{"id":340064,"date":"2021-10-31T19:37:39","date_gmt":"2021-10-31T17:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=340064"},"modified":"2021-11-01T10:13:53","modified_gmt":"2021-11-01T08:13:53","slug":"lebanese-female-chanter-ribale-wehbe-there-is-nothing-more-beautiful-than-to-know-how-to-praise-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arhiva.basilica.ro\/en\/lebanese-female-chanter-ribale-wehbe-there-is-nothing-more-beautiful-than-to-know-how-to-praise-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Lebanese Female Chanter Ribale Wehb\u00e9: There is nothing more beautiful than to know how to praise God"},"content":{"rendered":"

She is 22. She comes from a country where Orthodox Christians are a minority and travels worldwide praising God in the millennia-old musical tradition known as Byzantine music. She invites young men and women to start learning Byzantine chant. \u201cI don\u2019t think that there is something more beautiful than to know how to praise God,\u201d Lebanese female chanter Ribale Wehb\u00e9 said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before heading to the Ia\u0219i Byzantine Music Festival 2021, Ribale made a short stop at the Basilica.ro<\/a> newsroom. A week before, she had concerted in the Sascut-Schineni Parish, Bac\u0103u county, being invited by Parish Priest Alexandru Grigora\u0219.<\/p>\n

In her interview, she spoke about faith, love for Byzantine music, and what she likes about Romania while travelling between Russia, Austria, Germany and France.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Basilica.ro \/ Raluca Ene<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Basilica.ro: How has your family helped you become who you are today?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ribale Wehb\u00e9: <\/strong>I come from a family with great voices. First of all, it was God who gave me that gift, the gift of talent, and then my family encouraged and helped me to progress and work on it. My mother would wait for me for hours while I was learning music at the Conservatory. She had no problem waiting for me while I had solf\u00e8ge classes, theory, piano.<\/p>\n

Also, my father and brother are both chanters, and they were taking me to church to be with them and listen to their chanting. I was four or five years old when I first stood by my family and listened to their chanting. They sometimes invited me to chant something small as I was standing next to them in the chant stand.<\/p>\n

When I was eight, I was in a large-scale concert in Lebanon. It was entitled \u201cByzantine music from generation to generation.\u201d There were three soloists: me, a young soloist and an chanter from the old generation.<\/p>\n

Basilica.ro: Who is your audience in Lebanon?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ribale Wehb\u00e9: <\/strong>I have young and old. Now, as I post on social media, I get a lot of messages from people as young as 11 or 12 but also from people in their 50s and 60s. They express their feelings and sometimes ask for musical advice.<\/p>\n

Basilica.ro: How is it to be famous?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ribale Wehb\u00e9: <\/strong>It wasn’t my goal to become famous and I don’t see myself as someone famous, but I am really grateful for the thing that I help people to pray. And my purpose is to make as many people as I can meet Byzantine music and its beauty.<\/p>\n

I took my Byzantine music diploma a few months ago, and I am a professor of Occidental and Oriental music. Now, especially with Covid, that the courses are held online, I have many students from all over the world.<\/p>\n

The gift from God is the basis. The rest is work<\/h2>\n
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Photo: Basilica.ro \/ Raluca Ene<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Basilica.ro: What abilities are needed to be a good Byzantine music chanter?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ribale Wehb\u00e9: <\/strong>This is God\u2019s gift. So, this is the basis. If you have it, you can work on yourself, do a lot of research and practice, read a lot to grow knowledge, listen to old and new and find your own style in the chanting world.<\/p>\n

Also, I would encourage more women to chant if God gave them the gift of voice. But in Byzantine music, it is essential to start at a young age because this accumulation has brought me where I am today. And the Oriental music has contributed to my chanting. I have been listening to Oriental songs and chants since I was in my mother\u2019s womb. She\u2019s a teacher, she loves kids, and this is how she raised us: with her beautiful voice.<\/p>\n

Basilica.ro: There is much talk about Lebanon these days. What should we mainly know about your native country?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ribale Wehb\u00e9: <\/strong>First of all, I want to say that I am very proud of the country I come from. Lebanon is a wonderful country with so much natural beauty. But, unfortunately, for the past two years, the situation has become worse. This crisis is not only financial but also social. When someone loses everything and doesn\u2019t have anything to feed their family, they go extreme.<\/p>\n

Outside Lebanon, you hear stories about explosions, killing, terrorism and generally that we are in a state of war. But that\u2019s not Lebanon, and definitely, it\u2019s not its people. Lebanese people are very kind and very well known for their hospitality. Its food, natural beauty, and people are really worth seeing at least once in your lifetime. I am very sure that Lebanon will soon go again on the top, where it should be.<\/p>\n