State of Siege - حالة حصار

This song cycle project brings together selected poems from the collection State of Siege - حالة حصار by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. It is conceived as an artistic reflection on the realities and injustices that have shaped the history of the Palestinian people since 1948.

 

To those who will listen to this music:

This project was, for me, a way not to sink…

Faced with the powerful and their murderous silence, at least I will have written this work!

Mehdi Trabelsi

 

All the songs are composed specifically for Abir Derbel’s voice, an inexhaustible source of inspiration.

 

Through the musical setting of these poems, Mehdi Trabelsi strives to preserve the full integrity of Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry. This is achieved through the deliberate choice of a short musical form — one that not only mirrors the scale of the poems but also challenges the uniformity of today’s musical formats.

The poet’s searing words echo in our world as an indelible testimony of the resilience, pain, and hope of a people in their eternal pursuit of justice.

 

This musical project humbly aligns itself with the global movements that have risen to defend human dignity, justice, and peace among peoples.

State of Siege thus seeks to be a resonance for the voices of those who die and resist the suffocating silence imposed by the powerful.

 

Ultimately, State of Siege aims to move hearts and awaken consciences — offering a vibrant homage to the poetic and human resistance of Palestine, and beyond, to all those who rise and fight for human dignity and justice for all.

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1. نرَبَّى الأَمَلُ

   We cultivate hope
    

2. نَنسى الأَلَمَ

   We forget the pain
    

3. عشرين سطراً

   Twenty lines
    

4. بَشِّرْ مِثْلَكُم

   Human like you
    

5. أَيُّهَا السّاهِرونَ

   Oh Watchman
    

6. بِلادٌ عَلَى أَهْبَةِ الفَجْرِ
   A contry on the threshold of dawn
    

7. بِرَذاذِ الفَرَحِ

   La rosée de la joie 
    

8. السَّلام

   Peace
    

9. نحب الحياة

   We love life