Gabriel Asaad ( Syriac: ܓܒܪܐܝܠ ܐܣܥܕ) (March 18, 1907 – July 6, 1997) was an Assyrian composer, musician and

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

. His classic songs include "Ho Donho Shemsho" (), "Motho Rhimto" () and "Moth Beth-Nahrin" (). Inspired by nationalistic activities, which he began in Syria, Asaad is considered a pioneer in modern Assyrian folk-pop music, having composed the first song in

Turoyo Turoyo (), also referred to as Surayt (), or modern Suryoyo (), is a Central Neo-Aramaic language traditionally spoken by the Syriac Christian community in the Tur Abdin region located in southeastern Turkey and in northeastern Syria. Turoyo ...

. He performed in various dialects of modern

Neo-Aramaic languages The Neo-Aramaic or Modern Aramaic languages are varieties of Aramaic that evolved during the late medieval and early modern periods, and continue to the present day as vernacular (spoken) languages of modern Aramaic-speaking communities. Withi ...

. Today, he is retrospectively regarded as a master in Assyrian music and is regarded as a popular hero among Western Assyrian musicians. Assyrian composer Gabriel Asaad and Armenian composer Aram Dikran

Assyrian composer Gabriel Asaad and Armenian composer Aram Dikran

Early life

Asaad was born in

Midyat Midyat (, , , ) is a municipality and district of Mardin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,241 km2, and its population is 120,069 (2022). In the modern era, the town is populated by Kurds, Mhallami Arabs and Assyrians. The old Estel neighborho ...

on March 18, 1907 to a

Syriac Orthodox The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The church upholds the Mia ...

family. His

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

was derived from his father, while his "official" surname was "Some". Shortly before the

Assyrian genocide The Sayfo (, ), also known as the Seyfo or the Assyrian genocide, was the mass murder and deportation of Assyrian/Syriac Christians in southeastern Anatolia and Persia's Azerbaijan province by Ottoman forces and some Kurdish tribes during ...

in 1914, his family moved to

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

where he studied languages at the " Taw Mim Semkath" orphanage school under

Philoxenos Yuhanon Dolabani Mor Philexinos Yuhanon Dolabani (); (1885–1969) was the Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Mardin, Turkey and its Environs. Biography Dolabani was born in 1885 and was ordained Metropolitan in 1947. In 1908 he became a monk in Deyr ul-Zafaran Mona ...

, and then to

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

in 1921. His years at the orphanage school would influence his passion for Assyrian identity and music, with his early inspiration from Syriac Orthodox hymns. Although nobody had ever pursued music in his family before, his parents did not object to his wishes of becoming a musician.

Career

In 1926, Asaad moved to

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 ...

and began to play the

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 ...

as his choice of instrument. It was there that he composed his first song, "Othuroye Ho Mtoth Elfan l-Metba'" (). Between 1931 and 1936, he lived in

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

, composing and performing more music, including two pieces commemorating the Simele massacre (''Sohde Othur''). During his stay there, Asaad performed music with many

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

artists such as Marie Jubran and Saleh Abdel Hai. He moved to

Qamishli Qamishli is a city in northeastern Syria on the Syria–Turkey border, adjoining the city of Nusaybin in Turkey. The Jaghjagh River flows through the city. With a 2004 census population of 184,231, it is the List of cities in Syria, ninth most-po ...

in 1937. In 1952, Asaad wrote a book about music containing his works, and six years later found work as a musical director in a cultural center in

to continue his work. As

Arab nationalism Arab nationalism () is a political ideology asserting that Arabs constitute a single nation. As a traditional nationalist ideology, it promotes Arab culture and civilization, celebrates Arab history, the Arabic language and Arabic literatur ...

began to rise in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, Asaad's book was censured and only thirteen of his thirty songs could be published, and he took great notice of the trend of Ignatius Aphrem I's stance against Assyrian identity. Asaad briefly led a scout celebration featuring fellow Assyrian musician Ninib Lahdo playing the

cümbüş The ''cümbüş'' (; ) is a Turkish stringed instrument of relatively modern origin. It was developed in 1930 by Zeynel Abidin Cümbüş as an oud-like instrument that could be heard as part of a larger ensemble. The cümbüş is shaped like ...

. During this timeframe, Asaad was also giving musical lessons to younger Assyrian musicians such as Gabi Shimun, Joseph Malki, and Fuad Ispir. Like with other musicians such as Nouri Iskandar and Joseph Malki, Asaad maintained that Syriac chant and sacral music was rooted in pre-Christian origins influenced by the surrounding region. Before his passing, he published a book titled "The Syrian Music Throughout History" (), which documented musical nodes and an ancient Syriac musical scale. His last song, ''Ema gḥozena shlomo?'' ("When will we see peace?) was recorded in 1984.

Personal life and death

Asaad's son Sardanapal was encouraged to take up

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creativity, creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function ...

and studied music with the help of Asaad. He moved to Sweden in 1979 where he would stay for the rest of his life. He died on July 6, 1997, at the age of 90.

Legacy

When asked about the developments of Assyrian folk-pop music, Asaad remarked that he was proud that it could now be played freely without issues. He is remembered as the leading composer for West Assyrian music during the

1930s File:1930s decade montage.png, From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Owens Thompson, Florence Thompson shows the effects of the Great Depression; due to extreme drought conditions, farms across the south-central Uni ...

and

40s The eukaryotic small ribosomal subunit (40S) is the smaller subunit of the eukaryotic 80S ribosomes, with the other major component being the large ribosomal subunit (60S). The "40S" and "60S" names originate from the convention that ribosomal p ...

, and whose music created a backbone for

Assyrians in Sweden Assyrians in Sweden () are citizens and residents of Sweden who are of Assyrian descent. There are approximately 150,000 Assyrians in Sweden. Assyrians first came to Sweden from Syria for work in the late 1960s when Europe needed laborers fo ...

as they began building up activities. His work is also regarded as a conquest for taking back Assyrian folk-pop music from the realm of the church, who restricted its adherents from composing music. Asaad's compositions have since been documented by his son Sardanapal, and his compositions have become a standard among Assyrians today. In 2006, a collection of his work was released in Sweden on a CD titled "An Assyrian Music Pioneer".

References

Bibliography

External links

Qeenatha

Sohde d'Othur Performance

Ho Denho Shemsho translation

Assyria TV Lecture in Turoyo
* The Syrian Music Throughout History
الموسيقار الملفان كبرئيل أسعد
, كريم إينا 1907 births 1997 deaths Turkish emigrants to Sweden Assyrian nationalists Assyrian musicians Assyrians from the Ottoman Empire Syriac-language singers Swedish people of Assyrian descent 20th-century Syrian male singers 20th-century composers People from Midyat {{Authority control