''Trouble in Jerusalem'' is an album by the Lebanese

oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= *String instruments * Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum ...

player and composer

Rabih Abou-Khalil Rabih Abou-Khalil ( ar, ربيع أبو خليل, born August 17, 1957) is an oud player and composer born in Lebanon, who combines elements of Arabic music with jazz, classical music, and other styles. He grew up in Beirut and moved to Munich, ...

, conceived as a soundtrack to the 1922 German silent film ''

Nathan the Wise ''Nathan the Wise'' (original German title: ', ) is a play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing from 1779. It is a fervent plea for religious tolerance. It was never performed during Lessing's lifetime and was first performed in 1783 at the Döbbelinsch ...

'', which was recorded in Germany in 2009 and released on the

Enja Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971. The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and ...

label the following year.Rabih Abou-Khalil discography
accessed June 21, 2018

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

review by V. Vasan stated, "This album, unfortunately, is not so exciting and does not live up to its potential. Played by the German Youth Orchestra (BJO) along with composer Rabih Abou-Khalil on the oud and two other soloists, the music seems to neither move nor be adequately programmatic. ... overall, the music does not come alive due to the combination of the music itself (with a heavy use of unisons, even taking cultural differences into account) and an orchestra that is not experienced enough to give the music more shape. ... ''Trouble in Jerusalem'' just does not make for an inviting musical experience". In

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

, John Fordham wrote, "Typical Abou-Khalil themes mingle European folk melodies and Arab rhythms, but, aside from the tail-chasing motifs on "Once Upon a Dervish" (which sounds like an

Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 origi ...

western score for a Middle-Eastern rhythm section), much of the ensemble music sounds portentous, and the composer's usual exuberant spontaneity, surrealism, and political wit seem overwhelmed by great-and-good obligations".Fordham, J
The Guardian Review
accessed June 21, 2018

Track listing

All compositions by Rabih Abou-Khalil # "Jerusalem" – 8:50 # "Lament" – 10:24 # "Jerusalemme Liberata" – 12:08 # "Once Upon a Dervish" – 12:07 # "Saladin and Nathan the Wise" – 7:29 # "A Prayer for Tolerance" – 2:19

Personnel

– oud *

Michel Godard Michel Godard is a French avant-garde jazz and classical musician. He plays tuba and the predecessor of the tuba, a brass instrument known as the serpent. Career At 18, Godard was a member of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio-France. He ha ...

– tuba,

serpent Serpent or The Serpent may refer to: * Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes Mythology and religion * Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature * Serpent (symbolism), the snake in religious rites and mythological contexts * Serp ...

*Jarrod Cagwin – frame drums *The German Youth Orchestra

conducted Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary dutie ...

Frank Strobel Frank Strobel (born in 1966 in Munich) is a German conductor known for premieres and performances of works by composers Sergei Prokofiev, Franz Schreker and Siegfried Wagner. He is authorized arranger and editor of works by the composer Alfred Sc ...

**Soloists: **Tobias Feldman – violin **Sarina Zikgraf – viola **Sophie Notte – cello

References

{{Authority control Rabih Abou-Khalil albums 2010 albums Enja Records albums