Specters of Maqam
Specters of Maqam is a practice-based research project that investigates the semiotic dimensions of the Middle Eastern melody; its modular structures, cultural subtexts, and, above all, its points of connection to contemporary and experimental forms of musical expression. Leaning on recent approaches in ethnomusicology, where Maqam is studied as a transnational phenomenon (moving beyond the nationalist theories of the 19th and 20th centuries), at the base of the project’s layered methodological setup lies the internalization of the extended tonality in traditional Maqam (commonly mislabeled as microtonality), done in alignment with the material agency of the trumpet and its natural harmonic properties. The solo trumpet works featured in the project are, each in their own way, marked by traces of Middle Eastern melodic elements—whether audibly apparent or fragmented beyond recognition. Throughout this repertory (consisting of large-scale concertos as well as short solo pieces, études, and improvisations), the embodied performance practice is confronted with non-musical materials and theoretical frameworks, generating a space for emergent meaning-making. This inquiry is further intensified through extensive collaborations with composers, free improvisers, traditional music performers, and DJs, constructing a network of loosely connected case studies within a single discursive space.
Saad Haddad: Tasalsul VI (2022)
Idin Samimi Mofakham: Ḥazīn (2019)
Samir Odeh Tamimi: Lámed IV (2017)
Tasalsul VI, or “sequence” in Arabic, takes its name from Luciano Berio’s Sequenze, though it more closely resembles the work of his Italian contemporary, Giacinto Scelsi. In the first movement of Scelsi’s Quattro pezzi for solo trumpet, the composer explores a quasi-folkloric language filled with very deliberately notated melodies that are to me reminiscent of the Arab taqsim, a type of solo improvisation (that is never written down!) that typically precedes a performance. In my re-imagining of il primo pezzo, I established a form that transformed Scelsi’s lines to modes found in traditional Arab music, most notably the rast and bayati modes, which are notated in the score. These modal shifts are signaled through the seemingly constant insertion and removal of the mute, which can be more readily achieved with the implementation of the double bell trumpet (Saad N. Haddad)
Ḥazīn is a word with multiple meanings. Firstly, it is one of the modes and sets of rhythmic figures, originating from the Iranian Classical Music System (Radif). Meanwhile, the word itself means "sorrowful" in Persian it also refers to "Hazīn Lāhījī", the 18th-century Persian poet whose poetry is full of expression, melancholy and sorrowful exclamations (Idin Samimi Mofakham)
The title Lámed has several levels: Lámed means "L" in Hebrew (Arabic for Lám) and, at the same time, refers to the Arabic "La" and the Hebrew "Lo", which mean "no". The composition of this work was originally inspired by the poem "Garden of Knowledge" by the ninth-century mystic Su Mansur al-Hallaj, who had to pay a price for his thoughts and faith, for his knowledge of the truth, in the most brutal of ways. Mansur al-Hallaj belongs to the most important philosophers and poets of Islamic mysticism. His poem Garden of Knowledge intrigued me in many ways. What is fascinating about this poem is that its author understands that creation is neither male nor female, but rather is a kind of knowledge that each person makes individually (Samir Odeh-Tamimi).
Nenad Marković
Trumpet
born in 1983 in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia (now Serbia), is a trumpeter and educator active in the fields of classical, contemporary, and improvised music.
As a member of numerous ensembles and orchestras, Marković has collaborated with some of the most renowned conductors and composers of our time, including Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Kent Nagano, Dennis Russell Davies, Peter Eötvös, Helmut Lachenmann, Wolfgang Rihm, Beat Furrer, Heiner Goebbels, and Mauricio Kagel, among others. He regularly appears at major music festivals around the world, such as the Lucerne Festival, Salzburger Festspiele, Wiener Festwochen, Festival Cervantino, Biennale di Venezia, TransArt, Festival d'Automne Paris, MusikFest Berlin, Brisbane Festival, Sacrum Profanum Kraków, June in Buffalo, Holland Festival, Roskilde Festival, Ruhrtriennale, Bregenzer Festspiele, and Macau Arts Festival.
For nearly two decades, he has been a regular guest performer with Ensemble Modern Frankfurt and Klangforum Wien, two of the world's leading ensembles specializing in contemporary music, and a full member of Ensemble Phoenix Basel. Over the years, Nenad Marković has premiered more than 200 compositions, including several solo works dedicated to him.
He has pursued his passion for repertoire research, music outreach, and creative program development through executive roles in several contemporary music ensembles, such as Ensemble Laboratorium (2004–2018) and Ensemble Studio 6 (2012–2017). Additionally, he has served as a programming advisor for "2K+", Serbia's only regular concert series for contemporary music, and has created numerous recital programs and solo projects.
Alongside his work in composed music, Nenad Marković is also an active improviser, performing regularly in various settings. He has shared the stage with distinguished performers such as Mats Gustafsson, Michel Doneda, Eugene Chadbourne, Agustí Fernandez, Nate Wooley, Ken Vandermark, Jaap Blonk, eRikm, Oren Ambarchi, Chris Cutler, Thomas Lehn, Franz Hautzinger, Barry Guy, Burkhard Stangl, Jérôme Noetinger, and Z'ev, among others.
Marković is a tenured professor of trumpet at the Novi Sad Academy of Arts and has held masterclasses in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Japan, China, Nepal, the USA, Slovenia, Croatia, and Montenegro.