Crossing the Lines into Unity

Posted on: Monday, 4 August 2008, 12:00 CDT

By Thameen Kheetan, Jordan Times, Amman

Aug. 3--AMMAN -- Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic and Greek Orthodox Jordanian families enjoyed on Friday a type of religious music they had never experienced at church masses before.

Drums, percussions, conga and bass guitar along with classical guitars, Arabic lutes, violins, a flute and a piano contributed to the religious atmosphere created by chanters of the Fountain of Love religious troupe in a two-hour concert at the Palace of Culture.

Such an atmosphere, featuring jazz, pop, Byzantine, Gregorian, classical and other genres, was totally different for Jordanian Christians of these ritual sects who are used to the church piano's traditional soft music.

"Our aim is to present church music for both Catholic and Orthodox churches in Jordan," Tomah Jbara, the troupe's leader told The Jordan Times during a rehearsal earlier on Friday.

"If we cannot hold masses together, at least we can chant together," noted the 26-year-old Jbara, who is now studying conducting at the Jordanian Academy for Music.

He exhibited the troupe's strategy of "using the musical style for the sake of chants" to make religious music more appealing for young people.

"Youngsters usually think that chants inside the church are boring," Jbara said, adding: "We have realised, after listening and writing lyrics and melodies, that the Gregorian and the Byzantine melodies [currently used at ritual churches] have a kind of deepness that makes you closer to God."

His conclusion was that there was a need for a "remix" of such chants in a manner that preserves the original tune.

Members of the troupe also create their own chants with the aid of composers and arrangers from different countries of the world including the US, Australia, Sweden, Iraq and Jordan.

After six years of the troupe's launch in 2002, Jbara believes that the group has succeeded in attracting young people in Jordan, where the majority of Muslims and Christians are religious.

Christians count for almost 5 per cent of the Kingdom's population (approximately 5.8 million), according to the General Secretariat for the Christian Educational Foundations in Jordan, where the youth exceed 50 per cent of the population.

The majority of Jordanian Christians belong to "ritual sects", while a minority are evangelicals.
Having musicians and vocalists ageing between 14 and 45 years volunteering in the troupe, Jbara stressed that the chants are not restricted to youths, but directed instead to "both the youngsters and adults".

He noted that their chants would be played inside ritual churches but without percussions or drums, which are rejected by church leaders as "a source of distraction for worshippers".

Young people seemed to like the idea of introducing the troupe's style to the mass.

"I wish this would be the style at the church," said Rawan Ayoub, 15, adding "it is nice on Sundays but this was nicer."

Sanaa Issa, 26, said she liked the current music style of the church more, but also asked: "Why not? They would do no wrong introducing this new style to the church."

Violinist Zeid Odeh, a 17-year-old member of the troupe, said he preferred to see the style they performed on Sundays with the drums and percussions. "The existing style was made by too old people, a long time ago, and now youngsters do not like it," added the young musician, who also performs at an Amman Roman Catholic Church.

"I do not feel that the atmosphere of Latin churches permits to perform this new style," Labib Abdelmalek, 22, who plays the guitar at an Evangelical Church in the capital, told The Jordan Times at the end of the concert, citing his admiration to the performance.

Priests of ritual churches supported the troupe. Bishop Salim Sayegh of the Roman Catholic Church inaugurated Friday's event, including the official launch of the troupe's new CD "Cure Myself". In addition, the troupe's "spiritual guide" is a Roman Catholic priest, Father Bassam Deir.

Deir, also a guitarist in the troupe, said the introduction of its style to the mass is "not preferred because it's a youth style", adding that drums and percussion should not be performed inside the church. "Each place has its own particularity," he said.

"This is for people to listen to at homes and in cars, for example, but not in the church," Deir noted.

The Fountain of Love also crosses religious borders. It contains three Muslim musicians; one is 29-year-old Sudanese violinist Shireen Hassan.

She was acquainted with the group six months ago, and she wanted to take part because "it is something new, and religious".

"The same God unites us," Hassan said, insisting she had no difficulties regarding the fact that the music she plays is of a different faith than hers. "I believe in the Christ and his mother Mary. They are mentioned in the Holy Koran," she said.

Furthermore, the troupe did a chant which can work for both Christians and Muslims. It does not go deep in both faiths but only repeats the word "Allah".

The chant is derived from the 51st Psalm of the Old Testament, "Have mercy upon me, O God", and will be shot for TV in several parts of Amman, according to the troupe leader.

Although only 800 attended of the 1,600 tickets sold, "maybe because the Tawjihi results coincided with the event", Jbara is still happy for what was achieved.

"We were two when we first started, and now we are 50," he noted with pride.

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