This evening I went to an event, part of the Shubakk Festival, at the Mosaic Rooms in Cromwell Road. I had never been there before, but they were very easy to find, being right on the corner of Earls Court Road.
The event was a recital of early Arab Christian chants, which date back to the second century, during the reign of Queen Zanubia, when Christianity reached Palmyra, the town she governed in ancient Syria. The early chants from this period were based on the secular music of Syria and Iraq, and have developed into the chants used in Orthodox worship today.
Lead by Egyptian/German singer Merit Ariane Stephanos and Father Shafiq Abouzayd, whom I remembered seeing at the Lebanese Festival the previous Sunday, we were given a brief introduction to this ancient music, in particular to the chanting traditions of the Levantine and Byzantine churches, such as the ancient Syriac liturgy of Aleppo. They were accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Jon Banks, who played two Middle-Eastern stringed instruments, whose names I cannot remember.
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The music was beautiful and haunting, although quite unlike Western music. Merit Ariane Stephanos has a wonderful voice, and Father Shafiq must have no difficulty at all in singing the liturgy, with his deep, volumous singing voice. UnfortunatelyI found his speaking voice a little hard to understand, as he spoke so quietly and has a slight accent.
The room where the recital was held was at the back, overlooking a largish garden; it must be very pleasant working there in the summer and being able to sit outside at lunchtime.
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