SYMPHONY NO. 5 | MALEK JANDALI 

Jandali began sketching his Symphony No. 5 in the winter of 2019, banishing the dark mood and minor keys of his Third and Fourth Symphonies by writing in C major. Naturally, however, he did not abandon his deeply ingrained aim of preserving and promoting the rich heritage of Syria through ingeniously combining its melodies and idioms with Western symphonic forms. He completed most of the work in the summer of 2020 in New York City, though he relates that he composed the second movement on a gloomy night while visiting the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains that fall.

The Fifth Symphony received its world premiere recording on March 2, 2021, by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra led by Marin Alsop at the RadioKulturhaus in Vienna, Austria. The live world premiere, on March 23, 2025, will feature the Windsor Symphony Orchestra conducted by Robert Franz at the Capitol Theatre.

Following a brief insistent introduction, the sonata-form first movement revolves around two contrasting main themes, the first based on a powerful Syrian samā’i and the second, with its air of melancholy, on a motive from the Syrian traditional masterpiece “Esqi al etash” (Quench the thirsty),” a series of celebrated strophic poems and music (muwashahat). Jandali masterfully combines these with myriad rhythmic patterns and rhymes from other sources to create a harmonious whole, much in the spirit of the prayer for rain during a year of drought in Aleppo. The movement ends in an ecstatic climax with piercing trumpets and a mysterious coda that leaves us hanging.

The second movement—aptly titled Nocturne (night piece)—evokes the beauty of nature with a sky full of stars and a gentle breeze. A lovely oboe solo introduces the main theme, which draws on the Samā’i Hosayni by Tatyos Efendi (1858–1913), famed composer of Turkish classical music.

The lively third movement, with its darting fragments, catchy rhythms, and three-part form embodies the Western tradition of the scherzo (literally “joke” in Italian)—at the same time breathing new life into an old Samā’i Muhayyer, introduced by the low brass. Jandali’s coda brings cyclic unity by recalling the theme of the first movement’s introduction, which provides solemn contrast to the prevailing effervescence.

In the great symphonic tradition of Mahler and Shostakovich, the Finale presents a burlesque demeanor, which required Jandali to invoke dynamic techniques such as subito fortissimo and pianissimo, something he rarely did in previous works. His main theme draws on an old Samā’I Huzam. After a winding down, many other characters emerge through lovely wind solos, and a mysterious fluttery “night-music” passage with a stratospheric violin solo. The movement’s powerful climax, grand pause, and resounding peroration of the main theme inspire awe.