National Geographic Music (National Geographic)

It is difficult to think of another musician in the Arab world other than Marcel Khalifé who has so powerfully and successfully fused the aesthetics of his art with the cultural and political concerns of the age. His ability to free the oud as an instrument from its traditional bonds clearly mirrors his struggle to highlight the injustices of political and everyday life in the Arab world.

When he was studying at the Beirut conservatoire, Khalifé used to pass by the Palestinian refugee camps. Wondering why these people were living in houses made of zinc, and what the circumstances were which led to them living in such poverty, he decided to learn more about the Palestinians, how they lost their homes, lands and rights. He became a supporter and now does not hesitate to show his support for their cause. During Lebanon's civil war, he risked his life performing in bombed-out concert halls, bringing his music and the great poetry of the Arab world to his war-ravished country. He was named UNESCO Artist for Peace in June 2005.

Khalifé's song compositions are deeply rooted in lyrical texts. Through his association with great contemporary Arab poets, notably the Palestinian Mahmoud Darwish, he has sought to renew the character of Arab song, breaking its stereotypes and advancing the culture of the society that surrounds it. Although he has always avoided explicit lyrical responses to political events, he is nonetheless hugely articulate as a campaigning figure. In fact, though, his music has attracted controversy. In the song "Oh Father, I Am Yusuf," based on the poem by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, Khalifé quotes passages from the Koran.

The song created uproar among some who insisted that it was blasphemous. The charges against him were eventually dropped and the judge wrote in her decision "that the defendant has chanted the poem in gravity and composure that reveal a deep perception of the humanism expressed in the poem ornamented with the holy phrase." These events have further fueled Khalifé's advocacy of the freedom of the artist.

He has also written music for the Caracalla Dance Troupe and soundtracks for documentaries and films directed by Sophi Sayhf Eddin, Maroun Baghdadi and Sami Zikra. Since 1982, Khalifé has written books on music that reflect his avant-garde compositions and musical scholarship, and his compositions have been performed by several orchestras, notably the Kiev Symphony Orchestra, the Academy of Boulogne Billancourt Orchestra and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra.

Some of his albums include Promises of the Storm, Ahmad Al Arabi, Weddings, Peace Be With You, Ode to a Homeland, Arabic Coffeepot, The Children and Body and Magic Carpet, a suite of 12 instrumental pieces written for the Caracalla Dance Troupe's theater shows Alisar the Queen of Carthage and Andalusia: The Lost Glory. —Tom Jackson