Overture and Suite 'Hanifa' for orchestra, Op. 2 (before 1925)
Orchestral Works, Work with Opus Number
Manuscript: Destroyed
Premiere: No Data Available
This is the second of Koffler's works to which the young composer assigned an opus number.
Illustration from New Tales from 1001 Nights with Illustrations [Nowe baśnie z 1001 nocy z ilustracjami], Warszawa ca. 1925 (Polona)
The text about Koffler printed in Muzyk Wojskowy 3 (1927) describes it as an ‘overture and suite after an eponymous Arabic fairy-tale’ for great symphony orchestra. We have been unable to find a tale of this title among Arabic texts.
Assuming that a female name is meant, Hanifa represents religious-moral values and has a deep, positive spiritual meaning. The name comes from hanif (حنيف), i.e. a true and pious believer, a term used for monotheists even before the rise of Islam.