Jennifer TS#6

Date/Time: June 26, 5:30PM

Location: Moody's Restaurant

Topics: History of Arab music and pitas

Abdulrahman and met to discuss the History of Arab music article that I summarized for him with vocabulary.

He of course new a lot of the Arab music facts, but I thought since it was an interesting and familiar topic, it would be something neat for us to talk about. He new a lot of the words, but there were some new ones that come up quite often conversationally that are good to know like atmosphere, characterize, and integrate. 

When we were discussing the article he was able to talk about some of the time frames from when the music originated (that were known to him) and he corrected some of the information in the article. He made mention that magamat is the traditional style of Arab music and the other styles came later. He also looked up a couple of Youtube videos to show me what magamat sounded like. It was awesome!

Also, Moody's is delicious. We had a really nice chat about the article, sports / soccer terms, what happens when you invite someone to your house as a guest, and grammar in use when describing one's location and hopes for the future.

Arabic Music and Its Development   http://www.goethe.de/ges/phi/prj/ffs/the/a96/en8626486.htm

An Overview

Musicians playing music in a traditional house, Marrakesh, Morocco. Photo: Markus Kirchgessner © Goethe-Institut

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Arabic music can, broadly speaking, be divided into two styles, which can be clearly differentiated from one another: popular music, and so-called classical music. The following article is a simple introduction to the basics of Arabic music.

In the ninth century Arabic music was already highly developed. At that time the Arabs already had an extensive musical repertoire, a musical history recorded in writing, and well-trained musicians and singers who stimulated the musical life of the courts.

Two of the most important things all Arabic music has in common are a delight in improvisation, and the predominance of melodic forms. A melody is usually sung by a solo voice, which may also be accompanied by a choir. The term maqam (mode) originally means ‘pedestal’, ‘step’, or simply ‘location’. It was also used to designate a gathering in which poems were recited; later, a musical gathering was also called a maqam.

The maqamat

Many musicians and music theorists of the Arab world ascribe specific states of feeling to particular maqamat. Thus, for example, mourning is often expressed by the maqamat ‘hijaz’ and ‘saba’. The mesmerizing beauty of the beloved and all her charms are usually dwelt on in the maqam ‘bayati’.

Arabic music does not measure itself in terms of technical perfection, but by the degree of intensity and emotion in the tone, feeling, ornamentation, performance and singing. He improvises, not sticking to the basic form of the piece of music but varying it according to the time of day or the occasion - for the same piece can sound quite different played at midday or at night, as it is being performed in a completely different atmosphere. Classical Arabic music is not written in notes, as the same maqam is always improvised and performed in a different way.

Song and poetry

The key starting point for Arabic music is song. In Arabic musical tradition there is hardly any music without song. Music and poetry are so closely woven together that to this day it is difficult to discover the names of the composers of classical Arabic music. We often only know the names of the singers and poets. If purely instrumental pieces are played at all, it is usually as an introduction to a song.

A singer’s career is usually characterized by a thorough training in Quran recitation according to the traditional rules of song. There are hardly any singers who have subsequently become famous who have not undergone the hard schooling of Quran recitation. The performance of the suras is part of the cultural heritage of classical Arabic music. This is why until the 1950s almost all well-known singers and musicians bore the title ‘Sheikh’, which in this case designates a religious dignitary.

The traditional orchestra for classical music, called al tacht, consists of three main instruments: the oud, the qanoun and the nay, to which was later added the Arab violin, the kamanija. The oud, the Arab short-necked lute, provides both the rhythm and the melody in Arabic music. It has been celebrated by many Arab poets, and is the foundation of Arabic music theory.

The encounter with Western music

Classical Arabic music was nurtured and handed down for centuries in Persian culture and in the Arab and Ottoman Islamic empires. From the mid-nineteenth century onwards it was confronted with Western music – primarily by way of British colonial policy – and absorbed new elements as a result. However, during the First World War and the resulting rise in nationalist sentiment, people began to turn again more strongly to their own musical roots. The Egyptians in particular took the opportunity to develop from the Arabic tradition a new kind of music.

In 1932 the first international Congress of Arab Music was held in Cairo. Arabic music experienced a kind of rebirth. The congress is regarded to this day as one of the most important stages in the development of recent Arabic music history. Numerous musicians and musicologists from all over the Arab world as well as from Turkey, Persia and Western Europe met here for the first time to consider in detail the subject of Arabic music and engage in intercultural dialogue and exchange.

The congress cleared the way for a new type of Arabic music. It was anchored firmly in its indigenous traditions, and had rediscovered its own foundations. At the same time, Arab musicians and composers had gained considerable freedom of movement. Their orientation towards the modern age, very soon integrating new methods and techniques, was seen by many as an expansion of musical possibilities.

The most important subject addressed at the congress was the introduction of Western instruments into Arabic music. But there were also those who opposed the idea. They feared that Arabic music would lose its identity as a result. They argued that Western instruments were not suited to the reproduction of the appropriate sounds so typical for Arabic music. Time, however, has shown that a fusion of these instruments was possible.

The rabab, a precursor of the violin, for example, came from the Arab cultural realm to Europe, where its register and quality of sound were considerably improved upon. As early as the seventeenth century, Arab musicians and composers began to introduce the European violin in Arabic music ensembles to accompany the rabab. In the nineteenth century the rabab was largely replaced by the violin, which produced an audibly better tone. Modern Arab musicians were already using it in the twentieth century as a matter of course. The violin was thus the first European instrument to be incorporated into Arabic classical music.

Nonetheless, composers were happy to include Western harmonies and Western instruments, such as the violin, cello, and double bass, in their repertoire, and this was the start of the modern Arabic music we have today.

Suleman Taufiq
is originally from Syria, and has lived in Germany since the late 1960s. He is a freelance writer and regularly presents radio programmes on Oriental music for German listeners on Westdeutscher Rundfunk. 

Translated by Charlotte Collins
Copyright: Goethe-Institut e. V., Fikrun wa Fann
November 2011

VOCABULARY

·       repertoire – (noun) a stock of plays, dances, or pieces that a company or a performer knows or is prepared to perform

·       stimulate  - (verb) to rouse to action or effort, as by encourage mentor pressure; spur on; incite:

·       predominance  - (noun) having ascendancy, power, authority, or influence over others; preeminent.

·       melodic  - (adjective) of relating to melody; musical sounds in an agreeable arrangment

·       mesmerizing  - (verb) to spellbind, fascinate, or hypnotize

·       ornamentation  - (noun) embellishment or beautification

·       atmosphere – (noun) surrounding mood, environment or influence

·       woven – (past participle) to be combined

·       composers – (noun) writer of music

·       introduction – (noun) the beginning of a book or musical composition

·       characterized – (verb) to describe the character or individual quality of

·       recitation – (noun) the act of reciting or repeating something from memory publically

·       heritage – (noun) something handed down from the past; something that belongs to one by reason of birth; tradition

·       designates – (verb) to mark or point out

·       dignitary- (noun) a person who holds high rank in government or church;

·       nurtured – (verb) to feed and protect; to support and encourage; foster

·       confronted – (verb) to face in hostility or defiance; to present for acknowledgement; set face to face

·       absorbed – (verb) to soak up; to swallow up the identity or individuality of

·       sentiment – (noun) an attitude toward something; regard; opinion

·       musicologists – (noun) one who studies music, music theory or history

·       indigenous – (adjective) originating in and characteristic of a particular region or country; native

·       orientation – (noun) introduction; one’s position with relation to a situation or idea

·       integrating – (verb) to bring together; combine; unite

·       opposed – (verb) to act against or provide resistance to; to stand in the way of

·       reproduction – (noun) something made by copying an original; duplicate

·       fusion – (noun) combination; when two or more things are brought together

·       precursor – (noun) person or thing that comes before

·       audibly – (adjective) capable of being heard

·       tone – (noun) any sound considered with reference to its quality

·       matter of course – (adjective) logical progression, next step; inevitable

·       incorporated – (verb) to form or combine into one body or uniform substance

·       harmonies – (noun) agreement; pleasing arrangement of parts; any simultaneous combination of tones