NYT: Iraqi National Symphony Plays On, Echoing Iraq's Struggles

[DeepModem Mom]

And the Orchestra Plays on, Echoing Iraq’s Struggles
By EDWARD WONG
Published: September 28, 2006


(Johan Spanner/Polaris, for The New York Times)
Members of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra in Baghdad.

....The evening began with the orchestra plunging into the ending of Tchaikovsky’s overture “1812,” the notes of the martial anthem swelling through the auditorium as trumpets and trombones melded with strings in a bombastic climax.

But the mood soon darkened for a piece called Requiem, written this year by the orchestra’s conductor. A cello solo, it was slow and mournful and haunting, composed as an elegy for his country.

The hundreds of Iraqis and the handful of Western diplomats in the audience seemed hypnotized, as did the burly guards toting Kalashnikovs....

***

The sudden shift from the triumphalism of Tchaikovsky to the funereal tone of Mr. Ezzat’s piece reflects the changing fortunes of Iraq and of one of its enduring symbols of national unity: the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra.

Throughout more than three years of war the orchestra has striven to lift the country’s spirits and give succor through art. But orchestra members are finding that while art can sometimes provide a brief respite from grim reality, it cannot stand forever as a bulwark against the maelstrom of conflict....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/28/arts/music/28orch.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1159416127-kNN4vZHpvo7O/sAFo9FhiA