Sami Yusuf performed ‘Beyond the Stars’ on two nights in Al Wasl Plaza at the Dubai EXPO. This YouTube release is a compilation of the two performances, mixed and mastered for optimal quality.

Visionary composer Sami Yusuf’s ‘Beyond the Stars’ is a celebration of the enduring and evolving musical traditions of lands from Europe to North Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South Asia. Inspired by a Quranic verse stating that nations and tribes were created to know one another, the composer seeks musically to answer the question: how? How do peoples of different religions, different languages, different ways of viewing the world have deep and meaningful dialogue? ‘Beyond the Stars’ is an exploration into a rich diversity of musical legacies and languages that celebrates how the spirit of a people communicates through music in a way unlike any other.

In ‘Beyond the Stars’ listeners experience the deeply emotive sounds of the Chinese erhu, the haunting strains of the balaban, the poignant Turkish ney, and instruments that crossed many borders throughout Central Asia and Middle East – the tar, the rabab, the kemanche, oud, santur and qanun. Rhythms are kept with percussions that were heard thousands of years ago as they are today. Latin poetry of the 12th century and Gregorian chant interact with Andalusian melodies and Arabic mystical verse. The voice of Rumi is heard in its original Persian and in a few of the languages where he is so loved today – English, Turkish, and Arabic. Azerbaijani mugham – one of the world’s great vocal musical treasures – lends its profound beauty to the conversation. And the exquisite ornamentations of the Indian sitar reflect Hindustani music’s central role in so many intercultural exchanges. Although qawwal means ‘to speak’ and thus qawwali music emphasises the meaning in the language that is paired with its sounds, still there is no misunderstanding the spiritual ecstasy invoked by the excellent musicians who brought it to the stage.

Some of Sami Yusuf’s new compositions in ‘Beyond the Stars’ include the powerful instrumental ‘Knowing One Another’ whose intricate interplays between musical traditions set the stage for what is to come while the ecstatic piece ‘For True Lovers’ featuring words by Turkey’s great Sufi poet Yunus Emre (14th c). ‘The Fire Within’ unfolds in multiple movements where Gregorian chant with Latin lyrics by Hildegard of Bingen (12th c) and Andalusian mawal with Arabic lyrics by Mansur al-Hallaj (9th/10th c) meet in a mystical dialogue. Joyous energy abounds in ‘I Have Come Alive’, a piece inspired by a Rumi poem that adds Azerbaijani mugham and Andalusian improvisation to this Persian masterpiece. Rich in Sufi allusions to the passion of divine love, ‘The Wine of Love’, with Urdu lyrics by contemporary songwriter Munna Shaokath Ali is a nuanced marriage of qawwali and Khorasani sounds in several movements.

The Compositions:

‘O Mankind’

The Holy Quran 49:13
Mode: Bayati
Recited by Yaseen Al Marashli

‘Knowing One Another’

Composed and arranged by Sami Yusuf
Featured vocalist: Tayyar Bayramov

‘The Journey’

Composed and arranged by Sami Yusuf
Mode: Navā [with allusions to the Aeolian mode]

Soloists:
Erhu: Guo Gan
Sitar: Asad Khan
Balaban: Shirzad Fataliyev
Ney: Eyüpcan Açıkpazu
Rabab: Sami Yusuf

‘For True Lovers’

Composed and arranged by Sami Yusuf
Words by Yunus Emre
Additional Arabic words by Mansur al-Hallaj
Mawwāl section by Ibn Hubaish
Mode: Uşak (Hüseyni)
Featured vocalists: Nabyla Maan and Tayyar Bayramov

‘The Fire Within’

Composed and arranged by Sami Yusuf
Latin words by Hildegard of Bingen
English words trans. from Mansur al-Hallaj
Arabic Mawwāl by Abu al-Hasan al-Shushtari
Mode: Aeolian [with allusions to traditional Andalusian modes]
Featured vocalist: Nabyla Maan

Soloists:
Erhu: Guo Gan
Santur: Farshad Mohammadi
Sitar: Asad Khan

‘I Have Come Alive’

Composed and arranged by Sami Yusuf
Words by Rumi
Arabic mawwāl section by Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri
Mode: Rast
Featured vocalists: Nabyla Maan, Tayyar Bayramov

Soloists:
Tanbur: Seyed Ali Jaberi

‘The Meeting’

Composed and arranged by Sami Yusuf
Mode: Aeolian
Sitar: Asad Khan
Tar: Sami Yusuf
Erhu: Guo Gan

‘Stepping Into Light’

Arranged by Sami Yusuf
Music: Traditional Qawwali
Lyrics by Amir Khusro, Bulleh Shah, Dr. Imed Nsiri
Modes: Ahir Bhairav, Kafi
Featured vocalists: Pooja Gaitonde, Riaz Hussain
Vocal soloists: Tayyar Bayramov, Nabyla Maan

Soloists:
Sitar: Asad Khan
Tanbur: Seyed Ali Jaberi

‘The Wine of Love’

Music composed and arranged by Sami Yusuf
Lyrics by Munna Shaokath Ali
Main Refrain by Hazrat Zamin Ali
Modes: Kafi, Bhairavi
Featured vocalists: Pooja Gaitonde, Riaz Hussain

Soloists:
Santur: Farshad Mohammadi
Sitar: Asad Khan

‘Nasimi’ / ‘Madad’ (Nasimi Arabic Version)

Composed and arranged by Sami Yusuf
Words by Imadeddin Nasimi
Additional Arabic words by Muhammad al-Buzidi
Mode: Shur
Featured vocalists: Tayyar Bayramov, Nabyla Maan

Soloists:
Tanbur: Seyed Ali Jaberi
Daf: Mohammad Jaberi

‘Beyond the Stars’

Composed and arranged by Sami Yusuf
Arabic lyrics by Mohammed El Ouafi
Additional Azerbaijani lyrics by Aytan Ismikhanova
Additional Hindi lyrics by Manoj Yadav
Featured vocalists: Nabyla Maan, Pooja Gaitonde, Tayyar Bayramov

( Source: Sami Yusuf Official )