Aleppo

Aleppo (/əˈlɛpoʊ/; Arabic: ﺣﻠﺐ‎ / ALA-LC: Ḥalab, IPA: [ˈħalab]) is the largest city in Syria and it serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,132,100 (2004 census), it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant. For centuries, Aleppo was the Syrian region's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third-largest, after Constantinople and Cairo.

Aleppo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world; it has been inhabited since perhaps as early as the 6th millennium BC. Excavations at Tell as-Sawda and Tell al-Ansari, just south of the old city of Aleppo, show that the area was occupied since at least the latter part of the 3rd millennium BC; and this is also when Aleppo is first mentioned in cuneiform tablets unearthed in Ebla and Mesopotamia, in which it is noted for its commercial and military proficiency. Such a long history is probably due to its being a strategic trading point midway between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia (i.e. modern Iraq).

Music

Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound and silence. The common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness and softness), and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical sound). Different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and with vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping, and there are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces and pieces that combine singing and instruments. The word derives from Greek μουσική (mousike; "art of the Muses"). In its most general form, the activities describing music as an art form include the production of works of music (songs, tunes, symphonies, and so on), the criticism of music, the study of the history of music, and the aesthetic examination of music. Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as "the harmony of the spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, "There is no noise, only sound."

Nouri Iskandar

Nuri Iskandar (Syriac: ܢܘܪܝ ܐܣܟܢܕܪ‎, Arabic: نوري إسكندر‎, born 1938 in Deir al-Zur, Syria), is an Assyrian Syrian musicologist and composer, he is known for his work in Syriac sacral and folk music.

Biography

Nuri Iskandar was born in Deir al-Zur to an Assyrian family originally from Urfa in modern day Turkey. His family moved to Aleppo in 1941, he joined the local Syriac Orthodox scout band where he took his first music lessons. He studied at the higher institute of music at the University of Cairo Between 1959 and 1964 and graduated with B.A degree in music.

He started composing Syriac folk music in the early 1970s popular songs like ܐܘ ܚܒܝܒܐ O habibo, ܙܠܩ̈ܐ ܦܪܣܝ Zliqe frisi, ܠܐ ܬܗܦܟ Lo tehfukh and others. Upon returning to Syria he established a number of Choirs, and in 1973, he participated in the first modern festival of Assyrian music in Beirut. Presenting a number of Assyrian/Syriac folk songs with the Lebanese musician Wadi al-Safi.

He presented a number of Operettas in Syriac and Arabic the most notable of them were ܦܪܩܐܢܐ Furqono. Nouri is currently the director of the Music Conservatory of Aleppo.

Qudud Halabiya

Qudud Halabiya (قدود حلبية) literally means musical measures of Aleppo, is a form of Syrian Arab classical music found in both Arabic poetic form and secular musical genre. The poetic form is based on Andalous-era poetry sung in classical Arabic, and closely related with the Muwashshah.

History

Qudud Halabiya was originated in al-Andalus. However, it was formed as a musical genre in the Levant, mainly in the city of Aleppo. It was developed by the musicians in Aleppo, based on secular, folk and religious songs.

During the 20th century, Qudud Halabiya was further developed and popularized by many Aleppine musicians including Omar al-Batsh (1885–1950), Abdul Qader al-Hajjar (1917–1993), Bakri al-Kurdi (1909–1978), Bakri Rajab (1910–1979), Sabri Moudallal (1918-2006), Sabah Fakhri (1933), Mohammad Khairy (1935-1981), etc.

Contemporary Qudud Halabiya performers include Mohammad Qadri Dallal, Shadi Jamil, Nihad Najjar, Hamam Khairy, Shahd Barmada, Nadya Manfukh, Subhi Toufic, etc.

Benjamin Clementine

Benjamin Sainte-Clementine (English pronunciation: /ˈbɛndʒəmɪn ˈsən ˈkləməntɪn/; born 7 December 1988) is a Mercury Prize winning, British-French poet, musician and recording artist from London, England.

He grew up in North London before moving to France for a period of time. At one point a homeless teenager in Paris, his performances helped him to become a cult figure in the music and art scene. Following his move back to London, he made his TV debut on the BBC programme Later With Jools Holland in 2013.

Britain's London Evening Standard named him one of London's most influential people of 2015 in their The Power 1000. Despite failing to chart in the UK, his debut album At Least For Now won the 2015 Mercury Prize and fared better across mainland Europe. At the end of 2015 Clementine was included in The Guardian's New Year's honours a list to celebrate heroes of 2015.

Early life