Interview with Patrick Suarez
Dayton City Paper October 20, 2009
What is Rumi's place in history, religion and philosophy?
Rumi is the most beloved poet in the history of Sufism, which is the mystical form of Islam. He was born in 1207 in what is today Afghanistan, and lived most of his life in what is today Turkey. His language is Persian Farsi, which is spoken today in Iran, where he has long been especially revered. Recently, translations into English by Coleman Barks and others have made him one of the most-read poets in America. Given today's tensions between our country and Iran, this is a remarkable thing, and Rumi embodies the possibility of a bridge between the two cultures.
What drew you to Rumi?
His universalism, his imagery, the compression of his ideas, his humor, his ardor, his love of music. He is a genius-a being of the highest spiritual realization and a very great artist, and these two attainments do not often go together. I was working with a group in New York City called the Interfaith Fellowship Choir, and we were interested in devotional and inspirational music from different traditions. That's when I began working with Rumi texts, more than fifteen years ago, and that group first performed early versions of the songs that are developed in the piece that we're premiering next week.
How did you establish the music for each song? What was it about a song that triggered a specific kind of melody or rhythm?
Many of the original poems are strict in terms of rhyme and meter, but the translations I work with are not. So I have to invent a satisfying musical form, in terms of repetition and pacing. It is important to me that the words be understood, so I usually find a speech rhythm that suggests a musical rhythm and work from there. It seems to me that some poems do not want to be songs, but some do.
How would characterize your music for these songs?
My background is mostly in pop and theatre music, and my music is accessible, melodic, rhythmic. I have performed some these songs accompanying myself or others on piano and guitar; they have been performed by small and larger choirs, and I recorded some of them in a pop/new age format in 2001-2. I am very grateful to Neal Gittleman and the DPO for the opportunity to re-imagine some of them in a concert-music context.
Do you have any favorites among the songs in terms of the poetry or message in the text?
They are all my favorites-here's the first one I ever learned or set:
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth
Across the door-sill where two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep.
Patrick Suarez - Dayton City Paper (Oct 26, 2009)
Review – Dayton Philharmonic Chamber Concert, The Songs of Rumi, October 29, 2009; Dayton Ballet, October 29, 2009
If I were to query my dear readers as to who is the most popular poet in America today, the answers would certainly include Shakespeare, Milton, or even Bob Dylan. How many would guess that it was a Persian poet of the 13th century, Rumi?
I am of the age to remember when another Eastern poet, Khalil Gibran, was an icon. My college age contemporaries often carried The Prophet with them at all times. The mystical aphorisms of Gibran and Rumi are most seductive and inspirational. They excite a longing in our Western minds often missing from our daily and literary life. Interestingly, Gibrah was of the last century, writing in both Arabic and English and living in the US. Rumi, lived in Turkey and wrote in the Persian of the Sufi school of poets seven centuries ago.
Young composer Jeff Olmsted, living in Dayton as director of the Dayton Peace Choir, shares the fascination with Rumi’s poetry. For over 15 years, these works have resonated in Jeff’s musical essence. The result is a stunning song collection of Rumi’s poetry set to Jeff’s special gift, amalgamating classical music with Rock, Jazz and Eastern influences.
Maestro Neal Gittleman of the Dayton Philharmonic is a master programmer. He has enlivened and enriched the repertory of the orchestra and the experience of the audience immeasurably. Neal and Jeff were fellow students at Yale. When Jeff moved to Dayton, their friendship and musical interests were rekindled. The result – Dayton Philharmonic’s world premiere of The Songs of Rumi.
The premiere was the feature of the October Demirjian Chamber Concert. These delightful concerts, Wednesday evenings and Thursday mornings, are a treasure. The concert opened with a lovely memorial tribute to former principal violist Emma Louise Odum. Present principal Sheridan Currie and the chamber orchestra played Hindemith’s Trauermusik. The lovely elegiac piece was a fitting tribute.
This was followed by Tchaikovsky’s Suite No. 4 (Mozartiana). Tchaikovsky mined the piano works of Mozart creating a brilliant orchestral display. Tchaikovsky had great fun and so did the musicians and the audience. There were plenty of places for our artists to show off with solos by Jessica Hung, John Kurokawa and Rebecca Tryon leading the various sections in delightful music.
It was the Songs of Rumi which made this concert unforgettable. The chamber orchestra was joined by the Philharmonic Chamber Choir and soloists Lauren Davis, Grace Olmstead and Sam Kreidenweis, all local students, and William Compton.
From the first to last notes, the music was engaging, exciting and fresh. The sung poetry had the flavor of the East, filling the soul with longing for peace and truth. More of these adventures are needed. The Chamber Series is the perfect setting.
Burt Seidel - Oakwood (OH) Register (Nov 4, 2009)