Muhammad: The Messenger of God (soundtrack)
Muhammad: The Messenger of God—Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album composed by A. R. Rahman (featuring the trio Le Trio Joubran) to the 2015 Iranian Islamic epic film of the same name. The film is directed by Majid Majidi and co-written with Kambuzia Partovi. The soundtrack was released by Sony DADC on 23 December 2015.[1]
Muhammad: The Messenger of God (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | ||||
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Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | 23 December 2015 | |||
Recorded | 2013—15 Scoring Stage Babelsberg, Germany Studio Piccolo, Paris Click Studio, Cairo Panchathan Record Inn, Chennai A. R. Studios, Mumbai | |||
Length | 1:09:44 | |||
Language | Arabic | |||
Label | Sony DADC | |||
Producer | A. R. Rahman | |||
A. R. Rahman chronology | ||||
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The soundtrack was adjudged as one of the "Best Scores of Asia in 2015" by Movie Music UK magazine.[2]
Background
A. R. Rahman's inclusion in the project was confirmed in May 2014.[3] It took six months for A. R. Rahman to understand the kind of score that Majid Majidi wanted for "Muhammad: The Messenger of God".[4][5] He worked on the score for a year and a half.[6] Singer Sami Yusuf has recorded a track featured only in the film.[7] In November 2014, Rahman recorded with the Le Trio Joubran for the score.[8] Further sessions of recording with the trio were held in Paris by February 2015.[9] Orchestral music was recorded in Berlin.[10]Geoff Foster co-produced the motion picture score with Rahman.[11] The score comprises experimental melodies and rhythms.[12] A. R. Rahman recorded the music along with Dilshaad Shabbir Shaikh son of playback singer Shabbir Kumar, across five countries including India, Iran, Germany, France and Egypt with 200 musicians .[13][14]
The score of Muhammad: The Messenger of God combines emotional music performed by a symphony orchestra, blended with instruments and vocal soloists.[15] This brings touches of geographic and historical specificity to the project.[15] The opening track "Prologue – The Infinite Light" is an array of vocals, whispers, and chant which gradually emerges into a brass-led crescendo.[15] The tracks "Signs of the Last Prophet," "The Birth," "Through the Sands," and "And He Was Named Muhammad (SAL)," is choral in arrangement.[15] Tracks "Halima’s (RA) Healing," "A Mother’s Advice to Her Son," "The Last Hajj of Abdul Mutallib (AS)," and "The Sermon," use the voices extrovertly to depict religious feelings. Several cues of the score have traditional orchestral arrangement, especially the usage of strings and woodwinds.[15] The track "Ababeel" is used in an action sequence, centered around brass clusters, drumbeats, and deep choral accents. The track "The Camel’s Divine Intervention," is upbeat with intricate pieces that layers orchestral music with sounds of oud.[15]
Track listing
No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Prologue - The Infinite Light" | Nikhita Gandhi, Faarooqi Parissa | 02:36 |
2. | "Makkah 740 AD" | A. R. Rahman | 02:07 |
3. | "Ababeel" | Dilshaad Shabbir Shaikh | 05:51 |
4. | "Signs of the Last Prophet" | Nikhita Gandhi | 03:59 |
5. | "The Birth..." | Arpita Gandhi | 03:01 |
6. | "And He was Named Muhammad (SAL)" | Nikhita Gandhi | 04:26 |
7. | "Le Trio Joubran's Roubama" | A. R. Rahman | 02:53 |
8. | "The Camel's Divine Intervention" | Le Trio Joubran | 02:39 |
9. | "Through the Sands" | Le Trio Joubran | 04:02 |
10. | "Abraha" | A. R. Rahman | 04:34 |
11. | "Halima's (RA) healing" | Sana Moussa | 02:36 |
12. | "The Land of Friendship" | A. R. Rahman | 02:36 |
13. | "Le Trio Joubran's Shajaan" | A. R. Rahman | 01:06 |
14. | "Mother's Advice To Her Son" | Arpita Gandhi | 03:51 |
15. | "The Search" | A. R. Rahman | 02:06 |
16. | "Protecting the Innocent" | A. R. Rahman | 03:54 |
17. | "The Last Hajj of Abdul Mutallib (AS)" | Le Trio Joubran & Dilshaad Shabbir Shaikh | 03:08 |
18. | "The Sea Miracle" | Natalie Di Luccio | 05:35 |
19. | "The Sermon" | A. R. Rahman | 03:02 |
20. | "Ya Muhammad (SAL)" | A.R.Rahman, Sana Moussa, Dilshaad Shabbir Shaikh, Osama El-Khouly | 05:24 |
Total length: | 01:09:44 |
Album credits
Credits adapted from the CD liner notes of soundtrack album.[17]
Choirs and orchestra
- Music Assistant: Dilshaad Shabbir Shaikh
- Choirs – K.M.M.C. Choir, Babelsberg Choir
- Choir Supervision – Adam Greig, Arjun Chandy
- Orchestra –Filmochestra Babelsberg
- Orchestrator and conductor – Matt Dunkley
- Orchestra manager – Klaus-Peter Beyer,
- Backing Vocals
A. R. Raihanah, Isshrath Quadhre, Arpita Gandhi, Arjun Chandy, Saranya Srinivasan, Ameena, Aisha Sayyed, Nitishree, Shashaa Tirupati, Aditi Paul
- Personnel
- Oud – Le Trio Joubran, Additional Oud - Ebrahim Alavi, Tapas Roy
- Ney – Irfan (in Tehran), Kamlakar
- Duduk – Kamlakar
- Saz – Tapas Roy
- Flute – Kamalakar, Naveen Kumar
- Percussion – Youssef Hbeisch
Special credits for the track "Ya Muhammad (SAL)"
- Lyrics – Traditional
- Vocals – A. R. Rahman, Sana Moussa, Dilshaad Shabbir Shaikh, Osama El-Khouly
- Percussions – Hossam Ramzy, Youssef Hbeisch
- Youth choir (from Cairo) – Osama El-Khouly, Ashraf Seleem, Naser Hassan, Ahmad Effat, Jan Boushra
- Children's choir (from Cairo) – Miss. Basant Ashraf, Master Tarek Ashraf, Master Khaled Mohamad, Master Mazen Yosry
- Music engineer – Bassem Sobhy (in Cairo)
- Production
- Score recording and mixing – Geoff Foster
- Music Assistant - Dilshaad Shabbir Shaikh
- Additional mixing – Ishaan Chhabra
- Score co-ordinator – Arpita Gandhi
- Assistant Scoring Engineers – Vinay Sridhar, Karthik Sekaran (at Y.M. Studio Mix Room)
- Engineers –
- • Suresh Permal, Ishaan Chhabra, Vinay Sridhar Hariharan, TR Krishna Chetan, Srinidhi Venkatesh, R Nitish Kumar, Karthik Sekaran (at Panchathan Record Inn)
- • Vincent Bruley (at Studio Piccolo, Paris)
- Music Programming – Ishaan Chhabra, Hentry Kuruvilla, Santhosh Dhayanidhi, Jerry Sylvester Vincent, TR Krishna Chetan, Dilshaad Shabbir Shaikh
- Musicians' fixer – R. Samidurai, Vijay Iyer
References
- "'Muhammad: The Messenger of God' Soundtrack Details". Film Music Reporter. 22 December 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
- "Best Scores of 2015 - Asia". MOVIE MUSIC UK. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- "'Slumdog Millionaire' composer writes music for Iranian film". The Iran Project. 6 May 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
- "It took time to gauge what Majid Majidi wanted from me: Rahman". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
- Kumar, Anuj (9 April 2015). "Change has to happen". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
- "We are judging today's music by what we see on television: A R Rahman". Times Of India Blogs. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
- "Sami Yusuf with AR Rahman". Sami Yusuf – Official website. 9 November 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
- "Trio Joubran with #ARRahman". Rahman360. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
- "AR Rahman records for Iranian film director Majid Majidi's next project". Deccan Chronicle. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- Khan, Taran (22 September 2015). "200 films on Christ, 120 on Moses, 42 on Buddha, but on the Prophet..." Mumbai Mirror. Mumbai. p. 1. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
- "Live Chat with A. R. Rahman". Livestream. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
- K. Jha, Subhash (24 March 2015). "Ever since music maestro A R Rahman agreed to do the music of an Iranian film he has been getting a lot of offers from that country". SKJ Bollywood News. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
- "AR Rahman talks about his most daring upcoming project". media247.co.uk. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
- "Working with AR Rahman in 'Muhammad: The Messenger Of God' was a learning experience: Natalie Di Luccio - The Economic Times". The Economic Times. 17 September 2015 [2015]. p. 1. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
- "Best Scores of 2015 - Asia". MOVIE MUSIC UK. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- "Muhammad: The Messenger of God (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) on iTunes". iTunes Store. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- Original Motion Picture Soundtrack— Muhammad: The Messenger of God (Audio CD). A. R. Rahman. Sony DADC. 2015. ASIN B019IJ7XKS. ISBN 7011077537.CS1 maint: others (link)