Saudi Orchestra…Artistic Experience Raising National Music to International Horizons

When a group of international musicians stood on the sidelines of the G20’s ministers of culture’s meeting in India to perform “Sur Vasudha”, celebrating the musical heritage of these countries, the head of the Saudi Orchestra appeared in their national garment and Arabic accent to partake in the song, which described the whole world as one family. From India, to France, Mexico, Jordan, and many other countries, the Saudi National Orchestra has played a universal musical language that connects people from around the world, and reminds them of what they have in common.

In every international event, with the participation of around 70 Saudi performers and instrument players, the National Saudi Orchestra and Choir perform a bouquet of folkloric, patriotic, and modern songs that highlight the Saudi musical culture, and the special products of the national music library.

The Saudi Orchestra led unprecedented international events in which it blended the diverse and rich Saudi musical folklore with the music of the hosting countries. On social media, fans shared some of the exceptional pieces the Saudi National Orchestra and Choir performed with other international groups, including the Carlos Chávez Orchestra at Mexico’s National Theater, where the audience genuinely applauded in appreciation of the great performance blending the two musical experiences.

An 80-year-old experience

The Saudi National Orchestra and Choir debuted as an early experience, in 1942, when Saudi Defense Minister, Prince Mansour bin Abdulaziz named renowned artist and one of the first Saudi composers, Tariq Abdul-Hakim to form a military music band, which became the core of an artistic journey that grew with time and helped create a unique Saudi musical identity.

Abdul-Hakim traveled to Egypt in 1952, to start the preparations for a Saudi orchestra. During his trip, he met with esteemed Arabic and Egyptian musicians, who helped shape his musical taste and journey. Back from his trip, which also included Lebanon, he started founding the first military music institute in the kingdom, and a musical group that paved the road for a prospering artistic era.

New phase and promising start

In 2019, in light of a rising momentum in the culture sector, the Saudi Culture Ministry announced the formation of the Saudi National Music Band, and the development of a professional team that represents the kingdom internationally, and promotes the Saudi music and musical heritage around the globe. The ministry chose the Saudi esteemed crooner, Abdel Rab Idris, who convoyed the Saudi music experience since its early days, to build the national team and teach different types of Arabic and international music, as well as supporting and promoting the music industry in Saudi Arabia, and spreading the national musical folklore around the world.

Following the revelation of a new cultural network in the kingdom led by the ministry of culture, which distributed the sector’s missions on 11 specialized commissions, the Saudi Music Commission launched in 2021 its own strategy to develop and support music in the kingdom in accordance with the Vision 2030. As part of its strategy, the commission has supported the outlets that facilitate access to the Saudi music product, enhanced the presence of the Saudi National Orchestra and Choir, an upgraded version of the Saudi National Music Band born in 2019.

Symbolic power and cultural identity

Maestro Imad Zaree said the National Orchestra and Choir represent the Saudi musical heritage on the international level, and provides a support system for the Saudi artists and musician in different fields. He also noted that the national band supports the local artistic movement with the discovery of talents and their qualification through specially-curated programs, as well as supporting the different art fields, promoting the Saudi heritage internationally, and boosting the goals of the Vision 2030, which defines culture, in its different categories, as a symbolic power, cultural identity, and economic addition.

Zaree, who led the National Orchestra and Choir in several international events, hailed the efforts of the ministry in setting plans that resulted in early accomplishments in international events. “We have seen the efforts of Culture Minister, Prince Badr bin Abdullah and their remarkable interest in supporting the foundation of the group and the development of its work. These efforts are manifested in the level of professionalism among the group’s members performing local and Arabic arts,” he added. This serves the interest of the Saudi art and artists, and helps spread the Saudi music experience to the world.

Thriving Saudi music and arts

Music has flourished in Saudi Arabia with many new experiences and entities created to develop the music sector and nurture promising talents. The sector has witnessed new initiatives and the opening of new music institutes for those wishing to develop their potential and engage in the new artistic phase.

Since February 2020, the Music Commission has been working on developing the infrastructure for a musical culture in the Kingdom, offering everyone the opportunity to learn music, as well as discovering, developing and empowering musical talents, spreading awareness of music culture, and establishing a sector that contributes to the domestic economy by creating jobs for both genders, live cultural performances, music recordings and amateur music education centers. The commission has also focused on reviving and documenting Saudi folklore and music performances to grow the national and social sense, developing the musical cultural identity of Saudi Arabia and promoting it regionally and globally, and emphasizing the kingdom’s leading position in the Arab and Islamic world.

In the bustling heart of Old Delhi, Indian bookseller Mohammed Mahfooz Alam sits forlorn in his quiet store, among the last few selling literature in a language beloved by poets for centuries.

Urdu, spoken by many millions today, has a rich past that reflects how cultures melded to forge India's complex history.

But its literature has been subsumed by the cultural domination of Hindi, struggling against false perceptions that its elegant Perso-Arabic script makes it a foreign import and a language of Muslims in the Hindu-majority nation.

"There was a time when, in a year, we would see 100 books being published," said 52-year-old Alam, lamenting the loss of the language and its readership.
The narrow streets of Urdu Bazaar, in the shadow of the 400-year-old Jama Masjid mosque, were once the core of the city's Urdu literary community, a center of printing, publishing and writing.

Today, streets once crowded with Urdu bookstores abuzz with scholars debating literature are now thick with the aroma of sizzling kebabs from the restaurants that have replaced them.

Only half a dozen bookstores are left.

"Now, there are no takers," Alam said, waving at the streets outside. "It is now a food market."

- Dying 'day by day' -

Urdu, one of the 22 languages enshrined under India's constitution, is the mother tongue of at least 50 million people in the world's most populous country. Millions more speak it, as well as in neighbouring Pakistan.

But while Urdu is largely understood by speakers of India's most popular language Hindi, their scripts are entirely different.

Alam says he can see Urdu literature dying "day by day".

The Maktaba Jamia bookshop he manages opened a century ago. Alam took over its running this year driven by his love for the language.

"I have been sitting since morning, and barely four people have come," he said gloomily. "And even those were college or school-going children who want their study books."

Urdu, sharing Hindi's roots and mingled with words from Persian and Arabic, emerged as a hybrid speech between those who came to India through trade and conquest -- and the people they settled down amongst.

But Urdu has faced challenges in being viewed as connected to Islamic culture, a popular perception that has grown since the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in 2014.

- 'Feel the beauty' -

For centuries, Urdu was a key language of governance.

Sellers first set up stores in the Urdu Bazaar in the 1920s, selling stacks of books from literature to religion, politics and history -- as well as texts in Arabic and Persian.

By the 1980s, more lucrative fast-food restaurants slowly moved in, but the trade dropped dramatically in the past decade, with more than a dozen bookshops shutting down.

"With the advent of the internet, everything became easily available on the mobile phone," said Sikander Mirza Changezi, who co-founded a library to promote Urdu in Old Delhi in 1993.

"People started thinking buying books is useless, and this hit the income of booksellers and publishers, and they switched to other businesses."

The Hazrat Shah Waliullah Public Library, which Changezi helped create, houses thousands of books including rare manuscripts and dictionaries.

It is aimed at promoting the Urdu language.

Student Adeeba Tanveer, 27, who has a masters degree in Urdu, said the library provided a space for those wanting to learn.

"The love for Urdu is slowly coming back," Tanveer told AFP, adding that her non-Muslim friends were also keen to learn.

"It is such a beautiful language," she said. "You feel the beauty when you speak it."

Saudi Orchestra…Artistic Experience Raising National Music to International Horizons