The adventures of the legendary 14th century Arab traveller Ibn Battuta will be put on musical notes and performed as part of the Abu Dhabi Classics, the eight months' season of classical music, which will be back this October after a two-year break.
The Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA) unveiled on Thursday that the November concert is a world premiere of a rather special concert by the award-winning Spanish composer Jordi Savall.
His "Ibn Battuta: the Voyager of Islam”, composed especially for Abu Dhabi Classics, will be performed on November 20 at the Emirates Palace by Hesperion XXI, an ensemble of 16 musicians playing traditional Arabic instruments.
"For me, to be part of the 2014 Abu Dhabi Classics is an exceptional opportunity as I have never played in the U.A.E. and I am curious to discover a new audience, a new way to listen to music and a new sensibility to embrace it,” said Savall. Abu Abd Ibn Battuta was an explorer, voyager and writer, considered one of the most important Muslim travel writers of the Middle Ages, who journeyed around 120,000 kilometres in 29 years throughout the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Far East. His travels were recorded in the voyage report "Rihla”, which is the contextual base for Jordi Savall's new work. Joining Savall on stage will be Moroccan Driss El Maloumi, widely considered one of the best oud players of his generation.
The music will be intertwined with readings by Arabic-speaking Spanish poet Manuel Forcano from the traveller's journal, to pinpoint Ibn Battuta's adventures through the Middle East, Turkey, Iraq and Iran from 1314 to 1336.
Source: Khaleej Times