What does concern me today is the communicative dimension of music. In other words, does the music create a relationship or interaction between the composer and the listener? And if yes, how to get to such essential parameter, common to any other art : Communication?

In arabic, my native language, we call a person respectfully by the word « Hadratuka » (« Hadratuki » feminine), which litteraly means : your Presence. In other words : I am conscious of your presence, which inspires me respect and am happy to engage a conversation with you. Conversation, a common way to understand the concerto.

If the work of art limitates itself to testify of a craftmanship, that's fine ! And then what ? If above that, there is a stronger vocation of the Matter and its Artist, as sources of Light and Presence, then music reaches its royal and holy goal ! And here occurs the Communion of the artist and the listener to the Eternal Spirit and that, through the work of art. Only « Communion » and « Eternal Spirit » are written in capitals in the preceeding sentence, because all the other members of the sentence will vanish materially, sooner or later : artist, listener and work of art. But the Spirit vehicled in all three never vanishes. And with that spiritual dimension in mind, the question of language — tonal, modal, atonal, concrete, electronic — becomes secondary.

Through my own different compositions - often rooted in the tonality (classical or expanded) - the evolution of my interest points out over the melody, the tune, the folklore, including gregorian music and Arabic scales or rhythms from my Lebanese background. It is the case for example in my Messe Solennelle, my Suite Rhapsodique for horn and organ, my Sonata for violin and piano and more specially in my Concerto for violin and string orchestra. Wasn't Giuseppe Verdi right when saying : «Torniamo al antico è sara un progresso»?

When I was a young student, I thought that harmony, counterpoint and orchestration were the main parameters to make good music. Today I am more and more conscious of the melodic priority to define the essence of music. The fact that the melody had been seriously distorted, hidden or forgotten in the last century reminds me of the treasures of many folkloric musics burried all over the world. But burrial is not the end ; isn't it a new « point de départ »?

in : Repertoire, U.M.P., October 2002. 

© 2002 Naji Hakim