Prophesies

A fascination with polycultural synergy between diverse literary texts drives the inspiration for much of Mohammed Fairouz’s prodigious creative output, including instrumental music as well as vocal. In his profound and extensive essay preceding the score, Fairouz sheds light on how Edgar Allen Poe’s “Israfel” relates to the prophets and prophesies of the Quran, Old Testament, and New Testament. The eight-movement quartet may be heard as a dramatic gallery of portraits and of story-telling, flourishing in a post-traditional language that is at once vernacular and spiritual, Middle Eastern and Western. The complete set of score and parts is included in this publication.