Exultate Deo

The fact that Naji Hakim's compositional oeuvre is, by his own account, deeply rooted in his personal faith and dedicated to the glory of God and the joy of mankind is evident not only in the text of the sacred choral piece Exultate Deo for eight-part mixed a cappella choir (SSAATTBB). Hakim also manages to capture the textual content of the Latin verses from Psalm 81 by means of musical imagery with various madrigalisms, e.g. with extended melismatic melody lines and distinctive rhythms. This technically demanding sacred choral work was inspired by the Basque folk song Adieu fillette de Bayonne which the Lebanon-born composer already used in the first movement of his concerto for txistu (= Basque wooden flute) and orchestra.