"Mishwar" (2024), for orchestra, commissioned by the California Symphony. This is a DEMO Recording made through Dorico and NotePerformer. If you live in the Bay Area in California, come watch the premiere and say hi: www.californiasymphony.org/shows/brahms-obsessions/ 📖 PROGRAM NOTE: Throughout my childhood, my family and I made frequent trips up the coast of California, from the San Fernando Valley up to the Bay Area. Awaiting us there was the paternal, Jordanian side of my rambunctious, extended family, who we always looked forward to seeing again. Near the five-hour mark of each trip, like clockwork, a waft of garlic would whisk itself into our car, signaling both the impending arrival to our final destination, San Jose, and the start of what my two younger brothers and I would infamously call “the Arabic game.” Once we made our way through Gilroy, my dad, on cue, liked to see who retained the most out of the Arabic language among the three of us, who were all born in the U.S.: “What color is that car?”; “Who can count to 20?”; “How do you say ‘sky’?”; and so on. None of us were quite good at this game, though the moments when one of us would remember a word or phrase would always bring joy for my dad. This short, energetic piece, Mishwar (مشوار), or “trip” in Arabic, is a marker of those formative memories for me. Musically, the work is centered around the brass section, which plays chords influenced by the maqamat, the melodic framework used in the Middle East that to our Western ears consist of pitches outside the scope of our daily aural consumption. Mishwar is a conversation, albeit quite a loud one, between both my identities: a coastal American trained in Western classical music, and the son of Jordanian and Lebanese immigrants attempting to retain the culture they themselves grew up in.
Hey Saad, I am wanting to get the full score of this fanfare in time for Christmas...when I went on the website, it sent me back to this demo video...I'll shoot you an email about it...Great piece!!!
I gotta say I love that posting audio mockups of pieces are becoming more commonplace now. I no longer feel bad about posting a noteperformer mockup when I don’t have a good recording yet
Fresh Saad!!! What an interesting fanfare...I also like that moment about 52 seconds in, where the trombones have effectively disembodied the music, yet, as always, it continues on with that syncopated, almost Latin type feel at times...but it seems to be in a state of constant development and that syncopated pulse helps keep it all together...I also really love that crescendo/modulation at 1:53 (which is mirrored again later), what an amazing shine that adds!, but the ultimate moment is that completely unexpected, yet ever so temporary move to E7 at 2:18 which seems to set it up as a V7 chord-which is also unexpected, given the preceeding material, but then a bar later, instead of resolving in some form of A major or A minor now, we modulate to F double sharp??? Wow! That's a classic Saad move; set up expectations then the second it approaches convention, a microtonal twist out of left field! The Haddad Gaslight!!! I enjoyed this little fanfare quite a lot...and brilliant trumpet writing overall too!
I don’t know how you did it, but somehow you have just summed up my entire next video (!) you will see what I mean!! Especially that comment about the E7 chord “gaslighting” - damn good ears there Eric!
@saadhaddadmusic Also, I was wondering if you wrote this fanfare in a modified rondo form or something else? It seems to be like, A B A C A, but like I said before, it also seems to be in a state of constant development too(A, A¹, A², etc)...but the syncopated unison lick does return more than once so...just wondering, thanks for sharing and responding back!
@@ericleiter6179 generally speaking yes tho I don’t think of music too much in those ways anymore - kind of an A very large B then A, but I like your modified rondo explanation more actually
Most microtonal music is too spicy for my taste, but this is really nice. The rhythms are so fun and really help to ground the piece, while the orchestration has such a sparkly airyness to it.
I wonder if those violin harmonics will be able to cresc. all the way to fortissimo. Maybe consider whether the timbre of the harmonics, or the crescendo is more important, in which case stopped notes at the sounding pitches could be used instead. Just an idea, for the one who is usually giving the advice :D
If the harmonics were to be replaced with stopped notes, they could potentially be doubled by flutes/high woodwinds, which both have more dynamic range to cresc. into, and have a very similar timbre to that of string harmonics. What can I say, youtube orchestration tutorials maketh expert. Interesting piece by the way!
with quartertones, I get antsy about doubling between different families of instruments, so if anyone is crazy out there to study my orchestral repertoire, they'll notice that it's on the rarer side that I double quartertones across the orchestra to make some attempt at keeping the intonation steady.
Another question : How come you're so fluent in English? There's absolutely no arabic accent in your speech. Were you born in the US? Is English your mother tongue?
"Mishwar" (2024), for orchestra, commissioned by the California Symphony.
This is a DEMO Recording made through Dorico and NotePerformer.
If you live in the Bay Area in California, come watch the premiere and say hi:
www.californiasymphony.org/shows/brahms-obsessions/
📖 PROGRAM NOTE:
Throughout my childhood, my family and I made frequent trips up the coast of California, from the San Fernando Valley up to the Bay Area. Awaiting us there was the paternal, Jordanian side of my rambunctious, extended family, who we always looked forward to seeing again. Near the five-hour mark of each trip, like clockwork, a waft of garlic would whisk itself into our car, signaling both the impending arrival to our final destination, San Jose, and the start of what my two younger brothers and I would infamously call “the Arabic game.”
Once we made our way through Gilroy, my dad, on cue, liked to see who retained the most out of the Arabic language among the three of us, who were all born in the U.S.: “What color is that car?”; “Who can count to 20?”; “How do you say ‘sky’?”; and so on. None of us were quite good at this game, though the moments when one of us would remember a word or phrase would always bring joy for my dad.
This short, energetic piece, Mishwar (مشوار), or “trip” in Arabic, is a marker of those formative memories for me. Musically, the work is centered around the brass section, which plays chords influenced by the maqamat, the melodic framework used in the Middle East that to our Western ears consist of pitches outside the scope of our daily aural consumption. Mishwar is a conversation, albeit quite a loud one, between both my identities: a coastal American trained in Western classical music, and the son of Jordanian and Lebanese immigrants attempting to retain the culture they themselves grew up in.
Curious to know how you get the microtones rendered accurately? Is this a Dorico feature, or do you use a third-party plugin?
@@BookSmartBucks dorico
Hey Saad, I am wanting to get the full score of this fanfare in time for Christmas...when I went on the website, it sent me back to this demo video...I'll shoot you an email about it...Great piece!!!
Thank you for sharing Saad, we feel privileged to be allowed to hear your work.
🙏🏽 I feel privileged that you enjoy it 🙏🏽
Wow amazing! I love the tension and release at 0:52 it really goes well with the marcato trumpets and then the contrasting mad trombones
Thank you that is an intense modulation there!
I gotta say I love that posting audio mockups of pieces are becoming more commonplace now. I no longer feel bad about posting a noteperformer mockup when I don’t have a good recording yet
I’m not allowed to post any of my orchestral recordings from American orchestras 🤣 so kind of a necessity
@@saadhaddadmusic Fair 🤣
Fresh Saad!!! What an interesting fanfare...I also like that moment about 52 seconds in, where the trombones have effectively disembodied the music, yet, as always, it continues on with that syncopated, almost Latin type feel at times...but it seems to be in a state of constant development and that syncopated pulse helps keep it all together...I also really love that crescendo/modulation at 1:53 (which is mirrored again later), what an amazing shine that adds!, but the ultimate moment is that completely unexpected, yet ever so temporary move to E7 at 2:18 which seems to set it up as a V7 chord-which is also unexpected, given the preceeding material, but then a bar later, instead of resolving in some form of A major or A minor now, we modulate to F double sharp??? Wow! That's a classic Saad move; set up expectations then the second it approaches convention, a microtonal twist out of left field! The Haddad Gaslight!!! I enjoyed this little fanfare quite a lot...and brilliant trumpet writing overall too!
I don’t know how you did it, but somehow you have just summed up my entire next video (!) you will see what I mean!! Especially that comment about the E7 chord “gaslighting” - damn good ears there Eric!
@saadhaddadmusic Thank you! And I can't wait to see the next video and hear the next piece...as always!
@@ericleiter6179 I should have just had you script the video! It would have saved me a lot of time! :P
@saadhaddadmusic Also, I was wondering if you wrote this fanfare in a modified rondo form or something else? It seems to be like, A B A C A, but like I said before, it also seems to be in a state of constant development too(A, A¹, A², etc)...but the syncopated unison lick does return more than once so...just wondering, thanks for sharing and responding back!
@@ericleiter6179 generally speaking yes tho I don’t think of music too much in those ways anymore - kind of an A very large B then A, but I like your modified rondo explanation more actually
This is so good! I love it. Especially the line the Violins have at A, and that cello part through through G.
Glad you like it!
Saad,
One of your best pieces. I love the exciting tonal shifts.
Thank you John, very kind of you to listen as always.
Impressed starting! I love the energy, really fresh my ears
glad you like it!
Most microtonal music is too spicy for my taste, but this is really nice. The rhythms are so fun and really help to ground the piece, while the orchestration has such a sparkly airyness to it.
I wonder if those violin harmonics will be able to cresc. all the way to fortissimo. Maybe consider whether the timbre of the harmonics, or the crescendo is more important, in which case stopped notes at the sounding pitches could be used instead. Just an idea, for the one who is usually giving the advice :D
That may be what we end up doing! But I like when harmonics “break” at those volumes, so I kept those in for now. Nice suggestion there :)
If the harmonics were to be replaced with stopped notes, they could potentially be doubled by flutes/high woodwinds, which both have more dynamic range to cresc. into, and have a very similar timbre to that of string harmonics. What can I say, youtube orchestration tutorials maketh expert. Interesting piece by the way!
@@BlintsonEcker-t5l yep yep yep, all very true! Amazing what we can learn online!
with quartertones, I get antsy about doubling between different families of instruments, so if anyone is crazy out there to study my orchestral repertoire, they'll notice that it's on the rarer side that I double quartertones across the orchestra to make some attempt at keeping the intonation steady.
@@saadhaddadmusic How do you go about writing microtonal music? Is there any functional/theoretical basis, or do you just play around with harmonies?
Sooooo good
🙏🏽 it was crazy live !
I wouldn't want to be the one who would have to conduct this 😂
Stravinsky is standard rep. This is a piece of cake.
الله❤
برافو برافو برافو
Wow can an american orchestra play this piece in this microtonal accuracy?
They are giving a great effort and very open to trying! 🙏🏽
Hi Saad,
I have a dumb question.
Can you play any music instruments?
Yes, but not very well.
Another question :
How come you're so fluent in English?
There's absolutely no arabic accent in your speech.
Were you born in the US?
Is English your mother tongue?
Yes and yes.