„rain… rain… rain…“ – Ein Requiem

With its requiem "rain... rain... rain...", the Trickster Orchestra pays tribute to the music history and modern to contemporary poetry of Iraq.

World premiere of the Trickster Orchestra with cinematic works by Sarah Munaf: "Journey Inside a City" (2022) and Bassim al-Shaker: "Barbershop" (2022) as well as texts by Badr Shakir al-Sayyab (1926-64), Anwar Shaul (1904-84) and Sinan Antoon (*1967).

How can we commemorate extinguished lives and at the same time prepare for future mourning? On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the Trickster Orchestra opens up a space of lamentation and mourning with the world premiere of its requiem "rain... rain... rain...". It sets modern to contemporary poetry by the respected poets Badr Shakir al-Sayyab (1926-64), whose "rain hymn" gives the requiem its title, as well as Anwar Shaul (1904-84) and Sinan Antoon (*1967).

The work pays tribute to Baghdad's rich musical history with its classical chalgi ensembles of santur, nay and oud, its musical system known as maqam and its thinkers who have been searching for new sounds and moods since the 9th century. In particular, the Trickster Orchestra shapes a microtonal tuning system by the Abbasid scholar al-Farabi into contemporary soundscapes and new rhythms. With 25 tones of unequal intervals in one octave, this written material from the 10th century multiplies the expressive possibilities of contemporary music.

While the Trickster Orchestra thus culturally locates the work, it also orchestrates it in trans-traditional instrumentation. With guests such as the renowned Djoze virtuoso Bassem Hawar, the ensemble commemorates one of the first human and ecological catastrophes of the 21st century from a trans-regional and global sound perspective.

The ephemeral notes of musical improvisation become the means for an open, unwritten form of remembrance that is intended to enable deep contemplation, a communal search and identification. The piece experiments with sound to deal with unspeakable experiences of ongoing violence.

With the orchestra members moving freely around the domed hall and video artist Roman Hagenbrock animating the poetry in the space, the work reflects the placelessness of communities that are constantly disintegrating. "rain... rain... rain..." opens up an emotional and collective space of mourning and reflection on the passing of time, the ongoing echo of war for the people of Iraq and subsequent tragedies that shape our global present.

Before the concert, the orchestra will show the short films "Journey Inside a City" by Sarah Munaf (*1986) and "Barbershop" by Bassim al-Shaker (*1986), which deal with the living and artistic conditions in Iraq and experiences of displacement, diaspora and fragmented community. Haytham Bahoora (Professor of Modern Arabic Literature at the University of Toronto) will introduce the concert and the libretto.

"rain... rain... rain..." invites us to reflect on the painful history of the young 21st century and its possible futures, and to remember those we have lost.