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Arabian music refers to that of the Islamic
peoples of Arabia and also, in its broad sense, to that of
Islamic peoples in North Africa, Persia, and Syria. Although
the major writings on Arabian music appeared after the dawn
of ISLAM (AD 622), music had already been cultivated for thousands
of years.
Origins and Influences
The music of pre-Islamic Arabia was primarily vocal. It is
alleged that singing originated with the caravan song (huda),
from which developed a more sophisticated secular song (nasb).
Instruments were generally used alone and served only to accompany
the singer. The short lute ('ud), long lute (tunbur), flute
(qussaba), tambourine (duff), and drum (tabl) were the most
popular.
With the coming of Islam and the Arab conquest of Syria, Egypt,
and Persia, foreign musical influence began to be felt more
strongly in Arabia. The tuning of the 'ud was altered to afford
it the range of the Persian lute. Works began to be written
on musical theory, which borrowed from Syrian and Persian
practices. Ibn Misjah (d. c.715) described eight melodic modes
(asabi) and six rhythmic patterns (iqaat); these were modified
and expanded in the following centuries. During the Umayyad
dynasty (661-750) and the first hundred years of the Abbasid
dynasty (750-847), Damascus and Baghdad, respectively, were
the centers of culture. The caliphs, or rulers, were noted
music patrons, and the classical art flourished at their courts.
Al-Farabi (d. c.950) was one of the greatest music theorists
of all time. His Grand Book on Music describes in detail the
musical instruments of the age and explains the rhythmic modes
then in use. The last of the caliphs had Safi al-Din (d. 1294)
as principal court musician. In his treatises he included
an early example of Arabic musical notation and formulated
a new theoretical system that consisted of 12 primary melodic
modes. By the 14th century the term maqamat (plural of maqam)
referred to the 12 scales. During subsequent centuries additional
melodic modes were admitted, and different rhythmic patterns
were established; but the development of Arabian music had
already reached its zenith, and the music of this period was
built mainly on past achievements.
Musical Forms
The two major features of present-day Arabian music are much
the same as those of a thousand years ago: a single, unharmonized
melodic line, based upon one of the maqamat, and a repetitive
rhythmic cycle (iqa). Each maqam can be represented as a scale
whose pitches result from different divisions of a vibrating
string. The performer emphasizes particular pitches of the
scale and sings or plays standard musical phrases associated
with the maqam. All performers make use of elaboration, embellishment,
and improvisation. Programs of Arabian classical music often
feature the taqsim, a nonmetrical, improvisatory solo instrumental
form in a particular maqam but without rhythmic accompaniment.
The taqsim may be self-contained, or it may preface a metrical
solo song or suite (nauba). Another improvisatory form is
the layali, performed vocally but otherwise similar to the
taqsim. It is often followed by a composed piece or by a mawwal,
which includes melodic improvisation on a poetic text. The
maqamat and iqaat are closely linked by the Arabs with their
dogma of tathir (ethos) in music. The universality of the
modes is underscored by their connection with moods or emotions,
times of the day or year, colors, planets, the zodiac, and
so on. Even the instruments have extramusical identifications.
The four courses of the ud, for example, are related to the
four elements and the four humors.
The most important classical instrument is the ud, a pear-shaped
lute with four or more pairs of strings and a wooden soundboard.
The most popular flute is the end-blown variety, the nay (a
Persian term). The qanun is a zither with 72 strings in 3-string
courses stretched over a trapezoidal box; it is played by
plectra worn on each index finger. The two most representative
percussion instruments are the tambourine (duff) and the vase
drum (darbuka).
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