Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a concert
entitled “Lalun – Dreams from Andalusia and the Silk Road” at the Vancouver
Playhouse. I was intrigued by this musical ensemble as they advertised
themselves as a globe-trotting world music group that was influenced by music
from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
The individual members and their instruments looked
equally eclectic; there was Liron Man who is originally from Israel but living in
Spain and he was playing hand pans (?) as well as Lan Tung from Taiwan / Canada
playing the erhu, a type of Chinese violin, and, last but not least, Canadian Jonathan Bernard on (various
types of) percussion.
I had a certain amount of expectations as I generally
enjoy and often listen to world music. Entering the concert room, my family and
I were lucky to find front-row seats. After a bi-lingual introduction (English
and Chinese) that included a seemingly endless list of sponsors, basically a
long string of Vancouver restaurants, banks, businesses, and what-have-you, the
musicians took over the stage and wasted no words but jumped right into the music.
And I was immediately floored, meant in the best way
possible! Their music was astonishing from the very beginning. The hand pans
were basically strange-looking but beautiful-sounding large bowls with apparent
holes in them. The Chinese violin had a wailing sound to it evoking dreams and
images of Asian landscapes. In fact, after hearing her play on the erhu I was
reminded of the handful of Asian movies (Raise
the Red Lantern (1991), and In the Mood
for Love (2000), to name a few) I had seen and felt inspired and compelled
to watch more of them in the near future.
The percussion, which included hand drums and the
occasional cymbals thrown in for good measure, added an interesting rhythm to
the whole scene. Although I had initially thought that the band’s description was
a little bit far-fetched and exaggerated, I must say that even with the first
song, they covered more global terrain than I had expected.
This music in all its splendor also felt close to home. Being born in Iran, I felt there was a nod to Persian music, which was,
in fact, the case. But it was even more than that because the tunes and instruments
added different cultural hues to the whole undertaking. One of the odder choices, their final song of the day, ended up being a traditional Persian song,
translated into Chinese, that the erhu player was singing and playing to, but
again somehow and against the odds it actually worked.
The music was perfect fodder for my imagination and I could
picture it as a soundtrack to various scenes of movies that were playing in my
mind. Yet, in addition to that, I felt a certain sense of peace and calm. I
attributed this to two different phenomena.
First, the music did not only have deep-seated roots and
foundations but it was also played and presented with passion and love. It was
during this performance that I felt that the musicians were in various ways baring
their souls.
This feeling usually occurs when I am in the presence of
what I consider genuine art. In movies, literature, or music, this means that I
am presented with something very special that deeply resonates with me. It
strikes chords in me and I feel that the work of art is not meant to merely
please and entertain, not meant to rake in profits and fame, but was rather a
type of personal expression or even confession, a desire that is deeply felt
and true to the heart.
As I was listening, I was mentally going through my own
art, my writing that I have created, and longed that somebody somewhere would equally
feel the love and passion I have poured into it. To me that is the very essence
of art, to make others feel something profound, and I certainly felt that way
with this outstanding concert.
The second phenomenon was more related to the content,
the music, and its colorful influences. Here we had a perfect blend of longstanding
cultures and traditions and it invoked that feeling of peacefulness to be one
in and with the world.
The traditions were woven into each other rather flawlessly
like a monumental mosaic and it showed us that despite conflicts, pain, and suffering
we witness around the world, there is also a binding force, a unity expressed
through the soul of music that makes these worldly matters and issues
insignificant, divisive, and unnecessarily destructive.
I could not help thinking about the constant and
continuous conflicts in the Middle East, and I was aware of the fact that there
was an Israeli musician and composer who had managed to create a bond between
seemingly incompatible cultures of Jewish and Arab nations.
If only both sides could see their commonalities, the love
and beauty that was expressed through each of their musical heritage and their tonal
traditions, and that together, they could indeed create something that surpassed
either side on its own, a thing of absolute intercultural beauty. I was reminded
of that dream while attending this concert.
In fact, about halfway through, Liron Man, the handpan musician
and composer commented on that very same idea of mine! He talked about his song
called “Tierra,” Spanish for land or home, and how it reflected a mixture of
different cultures, including Arabic as well as traditional Jewish music.
To my shock and surprise, the song ended with the traditional
folk song “Hava Nagila”, which is translated as “Let us rejoice”, a fitting and
uplifting ending to his song. Now I say “shock and surprise” because before the
concert had even begun I had what I deemed a rather silly and perhaps even stereotypical
idea that I should ask him to play “Hava Nagila” at some point. And here it was
embroidered into this cultural musical hotpot. It was as if they had read my
mind or I had read theirs, which either way was rather eerie (but again in a
good way).
This concert given by the multicultural band Lalun was
indeed a mind-blowing experience. The music itself was out of this world, but
to have it transport us like a magical carpet not only across thousands of
miles but through thousands of years of history is indeed indescribable.
These musicians
have traveled extensively and played music independently as well, but what I saw, heard, and felt in this one-hour concert is rare and I very much encourage
all to experience it for themselves if given a chance.
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