The Silkroad Ensemble: Silent City | SILKROAD

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For "Silent City," the kamancheh (Persian spike fiddle), Western strings and percussion join in a meditation that is created anew with each performance. Composer and kamancheh player Kayhan Kalhor wrote the piece to commemorate the Kurdish village of Halabjah in Iraqi Kurdistan. "I chose to base the piece on an altered A-minor scale using Kurdish themes to remember the Kurdish people."

The performers develop the piece by improvisation until the last section, arranged by Ljova (shown in this video), which follows conventional composition and notation. This excerpt was filmed during a concert by the Silkroad Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma in Harvard University's Sanders Theatre in March 2011.

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[rekarabraham]

Remember Kayhan Kalhor dedicated this piece of art for the Kurdish people as a result of the Halabja Genocide. As Kalhor writes on the back cover, "The piece commemorates the Kurdish village of Halabja in Kurdistan.

[constantinodragicevic]

This is definitely on my top 10 songs of all my life (the whole version of course, but we all agree this final movement has maybe the most intense and acute emotions.

[maryamamin]

it reminds me something.... something from my childhood in my home country Iran....

[Aviram]

Better and better like a flowing river!

[talentsherpa]

I just listened to a brilliant interview he gave on a spark & fire

[unfingbelievable]

both heart-breaking and heart-expanding
thank you

[AhmedRozhbaiany]

Sky Sun, Tile Sun reminded me of this masterpiece 🌻

[donnaj]

What an extraordinary work. Thank you. We will remember them.

[safakkamaci]

Mükemmel ya sustum dinliyorum nasıl güzel insanin ruhunun en derinlerine giden 🌷❤🌹

[zarbithechti]

Je pense comme les autres internautes avant moi que c’est une très belle œuvre, profonde.

[mohsenmoradi]

thanks mr kalhor he is the best of the world ....wondefull

[rezamomeni]

فوق العاده استاد هفته پیش تو ساری ملاقات کردم

[monikadiaz]

yes "a MASTERPIECE!" thank you! hope it will help to OPEN Mind and Heart of ignorant people....far too many in this world....

[iBAS]

Powerful music, and lovely creation.
Best wishes to all of you.

ZANKO

[michaelbrickley]

Love their music. So much of it elicits tears to flow. The beauty of their common cause, which is to share the music of a world with more in common than differences.

[zirak]

very sad, dramatic and beautiful. THank you guys. It's beautiful played. :)

[dbaltaci]

A very dramatic music... If I read the comments I just noticed that we all turkish kurdish armenian persian have the same culture same sorrows and the same fate...

[ulvikocu]

Büyülü bir ses duyduğumda, çocukluğumun uçsuz bucaksız çayırlarına ve dağlarına koşmuş gibi olurum.

[NanaLine]

Gripping music! Most beautiful indeed.

[Composer_Ben]

Very nice. For me it does capture the feeling of walking through an empty city.