Commissioned by and recorded live with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra | Pavle Dešpalj, conductor at the World Premiere on April 22, 2016 at Lisinski Hall in Zagreb, Croatia.
Symphony No. 3 Hiraeth (MalekJandali.com) coming from the Cymraeg (Welsh) language, Hiraeth has no direct English translation. It combines the ideas of ‘longing’ and ‘yearning’ with a strong sense of rootedness, place and belonging. A deep, wistful, nostalgic sense of longing for home; a home that is no longer or perhaps never was. A yearning and wistful grief for people and places of your past.
Hiraeth Symphony follows the four movement structure of the sonata-symphonic cycle with a slow introduction to the Allegro, which separates and becomes a movement in and of itself. The end result is a five-movement symphony similar to Scriabin’s treatment of the symphony, but with shifted accents. The first and the last movements of Hiraeth Symphony are meant to be the “I” kind of story, very personal and deep. The middle movements are more open and outward, with elements of the theater in music. Therefore, the first movement has more weight and importance in the circle than the following Allegro, which is faster and shorter than it would be traditionally.
Today, Aleppo, the oldest inhabited city in the world, is resisting the most tragic destruction of a culture and history that are so significant, not only to the Syrian people, but to all of humanity. Starting with the invention of the alphabet, music notation and scientific breakthroughs that impacted and changed the course of mankind. Even while I was dropping my notes on paper to write this work, bombs and rockets were being dropped on the city and people of Aleppo. Each movement highlights different maqams (modes) that derive their names from different stops and regions along the Silk Road. By integrating ancient and traditional melodies with the Western symphony structure, I am attempting to preserve the rich musical heritage of Syria, especially that of Aleppo, at a time when humanity is witnessing the eradication of the cradle of civilization.
The first movement is written in complex form, with the elements of variations on the Soprano ostinato, rondo, and three-part forms. But all elements are mixed and unbalanced, for example the episode with the violin solo could also be a middle part of the three-part form, however it is too short and the following reprise of the theme is not long enough in comparison to the substantial music which came before. This is meant to be a requiem for Syrian civilization, so the symphony starts with the ending in retrograde and all that follows is recollections, dreams of how it will be, pictures of what has been.
The second movement is furious and destructive in a theatrical style that is very typical of Mahler and Shostakovich. It is composed in the Sonata form, but is quite compact, even maybe compressed. The very climax of the development is, so to speak, “soundization” (like visualization, but with sound rather than sight), a translation of powerful and emotional images into sounds.
The third movement plays the role of Scherzo. Well, in fact it is a Scherzo with unexpected twists, distortions and sudden changes of mood. It is composed in the Rondo form and initially was a separate substantive piece, which goes well with the entire structure of the symphony.
The fourth movement is a slow movement, a sort of Adagio. Usually, an Adagio is meant to be the lyrical climax of a symphony. Here it is not. The desired effect is that of an action scene portrayed in a fresco painting, static and “frozen” in time.
The fifth movement is in fact the lyrical climax of the piece. It is written in the collage form, with maximum effort to avoid repeating themes after their introduction. Each theme is a memory of this moment, and in the end, the requiem theme reappears, as if it has always been there.