Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Rome, SANA- The Language of Peoples is present in the second day of the “Damascene Rose… From Syria to Turin” through a musical journey inspired by the Damascene Rose led by Maestro Misak Baghboudrian and hosted by the Swiss Hall at the Royal Palace of the Italian city, Turin.
Musicians from Syria and Italy participated in the musical evening, entitled “Ode to the Rose”, in which, to give the most beautiful musical compositions and traditional songs that formed the living memory of peoples.
The evening’s program was a musical journey through time, started by the musicians by presenting the “Nikal” song, which is the oldest Syrian musical notation known to the world, discovered on a clay tablet dating back to more than 1400 BC in Ugarit city on the Mediterranean coast.
Opera singer Mirna Kassis performed a group of Syriac hymns, which is the oldest form of choir singing in Syria.
The musicians, who wore the Damascene brocade, which is one of the ancient Syrian crafts, presented a variety of musical compositions, including “Traditional Irish Song”, the medley “Fayrouz’s Songs”and other songs..
Maestro Baghbudarian said in a statement to SANA correspondent that this event aims to let the audience to know about the story of the rose and about its impact on people, which started from old ages to Ugarit, the first musical notation, up to the Syriac music, passing through later and modern ages.
Maestro Baghboudrian added that this journey brings together four Arab musicians, three Syrians and a Palestinian, and two Italians.
He stressed that music is a language that everyone understands, and it is a language that reaches the heart, which was reflected in the audience’s reaction to the evening, as it reflects a human, cultural and musical situation that we lived in Syria, “which gave us the rose and we presented it to the whole world.”
The third day of the “Damascene Rose… From Syria to Turin” days, organized by the Royal Museums in Turin and the Syrian Trust for Development, in cooperation with the “Santagata” for the Economics of Culture organization, is scheduled to include a conference on the Syrian cultural heritage entitled “Bridges of Peace.”
Nisreen Othman/ Mazen Eyon
