Наджи Хаким: Француз-Ливандық органшы, композитор және импровизатор

Lebanese French organist, composer and improviser (b. 1955)

Naji Subhy Paul Irénée Hakim (Arabic: ناجي صبحي حكيم [Naji Sobhi Hakim]; born 31 October 1955) is a Franco Lebanese organist, composer, and improviser. He studied the organ under Jean Langlais at the Conservatoire de Paris, and succeeded Olivier Messiaen as titular organist at the Église de la Sainte Trinité, Paris, holding this position from 1993 to 2008. Before this, he was titular organist at the Sacré Cœur basilica in the same city from 1985 to 1993, succeeding Daniel Roth. Hakim's numerous improvisations and compositions for organ, orchestra, and other instruments have received renown. His works have been published by Schott Music, UMP, Combre, Éditions Alphonse Leduc, ABRSM, Fitzsimons, Éditions Gérard Billaudot, and American Carillon.

Naji Subhy Paul Irénée Hakim was born into a Catholic family on 31 October 1955 in Beirut, Lebanon; to a businessman father, Subhy (died 2022), and his wife Katy Hakim. His Christian name is Paul. His family were music loving: his father played the mandolin and sang; his mother is an amateur pianist, and he and his three siblings also studied a variety of instruments of different types. Before the organ, Hakim studied the cello. When he was five, he heard a pipe organ in his school, the Collège du Sacré Coeur of Beirut. The instrument was built by Debierre Gloton. Impressed by its sound, Hakim asked his mother two years later to get him a piano, to which she obliged. From then on, Hakim received his first piano lessons from his mother, who self taught. His brother, Amine, noticed the then 9 year old Hakim's enthusiasm for the organ and helped him break into the organ loft at the college. Naji was able to pull out all of the organ's stops before playing a single note. Frightened by the sound, the two brothers ran away. The school director took notice of the incident and ordered for the loft to be re secured. Hakim, who received permission to practise for half an hour every week (and later received unlimited access to the organ loft, chapel, and campus of the school for practising, under the consent of a new director), then taught himself the organ by using the method books of Jacques Nicolas Lemmens, Harold Gleason and Marcel Dupré. He would later give his first recital in this chapel aged 15. A year later, he would later master the third of Dupré's Trois préludes et fugues, op. 7, and César Franck's First Chorale in E major.

Many had noticed the young man's prodigiousness in the organ and talent for music, however, due to the prompting of his father, Hakim, aged 16, entered the Ecole Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Beyrouth in 1972. He was advised that a musical career in Lebanon would have not been suitable by the present circumstances. The outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975, which caused the closure of his engineering school, forced him to flee to Paris in autumn of that year, where he completed his studies at Télécom in 1977. He also took up a position as substitute organist at Sainte Odile in Paris and prepared to enter the Conservatoire de Paris, failing the entrance examinations in 1976. Hakim then met Jean Langlais (1907–1991), organist of Sainte Clotilde and an esteemed composer and organist, and began private lessons in organ playing and improvisation with him in a relationship that lasted about ten years. He serves as Professor of Musical Analysis at the Conservatoire National de Région de Boulogne Billancourt, and visiting professor of organ, improvisation, analysis, and composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London.

Despite retiring from the academic scene, Hakim remains an active professional concert organist today.

Fantaisie Celtique for piano and orchestra (composed 1985. London: UMP, 1997)
Concerto for organ and strings (composed 1988. London: UMP)
Les Noces de l'Agneau: Trois tableaux symphoniques for orchestra (composed 1996. London: UMP, 1997)
Hymne de l'Univers for orchestra (composed 1997. London: UMP, 1998)
Seattle Concerto for organ and orchestra (composed 2000. London: UMP, 2000)
Concerto for violin and orchestra (composed 2002. Paris: Leduc)
Concerto No. 3 for organ and string orchestra (composed 2003. London: UMP)
Ouverture Libanaise for orchestra (composed 2004. Paris: Leduc, 2004)
Sakskøbing præludier for chamber ensemble (flute, clarinet, bassoon, harp, violin, viola, and cello) (composed 2005. Paris: Combre, 2006)
1. Mit hjerte altid vanker (Always my heart wanders to the birth place of Jesus)
2. Nærmere, Gud, til dig (Nearer, my God, to Thee)
3. O Gud, du ved og kender (O God, Thou knowest)
4. At sige verden ret farvel (The last farewell to life on earth)
5. Hil dig, Frelser og Forsoner! (Hail You, Saviour and Atoner)
6. Den mørke nat forgangen er (The gloomy night to morning yields)
7. Nu blomstertiden kommer (Now the flowers are blooming)
8. Påskeblomst! (Paschal Flow'r! why do you care to come forth?) 9. Op, al den ting, som Gud har gjort (Arise, all things that God has made)
10. O kristelighed! (O thou, image of Christ!) 11. Så vældigt det mødte os først i vor dåb (How wonderful, that the Word first met us in baptism)
12. Befal du dine veje (Commit thy way [unto God])
Påskeblomst for string orchestra (composed 2005. Waltham Abbey, Essex: UMP)
Concerto No. 4 for organ and chamber ensemble "Det strømmende og uudslukkelige " (composed 2007. Paris: Combre)

Prélude et Fugue for bassoon quartet (composed 1983. London: UMP)
Shasta: Suite for harpsichord (composed 1986. Cleveland, Ohio (USA): Ludwig Music 1988)
Divertimento for guitar quartet (composed 1987. London: UMP)
Jeu for harp solo (composed 1987. Paris: G. Billaudot, 1990)
Sonate for violin solo (composed 1994. Paris: Leduc, 1996)
Caprice en Rondeau for flute and piano (composed 1998. Paris: Leduc, 1999)
Sonate for violin and piano (composed 2000. Paris: Leduc, 2002)
Dumia for piano solo (composed 2001. London: Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, 2001)
Ouverture Libanaise for piano solo (composed 2001. Paris: Leduc, 2004)
Påskeblomst for string quartet (composed 2007. Waltham Abbey, Essex: UMP)
Kammerconcert "Solen skinner altid på Beirut" for flute, clarinet, bassoon, harp, piano, violin, viola and cello (composed 2008. Paris: Leduc
AALAIKI'SSALAAM: Variations on a Lebanese theme for piano solo (composed 2006. Paris: Leduc, 2009)
Glenalmond Suite for piano solo (composed 2007. Waltham Abbey, Essex: UMP, 2009)
1. Strømmende
2. Favnende
3. Smilende
4. Jublende
Hymne til Alberto Giacomettis Kvinde på Kærre for carillon (composed 2009. Unpublished.)

Saul de Tarse: Oratorio for choir, soloists and orchestra (composed 1991. Paris: Leduc, 2000)
Missa resurrectionis for soprano solo (composed 1994. London: UMP, 1995)
Missa redemptionis for SATB choir a capella (composed 1995. London: UMP, 1995)
Phèdre: Cantata for mezzo soprano and piano (composed 1997. London: UMP, 1998)
Children for SATB choir a capella (composed 1999. London: UMP, 1999)
Messe Solennelle for choir and organ (with 2nd organ ad libitum) (composed 1999. London: UMP, 1999)
Magnificat for soprano, violin and organ (composed 1999. Paris: Leduc, 2002)
Gloria for choir and organ (composed 2002. London: UMP, 2002)
Ave maris stella for choir and organ (composed 2003. London: UMP, 2003)
Phèdre for mezzo soprano and orchestra (composed 2004. London: UMP)
The Dove for tenor and string quartet (composed 2005. Mainz: Schott, 2006)
The Dove for tenor (or soprano) and organ (composed 2005. Mainz: Schott, 2006)
The Dove for tenor and string orchestra (composed 2005. Mainz: Schott, 2005)
Jesu Redemptor omnium for choir, brass quintet, timpani and percussion (composed 2005. London: UMP)
Det strømmende: Canon (composed 2005. Unpublished.) Magnificat for three treble voices and organ (composed 2006. Mainz: Schott, 2008)
Nunc dimittis for three treble voices and organ (composed 2006. Mainz: Schott, 2008)
Magnificat for soprano and organ (composed 2006. Mainz: Schott, 2008)
Verbum caro factum est for three treble voices and organ (composed 2007. Mainz: Schott, 2008)
The Angel Cried (Megalynarion of Pascha) for SATB choir and congregation (composed 2007. Mainz: Schott, 2008)
Set Me As A Seal Upon Your Heart (Læg mig som en seglring ved dit hjerte) for SATB choir a cappella (composed 2008. Mainz: Schott, 2009)
Amazing Grace for soprano (ad libitum) and organ (composed 2009. Unpublished.)

Naji Hakim plays Naji Hakim, Signum Records. ,
Naji Hakim : Seattle Concerto for organ, Marie Bernadette Dufourcet, organ ; Seattle Symphony Orchestra dir. Gerard Schwarz, Ifo Records. Naji Hakim : Piano works, Nicolas Chevereau, piano, Rejoyce Classique.