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Saturday Evening, October 11, 2014, at 7:30
Pre-concert discussion at 6:15 with Rashid Ahmed Din and Anastasia Tsioulcas
Ecstatic Journeys
Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali
Rizwan Ali Khan, Lead Singer
Muazzam Ali Khan, Lead Singer
Rahat Ali, Harmonium
Zubair Ali Khan, Singer
Muhammad Aourang Zaib, Singer
Zafar Ali, Tabla
Mushtaq Ahmad, Singer
Bashir Ahmad, Singer
This program is approximately 90 minutes long and will be performed without
intermission.
Please join us in the Social Hall immediately following the performance for a
White Light Lounge.
The White Light Festival is sponsored by Time Warner Inc.
This performance is made possible in part by the Josie Robertson Fund for Lincoln Center.
New York Society for Ethical Culture
WhiteLightFestival.org
Please make certain all your electronic devices
are switched off.
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Additional support is provided by The Fan Fox and
Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc.
Endowment support is provided by the American
Express Cultural Preservation Fund.
MetLife is the National Sponsor of Lincoln Center.
Movado is an Official Sponsor of Lincoln Center.
United Airlines is the Official Airline of Lincoln
Center.
WABC-TV is the Official Broadcast Partner of
Lincoln Center.
William Hill Estate Winery is the Official Wine of
Lincoln Center.
Artist Catering is provided by Zabar’s and
Zabars.com.
Upcoming White Light Festival Events:
Wednesday–Friday Evenings, October 15–17,
at 7:30, and Saturday, October 18, at 2:00
and 7:30 in the Rose Theater
The Rite of Spring (New York premiere)
Basil Twist, Director and Designer
Orchestra of St. Luke’s
Jayce Ogren, Conductor
ALL-STRAVINSKY PROGRAM
Fireworks; Pulcinella Suite; The Rite of Spring
Pre-concert discussion with Basil Twist and Jane
Moss on Friday, October 17, at 6:15 at the Irene
Diamond Education Center
Wednesday–Friday Evenings, October 22–24,
at 7:30 in James Memorial Chapel,
Union Theological Seminary
How Like an Angel (U.S. premiere)
A unique melding of acrobatics by the troupe Circa
and sacred song performed by I Fagiolini
Post-performance discussion with Robert
Hollingworth on Thursday, October 23
Friday–Sunday, October 24–26,
in the Walter Reade Theater
White Light on Film: The Decalogue
Krzysztof Kieślowski, Director
The complete cycle of 10 films is screened over a
weekend.
Introduced by Annette Insdorf on October 24 at 7:30
Presented in association with the Film Society of
Lincoln Center
Saturday Afternoon, October 25, from 3:45 to 5:15
in the Walter Reade Theater
White Light Conversation: The Evolution of
Morality
John Schaefer, Moderator
With John Luther Adams, Randy Cohen, Alice W.
Flaherty, and Elaine Pagels
For tickets, call (212) 721-6500 or visit
WhiteLightFestival.org. Call the Lincoln Center Info
Request Line at (212) 875-5766 to learn about program cancellations or to request a White Light
Festival brochure.
Visit WhiteLightFestival.org for more information
relating to the Festival’s programs.
Join the conversation: #LCWhiteLight
We would like to remind you that the sound of coughing and rustling paper might distract the
performers and your fellow audience members.
In consideration of the performing artists and members of the audience, those who must leave
before the end of the performance are asked to do so between pieces. The taking of photographs
and the use of recording equipment are not allowed in the building.
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Note on the Program
by Hiromi Lorraine Sakata
The word qawwali comes from the Arabic
term qaul, meaning “word” or “a saying”
and referring to the musical expression of
Sufi poetry among the Chishtiya Sufis, a
Central Asian Sufi order of Islam that
spread to the Indian subcontinent in the
13th century. This devotional song genre is
intended to make those who listen receptive to the words or messages of the songs.
Sufi poetry stresses the concept of love as
the foundation of the Sufi’s relationship
with God. This spiritual love between man
and God, or between disciple and his spiritual guide, is often described in terms of
worldly love between man and woman,
using themes of yearning, union, and separation, and images such as wine and
intoxication to signify the mystic state.
The musical setting of Sufi texts highlights
the mystical meaning of the text and helps
transport the inspired Sufi to an altered
state of consciousness. In the words of
J. Spencer Trimingham, author of The Sufi
Orders in Islam, “music…has the mystical
power to draw out the deepest emotions,
but also, when coordinated with symbolic
words and rhythmical movements, has
power over man’s will.”
Qawwali is performed by soloists who
specialize in singing with the accompaniment of a chorus and instrumentalists. A
typical qawwali group is all male, consisting of one or two lead soloists, a chorus of
four or five singers, and accompanied by
the harmonium (a small, hand-pumped,
keyboard instrument), tabla (a pair of hand
drums), and percussive hand clapping.
Although the words of the songs are of
paramount importance, the rhythm of the
music is also extremely important because
it increases in intensity to bring the listener
to an emotional climax. When qawwali
is performed in concert for international
WhiteLightFestival.org
audiences who do not understand the
words of the songs, the driving rhythms
become the focus of attention.
Traditionally a performance of qawwali lies at
the center of a Sufi ritual known as sama or
“spiritual concert.” This takes place at the
shrine of a saint, or at the meeting place of a
Sufi order, or a place chosen by those who
commission a performance. One important
occasion for a performance is the urs (literally “wedding”), an annual festival commemorating the death anniversary of a saint
and celebrating his final union with God.
Here, in the sacred space of the shrine
defined by the location of the saint’s tomb,
the musicians, seated on the ground, sing
for the saint, his representatives, his devotees, and other Sufis. The assembly listens
intently to the songs while individuals or
groups of people make formal monetary
offerings to the representative or leader of
the assembly, who in turn uses the money
to pay the musicians. Other individuals
give, or sometimes shower, the money
directly to the musicians. When someone
is emotionally affected by the song’s message, he may sway, suddenly raise his
arms, stand, or even rise to move about in
a kind of spiritual or ecstatic dance.
Recognizing a Sufi in a state of spiritual
arousal, the musicians stand to acknowledge him, all the while continuing to repeat
the particular phrase that has struck a
chord with the Sufi in trance, and individual
members of the assembly surround the
affected Sufi and throw their offerings up
in the air like confetti in his honor.
Just as American gospel music spawned a
whole pop industry of soul music, traditional qawwali has become a secular, commercial genre performed on the concert
stage for international audiences. This
transformation from a ritual function to one
of entertainment is credited largely to the
late Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan of
Pakistan. Through concerts, recordings,
film soundtracks, and collaborative works
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with international musicians, he cultivated
a worldwide following that considered him
synonymous with qawwali. Yet, throughout his life, he remained a traditional
qawwal who continued to perform at Sufi
shrines while also playing the great concert halls of Europe, America, and Asia.
an early age by their father, Mujahid
Mubarak Ali Khan, Rizwan and Muazzam
are steeped in tradition, keeping intact the
original spirit of devotion and energy
required for sama, even in their performances that transcend the ritual context
and traditional audience.
Tonight’s performers—brothers Rizwan
and Muazzam—come from the direct lineage of traditional qawwals that includes
Nusrat. Their paternal grandfather, Ustad
Mubarak Ali Khan, was the brother of
Nusrat’s father, Ustad Fateh Ali. Trained at
Hiromi Lorraine Sakata is professor
emerita of ethnomusicology at the
University of California, Los Angeles.
—Copyright © 2014 by Lincoln Center for the
Performing Arts, Inc.
Please turn to page 72 for more about the art and tradition of Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali.
h
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Illumination
Breath
by Kabir
Are you looking for me? I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
You will not find me in stupas, not in Indian shrine rooms,
nor in synagogues, nor in cathedrals:
not in masses, nor in kirtans, not in legs winding around your
own neck, nor in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me, you will see me instantly—
you will find me in the tiniest house of time.
Kabir says: Student, tell me what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath.
—Translation by Robert Bly
—Reprinted from Kabir: Ecstatic Poems, versions by Robert Bly, Beacon
Press, Boston, 2004. Used with permission.
For poetry comments and suggestions, please write
to programming@LincolnCenter.org.
WhiteLightFestival.org
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Meet the Artists
scores and an increasingly central focus of
world-music programs in concert halls and
festivals throughout the world.
White Light Festival
Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali
Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali is a qawwali
group headed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s
nephews, Rizwan and Muazzam. The sons
of Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan, they have
been performing together as RizwanMuazzam Qawwali since the 1990s. They
played their first major concert in 1998
at the Womad Rivermead Festival in
Reading, England.
The two lead singers come from a direct
family line of qawwali music that spans
more than five centuries. Their grandfather
was an uncle of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and
taught Nusrat the art of qawwali vocal
music. Rizwan and Muazzam themselves
studied under their father, who died in
1996, and were then tutored by Nusrat.
The band performs in traditional qawwali
style—sitting on the ground rather than on
seats—which they believe brings them
closer to God. They sing in Farsi (Persian),
Punjabi, and Urdu with an intensity that has
led one commentator to call them, only half
in jest, “the Qawwali Clash.”
Romantic love is used as a metaphor for
spiritual adoration and mystical enlightenment, drawing upon a rich vein of poetic
imagery. It is not surprising that qawwali
has become a staple of Bollywood film
I could compare my music to white light,
which contains all colors. Only a prism can
divide the colors and make them appear;
this prism could be the spirit of the listener.
—Arvo Pärt. Celebrating its fifth anniversary, the White Light Festival is Lincoln
Center’s annual exploration of music
and art’s power to reveal the many dimensions of our interior lives. International in
scope, the multidisciplinary festival offers a
broad spectrum of the world’s leading
instrumentalists, vocalists, ensembles,
choreographers, dance companies, and
directors complemented by conversations
with artists and scholars and postperformance White Light Lounges.
Lincoln Center for the Performing
Arts, Inc.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
(LCPA) serves three primary roles: presenter of artistic programming, national leader
in arts and education and community relations, and manager of the Lincoln Center
campus. A presenter of more than 3,000
free and ticketed events, performances,
tours, and educational activities annually,
LCPA offers 15 programs, series, and festivals, including American Songbook, Great
Performers, Lincoln Center Festival,
Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer
Night Swing, the Mostly Mozart Festival,
and the White Light Festival, as well as the
Emmy Award–winning Live From Lincoln
Center, which airs nationally on PBS. As
manager of the Lincoln Center campus,
LCPA provides support and services for the
Lincoln Center complex and the 11 resident organizations. In addition, LCPA led a
$1.2 billion campus renovation, completed
in October 2012.
10-11 Rizwan_GP 9/30/14 1:06 PM Page 7
Lincoln Center Programming Department
Jane Moss, Ehrenkranz Artistic Director
Hanako Yamaguchi, Director, Music Programming
Jon Nakagawa, Director, Contemporary Programming
Jill Sternheimer, Acting Director, Public Programming
Lisa Takemoto, Production Manager
Charles Cermele, Producer, Contemporary Programming
Kate Monaghan, Associate Director, Programming
Mauricio Lomelin, Associate Producer, Contemporary Programming
Julia Lin, Associate Producer
Nicole Cotton, Production Coordinator
Regina Grande, Assistant to the Artistic Director
Luna Shyr, Programming Publications Editor
Nasrene Haj, House Seat Coordinator
Utsuki Otsuka, Production Assistant
Reshena Liao, House Program Intern
For the White Light Festival
Christine Jones, Technical Director
Andrew Grant, Lighting Director
Jimmy Preziosa of Audio Inc., Audio Engineer
Sarah Thiboutot, Master Electrician
Steven Gaultney, House Manager
Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali’s representation:
FLi Artists
fliartists.com
WhiteLightFestival.org