In mid-February, while mutters about a devastating new virus made their way from experts and doctors to the global public, Rahim AlHaj took the stage in NYC alongside tar virtuoso Sahba Motallebi. No one yet knew that their performance would be amongst the last before the pandemic closed public gatherings.
Through music, AlHaj he explores the pain, injustice, and emotions of war and suffering. His work as a composer and oud player has earned him numerous accolades and awards. In 2015, he received the National Endowment of the Arts National Heritage Fellowship, the highest honor a folk musician in the United States can receive. He has also earned two Grammy nominations, and performs with a huge range of collaborators, from string ensembles to classical Indian musicians and more. His collaboration with tar virtuoso Motallebi marks just the latest of these collaborations.
“Playing separately and together in a remarkable, one-of-a-kind concert, both [AlHaj and Motallebi] honor the roads they’ve travelled from the war-torn Middle East to renown in the West,” writes The New Yorker.
Rahim AlHaj Translates the Pain of War
“I promised myself to be the voice for the voiceless people,” says Alhaj about his latest album, which focuses on the destruction wreaked by the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. He had to flee his native Iraq as a result of being an active opponent of the war and a critic of the Saddam Hussein regime after two imprisonments.
AlHaj hopes that his music can inspire political change, despite its seemingly apolitical nature. “The music energizes people,” he explains “It may influence them, and they may take action. It contains the drive for the message of peace and compassion and love. The music should be involved with real life, we should talk about important matters.”
For example, one of his projects included composing songs based on letters written by Iraqis during war. He even composed a song based on a letter from his own nephew.
A Turbulent Life Births Stunning Music
Alhaj started playing the oud at age 9 while growing up in Iraq. Later, he trained under Munir Bashir, world-renowned oud player, in Baghdad. In fact, out of 2000 applicants, he was one of five to receive this opportunity at the Institute of Music in Baghdad.
While AlHaj himself does not write lyrics to his music, he nevertheless imbues them with important meaning, frequently taking words such as letters or poems and composing music for them. One such poem, called Why?, ultimately led to AlHaj’s relocation to the United States.
Written by a personal friend, Why? criticized Saddam Hussein and the suffering caused under his rule. Revolutionaries shared the music and poem, turning it into something of an anthem for their cause. This put AlHaj’s life in danger, leading to his imprisonment, and eventually his relocation to New Mexico, where he has lived ever since.
Rahim AlHaj Spans and Defies Genres
AlHaj’s pieces draw from the maqamat tradition, which is based on a series of compositions and/or improvisations that stem from scales, and melodic development. Rhythm matters much less. The fluidity of this style allows Alhaj to portray emotion easily with his music.
But AlHaj does not allow the traditional nature of his chosen instrument to limit him. Instead, he embraces any aspect of music he finds beautiful, ancient or contemporary, traditional or otherwise. In fact, AlHaj defies the designations of “Western”, “Eastern”, or “World” music altogether.
“There is nothing that is really Western or Eastern music,” he explains. “We made that all up. What is so-called “world music”? That completely depends on your perspective, where you are located yourself. What is exotic in one place is commonplace or traditional in another. There is only the world, and there is only music.”
For his most recent collaborations with Sahba Motallebi, AlHaj’s style weaves delicately in and out of her simpler, cleaner style of tar playing.
Catch a taste of Motallebi and Alhaj’s performance here:
