Democratic Palestine : 27 (ص 54)
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- Democratic Palestine : 27 (ص 54)
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Abu Hassan and the Urghoul
Abu Hassan, one of Al Ard’s
members, personifies the link between
the group and the Palestinian heritage it
strives to perpetuate. Abu Hassan is 58
years old and is one of very few
Palestinians who still play the urghoul.
He was born in northern Palestine in
Naser Al Deen village, near Tiberius, in
1929. He experienced the 1948 war and
occupation. Abu Hassan told about
these times - fleeing from one village to
another, fighting against the British
colonialists and the Zionist settlers. He
then told the painful story of leaving
Palestine, that ended with him and his
family living in Khan Al Sheih camp in
Syria, near the borders.
Since he was eight years old, Abu
Hassan has been interested in the
urghoul. «When I was a child, I used to
sneak away from home and walk
-sometimes for hours - through moun-
tainous areas to get to a wedding in
another village, just to hear a certain
young man play the urghoul. Once he
arrived, all the others modestly put
their shabbabas away, and made room
for him.»
Abu Hassan followed the shepherds
and tended their animals in return for
54
their giving him urghoul lessons. Final-
ly, he decided he would depend on
himself. He listened to famous urghoul
players at weddings and imitated them.
When he was sixteen, he was able to
play the nicest melodies in weddings
himself. By then he knew the music for
the debka for all the different villages in
Palestine. Abu Hassan also taught
himself how to make his own in-
struments. «I used to walk for hours to
find bamboo with the right size stalks
and no knots. Then I would take a stalk
to the instrument maker and sit with
him until it was done.» Later he learned
to make his own urghoul.
In Syria, Abu Hassan worked in
construction for two years, and played
the urghoul at weddings for free. When
the demand for his music increased, he
began to play professionally.
About his work in Al Ard, Abu
Hassan said, «I consider myself a
fighter in a front for protecting the
Palestinian culture from Israeli rob-
bery.» Abu Hassan played with the
group when it was in Beirut. It is said
that on one occasion, his performance
made the audience cry. In the Soviet
Union, Abu Hassan played the urghoul
in front of the hotel for hundreds of
Soviets, after Al Ard’s stage perfor-
mance was over. «The Soviet people
were very interested in my instrument,»
he recalls.
Regarding the urghoul’s history, Abu
Hassan explained that the Canaanites
(ancient people of Palestine) were the.
first to discover that blowing in hollow
bones made nice sounds. The instru-
ment was first developed in Al Hemma
in the Tiberius district, made from
bamboo with holes put in it. Until now,
Abu Hassan explained, the Tiberius
area is famous for making urghouls
and other wind instruments. «The
length and width of the urghoul makes
a big difference in the tune.» Abu
Hassan has made many urghouls for
himself, for different occasions. The
urghoul player must have strong lungs.
When he was younger, Abu Hassan
played for eight hours straight; now he
can play for three or four. Abu Hassan
concludes, «More Palestinians need to
learn to play the urghoul. It is an
element of old Palestinian culture, and
we want to make sure it never dies.» - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 27
- تاريخ
- ديسمبر ١٩٨٧
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
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