East Neuk Festival: Ayoub Sisters Quartet
Anstruther Town Hall 3/7/26
The Ayoub Sisters (Laura & Sarah Ayoub, violin & cello), Giulio Romano Malaisi (guitar), Gio vanni Velez (drums)
Just 6 weeks after catching Scottish/Egyptian Ayoub Sisters (Laura & Sarah Ayoub, violin & cello respectively) with fabulously talented Italian session musicians, guitarist Giulio Romano Malaisi and drummer Gio vanni Velez, at the Perth Festival, I attended the same quartet’s East Neuk debut in Anstruther Town Hall on the evening of 3rd July, while my colleague Brian Bannatyne-Scott was enjoying the Tallis Scholars’ second programme. There was no printed programme. After the first two items, Sarah identified and explained those pieces and thereafter the sisters took turns to genially introduce the music. Tracks from their 2022 album ‘Arabesque’ predominated in the music, emphasising their Arabic heritage mediated through growing up in Scotland and a classical training, while classical and fusion music, also in their repertoire, was almost entirely absent, except for a few oblique references. Their music combines traditional and modern elements, their own arrangements and compositions, as well as improvisation. The concert was very well attended (it looked sold out from where I was sitting).
First up, the Egyptian folk song ‘El Helwa Di’ (meaning “this sweet girl here”) started with a typically Middle-Eastern rhythm on drums, with guitar entering in emulation of an oud. Cello sang a beguiling melody, joined by violin in harmony. A more vigorous rhythm was established for what in classical tradition would be called a set of variations. Sarah said that the words of the song mention the smell of freshly baked bread as a simile for sweetness, so the tune always evokes the sensation for her. Next, the Egyptian pop-song 'Fatma' by composer and drummer Omar Khairat (now 77 years old and still going strong) similarly started with an idiomatic drum rhythm, joined by rhythmic (and quite jazzy) guitar, followed by the dancelike melody on violin and cello in conversation, then in harmony. A slower more romantic central section was reminiscent of the main theme of the slow movement of Rodrigo’s ‘Concierto de Aranjuez’ (which had me recalling Lebanese singer Fairuz’ song lamenting the tragedy of the Lebanese Civil War, ‘Li Beirut’, which also uses the melody).
‘The Scottish Egyptian’, which followed, was introduced as an ‘Arabic jig’ and was a piece of Scottish/Arabic fusion of their own composition. A violin and cello chamber conversation over a slow rhythm slipped into a slow Glaswegian jig picking up some quarter-tones and some speed, before morphing into a wildly faster (and rather abandoned) Arabic dance in 4. I was sure I heard modal fragments from Vaughan Williams’ ‘The Lark Ascending’ being quoted in the first part of the piece. Delicious though that was, the next piece outdid it. ‘Lamma Bada Yatathanna’ (“When my love starts to move with a swaying gait” – giving the lie to the notion that music appreciative of the female form in motion originated in the 20th century) is a 14th century poem from Moorish Spain, with a 10/8 melody almost certainly as ancient. The lyrical playing from violin and cello was beguiling enough, but Giulio’s guitar solo in Andalusian style, emulating the oud, over an ostinato descending chord progression on violin and cello, was superb. Before this gem, Laura revealed a different preoccupation of the moment: as they played their music, Egypt was playing their match with Australia in the World Cup. Although the audience had been told to switch their phones off, Laura made it clear that, were anybody to keep them apprised of the score (especially if it was good news), the infraction would judiciously ignored. The bond of affection between performers and audience, already strong, gained something from an extra soupçon of conspiracy.
We learned how their first album, ‘The Ayoub Sisters’, a crossover of classical, traditional, and pop, was recorded in Abbey Road Studios in collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, produced in partnership with Classic FM, and released 9 years ago via Decca Records, while Laura was still studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. It was exciting to be propelled towards commercial success, but they didn’t feel like they owned it or that it was true to their identities as artists. COVID forced a pause, where they could rethink their future. They decided to realign with their Arabic cultural heritage and Glasgow upbringing and work as independent artists. The next number, from the 2022 album ‘Arabesque’, exemplified this new departure, with a spiritual fusion. Two prayers, one Coptic and one Muslim, featured, at first separately and then together, each emerging as a perfect countermelody to the other – very lovely, simple yet moving. ‘Madad’ (succour) is the Islamic prayer; ‘Agios’ (holy or Saint in Greek) is the extract from a Coptic Orthodox hymn.
Lest anybody imagine that the sisters were turning their backs on modern western culture, their atmospheric arrangement of ‘Misirlou’ from the film ‘Pulp Fiction’ followed, their new version with an Andalusian guitar intro and melodic support, even better than the old pre-quartet version, which used foot-operated digital samplers (loop stations) to lay down multiple rhythm and backing instrumental tracks and loop them during performance, the rhythm ingeniously derived from tapping the belly of the cello. The melody is actually an old Middle-Eastern one, not unlike that of the song ‘Fog el Nakhl’ (Above the Palm Tree), where the poet imagines moonlight shining through the branches onto the face of his beloved, which I arranged for New Abu Dhabi Chamber Orchestra back in 1997. In similar vein and based on a poem by Lebanese philosopher/poet Khalil Gibran with a haunting melody by Najib Hankash, ‘Aatini Al Naya Wa Ghanni’ (Give me the flute and sing) was described as “perfect for a wistful Beirut scene in a Bond movie where Bond and latest love interest must say their goodbyes”. Brushes on the drums sustained the illusion. Another gem.
In a flashback to the COVID lockdown, when the spirit of mutual tolerance of even the closest families was fraying, the ‘Hymn to Isis’ (Sarah kept saying ‘Ibis’ - we’ll put that down to football supporter’s stress) was inspired by watching spectacular but eerie TV coverage of the Egyptian event of 2021, the ‘Pharaohs’ Golden Parade’, when ancient pharaonic mummies were ceremonially transported to a new museum. Laura found herself musing, years later, over how the mummies, who had obviously not been consulted about the move, would have reacted if they had woken up in transit. The conclusion was high dudgeon and visiting retribution as per the ‘Curse of the Mummy’. The stuff of horror movies and their scores. The original was composed by Hisham Nazih to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic texts from the Temple of Isis at Deir el-Shelwit and sung during the procession, by soprano Amira Selim with the United Philharmonic Orchestra. The arrangement starts with Nazih’s chant but goes rapidly awry when the mummies awaken, angry and affronted, building to a huge cacophonous climax, stopping suddenly. After a pause (in both Perth and Anstruther the audience applauded, thinking it was over) a short stunned coda on guitar returns to post-apocalyptic calm. Bonkers but brilliant.
The next piece performed, the first they wrote together, dates from 10 years ago and was the first they filmed to make a promotional video for YouTube. The ideal location, a Moroccan cafe off Oxford Street in London (Cafe Momo), was too expensive to hire, but they managed to blag an hour before opening time, with the promise that the video would promote the cafe, and they would give a free concert there as a “thank you”. The nearest tube station was far enough away that, when the skies opened with torrential rain as they emerged from the station, they were thoroughly drenched by the time they arrived. The video, two segued iconic hits by "King of Arabic Pop" Amr Diab is still online (see below). The venue looks great; the music sounds great: the sisters look a fright (they claim – actually they look as dishy as ever, if a tad aquatic). To be fair, they have still not been asked back to give the free concert. The hits are 'Tamally Maak' & 'Nour El Ein'. They sounded even better in Anstruther, in an extended version with quasi-improvised jazz cadenzas for all 4 musicians, including a cheeky quote from Mozart 40 from the guitar and a stunning extended drum solo.
The evening concluded with ‘Abdul Kader / Sidi Mansour’, two North African songs in praise of two historic sufi saints of the Maghreb., specifically Algeria and Tunisia. Sul ponticello playing from the sisters with quarter tones seemed to emulate desert flutes on the introduction. Both of the charming melodies invited dancing. There was one more high-octane solo from the drums before the second melody swept us to the evening’s close and thunderous applause. Thoroughly excellent. Full marks from me.
https://eastneukfestival.com/events/10-the-ayoub-sisters-quartet/