The
DePaulia – February 2002
"When [concerned with] our
differences, we should recognize our commonalities,"
suggests Victoria Vorreiter of the DePaul School of
Music. "The same melodies of a Moroccan grandmother
sings to her grandchild [is reminiscent of] the lullabies
our grandmothers sang to us."
On Feb. 13, Vorreiter will see an
end to her three and half years of filming, editing
and waiting. This date marks the Chicago premier of
her brainchild, "The Music of Morocco and the Cycles
of Life," at a benefit for the Casablanca Committee
of the Chicago Sister Cities International Program.
The 50-minute documentary details
the integral role of music "throughout the arc
of human life - from the first breath to the last one,"
said Vorreiter. Focusing on the indigenous Berbers of
Morocco, Vorreiter explores the intimate relationship
between the oral and instrumental tradition and rites
of passage.
Vorreiter further discloses that
the production of her film was a dream come true—she
always wished to add a visual aspect to the traditional
aural method of music.
Vorreiter states that, although
she "was a single, Western woman traveling discreetly
and alone" in a Muslim country, the natives of
Morocco received her with "such grace and
traditional generosity."
Furthermore, they allowed her into
their homes and families to view the nuanced situations
of life. And, at the moment, when the world is highly
aware of cultural disparities, a work signifying similarities
may be especially touching, according to Vorreiter.
In the documentary, Vorreiter notes
the North African country has a range in culture, and
thus, music—from "ornate Arab to simple Berber
melodies." Since the "country [is] at a cultural
and historical crossroads [of] the Arab world…Sub-Saharan
Africa, all major Mediterranean civilizations and Islamic
culture, its musical heritage is exceptionally diverse,"
said Vorreiter.
The oral culture of Berbers makes
music daily and intrinsic, Vorreiter mentions—from
rites of passage such as birth, to circumcision and
adolescent initiation, to ritual prayer and finally
to the last stages of life.
"The Music of Morocco"
was "made possible in part by grants from the Illinois
Humanities Council, the Ford Fund, Royal
Air Maroc, the National Moroccan Tourist Office and
The Dowd Foundation," said
Robin Florzak from DePaul's University Relations.
The work, however, could not have
been developed without the spiritual inspiration of
Paul Bowles, the expatriate American author of "The
Sheltering Sky." Vorreiter discussed her film with
Bowles, who recorded Moroccan music for the Library
of Congress in the 1960's, on three occasions at his
Tangiers home, according to Florzak. Bowles died in
1999 and the film is dedicated to him.
Vorreiter has taught violin around
the world as a guest instructor specializing in the
Suzuki Method. She arrived in Morocco to complete DePaul
graduate studies in 1998 and has since returned five
times.
Besides the production of the film,
Vorreiter also captured several still images of daily
Moroccan life. The photo collection, titled "Tea
in the Sahara," has been on display in the Richardson
Library since Fall quarter and will be replaced Feb.
8.
"The primal resonance of music,
and its profound melodies and rhythms," Vorreiter
said, is the motive behind her film and life's work.
The violin instructor goes on to proclaim: "Music
is an incredible medium!" |