Nouri Iskandar

Nouri Iskandar (Syriac: ܢܘܪܝ ܐܣܟܢܕܪ, Arabic: نوري إسكندر, 1938–2023) was a Syrian musicologist and composer. After becoming influenced from his youth to pursue musical studies, he would become a composer of Syriac sacral and Assyrian folk-pop music, of which he is most well known for.

Nouri Iskandar ܢܘܪܝ ܐܣܟܢܕܪ نوري إسكندر
Born	1938 (1938) Deir al-Zur, Syria
Origin	Aleppo, Syria
Died	25 December 2023 (aged 85) Örebro, Sweden
Genres	Syriac sacral music, Assyrian folk music
Occupation(s)	musicologist, composer
Years active	1960s–2023

With a career that spanned more than 50 years, Iskandar is regarded as one of the pioneers of modern Assyrian music, having presented many studies, musical works, and independent research on Syriac melodies.^[1] He is considered one of the most popular Western Assyrian musicians alongside Gabriel Asaad and Joseph Malki.^[2] Throughout his career, he played a role in establishing multiple choirs and creating/preserving more than 700 sacral songs.

Early life

Nuri Iskandar was born in Deir al-Zur to an Assyrian family originally from Urfa in modern-day Turkey.^[3] His family moved to Raqqa before settling in Aleppo, where he later joined the local Syriac Orthodox scout band playing the trumpet.^[4] He studied at the higher institute of music at the University of Cairo between 1959 and 1964 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in music.^[5] He would return to Aleppo after finishing his studies and began to work as a school teacher, teaching singing and choir courses.^[6]

Throughout his time working as a schoolteacher, Iskandar continued to teach himself music lessons from textbooks and learned how to play the oud.^[6]

Career

From the early 60s, Iskandar worked to compose folk songs that would eventually become some of the most popular in modern Assyrian music, such as O Habibo (Syriac: ܐܘ ܚܒܝܒܐ), Zliqe Frse (Syriac: ܙܠܩ̈ܐ ܦܪܣܝ), Lo Tehfukh (Syriac: ܠܐ ܬܗܦܟ), and an operate called Parqana (Syriac: ܦܪܩܢܐ), among others.^[7] Iskandar's compositions have previously been compared to that of Gabriel Asaad, who is also considered a modern pioneer of Assyrian folk-pop music. Said compositions are regarded as being a mix of the modal structures of Syriac sacral music of the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Arabic maqam, with influences from Western music.^[8] Upon returning to Syria he established a number of choirs and groups, such as the Shamiram Folklore and Musical Group alongside Aho Gabriel and Amanuel Salamon from 1970 to 1973.^[9][10]

In 1973, Iskandar participated in the first modern festival of Assyrian music at the UNESCO PalaceBeirut, presenting a number of Assyrian folk songs with the Lebanese musician Wadi al-Safi and fellow Assyrian singer Habib Mousa.^[11] Iskandar also composed soundtracks for several shows and films in Syria throughout his career.^[12]

In 1992, Iskandar published a comprehensive book commissioned by UNESCO that compiled his previously studied songs into one book.^[13] The book, titled Beth Gazo (Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܓܙܐ, lit. 'The Treasury of Songs'), is written in both Arabic and Turoyo, and contains more than 700 different Syriac Orthodox Chants. The book received newer editions in 1996 and 2003, and addresses the repertoire of Deir al-Zafaran and Ruha.^[14]

Nouri was later the director of the Music Conservatory of Aleppo from 1996 until 2011,^[15] and moved to Örebro, Sweden in 2014, having fled Aleppo due to the violence of the Syrian civil war.^[16]

Personal life

Iskandar commonly remarked on the importance of Syriac sacral music in the history of the Music of Syria, noting its pagan origins from before Christianity and its influences from the region of Mesopotamia.^[17][18] He had previously expressed interest in Islamic and Arabic music, having been greatly influenced by his travels and studies to incorporate them into his methodology.^[19] He married and had two daughters, Mariam and Sousan.^[5]

Death and commemoration

On Christmas Day of 2023, Iskandar died at the age of 85.^[12][20] His death was announced the same day by the Syrian Ministry of Culture^[21] and was commemorated across Assyrian communities in the diaspora and Sweden, with musician Lolita Emmanuel writing "Malfono worked tirelessly to document our culture and to celebrate the continuity of ancient Assyrian heritage...He showed the world the historically rooted contributions of indigenous Assyrians to the Middle Eastern musical landscape."^[12]

A tribute concert was held in his memory shortly after his passing,^[22] and his funeral service was held on January 4 of the next year.^[23] His death was honored by the Nineveh Music Group in early February 2024.^[24] On the event of the 40th day since his passing, another musical commemoration was held in Damascus, organized by the Syrian Opera House with performances of two of his songs.^[25] The Assyrian Monitor for Human Rights organized a commemorative event in Eskilstuna featuring a documentary that chronicled his life's work and testimonials from many that knew him personally.^[26]

In late 2024, it was announced that a commemorative album would be released in honor of Nouri. The album contains a recording of one of Iskandar's concerts from 2014, and was released on Spotify the same day.^[27]