Adrift on the Wine-dark Sea

Syrian-American composer Kareem Roustom has drawn inspiration from heroism in a class of its own for his clarinet concerto Adrift on the Wine-dark Sea. It deals with the Syrian refugee Doaa Al-Zamel, who fled across the Mediterranean Sea in 2014. The boat on which she and her fellow refugees were fleeing was rammed and sank but she succeeded in keeping herself and two infants alive for four days clinging to the innertube of a children’s swimming pool – despite not being able to swim. Roustom draws parallels between Al-Zamel’s fate and Odysseus’ ill-fated voyage home from the Trojan Wars. The clarinet plays the role of Odysseus/Doaa Al-Zamel and the orchestra the role of the sea and the other threats that stand in the their way. After a clarinet solo in the middle of the piece, a few notes of brass appear to reference Copland’s fanfare. Doaa Al-Zamel now lives in Sweden. Steven Spielberg has purchased the film rights to the book that tells her harrowing story.