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Mohydeen Quandour A Renaissance Man of North Caucasian
Cultures
By
Yuri Korev
(Translated
from Russian- “The Almanac”)
I would like to try to give readers of this article my
personal estimation of the phenomenon called Mohydeen
Quandour. Yes, certainly a phenomenon – a terminology one
meaning of which in old Russian dictionaries of foreign
words means Znamenye (symbol). Then the Question
comes up, Znamenya of what ? Or symbol of what in the
modern meaning ?
Furthermore I
think, to clarify my point, we must first talk about the
renaissance of the new history (already starting from the
second part of the 19th Century). We must talk
about one of the ancient and sagacious peoples of the North
Caucasus; the Cherkess (Circassians) who were divided
through dramatic and tragic colonization processes, into
various political geographic territories and habitats
including in the Diaspora. Despite these upheavals and
divisions, most of the North Caucasians, including the
Circassians of the Diaspora, continued to preserve their own
traditional cultures and identities. The Diaspora
Circassians, who were scattered in different countries and
continents, were held together by their perseverance in the
maintenance of their own culture.
Naturally, the
idea of this renaissance rebirth, which I mentioned earlier,
if you express it in European terms, could happen and
establish itself only in situations where under mysterious
and unpredictable “processes of nature”, (as the great
scientist and Academic V.I. Vernadsky wrote), very special
and talented “people of a generation” endowed with talent by
Mother Nature, bring forth the spiritual power of those who
produced him (his people or his nation). They bring their
own unique persona and contributions and, in addition and in
recognizable terms, their universal contribution to the
cultural treasure of modern civilization.
One exact
example of this, I am both certain and convinced (in my
honest belief) is, Mohydeen Quandour. This is a person who
cannot be torn apart from his people. It does not matter
that he is not resident or even born in his Motherland. When
you first meet with him, he impresses you as a deep,
thoughtful and understanding person (an intelligent person),
who has total confidence in himself and who is in total
control of his thoughts and actions. This is an individual
who seems to stand apart from the crowd, slightly aloof,
observing in minute details what and who surrounds him. But
he is attentive to whatever ideas you might express, ready
to listen and to understand anybody else’s opinions even
though these may not agree with his own. However this does
not mean that he might waver in his own beliefs or change
his own thoughts or positions. He will not simply agree with
an idea just to please that person. On the contrary he
protects and defends his own ideas zealously. It is
noteworthy to say in this matter that I have never seen nor
felt any arrogance on his part, or moreover, any hostility
or unfriendliness; only positive calmness, a confident
knowledge of his own merit and dignity. Even when you first
know him, after you have been introduced to his works, you
take his last ten years’ productivity and you realise
without question that he is a real ‘Renaissance’ man.
He is a
remarkable man who is expert in many spheres. He has
exceptional creativity in literature; you only have to read
his ten outstanding historical novels to realise that. I
read in our mass media about Quandour’s many achievements in
the business world. He is an outstanding businessman and
Organizer; having organized, built and sold several of his
own companies successfully. He is a financial consultant
whose services are on demand with the leading international
banks and institutions. He was chosen as one of the 500
leading personalities in the business world for the
Millenium American publication of Barons “Who is Who”.
Furthermore
Quandour is an expert in all matters to do with horses and
equestrian sports, a member judge of the International
Equestrian Federation, who is also a breeder of outstanding
Arabian horses (member of WAHO). He is also an astounding
musicologist and can discuss all aspects of classical music
and he has recently proven himself to be a noteworthy
composer and conductor at the prestigious Bolshoi Concert
Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory.
Quandour is
also a prominent filmmaker, a producer and director of many
documentaries and feature films in Hollywood. I read in our
mass media about Quandour’s Hollywood career most of which
talks about his success as a film director and producer.
Some of his feature films were shown in our movie theatres
during the period of the Soviet Union.
I will return
to all these points again but I want to add a thought here:
For example, if you take this situation on its merit, it
means that what we call ‘national intelligence’ of a people,
has begun to emerge and to formulate. This has an affect of
the 19th century, when the ideas of ‘national
self-consciousness’ and ‘self-identity’ emerged and
flourished, not only for individual countries and nations,
but for all continents. I can prove this point by giving you
an example of the North Caucasus, where Mohydeen Quandour’s
people have displayed such talents, although these were to a
much lesser degree than what Quandour has exhibited.
The range of
personality of my hero in this article, is unparalleled. I
will indulge myself in these thoughts. I had read the last
novel(The Legend) of Quandour (translated into
Russian), on which I can be a judge. This is a masterpiece
of fantasy and imagination. Maybe he uses the imagery of a
film-maker’s technique where he produces a picturesque
gallery of historical events mixed with fiction to give us a
clear, enthralling and enjoyable story. You feel as if you
are watching, instead of reading, the events unfold before
your own eyes, page after page. This requires an unusual
literary talent.
You might
wonder what Quandour might have forgotten to undertake,
during the last part of the 20th Century, in his
remarkable, successful and wonderful destiny. It seems that
he needed a pure expression of lyrical poetry for a new and
an unexpected stimulus for another form of creativity. No he
did not become a poet but poetry itself opened in his soul a
torrid “form of passion” (M. U. Lermontov), of a fiery
self-expression in music. In other words his inspiration was
founded on deep feelings, maybe unconstrained eruptions of
emotional expressions. Here I want to use the very old
Russian term, Sympaticheski which unfortunately today
is misused. But for this article, the meaning of this word
is important; the joining of sounds intuitively, not
spontaneously. This is because if you say spontaneously it
implies the existence of none outside stimuli. I will
explain this concept using Quandour’s own words. So, Why did
he search to find this form of self-expression in music?
He met the
Kabardinian Poet, Luba Balagova, now his wife, who at the
time of meeting him already had her Moscow education and had
obtained her doctorate. And here it seems ‘a miracle of a
union’ happened (L.N. Tolstoy) and the two creative souls
fused their energy. What was important for me, in my
judgment of her translated talented Kabardinian poems, were
the intonations of her Adigha poetry. These were once
lyrical, mournful and again dramatic, next with tragic
coloration and another time with epic depth, portraying
traditional folklore, showing at all times how these spring
from the people. Such creative expressions demanded from
Quandour’s heart the unstoppable, unrelenting inspiration,
to answer the lyrics of the words with musical notes. What
is good in this is that both these profound expressions came
from the national Adigha soul.
It is possible
that all these were expressed so powerfully by Quandour
because he stored in his memory from childhood, the musical
expressions of his own national songs and instruments, the
folk-tunes, the special motifs of songs and dances, the
ritual mourning songs; in other words, what any nation or
people carefully preserve in its memory as their own unique
heritage. It is like the canonization of the spiritual
inheritance, especially for those people living away from
their own motherland.
That is what
exactly happened with Mohydeen Quandour. That is my honest
opinion, especially after hearing his music. It seems as if
he takes from the deepest national memory, the musical
unconsciousness, the most effective motifs, looking for the
material and choosing them carefully to form his melodic
structures; the details that form the specific genre of a
tune. These are what makes his music so intimate and so
relevant, the mythology and history of his Adigha people,
wherefrom Luba Balagova also receives her poetic
inspirations.
I did not
mention Luba Balagova’s name accidentally. Balagova’s poetry
and Quandour’s music are joined as blood relatives because
they have a common emotional source, they spring from the
same fountainhead. They have the same secret undertones,
which make for real creativity, be it in music or in poetry.
What makes these two people the shining and true
representatives of their people are those deepest
foundations, which are so intimate and so understandable to
them both.
How can you
judge a composer without knowing all his works? If I am
allowed to speak about those compositions I have heard then
I can say the following. He works Passionately (pasionarli)
and zealously and he gives himself wholeheartedly to the new
work with confidence and belief. The structures of his
compositions are unique, although he mostly follows and
remains within the bounds of the classical forms. The sounds
reproduced have substance and warmth without pretentious
cleverness. What this produces in you are feelings of
deepest respect and reverence.
His music‘s
character is original in its genre; it has expressed itself
so far in sonatas, concertos and quartets. One of his most
popular compositions is a Concerto for Violin and Orchestra,
dedicated to the memory of King Hussein (of Jordan). What
makes this work unusual is the fusion of Arabic and
Circassian motifs. As one can observe in this work, the
musical memory of the Circassians, accumulated in the
Diaspora, created its own mystery by the union of two
musical cultures. This is expressed in the musical
creativity of this brilliant representative of the
Circassian Diaspora whose style has great potential.
I want to
remind you that in the many creative aspects of Mohydeen
Quandour, musical composition was the last of his passions,
begun in his period of true maturity. I think in the musical
culture of the North Caucasus, including the Circassians,
Mohydeen Quandour has an important and very special romantic
position. A romantic, who feels full-heatedly his people’s
joys and sorrows, who feels his peoples tragic destiny, and
who considers all friends of the Circassians as his own
friends. A romantic, who does not accept stagnation or
sluggishness, who bravely gives first place for freedom of
self-expression, freedom for creativity, whose musical or
literary pen is motivated by great love; this love is for
Art, for poetry and for all pure energies that make the
highest and sincerest expressions.
Yuri Korev
Secretary of the Union of Russian Composers
Titled Member of Artists of the Russian federation
Director of the Journal “ Musical Academy”
Moscow Russia |
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