Benoît Sitzia
creation 05
Rast
In “Rast” — a piece drawn from a cycle of compositions centered on the maqams of classical Arabic music — I sought to explore an image of balance and perfection that animates the structure of this mode, also known as Al-Mustaqeem, which can be translated as “the balanced one.”
My desire to work with the sonic and poetic substance of this maqam first arose from the physical sensation its listening evoked in me: a feeling of self-evidence, rooted in a mystery that draws the listener in.
Later, an exchange with the composer and performer Christine Zayed allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of this mode: a maqam built from an initial pentachord whose center contains a first quarter-tone that perfectly balances its intervallic structure, articulated with a tetrachord — incorporating a second quarter-tone — which calls for the same balance when the maqam is extended to its upper octave.
“Rast” was thus composed in resonance with these elements, like a prayer.
A prayer for the balance of our world.
A prayer for peace.
A prayer that rises like a song, toward the upper octave of our humanity.
