Rehearsal recording of excerpts from ‘Songs on Colloquial Arabic’ Op. 10, No. 4: I, II, IV & VI which received its UK premiere as part of ‘Mami Wata’ for Pegasus Opera and Engender Festival at the Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House in 2021.
Music: Nahla Mattar
Text: Salah El-Rawi
I. Sebha – Rosemary
The charmed one,
The daughter of the charmed one,
The sister of the charmed one,
Then it was her brother’s turn….
II. Soot – A sound (Vocalise) – 4.23
Mm: suppression
Ah: Divine freedom
Oh: Pain
IV. Selem ‘I’ – Stairs – 4.58
In the last four days,
She was so ill, then she died.
In the next four days,
Some people will die, who were alive.
VI. Dahraga – Rolling Over – 6.47
As she was trying to light the fire,
The fire was not in the mood.
The fire escaped from her,
And hid in her heart.
It reminded her of the absence of her loved one,
A year ago.
So she sang, she sang,
As she was trying to heat up the oven.