Solo Nahawand
Sama’ay Sihr Misr
Musique Sayidna Al-Qutb
Solo Hejaz Kar Kord
Musique Tasabih
Musique Al-Yasmin
Solo Kord/Saba
Musique Farah
Longa Al-Farasha
Solo Bayaty

Pupil and partner of Nasser Shamma, Saber Abdelsattar presents “Alabanza” - a beautiful recording dedicated to one of the king instruments in cult arabic music: el qanun (kanoon)

The optimism and sparkle of the spirit that were palpable in the recording studio have shone through in the music on this CD, recorded in Ramadan in 2001, the holy month of fasting. I am sure that Pneuma music lovers will appreciate Saber Abdeslsattar’s elegant performance on the kanoon, a thousand year old instrument which is perfect for virtuoso playing. This is the beginning of a promising and rich musical experience.

Eduardo Paniagua

Some inspiring etymological thoughts on tasabih: The root s-b-h in its first form means “to swim in”, “to rest” “to spread out”, and in its second form, “sabbaha”, conveys the idea of “to praise, to laud, to exalt”. The word “subha” “rosary” comes from this second form, literally “an instrument used to exalt or praise”. The word “tasbîh, “praise” (noun) is also derived from this word, as well as the word “tasbiha” normally translated as “hymn or canticle of praise”. The plural is “tasâbîh”, the word we are talking about here, which would mean something like “canticles of praise”.

Andrés Guijarro

Yearning for traditional Arabic music will endure as long as the branch yearns for the roots from which it extracts life. And since movement and change are the most important signs of the existence of life, we aim through this new artistic expression to spur growth and development that will add to the circle of life, and to protect the spirit and progression of human culture.

Saber Albdelsattar.

Saber Abdelsattar graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in music, piano and kanoon from the Arab Music Institute of the Cairo Academy of Arts in 1995. He obtained a post-graduate degree in 1999 and was awarded the first prize in the Arab League International Kanoon Competition in 2001. He obtained his Master’s degree in 2011 with a thesis on "Proposed exercises to facilitate better performance of chromatic phrases while playing Kanoon". He is currently working on his first book on how to overcome the difficulties in kanoon playing, which includes works of classical and contemporary music from the East and the West.

In 1998 he founded the group OYOUN in Cairo together with the lutenist Naseer Shamma, director of “Bait Al Oud” Arab lute institute. Since 2005 he has been the head of the kanoon department at this unique and respected conservatoire, which initially concentrated on the lute alone. Creative performer and composer, he travels widely through many countries to give concerts as a soloist, in a chamber ensemble and with a small oriental orchestra, especially France, Germany, Italy, Austria and Switzerland, as well as all Arab countries.

El QANUN

The kanoon is a trapezoidal zither or dulcimer, important in Arab and Andalusian classical music. It is often played on the legs and consists of a wooden box with sets of strings tuned in unison and grouped in triads, attached to wooden pegs also arranged in rows of three and tuned with a metal key. The strings are plucked using a horn plectrum fixed to the index finger by means of metal rings. The bridge rests on skin or parchment, and is fixed to the wooden soundboard. The left hand, which usually plays the bass notes, makes small metal parts near the pegbox move, enabling the pitch of the strings to be changed in an agile manner without using the pegs.