Iacobus Leodiensis [Iacobus de Montibus, Iacobus de Oudenaerde]

Ibo music.

See Igbo music.

Ibrahim, Abdullah [Brand, Dollar; Brand, Adolph Johannes]

(b Cape Town, 9 Oct 1934). South African jazz pianist, flautist and composer. The development of his style was influenced by the work of Duke Ellington and Thelonius Monk and by South African marabi; he is known for his ballads and his skill in extended melodic invention and has released 63 recordings.

After making his name locally he moved to Zürich in 1962, attracted by its sociopolitical climate and the possibility of opportunities for performance. In Zürich Duke Ellington heard him perform; he arranged for Brand to make a recording in 1963 and to appear in the Newport Jazz Festival in 1965. Brand moved to New York, where he met Thelonius Monk; he subsequently toured Europe, performing as a soloist and with other musicians including Gato Barbieri, Don Cherry and Makaya Ntshoko.

From 1971 to 1976 he lived in South Africa, but he returned to exile in New York after defiantly organizing a jazz festival in his homeland. In the 1970s and 1980s the themes of his music and its reaffirmation of marabi showed the influence of his conversion to Islam and an intensification of his opposition to apartheid. During this period he recorded alone, in duos with Archie Schepp, Max Roach, Johnny Dyani and Carlos Ward, and as a member of small ensembles. With the Cape alto saxophonist Basil Coetzee he recorded Mannenburg, a slow version of an old Zacks Nkosi melody called Jackpot, which became an anthem of the struggle against apartheid and a classic of the Cape jazz repertory. His septet Ekhaya may be heard in most of his later recordings. He returned to South Africa in 1992.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

and other resources

GroveJ (E. Hazell)

L. Rasmussen: Abdullah Ibrahim: a Discography (Denmark, 1998)

R. Allingham: ‘South African Jazz: Hip Kings, Hip Queens’, World Music: the Rough Guide, i: Africa, Europe and the Middle East (London, 1999), 660–68

recordings

A Brother with a Perfect Timing, videotape, dir. C. Austin, Rhapsody Films 8024 (New York, 1987)

LOUISE MEINTJES

Ibrāhīm al-Mawsilā.

See al-Mawsilā, (1).

Ibrahimi, Feim

(b Gjirokastra, 20 Oct 1935; d Turin, 2 Aug 1997). Albanian composer, administrator and teacher. Essentially self-taught in his early years, he became the first significant Albanian composer to study exclusively in his home country, entering the newly-founded Tirana Conservatory in 1962 and studying there with Daija until 1966. He then taught counterpoint and composition at the conservatory (1966–73), subsequently serving as sub-director of its parent body, the Superior Institute of Arts (1973–7). His most significant post was as music secretary of the Union of Albanian Writers and Artists (1977–91); he later also served as artistic director of the Theatre of Opera and Ballet, Tirana (1991–2). From 1992 until his death he taught theory and composition at the Conservatory. He founded the Evenings of New Albanian Music in 1992.

As music secretary during Albania's period of cultural isolation, Ibrahimi showed himself a capable administrator, exerting a positive influence on Albania's musical life. Though obliged by his office to defend socialist realism, during his official travels abroad he tried, as much as was possible, to keep up with international musical developments, experimenting in secret with atonality (e.g. in the Cello Sonata, 1975, rev. 1990), expressing a private interest in Xenakis as early as 1981, and inviting to Albania such avant-garde figures as Stäbler. Ibrahimi's works of the early 1970s rank among the most progressive of that period. The First Piano Concerto (1971) shows a harmonic daring in advance of many Soviet composers of the time, while the Second (1975) is a dense and austere work, exploring a post-Bartókian sound-world. The ballet Plaga e dhjetë e Gjergj Elez Alisë (‘The Tenth Wound of Gjergj Elez Ali’, 1985) marks a watershed in his output, its tightly-woven motivic material, derived from northern Albanian folksongs, sustains a relentless rhythmic pace throughout, culminating in a shattering emotional climax. With the end of the socialist period, Ibrahimi revealed himself as a composer with an acute awareness of recent history, especially that of Albania and the Balkans. His works of the 1990s, including the beautiful songs on verses by Agolli, Essenin and Frashë, are often haunted by death and a sense of loss: his ‘Tragic’ Symphony (1990–92) is an ominous lamentation, reminiscent of the darker visions of Schnittke. In his last work, the atonal Dialogo (1997) that brooding element gives way to an emotionally detached yet musically intense interplay between cello and piano.

WORKS

(selective list)

dramatic

Film scores: Ngadhnjim mbi vdekjen [Triumph over Death] (dir. G. Erebara and P. Milkani), 1967; Përse bie kjo daulle [Why this daulle beats] (dir. Milkani, after I. Kadare: Dasma), 1969; Kur zbardhi një ditë [At the Dawn of a New Day] (dir. Milkani), 1971; Pylli i lirisë [The Forest of Freedom] (dir. Erebara), 1976; Shembja e idhujve [The Fall of Idols] (dir. Milkani), 1977; Ballë për ballë [The Confrontation] dir. K. Çashku and Milkani; after Kadare: Dimri i madh), 1979; Të paftuarit [Uninvited] (dir. Çashku; after Kadare: Prill i thyer), 1985; Balade e Kurbinit [The Ballad of Kurbinit] (dir. Çashku), 1990

Other: Provimi i fundit [The Last Examination] (choreographic scene, choreog. P. Agalliu), Tirana, 1983; Ballin lart në jubile [Hold Your Head High at the Jubilee] (choreographic scene, choreog. G. Kaceli), Tirana, 1983; Plaga e dhjetë Gjergj Elez Alisë [The Tenth Wound of Gjergj Elez Ali] (ballet, 2, Kadare, choreog. A. Aliaj), Tirana, 1986; Kush ndahet nga tufa e han ujku/ Qengjat, ujku dhe bariu [Who Leaves the Flock is Eaten by the Wolf/The Kids, the Wolf and the Shepherd] (choreographic scene, R. Bogdani), ?1996

vocal

Choral: Kënga e komisarit Mustafa Matohiti [The Song of Comissaire Mustafa Matohiti] (cant., F. Arapi), Mez, mixed chorus, orch, 1969; Tanë Shqipnia asht betue [All Albania has Sworn] (vocal-sym. poem, trad), nar, T, Bar, mixed chorus, orch, 1978; Partia flet [The Party Speaks] (cant.), ?1979; Kantatë per 40 vjetorin të partisë [Cant. for the 40th Anniversary of the Party] (B. Londo), female chorus, mixed chorus, orch, 1981; Parti, dritë e jetës sonë [Party, Light of Our Lives] (Xh. Jorganxhi), mixed chorus, pf, 1982; Krisën topat [Roar the Canons] (vocal-sym. poem, trad.), mixed chorus, orch, 1983; Pushka ime [My Gun] (Th. Mocka), male chorus, orch, 1983; Suita (trad.), chorus, 1984; Dremit liqeri [The Sleeping Lake] (L. Poradeci), 4–part chorus, 1991; Rekuiem për humbjen e engjëve: Vogelushëve të Serajevës, viktime të pafajshëm të luftës [Requiem for the Loss of the Angels: to the Little Girls of Sarajevo, Innocent Victims of the War] (Xh. Spahiu), S, A, T, B, mixed chorus, orch, 1995

Songs (1v, pf unless otherwise stated): I kushtohet [Dedicated] (Kadare), 1972; Lisi bleron vonë [The Oak Tree Greens Slowly] (D. Agolli), 1975; Recital i Malësorit [The Mountaineer's Recital] (Migjeni), 1975–95; Shqiptar [Albanian] (ballad, V. Qurku), 1977; Djaloshare [Youthful] (Agolli), before 1979; Në pranverë [In Spring] (Agolli), before 1982; Toka ime, kënga ime [My Land, My Song] (Agolli), before 1982; Peizazhi i pyllit të ralluar [Landscape of Destroyed Forest] (Agolli), 1986–7; Natë e bukur [The Night is Beautiful] (Goethe), 1988; Plaku dhe vdekja [The Old Man and Death] (N. Frashëri), 1990–96; Nessuno (S. Quasimodo), 1993; Rrejdh s' eshtë lume [It Flows, yet it is no River] (A. Podrimja), 1994; Dosvidanja [Farewell] (S. Essenin), 1996; Vdekja e druvarit [The Death of the Lumberjack] (Agolli), 1996–7; E la tua vesta a bianca (Quasimodo), S, vc, pf, 1997

Songs (1v, orch unless otherwise stated): Proletarë të gjitha vendeve bashkohuni [Proletarians of All Countries Unite], Kënge/Baladë për Selam Musanë [Song/Ballad for Selam Musaj], Këngë për revolucionin [Song for the Revolution], ?1v, ?vv, orch, 1960s; Ku po shkon, o partizan [Partisan, where are you heading to?], 1972; Kushtetutën e re miratoi kvëndi [The Parliament has Ratified the New Constitution], children's vv, 1977; Manushake [Violet] (N. Frashëri; from the film score Shembja e idhujve), 1977; Mirëmëngjes [Good Morning] (N. Lako), 1979; Ti që ke në sy lirinë [Freedom is mirrored in your Eyes] (R. Qatipi), ?1v, orch, 1979; Një zambak i bardhë në gur [A White Lily on the Rock] (G. Beci), 1980; Rrjedh një këngë e ligjerime [Flows a Song of Wailing] (G. Beci), 1980; Unëm biri yt [Me, your Son] (Podrimja), 1982; Hymni i Flamurit [The Hymn of the Flag] (F.S. Noli), 1v, ?orch, 1987–96; Kush po shkon ashtu/Trimi dhe Vasha [Who Goes by like this/The Young Man and the Maiden] (Poradeci), male and female vv solo, orch, 1996; Vera-Vera-Kokovera (folk), 3vv, 1996

instrumental

Orch: Vc Conc., 1968; Suite, 1969 or after [from film score Ngadhnjim mbi vdekja]; Sym. Poem, 1970; Concertino, pf, orch, 1970s; Poëme, vn, orch, 1970s; Pf Conc. no.1, 1971; Albanian Rhapsody no.1, 1973; Pf Conc. no.2, 1975; Albanian Rhapsody no.2, 1975; Variations on a Folk Theme, fl, orch, 1976; Fantasia, pf, orch, 1982; Ob Conc., 1982; Fantasia, fl, vn, orch, 1984; Poëme-koncert, f, pf, orch, 1985; Sym., eng hn, str, 1987–8; Sym. ‘Tragic’ (poems by A. Podrimja, Migjeni and L. Aragon recited before each movt), d, spkrs, S, orch, 1990–92, rev. 1993–5

Chbr and solo inst: Album, 10 pieces for children, pf, c1955–60; Scherzo, fl, pf, c1962–8; Toccata, pf, 1962–8; Str Qt, f, ?1965–89; Sonata, vc, pf, 1975, rev. 1990; Suite, fl, 1980–93; Suite, pf, after 1985; Scherzo, vn, pf, 1990; Kontrast, fl, ob, cl, hn, tpt, trbn, perc, pf, vn, vc, 1992; Homazh për Bela Bartokun [A Tribute to Béla Bartók], gui, 1992; Vikame, str trio, 1994; Dialogo ‘Il Regalo di nozze’, vc, pf, 1997; various short pf pieces, before 1982

Tape: De profundis, 1994

BIBLIOGRAPHY

S. Kalemi and S. Çefa: Historia e muzikës Shqiptare: analiza e veprave [A history of Albanian music: analysis of works] (Tirana, 1979)

Historia e muzikës Shqiptare [A history of Albanian music] (Tirana, 1984–5)

R.H. Bogdani: Koreografi & art i kultivuar [Choreography and cultivated art] (Tirana, 1998)

V. Ibrahimi: Vikama e tingullit [The de profundis of sound] (Tirana, 1999) [monograph, incl. worklist]

GEORGE LEOTSAKOS