Ya Allah | Oh God

Composed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2012, Ya Allah for piano and orchestra is based on two chants employed by the Syrian people in their peaceful quest for dignity and freedom. Jandali recorded the work in Moscow on February 5, 2013, with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Sergey Kondrashev. He then produced a shorter version with chorus joining in on the phrase “Oh God, we have only you, oh God” in Arabic. He recorded this version with members of the Arabic Choir of the Cairo Opera House and
employed a portion of it in a music video that he released in May of 2013. The present album features the complete work in its original version for piano and orchestra.

The piece begins in an atmosphere of deep foreboding, out of which emerges the powerful main theme, which Jandali based on a popular chant that the Syrian people adapted to sing at soccer games in support of their favorite team. (See also the second theme in the Piano Concerto’s finale.) They changed the lyrics to “Oh God, we have only you, oh God” when they realized that the international community had abandoned them. In 2014 the United Nations stopped counting Syrian casualties. Using a well- known tune was immensely helpful to mobilize and engage all people. Says Jandali, “While marching in the streets in peaceful protest, demonstrators used to chant together and clap their hands as proof that they were not armed to avoid being shot at by the regime snipers and soldiers on top of buildings.”

After the mood quiets, a fleeting reference steals in, unconscious but lovely, evoking Wagner’s “Fate motive,” in turn inspired by Beethoven’s famous motive “Muss es sein?” (Must it be?). This luminously prepares the way for the solo piano’s presentation of the main theme, which becomes gradually enlivened by orchestral interjections and leads directly into the energetic second theme. Derived from the chant “The People Want Freedom,” this theme receives all manner of variations and combinations with the main theme, rising to an almost brutally martial treatment before turning quasi-fugal. The composer writes, “I integrate polyphonic techniques in the juxtaposition of both chant themes to emphasize the unity and harmony of the people and their noble quest for human rights, dignity, and freedom.” The piece concludes with a broadened peroration of the main motive.