The symphony

It started with an enormous chorus, the maestro was invisible. After many months of out-of-tune practice sessions, the different sounds of Egypt must once more create the Egyptian Symphony. The youth of Egypt must again conduct the orchestra and produce a beautifully harmonious tune.

When they revolted against the corrupt, ailing and senile regime, they produced the tunes of dignity, freedom, justice and food security. The tens of thousands of youth who led the demonstrations also led the chanting. The sounds were so inspiring, like a magnet, they attracted thousands more. The spirit of Tahrir was in the masterful orchestration of all the different sounds in peaceful harmony. In harmony, they found their strength. Everyone had a place and everyone played his own sound, even appreciated the sounds of others and the different sounds produced music, for a short while.

Never is Egypt in need of such a brilliant conductor as today. The original players have been joined by many others. In a variety of groupings, they have all been out to practice. Practice makes perfect, it is said, and they have all been practicing really hard, sometimes with more than one instrument; at other times, there is more than one variation on the theme. As expected, the notes are sometimes harsh, sometimes soft – and often missing some instrument – but currently all the sounds they produce seem out of tune.

The harmony has been lost. One has to wonder whether all players are practicing to play from the same score. They never do. Musicians perfect their part of the scores while appreciating the other parts. It’s the conductor, who comes along and leads them into a coherent, delightful interrelation of instruments; the one that brings to life the many sounds into a flowing musical masterpiece, a symphony. It is without a doubt helpful if all are playing the same composition.

In this reality, no composition has been agreed upon yet. Attempts to create a variety of fusions continue. Parts of the musical scores have not been written beforehand for the many players who seem to be improvising as they play. A variety of composers each shouting out their own tunes is the biggest challenge. The sounds and scenes of the current practice ground are exciting, sometimes disappointing, often rough; at other times, they are just noisy and completely out of tune. It might take many more attempts to agree on one composition and even then, Egypt will require a great conductor who can bring all of the noise into harmony once again.

When will Egypt hear the sound of the conductor’s baton announcing the end of the practice and the start of the flowing music? Hopefully it will be music to many ears.