His high-end pieces combine the magic of East and West

Emirati Ihab Darwish: With music, I express love and tolerance in my country

• Photography: Ahmed Arditi

• The Trio Symphony, the latest work by Ihab Darwish.

  From the source

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With the uplifting melody, the journey of the Emirati composer Ihab Darwish began since childhood.

He learned to play the piano from his mother, but he followed his passion and developed his auditory knowledge, until he opened the first music studio at home, to present a collection of pieces and symphonies that combine eastern and western rhythms, and he carried through his writings the message of love and tolerance, especially in the work « The Triple Symphony », which was presented at the Abu Dhabi Festival recently.

And from the beginnings, Darwish began his dialogue with «Emirates Today», saying: “I started my journey with music through my mother, and the piece of the godfather was the first musical instrument I learned from her, and after that I began to learn on my own, and with the passage of time I discovered that I had the talent of composing, so I started writing my own tracks.” And I leave it aside until I established my first studio at home in 2016.

He added: «I established the first studio relying on advanced equipment, along with the virtual sounds of the orchestra that I bought from (Hollywood), and after that I started working on self-composing and distributing in a symphonic way, and through this experience I traveled to Poland and recorded the first three pieces of my melodies, and presented the first piece From an orchestra of 160 musicians », explaining that he produced the work in cooperation with the Beethoven Academy and Alberni Studios, and presented it to the Abu Dhabi Group for Culture and Arts, which believes in and embraces talent, as it hosted the orchestra that recorded with him in Poland and played the piece «Waves of My Life» in Abu Dhabi.

"Tales"

That beginning was completed by Ihab Darwish during the Corona pandemic, as he worked on the piece “Tales”, which was played on a virtual stage. Reactions to the work, especially as it seeks to bridge distances and gather cultures.

The Emirati composer also presented works related to the Year of Tolerance, in addition to others produced in partnership with more than one party, including his work with Franco Dragone on producing music in “La Perle” as well as a musical work for the Palm Jumeirah Fountain.

As for the last work, the "Triple Symphony", it was presented by Ihab Darwish in Abu Dhabi. The main inspiration for this work was the Abrahamic House, which was established on Saadiyat Island, and which brings together the three religions, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, and translates the human values ​​embraced by the Emirates, which are peace, love and tolerance.

And he continued about that particular symphony: «Its duration reaches 80 minutes, and it is composed of four movements, and I composed the first and fourth movements, which bear the titles of Earth and Tolerance, while the second movement is composed by the international musician David Shire, and the third movement by the musician John Debney, and the symphony was played It was performed by 350 musicians around the world, and brought together 250 singers from six choirs, 12 soloists and seven international singers. It was also commissioned and produced exclusively by the Abu Dhabi Group for Culture and Arts and presented at the Abu Dhabi Festival.

private identity

Regarding the merger between eastern and western music, and the special identity that he created for himself, Ihab Darwish saw that the credit goes back to the Emirates for the musical identity that he created, due to the presence of many nationalities in it, and musicians from different cultures, in addition to traveling abroad and getting to know the civilizations of other countries.

Regarding the challenges of music production in the Arab world, he considered that producing a musical work with an international orchestra requires a huge budget, but technology has shortened the budget and time;

It is now possible to compose and produce music using pre-recorded virtual sounds.

He explained that all the sounds of the instruments are recorded and converted into virtual files, which makes the author imagine the piece through layers and merge them, stressing that these modern technologies do not dispense with the human sense, as the songs when presented by humans carry more feelings.

Ihab Darwish aspires to continue his career as an ambassador to convey positive messages about the UAE and transmit local culture in a global manner.

One of the big goals that he is working on is to continue composing soundtracks for films, because conveying the message needs expressive music that embodies the sound with the image, noting that he tends to present the music of historical films and drama.

• 2016 was the year in which Ihab Darwish established his first studio..and he was in his home.

• Ihab Darwish's journey with the elegant melody began since childhood;

He learned to play the piano from his mother.

Ihab Darwish:

• "I aspire to complete my career as an ambassador to convey positive messages about the Emirates and transfer local culture in a global manner."

• "Modern technologies do not dispense with the human sense. Instrumentals, when presented by humans, carry more feelings."

Projects

Composer Ihab Darwish has worked on many projects, including the Palm Jumeirah Fountain, the world's tallest fountain.

He said that the nature of this type of project is done through the request of the concerned party about the nature of the music, and when he was presented with that project, he was asked to compose music that combines eastern and western instruments and advances the two cultures.

He emphasized that the music that he presented to the fountain carries a special theme and moves between drama, romance and clamor, and wrote it completely and then designed the dance for the fountain on the tones, considering that the presence of a prior methodology for work and the presence of a lot of flexibility does not lose the musical composition of its spontaneity or spontaneity in the work, just as the presence of music in A public place with which the audience interacts and the author feels good.

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