Arab Music I INTRODUCTION Umm Kulthum Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum was revered throughout Egypt, North Africa, and the Near East for her powerful voice and improvisational skill. She recorded more than 300 songs during her lifetime. This clip is from Kulthum’s first film, Widad (1936). Her name has been transliterated many different ways. "Lehy ya zaman kana hawaya (O time, why my love)" composed by Ahmed Rami and Mohammed Kassabgi, performed by Oum Kalthoum, from Oum Kalthoum, Tichouf Oumori (Cat.# Buda 82914-2) (p) Buda. All rights reserved./Bettmann/Corbis Arab Music, music of the Arab nations of the Middle East and North Africa. The tradition of Arab music has been cultivated throughout Arab regions for thousands of years. Although Arab music has undergone many changes over the centuries, it has retained certain distinctive traits. II HISTORY AND INFLUENCES The Arab music tradition developed in the courts of dynasties in the Islamic empire from the 7th century to the 13th century. It flourished during the Umayyad dynasty in the 7th century and 8th century in Syria. Great performers were drawn to Baghdād, now the capital of Iraq, under such rulers as Harun ar-Rashid, who was a patron of the musical arts during the late 700s. The cities of the Islamic empire (see Islam), from Spain across North Africa and throughout the Middle East, boasted many fine musicians. These early musicians were often composers and poets as well as performers. Although the major writings on Arab music appeared after the spread of Islam in the beginning of the 7th century, the music tradition had already begun. Before the spread of Islam, Arab music incorporated music traditions of the Sassanid dynasty (224-651) in Persia and the early Byzantine empire (4th century to 6th century) and of sung poetry from the Arabian Peninsula. Arabic-speaking scholars also studied the treatises of ancient Greek philosophers on music. Music theorists of the 10th century and 11th century, such as al-Farabi and Avicenna, produced their own theories of music based on what they had learned from the Greeks and on the music of their own times. Greek works translated by the Arab scholars were later studied by European scientists and philosophers. III MELODY AND RHYTHM Melody in Arab Music Though traditional Western music uses only whole-step and half-step intervals, Arab melodies often incorporate quarter tones to create such intervals as quarter tones, three-quarter tones, five-quarter tones, and one-and-a-half tones. By combining a number of these intervals to form scalelike segments, and further combining these formed segments, a type of melodic mode may be created on which Arab improvisations or compositions are based. In this example, this modelike scale is shown on the second line. The melodic passage of the first line, based on the notes of this scale, represents the beginning of a simple performance in Arab music. © Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Arab music is created using unharmonized melodic and rhythmic systems (see Harmony). Arabic melodies draw from a vast array of models, or melodic modes, known as maqamat. Arabic books on music include as many as 52 melodic modes, of which at least 12 are commonly used. These modes feature more tones than are present in the Western musical system (see Music, Western), including notably smaller intervals that are sometimes called microtones, or half-flats and half-sharps. Arab melodies frequently use the augmented second interval, an interval larger than those of most Western melodies. The sound of Arab music is richly melodic and offers opportunity for subtle nuance and creative variation. In the Melody in Arab Music illustration, the first line of music represents the beginning of a lesson or simple performance. The second line shows the notes the musician used in the form of a scale. A notated scale similar to this one would be used by Arab teachers to help students learn how to compose and perform music. The rhythmic structure of Arab music is similarly complex. Rhythmic patterns have up to 48 beats and typically include several downbeats (called dums) as well as upbeats (called taks) and silences, or rests. To grasp a rhythmic mode, the listener must hear a relatively long pattern. Moreover, the performers do not simply play the pattern; they elaborate upon and ornament it. Often the pattern is recognizable by the arrangement of downbeats. The Rhythm in Arab Music illustration demonstrates a simple performance of the rhythmic mode called samaci thaqil, followed by the basic pattern. Rhythm in Arab Music Rhymically, Western music is usually divided into meters, typically of equal duration, which contain a fixed number of individual beats, or rhythmic pulses. Different beats in the measures are accented—that is, receive more emphasis than others—depending on the genre of music, while each measure contains one downbeat (the beat with which the measure begins) and one upbeat (the beat with which the measure ends). In contrast, Arab music is based on nonmetrical rhythmic patterns. These complex cycles usually include several downbeats and upbeats, as shown in the second line of this example of Arab music. The first line shows a rhythmic pattern formed by elaborating upon the basic pattern provided in the second line. © Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Command of these systems of melody and rhythm is fundamental to the composition and performance of Arab music. Students also learn pieces of music, both songs and instrumental works, but rarely perform them exactly as they were originally composed or presented. In Arab tradition, good musicians offer something new in each performance by varying and improvising on known pieces or models in a fashion similar to that of jazz musicians (see Improvisation). The inventions of musicians can be lengthy, extending ten-minute compositions into hour-long performances that bear only a skeletal resemblance to the models. The inventions of the musician traditionally depend upon the response of the audience. Listeners are expected to react during the performance, either verbally or with applause. Quiet is interpreted as disinterest or dislike. The audience members, in this tradition, are active participants in determining the length of the performance and in shaping the piece of music by encouraging musicians to either repeat a section of the piece or to move to the next section. IV SUNG POETRY AND RECITATION Historically, words and music were closely linked in Arab music, and singing remains a central feature. Although distinct from music, the Qur'an (Koran), the holy book of Muslims, is typically recited aloud, and this public recitation often draws upon the melodic modes of Arab music. The modes may help deliver the meaning or sense of the holy words without obscuring the words themselves. Religious supplications and songs draw more on the musical system but emphasize the text in a manner similar to Qur'anic recitation. Oratory is a valued art in Arab societies. Traditionally, recitations of poetry form part of ceremonies, celebrations, and other performances. Sophisticated poetry and colloquial verse are frequently sung, with the expectation that the singer's rendition will enhance the mood and meaning of the poetry but not obscure its puns or other wordplay. The singing of a qasida, a long narrative poem describing nature, political events, or religious devotion, exemplifies pre-Islamic classical tradition. In this tradition, singers selected a dozen or more poignant lines from much longer poems and created melodies for them. Their performances featured lengthy variations or improvisations on lines at the behest of listeners who felt themselves drawn into the mood of the poetry and music. This tradition continues in a multitude of genres of song, including highly colloquial folk songs performed in small villages, that operate similarly—that is, they combine clever ideas and wordplay with creative musical rendition. V INSTRUMENTS AND INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC Instruments typically used in an Arab musical performance include the 'ud, a prototype of the European lute, and the nāy, an end-blown reed flute. Frame drums, with or without jingles, and hourglass-shaped drums are common percussion instruments. These instruments vary in name and shape depending upon the region of their origin. Double-reed instruments of varying sizes, such as the Lebanese mijwiz and the Egyptian mizmar, are played at outdoor celebrations. The Arab rababah, a spike fiddle, may have been the prototype for the European violin, which is now found in many Arab regions. Solo performance consisting of the interactive invention of good music with an appreciative audience represents a peak of musical accomplishment for the instrumentalist similar to that which the singing of poetry represents for the vocalist. In a taqsim, a form of instrumental improvisation, the instrumentalist chooses a melodic mode, offers interpretation of the mode, ascends in pitch, and modulates to other modes. Eventually the instrumentalist descends to close in the original mode. Musical accomplishment lies in the musician's technical virtuosity, creativity, and subtlety in suggesting other modes, other compositions, or even the music of other artists. Performances considered traditional—whether they are neoclassical events in concert halls, entertainment in hotels, or television programs—usually include both song and instrumental performances, often alternately, that last about an hour and are arranged to reach a climax in a vocal performance. Such collections of pieces—metrical and nonmetrical, vocal and instrumental, simple and complex, and often unified by mode—are central to Arab music. Examples include the North African nawbah, thought to have originated in Andalucía, and the eastern Mediterranean waslah musical forms, which were previously the standard of entertainment for small gatherings of elite Arab men. Modern performances by Egyptian vocalist Umm Kulthum and Syrian Sabah Fakhri represent this tradition in the 20th century.