{"id":1339,"date":"2026-04-03T18:12:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/?post_type=program_note&#038;p=1339"},"modified":"2026-04-04T14:52:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T14:52:24","slug":"overture-to-omar","status":"publish","type":"program_note","link":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/program_note\/overture-to-omar\/","title":{"rendered":"overture to omar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Omar <\/em>is a recent American opera based upon a remarkable, tragic, and true tale of Omar ibn Said, a wealthy Muslim scholar who was kidnapped from his home in a West African Islamic country (presently Senegal) in 1807 at the age of 37 and sold into a life of slavery in Charleston, South Carolina.&nbsp; There, he later escaped his harsh master and fled to North Carolina, where he was captured and sold again.&nbsp; This time to a planter, James Owen, who, impressed with Ibn Omar\u2019s intelligence, erudition, and learning, tried to convert him to Christianity.&nbsp; His master urged him to write his memoirs, which he did, going on to write a least thirteen other works in Arabic on history and theology. &nbsp;But, his education and intelligence did not save him from a long, tragic life in slavery, and he died in his nineties in 1864.&nbsp; There is preserved a poignant photograph of him from late in life, wearing a formal suit and tie and exuding a completely dignified mien\u2014still enslaved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2019 the American folk performer and composer, Rhiannon Giddens was commissioned to compose an opera based upon Ibn Said\u2019s life as recounted in his autobiography\u2014originally written in Arabic.&nbsp; She collaborated with the composer, Michael Abels, finishing it in 2020.&nbsp; The work received its world premi\u00e8re in 2022 at the Spoleto Festival USA, and was subsequently awarded the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Music.&nbsp;&nbsp; Ironically, the initial performance occurred less than a mile from the original slave market where Ibn Said was sold more than two centuries earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The opera was well received and went on to successful performances in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Boston.&nbsp; The young composer, Giddens, is a well-known North Carolina musician, active in unusual variety of musical genres:&nbsp; folk, blues, traditional Southern rural styles\u2014both Black and White\u2014gospel, soul, jazz, bluegrass, Celtic.&nbsp;&nbsp; You name it.&nbsp; She was a founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and has released five solo albums.&nbsp; A 2000 graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory, where she studied opera, she is a performer on banjo, fiddle, and a singer. &nbsp;&nbsp;She has concertized and recorded extensively, and was a 2017 MacArthur \u201cGenius\u201d Fellow.&nbsp; Michael Abel, born in 1962 and educated at the University of Southern California, composes works for orchestra, including film and television scores. &nbsp;Able has received numerous awards for his film music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The overture to <em>Omar<\/em> is stylistically altogether appropriate for the life of a West African Muslim, and is a reflection of the composer\u2019s varied interests.&nbsp; Consequently, the opera has stylistic references to traditional African rhythms, as well as jazz, bluegrass, spirituals, and hymns.&nbsp; Unusual instruments employed include traditional African drums:&nbsp; Kidi, Sogo, Tar, Djembe, and Ghaval.&nbsp; Moreover, the composers cleverly scored for some of the standard instruments of the traditional symphony orchestra in ways that imitate \u201cexotic\u201d instruments such as the banjo and the Kora\u2014a 21-string West African lute. In an unusual opening for an overture, it begins with an energetic statement of the main idea by a solo viola\u2014representing Omar and his journey&#8211;soon followed by the drums of the percussion section, laying down a hypnotic weft of distinctive African-derived rhythmic figures.&nbsp; The chief rhythm is one well known to world percussionists as the \u201cmalf\u00fcf,\u201d consisting of a thump on the drum head, followed by two light, syncopated thwacks on the rim.&nbsp; This traditional rhythm is associated with Omar\u2019s homeland in Senegambia.&nbsp; The chief melodic element throughout the work is based upon the \u201cKormanti\u201d melody, which was recognized as early as the seventeenth century among Jamaican slaves.&nbsp;&nbsp; The energetic opening soon leads to a pause that features lyrical moments in the violas and alto flute.&nbsp; Otherwise, the string section\u2014supported by the insistent drumming&#8211;carries the bulk of the jagged, syncopated melodic drive that reminds one as much of Middle Eastern musical culture as of African.&nbsp; The pungent little overture doesn\u2019t last long, but is a perfect introduction to a novel, thoughtful opera that explores yet another of the unique stories which contribute to our nation\u2019s complex history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wm. E. Runyan<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00a0 \u00a9William E. Runyan 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"program_note_tax":[325],"class_list":["post-1339","program_note","type-program_note","status-publish","hentry","program_note_tax-rhiannon-giddens"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note\/1339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/program_note"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"program_note_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note_tax?post=1339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}