of this triptych, it had everything to do with the disastrous events in Afghanistan a few years ago. It is about the loss of what was dear, in stark contrast to the peaceful Western sounds that suggest that everything will be fine if you just have faith. Unfortunately, we have now had several more wars.
The next two parts of the triptych express the search for a way, in spite of the many conflicts, to realize the ultimate dream of paradise for everyone.
The Western and Arabic soloists that in the last two movements are joined by a Persian singer express for me the despair and loss that is felt by anyone who experiences war.
But the combination of Western and Eastern cultures in this music shows that there is common ground between them, suggesting that communication between East and West should be less difficult than you might think.
If only we would listen to each other...
In the three movements I have combined the different languages and lines that the soloists sing, with a Western electric guitar, an Eastern flute and a choir that sings French baroque and Gregorian music.
In the triptych "Somnium al Salaam / Dream of Peace" you really don’t have to understand the exact words and sentences that are sung. There are too many different languages for that, and often at the same time: Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Spanish and Latin.
Just try to hear the emotion with which the words are sung, then you will already understand the music.