"A MUSICAL EDUCATION IN ONE AFTERNOON "
The Jewish Museum in Camden is not somewhere I go to frequently, if ever. Nor do my friends for that matter. It is really an Ashkenazi enclave, rich in the history of East European Jewry and their progress since coming here as poor immigrants, and to be fair they have achieved a lot in all walks of life. But, there is always a first time, and this year the Museum finally acknowledged the previous existence of and paid tribute to the Iraqi Jewish Community in an exhibition- so now it has finally aacquired a space on the Iraqi circuit - people have asked me for its address even, and everyone says they mean to visit ONE DAY
Related to the above are some lectures etc..the first of which was a synopsis of the Jewish Music scene in Iraq. This was very succintly and aptly delivered by one of the foremost authorities in the field: Dr Sara Manasseh, Musicologist and performer. It was impressive how an Indian born scholar could go through all the scales of Judeo Arabic music, and tell us, the native Iraqis, things that happened before our time, and of which we only had a hazy knowledge. She explained the Arab music modes: nagham, iqa'e and sama'ee, then gave examples of Shlomo Muallim's Cantillation, Hazzaan Zekki Solomon's Qedushah, sang pieces of the Haggadah in Hebrew, Aramaic and Judeo Arabic, recited Shbahoth, introduced us to a lovely Arabic lullaby which I have never heard: De ned-hee lil walad ned-hee, wak huya wriht ummi bi), and some celebratory traditional rhymes: Afaaki, afaaki, ala fenn al emeltenu, wana taabtu wanna shqetu (Yaaqoob al-Imaree for the Henna), hard cheese but she got him alallhather after all (she had to bil marha te mereh llu though, which girls now have ceased doing).
Wonder of wonders, it remains a puzzle to me, Sara even showed us some video clips of Saleema Pasha singing Hada Mu insaaf minnak, and how she is embarassed by the earliest gossipmongers who want to know where her boyfriend is! Also a video of Qundarchi with the Maqam, and a big round of applause to Sara for sqeezing all this in little more than an hour. Of course our small Iraqi group identified with all this and found the whole process so captivating, especially when the oud and drums added to the iqa': we accompanied her with such gusto and loud tones! Though some ignoramuses gave us dirty looks, no matter, we were enjoying ourselves too much to care, indeed felt as the hosts and they the foreigners, for once in our lives! Maggiya'e lanou!!
Do I detect any feelings of guilt that we do not know our heritage as well as Sara does? There are CD's aplenty, and books by Y. Kojaman and more, and, in the offing, a concert in March.
I am looking forward to attending Dr S Zubaida?s lecture in February about our significant (but unacknowledged?) contribution to modern Iraq. I too believe in our positive influence, so here's hoping he will be converting any doubters in the audience too!
Ivy (Member of the North London Community)
December 2002