KEMIT

Notice

KEMIT (the ancient Egyptian name for Egypt) is a transcription of a darbouka solo from the traditional music of Nubia, which imay be older than Islam and even Christianity.
Musical writing, an eminently European practice, is here in tune with the very spirit of Egyptian civilisation, for whom the written sign perpetuates, and the sound reading resuscitates life.
Like the ancient scribe, I wanted to give this music a second life, that of the European concert, thinking that it could do so with the help of the new generation of percussionists who have mastered the techniques of the Iranian zarb and the Arab darbouka. Against a paralysing respect for traditional music, and against its preservation in an aseptic showcase, I wanted to wager that, at least for some of them like this one, they had enough strength to withstand being transplanted into a foreign social setting – the concert – and enough universality to ensure that their interest did not lie entirely in their original function, in the subtleties of authentic playing, in the accent of their province. If it is accepted that Beethoven or Debussy can be played in Tokyo or Cairo, I thought in 1970 that it was time to admit that the darbouka could also be played in Europe.