Rituals, a Beautiful Syrian Musical Bridge Between Past and Present

September 21, 2022 – Baytna’s rich work with Syrian civil society has consistently shown that empowerment takes different forms, through a variety of channels. Amongst the projects supported by our Online program’s grants, in the category of creative solutions, culture, and technology, is Rituals, a beautiful album of classical Arabic music released this month by the very talented Syrian musicians Yammen Jazbeh (on qanun) and Ayman Jesry (on oud).

The album’s appeal, and its importance for civil society, was clear for Baytna. “We were happy to support the production and mastering, because the album promotes Syrian musical culture, and it includes two of the oldest stringed instruments in the history of oriental music,” explains Jihad Masri, who led the Baytna Online program. “This musical project was distinguishable by the merging of the oud and the qanun, introducing a new mould with an oriental Syrian flavor.”

Yammen Jazbeh, born and raised in Aleppo, told us he began his musical trajectory at the age of eight, studying at the Arab Music Institute. He also learned maqāmāt (the system of melodic modes used in traditional Arabic music), qanun, and classical music with the eminent Professor Muhammad Seif al-Din Zain al-Abidin, one of Syria’s best-known and most respected music masters. Jazbeh went on to study at the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus, graduating in 2015.

Ayman Jesry hails from a musical family, his father a researcher in Arabic music, and a singer and composer. As a child, Jesry began studying music at the Aleppo Institute of Music with several great musicians in Aleppo. He also was a student of Professor Mohammad Seif al-Din Zain al-Abidin, who took Jesry under his wing for over ten years, teaching him oud, theoretical music (maqāmāt), and the relationship between music and physics.

For Jazbeh, music serves civil society as much as political and social initiatives do: “ It is our duty to compose music and play it for the Syrian people to listen to and enjoy it.” He added that this album’s purpose was not just limited to entertainment, explaining that “it is also a case study that students can learn from, as we created a new pattern in merging the musical maqāmāt in a way never used before, performing what’s ancient in a modern style.”

As aficionados and Syrian listeners have already noted, Rituals is an impressive artistic work that links the present with the past, reviving parts of the Syrian heritage. “It is a project that introduces Syrian music to displaced people born in the diaspora and raised within other cultures, those who have experienced a break with their heritage,” said Masri. “As a civil society organization, we wanted to highlight this heritage so that people do not forget their roots, and contribute to the long-term enrichment of the Syrian artistic content and its preservation in the Syrian collective memory.”

Jazbeh believes more support is needed for musicians and projects of this type: “I would be happy to know that different people benefited from this musical experience, including not only musicians, but all people interested in music and Syrians in general. Our work represents a societal case, and an artistic state that touches everyone," he stressed. "Baytna’s support allowed us to express ourselves elegantly as musicians, and to be represented as we deserve to be represented."

We hope you enjoy watching and listening to the beautiful Rituals album here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJgq-m6d5Mc.