Passion Sources

Notes by Peter Gabriel

1. Shamas-Ud-Doha Bader-Ud-Doja

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan And Party

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is regarded as one of the great Qawwali voices of our time. His group are highly respected throughout the Islamic world. This is an edited version of the song. The full ten minute version can be found on the album Shahen Shah which means “Bright Shining Star”, the title Nusrat has been given.

2. Call To Prayer

Baaba Maal

Baaba Maal is a Senegalese griot. Baaba’s performance of a traditional call to prayer was recorded during the work for the soundtrack. It appeared in the film during the scene of The Last Supper.

3. Sankarabaranam Pancha Nadai Pallavi

Shankar And The Epidemics

I have been collaborating with Shankar on different projects for the last eight years. He is always a great pleasure to work with; a very sensitive, sympathetic and gifted musician. This is a track he selected from his work with his own group, The Epidemics.

4. Ulvi

Kudsi Erguner

The title of this track means Celeste. It is a solo recording by the Turkish master flautist Kudsi Erguner that he made specifically for this album.

5. Fallahi

Hossam Ramzy

The Fallahim, Egyptian farmers, use this rhythm in their songs of celebration. This is one of the most popular of the Sharqi rhythms.

6. Sabahiya

Banga (Tanta-Suaag)

This piece was found originally on an album called The Folk Music of Egypt, an anthology by Tiberiu Alexandru. This song is a nuptial morning serenade and appears in the film just prior to the Market scene in Magdela at the entrance of the camel drivers.

7. Tejbeit

Unknown Ethiopian Musicians

A Tejbeit is a bar in which beer and other alcoholic beverages are brewed. The original field recording of this song was done in such a bar with the naturally lubricated accompaniment of the customers and bar girls. We wanted to enliven the music, which was a little lost in the recording, and so added Egyptian percussion and whistle.

8. Prelude In Tchahargah

Mahmoud Tabrizi Zadeh

Recorded specifically for this album, this piece, Persian in origin, is a prelude in a mode of Indian music.

9. Wedding Song

Unknown Moroccan Musicians

This piece was recorded on the set of the film in Morocco. Additional percussion was later added at Real World. It appears during the Wedding in Canaa scene.

10. Magdelene’s House

Abdul Aziz El-Sayed

Originally recorded as an alternative for the brothel scene, this track was used when Lazarus was murdered by Saul.

11. Yoky

Fatala

This traditional rhythm is played by Fatala, a group of musicians from Guinea, West Africa.

12. Ya Sah

Nass El Ghiwane

The original recording of this track appeared in the film during the brothel scene and was one of the pieces that helped shape Martin Scorsese’s ideas for the soundtrack.

13. Al Nahla Al ‘Ali

The Musicians of the Nile

The title of this song translates to The High Palm Tree. The Musicians of the Nile also collaborated on the Passion album.

14. Song Of Complaint

Antranik Askarian And Khatchadour Khatchaturian

This is an instrumental adaptation of ‘The Song Of The Emgirant’. ‘Song Of Complaint’ originally appears on an album entitled Armenie Musique de Tradition Populaire on Ocora Records. The music is played on a double reed instrument called a Doudouk. This is an instrumental version of a song of sorrow which describes the forced emigration of a person on account of his poverty.