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Painting of the singer Um Kulthum, nicknamed "Star of the Orient"
Photo: ISOPIX SPRL / action press
When the French President visited the city of Beirut this year after the devastating bomb explosion, his first visit was not to the Lebanese Prime Minister, but to the now 85-year-old singer Fairuz, the most famous singer in the Orient.
His reason for this unusual step was that their music has to play an important role for the country in this difficult situation.
Perhaps the message of Fairuz 'music, which united the whole people, was more important than the bickering of the parties at that moment.
I think music is an art that on the one hand illustrates cultural differences, but on the other hand can also bring people from different cultures together.
It's the only language that doesn't need translation.
With this in mind, I recently played an Arabic song to a German friend who was visiting us.
Already at the beginning of the piece she had the unerring feeling that the song was about a tragic love, although she did not understand the lyrics.
She told me that Arabic music always sounds sad and melancholy to her ears.
When she said that, she held up the mirror to me.
That was new to me, because normally my role is to hold up the mirror to the Germans.
I thought about.
When our friend left, I wanted to check her thesis.
Was Arabic music really that sad?
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