Mats Norrman replied to Ignat Fialkovsky:

>The finest Arabic music I know is by the Tunisian composers Anohar Brahem
>and Becher Selmi, and the masterpiece is called "Barzakh". Barzakh is the
>place where soul goes before resurrection. The piece isn't for chorals as
>you seek, but the piece is a masterpiece which contains all of Arabian
>mysticism and elegance. There used to be an album circulating called just
>"Barzakh". Well worth the money if you can find it!

Hmm, most interesting!  ("Ytterst(a) intressant", as the parson says
in an old Bergman movie:-}) Would Mats or another lister know of Arabic
symphonies? I have a list of names, but recordings are more than scarce,
at least in France.  Has any of our American members ever heard works by
Cleveland-based Egyptian composer Halim el-Dabh?

To come back to Ignat's question, I have a weird suggestion: the "Muslim"
movement from Slavenski's Sinfonia orienta, which I already mentioned on
this list.  Initially entitled "Religiofonia", it is an evocation of the
"major" religions in chronological order.  Only this movement has been
recorded on CD, as far as I know, by the Sarajevo Philharmonic -- actually
I can't help feeling that picking up one single movement somewhat betrays
Slavenski's intention...  However, if you need a piece for choir and
orchestra, with Muslim roots, here is one.  I have long dreamt of hearing
it with a real muezzin, but I wonder what Muslims would think of the piece.
At least the existence of this CD recording gives some hint about that.

An old London LP recording of the complete symphony can occasionally be
found on international deletions catalogues.

Of course there are some Szymanowski pieces, but obviously Ignat thought
of them already!

I hope it helps a little,

Best wishes,

Thanh-Tam Le