Meet David and Yousif:
Music is the best thing to bring people together. The ‘Symphony for two rivers’ mini documentary is a lovely portrait of a classical composer in Australia who meets and works with an Iraqi refugee to explore the language of music.
David and Yousif are two passionate and talented musicians — one from generations of pioneers to Australia, the other a refugee from Iraq. Through collaboration, they both discover music can bridge any cultural divide — even conflicting musical scales and different tuning styles.
Iraqi Music Trivia:
Iraq is recognized mainly for three instruments, the Oud, Iraqi Santur and Joza. The music is melodically modal, and moves in a stepwise motion with repeated notes. Use of the lower end of a melodic range is characteristic, as is the use of silence; one listens through the silence. Following a cadence, the singer moves up to the next range of pitches. An arch shape is discernible, and the work ends in the original mode.
Apart from traditional music, Iraqi music includes contemporary music styles such as pop, rock, soul and urban contemporary.