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Working as she customarily does in the pre-dawn dark before quotidien duties intervene, Hawley composed around the traditional song, setting her work in a key appropriate to children’s voices. She largely stuck to the melody and rhythm of the traditional piece even though choral singing is not part of the Muslim tradition.

She then wrote music around a poem by the late French poet and screenwriter Jacques Prévert and incorporated both into her piece. She opted for Prévert’s poem because “I liked the simplicity and the straightforward expression of gratitude in it.”

The piece concludes with a section influenced by the traditional Muslim call to prayer blended with Tala’ al-Badru ‘Alayna.

Hawley ran all this by an imam to ensure she was using the original material in a correct and respectful manner. She named it Alhamdoulillah because the word, which she found online, reminded her of the celebratory word “hallelujah” and because “It seems to be a word of praise and gratitude. The message of the song is one of gratitude, and the message is quite universal.”

Running three and a half minutes, the song is indeed celebratory. Joyous and warm, it’s especially moving thanks to the hopeful voices of children.

“We realized right off the bat that it was something really good and just right for that age group,” says Filion. “It was just challenging enough for them.”

Like most Canadians, Hawley knew little of Muslim music before embarking on her journey. “It really hit me, ‘Wow! There’s a whole community of people around us, and I should know something about this.’”

That the song has been interpreted as a welcome to Syrian refugees is fine with her.

“It’s taking on a life of its own, and I think that’s a big part of art. Ultimately, the spirit of the creation of that piece was inclusiveness and celebrating the Canadian-ness of that — that we have the freedom and space to sing together.”

Laura Hawley will accompany, on piano, a performance of her composition at De La Salle high school’s annual end-of-term choir concert at Dominion-Chalmers United Church on Dec. 17 at, 7:30 p.m.