Arab music : a survey of its history and its modern practice

Arab Music: A survey of its history and modern practice is primarily meant for the general Western reader with some basic knowledge of music and music notation. It aims at correcting the still prevalent romantic image of Arab music, spread in the 19th century, as exotic and typified by long, plaintive and erotic sounding melodic lines and inciting rhythms. It offers the reader a comprehensive survey of the history and the development of Arab music and musical theory from its pre-Islamic roots until 1970, as well as a discussion of the major genres and forms practiced today, such as the Egyptian gīl, the Algerian raï and Palestinian hip hop. Other topics touched upon are musical instruments and folk music. The analysis of each genre is accompanied by a complete musical notation of an exemplary composition or improvisation, including lyrics and translation. Leo Plenckers’ chief specialisations are music theory and ethnomusicology. He obtained his doctorate with a dissertation on the Algerian classical nawba tradition and published articles about various aspects of Arab music and music theory. Until his retirement he worked at the Musicological Institute of the Amsterdam University. Cover 1 Title Page 3 Copyright Page 4 Contents Page 5 Part 1 17 Historical background 17 Introduction 17 The legacy of past centuries 18 Egypt and Mesopotamia 18 From the third century BCE to the seventh century CE. 21 Arab music before the arrival of the Islam. 23 The Bedouins 23 Mecca and Medina 24 Musical instruments 24 The early Islamic period and the Umayyad Caliphate (600 - 750) 26 The muḳannaṯ 29 Damascus 30 The Golden Age of the Abbasids (eighth and ninth centuries) 31 Music at the court of Harun ar-Rasid 32 The emergence of Andalusia 35 Music theory 36 The beginning of the Andalusian music tradition: Ziryāb 36 The tenth to the thirteenth century 40 Music theory in the Mashriq 40 Al-Fārābī 40 Al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad 45 Ibn Sīnā 45 Developments since the tenth century in the Maghreb 46 From circa 1250 to 1600 49 Musical life 51 Music Theory 55 The basic tone range 56 The basic scales jins and šadd 58 Transposition of modes 61 Rhythm 62 Forms of compositions 63 The organization of the modes and cosmology 67 Musical instruments 70 From the late fifteenth to the mid-nineteenth century 71 From 1850 to the end of the twentieth century 83 The period of the Arab renaissance, the nahḍa 85 The twentieth century 88 The lyric theatre 88 The music film and Muḥammad ʿAbdū-l-Wahhāb 88 The radio and Umm Kulthūm 90 The turāṯ or musical heritage 91 The seventies, a change of generations 92 Part 2 94 Part 2 94 The Modern Time 94 Introduction 94 The tone system 94 Temperament 96 The jins 97 The maqām 99 The number of maqāmāt 99 The tonal structure of a maqām 99 The main maqāmāt 100 — Rāst 100 — Bayātī 101 — Sīkā 101 — Huzām 101 — Sabā 101 — Nahāwand 102 — Nawā aṯar 102 — ʿAjām 102 — Ḥijāz 103 Modulations 103 Meter and rhythm 104 Simple binary awzān 105 Simple ternary awzān 106 Some compound awzān 107 aqsāq ṯaqīl: 107 aqsāq: 107 dawr hindī: 107 nawaḳt: 107 dawr kabīr turkī: 108 samāʿī ṯaqīl: 108 ʿawīs: 108 The classical urban music 108 The tradition of Iraq: al-maqām al-ʿirāqī 108 The classical tradition of Syria and Egypt, the waṣla 113 The instrumental forms of the Syrian and Egyptian tradition 115 The taqsīm 115 The bašraf 120 The samāʿī 120 The lūnga 123 The dūlāb 124 The taḥmīla 125 The vocal forms of the Syrian and Egyptian tradition 126 The mawwāl 126 The dawr 128 The layālī 128 The uġniya 135 The muwaššaḥ 139 Classical traditions in North Africa: the nawba 140 The Moroccan nawba tadition 143 The Algerian nawba tradition 145 The Tunisian nawba tradition 148 Popular music 149 Firqa songs 149 The Egyptian šaʿbī 157 The Egyptian gīl 160 The Algerian raï 164 The Moroccan šaʿbī (chaâbi) 167 The Arab hiphop 171 Folk Music 174 The Middle East 175 The Bedouins 175 The sedentary population 179 Non-metrical songs of the sedentary population. 179 Metrical songs of the sedentary population 184 The music of the inhabitants of the eastern and southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula 185 The Maghreb 187 Vocal Music 187 Instrumental music 191 Bibliography 192 Discography 198 List of recorded music 201 Websites 204 Index 205 Arab Music: A survey of its history and modern practice is primarily meant for the general Western reader with some basic knowledge of music and music notation. It aims at correcting the still prevalent romantic image of Arab music, spread in the 19th century, as exotic and typified by long, plaintive and erotic sounding melodic lines and inciting rhythms. It offers the reader a comprehensive survey of the history and the development of Arab music and musical theory from its pre-Islamic roots until 1970, as well as a discussion of the major genres and forms practiced today, such as the Egyptian gīl, the Algerian raï and Palestinian hip hop. Other topics touched upon are musical instruments and folk music. The analysis of each genre is accompanied by a complete musical notation of an exemplary composition or improvisation, including lyrics and translation. Leo Plenckers’ chief specialisations are music theory and ethnomusicology. He obtained his doctorate with a dissertation on the Algerian classical nawba tradition and published articles about various aspects of Arab music and music theory. Until his retirement he worked at the Musicological Institute of the Amsterdam University. Cover 1 Title Page 3 Copyright Page 4 Contents Page 5 Part 1 17 Historical background 17 Introduction 17 The legacy of past centuries 18 Egypt and Mesopotamia 18 From the third century BCE to the seventh century CE. 21 Arab music before the arrival of the Islam. 23 The Bedouins 23 Mecca and Medina 24 Musical instruments 24 The early Islamic period and the Umayyad Caliphate (600 - 750) 26 The muḳannaṯ 29 Damascus 30 The Golden Age of the Abbasids (eighth and ninth centuries) 31 Music at the court of Harun ar-Rasid 32 The emergence of Andalusia 35 Music theory 36 The beginning of the Andalusian music tradition: Ziryāb 36 The tenth to the thirteenth century 40 Music theory in the Mashriq 40 Al-Fārābī 40 Al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad 45 Ibn Sīnā 45 Developments since the tenth century in the Maghreb 46 From circa 1250 to 1600 49 Musical life 51 Music Theory 55 The basic tone range 56 The basic scales jins and šadd 58 Transposition of modes 61 Rhythm 62 Forms of compositions 63 The organization of the modes and cosmology 67 Musical instruments 70 From the late fifteenth to the mid-nineteenth century 71 From 1850 to the end of the twentieth century 83 The period of the Arab renaissance, the nahḍa 85 The twentieth century 88 The lyric theatre 88 The music film and Muḥammad ʿAbdū-l-Wahhāb 88 The radio and Umm Kulthūm 90 The turāṯ or musical heritage 91 The seventies, a change of generations 92 Part 2 94 Part 2 94 The Modern Time 94 Introduction 94 The tone system 94 Temperament 96 The jins 97 The maqām 99 The number of maqāmāt 99 The tonal structure of a maqām 99 The main maqāmāt 100 — Rāst 100 — Bayātī 101 — Sīkā 101 — Huzām 101 — Sabā 101 — Nahāwand 102 — Nawā aṯar 102 — ʿAjām 102 — Ḥijāz 103 Modulations 103 Meter and rhythm 104 Simple binary awzān 105 Simple ternary awzān 106 Some compound awzān 107 aqsāq ṯaqīl: 107 aqsāq: 107 dawr hindī: 107 nawaḳt: 107 dawr kabīr turkī: 108 samāʿī ṯaqīl: 108 ʿawīs: 108 The classical urban music 108 The tradition of Iraq: al-maqām al-ʿirāqī 108 The classical tradition of Syria and Egypt, the waṣla 113 The instrumental forms of the Syrian and Egyptian tradition 115 The taqsīm 115 The bašraf 120 The samāʿī 120 The lūnga 123 The dūlāb 124 The taḥmīla 125 The vocal forms of the Syrian and Egyptian tradition 126 The mawwāl 126 The dawr 128 The layālī 128 The uġniya 135 The muwaššaḥ 139 Classical traditions in North Africa: the nawba 140 The Moroccan nawba tadition 143 The Algerian nawba tradition 145 The Tunisian nawba tradition 148 Popular music 149 Firqa songs 149 The Egyptian šaʿbī 157 The Egyptian gīl 160 The Algerian raï 164 The Moroccan šaʿbī (chaâbi) 167 The Arab hiphop 171 Folk Music 174 The Middle East 175 The Bedouins 175 The sedentary population 179 Non-metrical songs of the sedentary population. 179 Metrical songs of the sedentary population 184 The music of the inhabitants of the eastern and southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula 185 The Maghreb 187 Vocal Music 187 Instrumental music 191 Bibliography 192 Discography 198 List of recorded music 201 Websites 204 Index 205

Arab Music: A survey of its history and modern practice is primarily meant for the general Western reader with some basic knowledge of music and music notation. It aims at correcting the still prevalent romantic image of Arab music, spread in the 19th century, as exotic and typified by long, plaintive and erotic sounding melodic lines and inciting rhythms. It offers the reader a comprehensive survey of the history and the development of Arab music and musical theory from its pre-Islamic roots until 1970, as well as a discussion of the major genres and forms practiced today, such as the Egyptian g?l, the Algerian raï and Palestinian hip hop. Other topics touched upon are musical instruments and folk music. The analysis of each genre is accompanied by a complete musical notation of an exemplary composition or improvisation, including lyrics and translation.

Arab Music: A survey of its history and modern practice' is primarily meant for the general Western reader with some basic knowledge of music and music notation. It aims at correcting the still prevalent romantic image of Arab music, spread in the 19th century, as exotic and typified by long, plaintive and erotic sounding melodic lines and inciting rhythms. It offers the reader a comprehensive survey of the history and the development of Arab music and musical theory from its pre-Islamic roots until 1970, as well as a discussion of the major genres and forms practiced today, such as the Egyptian gil, the Algerian rai and Palestinian hip hop. Other topics touched upon are musical instruments and folk music. The analysis of each genre is accompanied by a complete musical notation of an exemplary composition or improvisation, including lyrics and translation Arab Music: A survey of its history and modern practice isprimarily meant for the general Western reader with some basicknowledge of music and music notation. It aims at correcting thestill prevalent romantic image of Arab music, spread in the 19thcentury, as exotic and typified by long, plaintive and eroticsounding melodic lines and inciting rhythms. It offers the reader acomprehensive survey of the history and the development of Arabmusic and musical theory from its pre-Islamic roots until 1970, aswell as a discussion of the major genres and forms practiced today,such as the Egyptian gīl, the Algerian raï and Palestinian hip hop.Other topics touched upon are musical instruments and folk music.The analysis of each genre is accompanied by a complete musicalnotation of an exemplary composition or improvisation, includinglyrics and translation This book offers a comprehensive survey of the history and the development of Arab music and musical theory from its pre-Islamic roots until 1970, as well as a discussion of the major genres and forms practiced today, such as the Egyptian gīl, the Algerian raï and Palestinian hip hop; it also touches upon musical instruments and folk music