The Story of a Musical Mentor Hamid Omar Al-Aulaqi
ONCE UPON A TIME IN A CITY CALLED MAKKAH, A YOUNG BOY,NO MORE THAN FIVE, HEARD ASOUND IN HIS MIND.
THE SOUND PLAYED A MELODY THAT WAS SOSTRONG THE BOY COULD NOT HELPBUT TRY TO RELEASE IT.
HE QUICKLY GRABBED A ROPE, WHICH HE TOOKOUT THIN STRANDS OF STRINGFROM AND THEN STRETCHED THEMACROSS AN EMPTY WATER BARREL.
THEN, LIKE A CELLO, HAMID OMAR AL-AULAQI PLAYED HIS FIRST PIECEOF MUSIC.
Few souls once roamed the earth only to have left behind sonnets of wisdom for others to learn from. The late composer and musician, Hamid OmarAl-Aulaqi, was that and much more.
The children he met at the mosque after prayer would religiously race towards him, eagerly seeking his lessons on havinghopes, goals and the beauty of sound.
He would simply hand them a tape recording of Beethoven or Mozart and tell them, “Listen to this. It will inspireyou to release your talents.” The basic principle he taught them was to learnwhat they loved.
Those who knew the Saudi musical composer and writer were attracted to his knowledge of the rare history of Arabian and Hijazi music, giving him anadvantage over others in the field.
This is why his music bares roots in both classical Arabic and classical Western music.
Hamid Omar believed that a truly successful melody must be innovative and in harmony with the principlesof music. In addition, his influences in music come from his place of birth,Makkah. In fact, many of his pieces were revived renditions of old Islamic,Makkawi and Hijazi folklore songs, such as Salla Allah Ala Mohammed,Tala
Behind the Melody:
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Al badr Alaina, and Al Lailah Ya Um Al Aarousa. His morerenowned numbers includepopular tracks like Al Jaza’ir(Algeria) a piece reflectingAlgeria’s defiance of FrenchColonialism, and the internationalclassic Al Qafilah (TheCaravan), which his daughter,Safa Hamid Omar Al-Aulaqi,connects to his constant stateof traveling and discovery ofthe world.
Hamid Omar’s great talent would attract some of the Arabworld’s creative giants. Forinstance, his professor, MidhatIsmail Assem, whose biggestadvice to him was, “Once youcomplete a piece, toss it out ofyour mind and move on to thenext.” Other close friends includeWadi’ Al Safi, MansourAl Rahbani, Alya Al-Tunisi andMaestro Salvador Arnita.
Learning Your First Note:
The great advantage of having a mentor is being able to learnfrom him. As far as first stepsare concerned, “My fatheralways stressed on the importanceof learning the violin,”Safa states.
The violin, as many musicians would debate,is one of the few instrumentsthat play quartertones; thus,creating complex melodies thatbest teach musicians how toplay all cords and to hear allnotes.
Hamed Omar believed that innovative sounds are notimpossible to create, “My fatherwould say: all we have todo is listen.
I remember sitting in the living room watching myfather wave his fingers in theair to write, what looked like,invisible notes. He constantlyheard music anywhere andeverywhere.”
Foreign Fruit:
Most artistic geniuses rarely find themselves easily meshed into the worldaround them.
According to his daughter,while Hamid Omar seemed to be doingfine on the surface, “He always felt like astranger in his surroundings.” But foreignfruit is almost always rich in flavor, andso was Hamid Omar’s life.
That is what probably sent him on constant journeysthroughout the world, in search for whatparts of this earth truly make up the personhe is.
“Every piece of our living room was drawn and imagined by my father;there are items dear to his heart that arefrom all over the world.” More importantly,Hamid Omar’s home was a livingspirit strumming the tunes of his storyand his vision of the world. It was not ahome that pointed to a fashionable décorcatalogue; it was a home that pointedtowards the humanity of the inhabitants.
The Melody of Life:
According to Hamid Omar’s philosophy,to succeed was to avoid all things thatdiscourage progress like being idle.“Never underestimate the importanceof hobbies, my father used to say.”
Safa adds, “Be it music or other type of pastime, hobbies complete our lives andgive us purpose. They take us out of ourroutine and help define us by giving us apoint of view.”
Many aspiring musicians can learn from such a role model and historical treasure.Today, Saudi Arabia’s youth are burstingwith creative talent, including music.
Instant exposure grants them chances to create progressive sounds. But that’s justit; Hamid Omar was ahead of his time.
He took the raw sounds of Hijazi folklore,classical music, and his own heartfeltmelodies and fused them together to createprogressive music. “If you asked myfather today, he would tell you that music,like all knowledge, should move forwardand evolve, but every musician must alsobe musically literate.”
Towards his last days, Hamid Omar Al-Aulaqi left a note on a stack of musicalsheets for Safa, which read “take immediateaction on this.
” Ashwaq Mughtarib (The Desires of a Foreigner) would be thelast piece of unreleased music that hewrote. Today, Safa hopes to have thatfinal piece composed for the world tohear the last chapter in the life of a SaudiMaster of Music.
To make his music available, Safa has compiled all his recordings in hopes toproduce a dedication album.