Andalusian classical music
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Andalusian classical music (or Arabo-Andalusian music, moussiqua al-âla) is a style of Arabic music found across North Africa, though it evolved out of the music of Andalusia between the 9th and 15th centuries, during the Al-Andalus period. It is now most closely associated with Morocco (al-Âla), though similar traditions are found in Algeria (Gharnâtî, and San'a), Tunisia and Libya (al-Maalûf). The popular musics of chaabi developed themselves as alternative to this classical form of music.
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[edit] Origins
Andalusian classical music was allegedly born in the Emirate of Cordoba (Al-Andalus) in the 9th century. The Persian musician Ziryâb (d. 857), who became court musician of Abd al-Rahman II in Cordoba, is usually credited with its invention. Later, the poet, composer and philosopher Ibn Bâjja (d. 1139) of Saragossa is said to have combined the style of Ziryâb with Western classical music to produce a wholly new style that spread across Iberia and North Africa.
By the 11th century, Moorish Spain and Portugal had become a center for the manufacture of instruments. These goods spread gradually throughout France, influencing French troubadours, and eventually reaching the rest of Europe. The English words lute, rebec, guitar, organ and naker are derived from Arabic oud, rabab, qitara, urghun and nagqara'.
The classical music of Andalusia reached North Africa via centuries of cultural exchange, the Almohad dynasty and then the Marinid dynasty being present both in Al-Andalus and in Morocco and most of North Africa. Mass resettlements of Muslims and Sephardi Jews from Cordoba, Sevilla, Valencia and Granada, fleing the Reconquista, further expanded the reach of Andalusian music.
[edit] Music
A suite form called the Andalusi nubah forms the basis of al-âla. Though it has roots in Andalusia, the modern nûba probably is certainly a North African creation. Each nûba is dominated by one musical mode. It is said there used to be twenty-four nuba linked to each hour of the day, but in Morocco only eleven nuba have survived, which together include 25 "Andalusian" modes. Each nûba is divided into five parts called mîzân, each with a corresponding rhythm. The rhythms occur in the following order in a complete nuba:
- basît (6/4)
- qâ'im wa nusf (8/4)
- btâyhî (8/4)
- darj (4/4)
- quddâm (3/4 or 6/8)
An entire nuba can last six or seven hours, though this is never done today. Rather, in Morocco usually only one mîzân from any given nûba is performed at a time.
Each mizan begins with instrumental preludes called either tûshiya, m'shaliya or bughya, followed by as many as twenty songs (sana'i) in the entire mizan.
Andalusian classical music orchestras are spread across Morocco, including the cities of Fez, Tetouan, Chaouen, Tangier, Meknes, Rabat, and Casablanca.
[edit] Instruments
Andalusian classical music orchestras use instruments including oud (lute), rabab (rebec), darbouka (goblet drums), taarija (tambourine), qanún (zither) and kamenjah (violin). More recently, other instruments have been added to the ensemble, including piano, contrabass, cello, and even banjos, saxophones and clarinets, though these latter instruments are rare.
[edit] See also
- Music of Algeria
- Music of Morocco
- Music of Tunisia
- Abdessadeq Cheqara
- Malhun
- Gnawa
- Andalusi nubah
- Lili Boniche
[edit] External links
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