The poems were translated into English, and each artist selected one poem to interpret in song.
Nil, a production company, completed the album in two years jointly with Universal Music. As part of the project, 50 Gülen poems were translated into English and sent to artists, and each artist picked a poem to turn into a song. As a result of this diversity, this world music album includes different genres such as pop, jazz, Indian sounds, Flamenco and Rai. The album is being marketed all over the world.
The poems selected by the artists for the album include “Down Comes in Dreams," "The worldly life," "Rose of My Heart," "Rise Up," "Separation and Hope," "Continuous Beauty," "Never," "Rainbow," "Music of Rain," "Don't Leave Me Alone" and “The Cry of the Nightingale."
In the album, German artist Chris Buseck who composed and sang “Rise Up”, which became the title of the album, said, “I could not refuse to be a part of such a project that aims for peaceful coexistence among people.”
Pursing his work in Hamburg as part of a project called Good Morning Diary, Buseck started to research Gülen's ideas after Nil Production's offer. “I had to know about the goal of the project if I was going to take part in it,” said Buseck, adding that he read articles about Gülen and researched the ideas that he advocates.
“I saw that the project advocates values such as peaceful coexistence, mutual respect and education for all regardless of religious affiliation, language or culture,” Buseck said. He said that he is happy to support such a message, which should be spread by means of music.
Buseck said that the title of the poem was a reason why he chose that particular work. Stating that he has always liked the word “rise,” the singer used the word in his songs several times. He said that a feeling of melancholy dominates the tone of the poem and reflects well the overall feeling of the project.
Excerpted from Sunday’s Zaman
