Abed Azrie or Abed Azrié (; born 1945 in
Aleppo) is a
French-
Syrian singer and composer,
who performs
Classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
in a variety of languages, including Arabic, English, French, German, Spanish, and other.
He describes his works as not belonging to any particular music tradition.
In his work he sets ancient and modern Arabic, Sumerian, and other West Asian texts to traditional instruments (such as the
ney,
kanun,
darbuka,
violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
,
flute and
lute), and
synthesizers.
[
He was born in Aleppo, and after living for a time in ]Beirut
Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
moved to Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
at the age of 22 where he studied Western classical music. While there he translated classical poetry, such as the Sumerian '' Epic of Gilgamesh'', into French. He has stated that he prefers to live in the West, saying in a 2000 interview that he has an "inability to work in the Arab countries, in which the way people live is still conditioned by halal
''Halal'' (; ) is an Arabic word that translates to in English. Although the term ''halal'' is often associated with Islamic dietary laws, particularly meat that is slaughtered according to Islamic guidelines, it also governs ethical practices ...
and haram. Here I can produce contemporary art, I can work in freedom, and there is 'motion' around what I produce: journalism, concerts, programme…Nobody tells me to write a song for a specific political occasion."
His music has been featured in the films ''Al Leja'', directed by Ryad Chaia, Elia Suleiman's ''Chronicle of a Disappearance''. and Florence Strauss's "''Between Two Notes''" 2006, as well as in Jan Visser's 1975 TV documentary ''De Droom'' (''The Dream''), based on drawings by and interviews with Palestinian refugee children and Palestinian resistance poetry.
Discography
* 1990: ''Aromates''
* 1994: ''Epopée de Gilgamesh''
* 1996: ''Lapis Lazuli''
* 1999: ''Pour enfants seulement''
* 1999: ''Omar Khayyam''
* 2001: ''Venessia'' - sung in Venetian dialect.
* 2006: ''Suerte Live''
* 2007: ''Chants d'amour et d'ivresse'' (Live A Radio France)
* 2008: ''Mystique'' - Sufi poems
* 2009: ''Évangile selon Jean'' oratorio in Arabic, 2CD[François Bensigno]
review in French on Mondomix.com
Doumtak / Nocturne. Booklet includes Arabic sung texts and English and French translations.
* 2010: ''Satie En Orient'' with Ensemble Sarband
* 2011: ''Epopée De Gilgamesh (New Recording 2011)''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azrie, Abed
1945 births
Living people
20th-century Syrian male singers
Musicians from Aleppo
Syrian emigrants to France
21st-century French male singers