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Al Farabi | Sabâ Kâr-ı Nâtık, İlâhîler, Gregorian Hymns

This is the one and only album by Čalgija’s successor ensemble Al Farabi, which played a different, more modal, less folkloristic, repertoire. The album primarily explores Wouter Swets’ idea that Western Gregorian hymns once resembled Eastern ilâhîler, their Islamic counterparts, in terms of tonality and metric structure. In addition to that, Sabâ Kâr-ı Nâtık, İlâhîler, Gregorian Hymns features an alternative, reconstructed, version of a composition by Zekâi Dede (1825–1897), which Swets thought was deliberately published in a corrupted form. The album has never been released digitally. A CD can be purchased using the contact form below.

Album information

Tracks / total playing time 1:13:49

  1. Acem ilâhî ‘Muhammed’e bir gece’
  2. Hymnus in toni 2+1 ‘Caelestis aulae nuntius’
  3. Hüseynî ilâhî ‘Biçareyim’
  4. Hymnus in tonus 1 ‘Decora lux’
  5. Irâk ilâhî ‘Zâhidâ sûret’
  6. Şehnaz ilâhî ‘Buyruk senin’
  7. Hymnus in tonus 3 ‘Hostis Herodes impie’
  8. Hüzzam ilâhî ‘Ey benim lebbeyk’
  9. Hymnus in tonus 4 ‘Quodcumque in orbe’
  10. Ferahfezâ ilâhî ‘Firkatin nâriyle’
  11. Saba kâr-ı nâtık ‘Tamamlattı Sabâ’
  12. Hymnus in tonus 8 ‘Lucis Creator’
  13. Neva ilâhî ‘Bir garibsin hu dünyada’
  14. Hymnus in tonus 7 ‘Benedictus es’
  15. Aşîrân ilâhî ‘Ey Hudâ, ben eylerim’
  16. Isfahân zemzeme ilâhâ ‘Ben yürürüm
  17. Dügâh ilâhî ‘Aşık olan ciğerin’
  18. Pençgâh ilâhî ‘Merhabâ ey şule’
  19. Hicâzkâr ilâhî ‘Söyle sakla’
  20. Hymnus in tonus 1 ‘Pange lingua’
  21. Hicâz ilâhî ‘Cenâb-ı pâkine’

30-sec. track samples on Soundcloud.

Credits

Musicians

Wouter Swets – synthesizer (microtuning)
Kamil Abbas – violin, ghijak
Yannis Kyriakides – oud

Magnus Robb – viola
Roel Sluis – vocals, def, darabuka
Joost Rekveld – ney, tanbur, def, davul

Recorded and edited: live directly on a two-track digital master with two microphones in special stero setting without any mixing, adaptation or artificial echo by Boyd Noorda at Dutone Studio, The Hague on 7, 14 and 21 March 2000, 27 April 2000, 23 and 24 May 2000, 22 February 2001, 20 September 2001 and 16 October 2001.
Liner notes: Wouter Swets
Translation introduction: Michael Collins
Photography: Ilse Schrama (portrait Al Farabi); copyright control (Blue Mosque in İstanbul)
Hymni: Anonymous, arr. Wouter Swets [2, 4, 7, 9, 12, 14, 20]
İlâhîler: Anonymus, reconstr. Wouter Swets [1]; Ken’an Rifai Büyükaksoy [3, 8]; Sultan Selim III, reconstr. Wouter Swets [5]; Dellâlzâde İsmail, reconstr. Wouter Swets [6]; Doğan Ergin [10]; Anonymus [13]; Eyyübi Ali Rıza Şengel [15]; Wouter Swets [16]; Bolâhenk Nûri Bey [17]; Yusuf Çelebi, reconstr. Wouter Swets [18]; Zekâi Dede [19, 21]
Saba kâr-ı nâtık: Zekâi Dede, reconstruction Wouter Swets [11]
Editing and design: Rein Spoorman
Digital mastering: Joop Wesselius, Wesselius Audio BV
Executive producer: Bernard Kleikamp

PAN 2073 / EAN 713958207321
℗ 2001 Paradox
© 2001 Parallax [1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20]

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  • Use the contact form below to order a CD directly from TouMilou: € 7.50

Al Farabi CD sales revenues are transferred to the estate of Wouter Swets and used to cover the expenses of a continued effort to safeguard his musical legacy. TouMilou Music contributes to this effort on a pro bono basis.

Albums by Čalgija

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