“It really hit me, ‘Wow! There’s a whole community of people around us, and I should know something about this.’” Like most Canadians, Hawley knew little of Muslim music before embarking on her journey. “It was just challenging enough for them.” “We realized right off the bat that it was something really good and just right for that age group,” says Filion. Joyous and warm, it’s especially moving thanks to the hopeful voices of children. Running three and a half minutes, the song is indeed celebratory. She largely stuck to the melody and rhythm of the traditional piece even though choral singing is not part of the Muslim tradition. Working as she customarily does in the pre-dawn dark before quotidien duties intervene, Hawley composed around the traditional song, setting her work in a key appropriate to children’s voices. Article contentĬommission in hand, Hawley, whose resumé includes teaching music at Carleton University as well as composing Au champ d’honneur which is performed annually at the Remembrance Day Ceremony at the National War Memorial and on the Peace Tower Carillon, set to work.Ī suggestion by a member of the Kanata Muslim Association led her to a YouTube performance of Tala’ al-Badru ‘Alayna, an historical song that’s variously described as being sung to the Prophet Mohammed in Medina when he sought refuge there after leaving his native Mecca or when he arrived there following the 7th century Battle of Tabuk. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The festival in the past had included music from Germany, Haiti and elsewhere and Filion asked her to incorporate something from the Muslim tradition as well as a French component. “I had been commissioned over a year ago (by Filion) to compose this piece for the children’s choir festival,” she says – long before the plight of Syrian refugees made headline news. She’s also puzzled about why the song is being touted as a welcome to the thousands of Syrian refugees being brought to Canada by the Liberal government (a tweet from Justin Trudeau congratulating De La Salle high school on the performance doubtless urged along the misapprehension). That response has included an outpouring of positive online commentary and emailed requests from around the world to purchase the music. Hawley says she’s “totally shocked” at the overwhelming response to the performance led by Robert Filion, choir director at De La Salle high school. Try refreshing your browser, or tap here to see other videos from our team.
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