• Iraqi musician Sadiq Jaafar performed as part of Symphony of Three: Peace, Love, Tolerance. All photos: Abu Dhabi Festival
    Iraqi musician Sadiq Jaafar performed as part of Symphony of Three: Peace, Love, Tolerance. All photos: Abu Dhabi Festival
  • Turkish qanoon player Aytac Dogan is one of 350 musicians involved in the work
    Turkish qanoon player Aytac Dogan is one of 350 musicians involved in the work
  • The Beethoven Academy Orchestra is described as the 'foundation' of the symphony
    The Beethoven Academy Orchestra is described as the 'foundation' of the symphony
  • Guitarist Carlos Pinana and Egyptian ney player Ibrahim Fathi performed
    Guitarist Carlos Pinana and Egyptian ney player Ibrahim Fathi performed
  • American singer Lisbeth Scott also took part in the symphony
    American singer Lisbeth Scott also took part in the symphony
  • South Korea's Sumi Jo has collaborated numerous times with The Abu Dhabi Festival
    South Korea's Sumi Jo has collaborated numerous times with The Abu Dhabi Festival
  • Egyptian spiritual singer Mahmoud El Tohamy
    Egyptian spiritual singer Mahmoud El Tohamy
  • Conductor Diego Navarro leads the The Beethoven Academy Orchestra
    Conductor Diego Navarro leads the The Beethoven Academy Orchestra
  • Cellist Tina Guo recorded her performance in Los Angeles
    Cellist Tina Guo recorded her performance in Los Angeles
  • South Korean-born Dutch harpist Lavinia Meijer also took part in the symphony
    South Korean-born Dutch harpist Lavinia Meijer also took part in the symphony

How the Abrahamic Family House inspired an epic symphony of peace, love and tolerance


Saeed Saeed
  • English
  • Arabic

The Abrahamic Family House has a symphony of its own.

The values of the interfaith complex, currently being built on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, are celebrated in an epic orchestral work exemplifying the message of tolerance unifying the three Abrahamic faiths ― Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

The piece, Symphony of Three: Peace, Love, Tolerance, is now available to stream on YouTube.

Commissioned and produced by the Abu Dhabi Festival, the project is grand in scale and features four distinct movements written by three composers: Emirati Ihab Darwish, alongside John Debney and David Shire from the US.

More than 350 artists were involved in the recording process, including the Beethoven Academy Orchestra from Poland, six choirs, 12 soloists, five poets and seven vocalists — including Egyptian spiritual singer Sheikh Mahmoud El Tohamy, South Africa’s Lebo M and South Korean soprano Sumi Jo.

Corralling the international talent is Darwish, also the co-artistic director of the symphony.

Speaking to The National days after the online premiere in December, he was emotional.

“I do feel very proud of what we have all achieved because it was a challenging project,” he says.

“What really bonded us together, and made us really push through, was the importance of the symphony’s message, which is a reminder to humanity that we have more things in common than not. We tried to show that both in the music composed and the video.”

Story of mankind

Emirati composer Ihab Darwish. Photo: Ali Arbes
Emirati composer Ihab Darwish. Photo: Ali Arbes

With the project first conceived nearly 18 months ago, with some parts of the world facing social restrictions due to the pandemic, Darwish says nearly all musicians recorded their parts separately in recording studios in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Los Angeles, New York and Milan.

Artists performed behind a green screen to ensure continuity in the video’s visual aesthetics, which portray musicians performing in various outdoor settings under a nocturnal sky.

“A lot of the preparation and the recording process was done on Zoom,” he recalls.

“The only time I really had that physical contact with the musicians was when I was able to travel to Krakow to meet with the orchestra. This was a necessity because the orchestra is really the foundation of the work.”

The Beethoven Academy Orchestra, one of Poland's leading ensembles, is predominately made up of outstanding students and graduates from Europe's elite conservatories.

Throughout the 100-minute work, they do a superb job of not only backing eclectic vocalists, but also channelling the distinct sensibilities of all three composers.

Darwish composed the first and final movements, titled Earth and Tolerance, respectively, while Shire and Debney separately composed the second and third movements, Peace and Love.

Darwish’s contributions fuse classical music elements, such as string sections and the soprano vocals of Jo, with Levant rhythms, including the flutters of the oud performed by Iraqi musician Sadiq Jaafar.

While given free rein to express themselves, Darwish says all composers followed a loose story on the evolution of humanity.

"The first movement is really a prologue and looks at the creation of Earth and mankind," he says.

"The African elements, from the South African choir and Lebo M, and vocals speak to that, with Africa historically being the continent from which a lot of us trace our roots."

The dramatic final movement, Tolerance, is a dazzling interplay of cultures.

American jazz trumpeter Wayne Bergeron's notes intertwine with the spiritual Arabic chants of Tohamy, before Jo returns with an Arabic children’s choir in the final crescendo.

"The finale is a message for tolerance and the need to create dialogue with each other," Darwish says.

"That dialogue can be constructive and beautiful and we show how singers, musicians, and choirs from different cultures faith and nationalities can complement each other.”

It is not preachy

With Symphony of Three: Peace, Love, Tolerance the message is as important the music.

Hence, Abu Dhabi Festival’s move to invite Debney and Shire to compose the second and third movements, Love and Peace .

Both are renowned in Hollywood for their work in music, film and stage.

A prolific composer, Shire has scored major films for five decades, including the Academy Award-winning All The President's Men (1976) and the 2007 thriller Zodiac.

Debney is a three-time Emmy Award winner for his work on television dramas seaQuest DSV, The Young Riders and The Cape.

"Classical music has a rich history of composers creating work talking about the significance of faith," Darwish says.

"But we really wanted to listen to realise the message of The Symphony of Three, so bringing composers from the film world would be ideal because film scores are more expressive and have the ability to make us visualise the story we are trying to tell."

Speaking to The National from his home in Los Angeles, Debney describes the project as one of the most significant of his career.

Elegiac and reflective, his composition, Love, features a wistful vocal turn by US singer Lisbeth Scott and some affecting passages featuring Venezuelan flautist Pedro Eustache and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus.

Debney says the work also gave him the space to process a recent personal loss.

"At the end of last year our family suffered a tragedy with the passing away of my wife's father," he says.

"That loss moved me to change the ending of my piece to make it a prayer for peace and to ask for God's forgiveness."

Shire's movement, Peace, features pensive strings and US tenor Brenton Ryan meditating on the futility of religious conflict with the key lyrics: "I don't want to fulfil my parent's prophecy that life is war. I want peace with all my body and soul."

One aspect all three composers agreed on, Debney recalls, is that they would tackle the symphony in a more abstract fashion.

"We have discussed this internally a few times because we wanted to make sure that we are not telling a history and we are not trying to preach," he says.

"We're just trying to give impressions and a sense of feeling to the listener to allow them to go through their own journey with the music."

While pleased the symphony has been streamed more than a million times in less than a week, Darwish says its true impact will be appreciated when performed live.

While no official statement has been made yet, both Darwish and Debney confirm discussions are being had to gather all the musicians for a live performance of the work as part of the launch of the Abrahamic Family House.

"It is still early days but that would be a beautiful way to present it to the world," Darwish says.

"It will artistically deliver the UAE's vision and message of co-existence, respecting each other and living in harmony."

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

What can you do?

Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses

Seek professional advice from a legal expert

You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor

You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline

In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support

Who's who in Yemen conflict

Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government

Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council

Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south

Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory

How to report a beggar

Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)

Dubai – Call 800243

Sharjah – Call 065632222

Ras Al Khaimah - Call 072053372

Ajman – Call 067401616

Umm Al Quwain – Call 999

Fujairah - Call 092051100 or 092224411

Nepotism is the name of the game

Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad. 

Our legal columnist

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Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

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- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
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ICC men's cricketer of the year

2004 - Rahul Dravid (IND) ; 2005 - Jacques Kallis (SA) and Andrew Flintoff (ENG); 2006 - Ricky Ponting (AUS); 2007 - Ricky Ponting; 2008 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI); 2009 - Mitchell Johnson (AUS); 2010 - Sachin Tendulkar (IND); 2011 - Jonathan Trott (ENG); 2012 - Kumar Sangakkara (SL); 2013 - Michael Clarke (AUS); 2014 - Mitchell Johnson; 2015 - Steve Smith (AUS); 2016 - Ravichandran Ashwin (IND); 2017 - Virat Kohli (IND); 2018 - Virat Kohli; 2019 - Ben Stokes (ENG); 2021 - Shaheen Afridi

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Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Rating: 3/5

COMPANY PROFILE

Founders: Sebastian Stefan, Sebastian Morar and Claudia Pacurar

Based: Dubai, UAE

Founded: 2014

Number of employees: 36

Sector: Logistics

Raised: $2.5 million

Investors: DP World, Prime Venture Partners and family offices in Saudi Arabia and the UAE

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Ukraine

Capital: Kiev

Population: 44.13 million

Armed conflict in Donbass

Russia-backed fighters control territory

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
Mercedes V250 Avantgarde specs

Engine: 2.0-litre in-line four-cylinder turbo

Gearbox: 7-speed automatic

Power: 211hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 350Nm

Fuel economy, combined: 6.0 l/100 km

Price: Dh235,000

WOMAN AND CHILD

Director: Saeed Roustaee

Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi

Rating: 4/5

Past winners of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

2016 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)

2015 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes-GP)

2014 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)

2013 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)

2012 Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)

2011 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)

2010 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)

2009 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)

 

Scores

Bournemouth 0-4 Liverpool
Arsenal 1-0 Huddersfield Town
Burnley 1-0 Brighton
Manchester United 4-1 Fulham
West Ham 3-2 Crystal Palace

Saturday fixtures:
Chelsea v Manchester City, 9.30pm (UAE)
Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur, 11.45pm (UAE)

What is graphene?

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.

It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.

Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.

By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.

At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.

It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.

But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.

In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties. 

 

The specs

Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder

Transmission: 7-speed auto

0-100kmh 2.3 seconds

0-200kmh 5.5 seconds

0-300kmh 11.6 seconds

Power: 1500hp

Torque: 1600Nm

Price: Dh13,400,000

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Although cryptocurrencies are a fast evolving world, this  book offers a good insight into the game as well as providing some basic tips, strategies and warning signs.

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Updated: January 07, 2023, 11:30 AM