Arabesques, by Joanna Marsh

East meets West in this evocative and haunting collection of pieces setting poems by contemporary male Arab poets. Each tells a story of a woman they have known and each is at a different stage of life. The music alternates between meditative chants and soaring lyricism, and is pervaded through by an intense chromaticism that lends mystery and depth to the subjects. An excellent piece for vocal sextets or professional chamber choirs.
Audio Credit: Recorded by the BBC on 6th June 2019 and first broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 21st October 2019. Producer - Rosanna Goodall, Recording Engineer and Editor - Martin Appleby
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Lyrics:
I. A Woman
How will I drag my feet to her now?
In which land will I see her,
And on which street of what city
Should I ask about her?
And if I find her house,
Let’s say I do,
Will I ring the bell?
How would I answer?
How should I answer,
And how will I stare at her face
As I touch the light wine
Seeping between her fingers.
How should I say hello...
And how will I take the pain
Of all these years?
Twenty years ago,
On an air-conditioned train,
I kissed her all through the night.
- Sa’adi Youssef, b. 1934 (Iraq)
II. You Want
You want, like all women,
Solomon’s treasure.
You want pools of pleasure,
Combs of Ivory.
You want a horde of slaves.
Sharazad, like all woman want.
You want me to give you
The stars, the heavens.
You want me to give you
The stars in the heavens.
- Nazir Kabbani, 1923-1998 (Syria)
III. Fading
Imagine where this dove will go;
Imagine when her wings turn grey,
When her call grows old.
Will she turn to the mirrors of young sparrows
Who slide into delusion?
Or will a deaf sparrow offer her
A perch to sing?
How will she apologize to a traveller
Wanting to stroke her feathers
When the flock scatters?
How will she strut through the courtyard
Or impress the grass?
Will she look for a kind boy to grind her
A grain of wheat,
Or an old flame to relight aging passions?
Perhaps she will divide her sadness
Between a window and a metal cage.
Perhaps she’ll become a professional mourner
At the funerals of birds.
Imagine where this dove will go
When the trees donate their lowest branch.
Imagine when neighbours
Are indifferent to her past.
- Abboud al Jabiri, b. 1963 (Iraq)
IV. Seeds in Flight
An ancient woman, who has lived all the seasons.
Wanders the earth gathering camomile.
Each flower in her apron is a star,
Her apron is the sky.
When she reaches the house,
She strews them to dry
Like shells on a beach -
To bring good luck,
To whisper the future.
In the sun her tattoo glistens,
A star glints in her gold earing.
The camomile drys.
Her hand, hennaed with God’s names,
Spun the wool of the flock,
Embroidered the wedding clothes,
Gathered the dried flowers.
But next season, when the future arrived,
It silenced the whispers.
She was buried with her ancestors.
And yet as if by chance,
As if by magic,
As if by miracle
The camomile grows each season.
Many seeds have flown.
These seeds remain.
- Khaled Abdallah, b. 1970 (Gaza)
‘Fading’ by Abboud al Jabiri translated by Worod Musawi and The Poetry Translation Centre Workshop Copyright (c) The Poetry Translation Centre. ‘Seeds in Flight’ by Khaled Abdallah translated by Sara Vaghefian and The Poetry Translation Centre Workshop Copyright (c) The Poetry Translation Centre. www.poetrytranslation.com.