Letters from Iraq: Oud and String Quintet

Letters from Iraq expresses the love and pain of lives lived by the people of war-torn Iraq. Actual mailed letters and their stories are transposed into eight gripping programmatic compositions by Iraqi-American composer and oud player, Rahim AlHaj with string quintet (2 violins, viola, cello, contrabass) and percussion. He says, “Music can make us laugh, make us cry, make us march into war. I want to make music to make us realize peace.” These recordings are of deep emotion and great beauty, melding mastery of Iraqi and Western classical genres alike to form something entirely new. 70 minutes, 40-page booklet with bilingual notes in English and Arabic.

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Track Listing

101	Letter 1. Eastern Love – Sinan	Rahim Alhaj	06:54
102	Letter 2. Forbidden Attraction – Tiama	Rahim Alhaj	12:17
103	Letter 3. Running Boy – Fuad	Rahim Alhaj	13:07
104	Letter 4. The Last Time We Will Fly Birds – Riyadh	Rahim Alhaj	09:25
105	Letter 5. Going Home – Rahim	Rahim Alhaj	07:42
106	Letter 6. Unspoken Word – Laila	Rahim Alhaj	06:17
107	Letter 7. Fly Home – Fatima	Rahim Alhaj	08:36
108	Letter 8. Voices to Remember – Zainab	Rahim Alhaj	05:22