Concert, Main stage
A concert of Sufi music
Qawwali is a form of singing that takes its origin in 13th-century India, and offers Sufi spiritual poetry in a musical form played on ancient instruments. Qawwali includes Persian poetry and Indian music, meditation and a high quality of performance technique, which is based on strict rules established hundreds of years ago, and passed on from father to son. The mechanics of Qawwali - transitions from one recital to another, the interplay between the chorus and soloist, improvisation and the return to the original theme - exist so that the vocalist, achieving a mystical experience when performing, joins with the listener in a stage of exalted ecstasy.
Fanna-Fi-Allah has travelled the planet and is the first Western ensemble to perform the Sufi musical culture known as Qawwali throughout the world. The musicians of Fanna-Fi-Allah learned the traditions of Qawwali first-handed from Pakistani masters who have preserved the age-old traditions.
Six musicians sitting on a rug spread out on the forestage perform on ancient instruments - tablas and harmonicas. They perform Sufi texts in an authentic manner, meaning the harmonic singing of several singers who work with refrains and the gradual build-up to an ecstatic state akin to a trance.
Admission is free with pre-registration on TimePad.ru.