‘Seeds of Hope is a unique collection of 24 elementary to early intermediate piano solos and duets inspired by the courage of Palestinian children. Original compositions by internationally recognised educational composers are interwoven with arrangements of traditional Palestinian folk and children’s songs. Included are creative prompts and activities that will encourage musical development and curiosity. All proceeds from the book will go towards two charities that support music programmes in Palestine – PalMusic UK and Musicians Without Borders. Where there is music, there is hope!’
Alison Mathews
Pianist, composer and teacher Alison Mathews is the brainchild behind this innovative concept. I was delighted to be asked to contribute a short piano piece to the book which sits alongside works by such renowned educational composers as Pam Wedgewood, Chris Norton, Wynn-Anne Rossi, and Elissa Milne.
Alison was inspired by a film that she had seen featuring a young Palestinian boy living in Gaza who had transformed his family home rooftop into a little ‘farm’, growing and cultivating various crops. You can follow Ahmed’s progress, alongside his cat Simba, via his YouTube channel by clicking here. Alison was therefore keen to keep the book’s theme centred around a ‘connection to the land and nature, in particular, the joy of growing plants, food, keeping chickens, and farming on a small scale that children can relate to’.
In this collection, you’ll find an enticing mixture of arrangements including Palestinian and Arabian folk-songs as well as Middle Eastern-influenced original solo pieces and duets, all of which are from around Initial (or elementary) to Grade 3 – 4 (early intermediate) level of the British music exam syllabus standards. The book features international composers and arrangers, many renowned in their field. I particularly like the inclusion of games, activities, and QR codes encouraging students to ‘play along’ with various backing tracks for the duets as well as discovering different creative practice ideas. The music is beautifully typeset and illustrated, and the titles of each piece also appear in Arabic. Here’s the content list:
Contents
My Chicken – Salvador Arnita
Ta-DAH! – Alison Mathews
Ah Ya Zein – arr. Dia’ Rishmawi
Hal Sisan – transcribed by Rosa Conrad
Hal Sisan, Little Chicks Trio – arr. Rosa Conrad
Tied Balloons – Karen Marshall
‘Ala Del’ona – arr. Olly Wedgwood
Chickens! – Garreth Brooke
Shajara Zaytūn – Melanie Spanswick
Musical Seeds Improvisation – Alison Mathews
Rock’n’Roll Chicken & Tik Tik Tik Y’am Slaiman – Barbara Arens
I am a Palestinian Child – Rima Nasir Tarazi
Yomma Mweel Al Hawa (duet) – arr. Ahmed Abu Abed
Before the Flowers Bloom – Elissa Milne
Dream Garden Improvisation – Victoria Proudler
The Dream Garden – Victoria Proudler
Ween Ala Ramallah – arr. Ahmed Abu Abed
The Littlest Farmer – Wendy Beardall-Norton
Red Pepper Dance (duet) – Alison Mathews
Red Pepper Improvisation – Alison Mathews
Bird Flying High – Marcel Zidani
Hills & Valleys – Wynn-Anne Rossi
Cool Cats and Cucumbers – Pam Wedgwood
Cool Cats Improvisation – Alison Mathews
Al Asfour – Rima Nasir Tarazi
Simba’s Serenade (solo/duet) – James Welburn
The Rooftop Garden – Daniel McFarlane
Kellon ‘Indon Saryyat – Christopher Norton
Libre Palestina – Zaid Halil arr. Raji Ghareeb
Libre Palestina Lead Sheet
Song Lyrics
You can hear a selection of the pieces by clicking on the link below:
I’m particularly partial to the Arabic sound — in fact, I’m partial to anything vaguely related to Middle Eastern food and culture — and I was keen to explore various maqams, or Arabian scales, eventually settling on the maqam hijaz as the basis for my piece ‘Shajara Zaytūn’ or ‘Olive Tree’. Olives and olive oil production form a crucial part of the Palestinian way of life, and olive groves are to be found all around Gaza and the West Bank in particular. My piece is around Grade 1 level, and you can hear me play it by clicking on the link below:
I do hope I’ve whetted your appetite! Please take some time to explore this volume, whether for yourself or your students, and you can purchase your copy and support the children of Gaza’s musical project by clicking on the link below. For those who would prefer a hard copy, this will be available soon. Alison will be writing a more in depth post for my blog about the book in due course.
You can also purchase it from Sheet Music Now by clicking here.
