Andalusi classical music

A suite form, Andalusi nubah, is the basis of al-āla. Though it has roots in al-Andalus, the modern nūba (نوبة) is probably a North African creation. Each nūba is dominated by one musical mode. It is said that there used to be twenty-four nūbāt linked to each hour of the day, but in Algeria there are only sixteen, Tunisia only twelve, and in Morocco, eleven have survived (although some nūbāt [نوبات] in Morocco incorporate more than one mode—24 modes in all).^[15] Nūba structures vary considerably among the various national traditions. In Morocco, each nūba is divided into five parts called mîzân (ميزان), each with a corresponding rhythm. The rhythms occur in the following order in a complete nūba (though an entire nūba is never performed in one sitting):


Andalusi classical music orchestras are spread across the Maghreb, including the cities of:


They use instruments including oud (lute), rabab (rebec), darbouka (goblet drums), ṭaʿrīja (tambourine), qanún (zither), and kamanja (violin). More recently, other instruments have been added to the ensemble, including piano, Double bass, cello, and even banjos, saxophones, and clarinets, though these are rare.

Influence[edit]

Al-Andalus was probably the main route of transmission of a number of Near Eastern musical instruments used in European music: the lute from the oud, rebec from the Maghreb rebab, the guitar from qitara and Greek kithara, and the naker from the naqareh. Further terms fell into disuse in Europe: adufe from al-duff, alboka from al-buq, añafil from an-nafir, exabeba from al-shabbaba (flute), atabal (bass drum) from al-tabl, atambal from al-tinbal,^[18] the balaban, sonajas de azófar from sunuj al-sufr, the conical bore wind instruments,^[19] and the xelami from the sulami or fistula (flute or musical pipe).^[20]


Most scholars believe that Guido of Arezzo's Solfège musical notation system had its origins in a Latin hymn,^[21] but others suggest that it may have had Andalusi origins instead. According to Meninski in his Thesaurus Linguarum Orientalum (1680), Solfège syllables may have been derived from the syllables of an Arabic (Moorish) solmization system Durar Mufaṣṣalāt ("Separated Pearls").^[22] However, there is no documentary evidence for this theory, and no Arabian musical manuscripts employing sequences from the Arabic alphabet are known to exist.^[23] Henry George Farmer believes that there is no firm evidence on the origins of the notation, and therefore the Arabian origin theory and the hymnal origin theories are equally credible.^[24] Although the philosopher al-Kindī (d. 259/874) and the author Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī (d. 355/967) both mention music writing systems, they were descriptive and based on lute fingerings, and thus complicated to use. No practical, indigenous system of music writing existed in the Islamic world before the colonial era.


Some scholars have speculated that the troubadour tradition was brought to France from al-Andalus by the first recorded troubadour, William IX of Aquitaine (d. 1126), whose father had fought in the siege and sack of Barbastro in 1064 and brought back at least one female slave singer. It is likely that young William's taste in music and poetry was thus influenced by al-Andalus. George T. Beech observes that while the sources of William's inspirations are uncertain, he did have Spanish individuals within his extended family, and he may have been friendly with some Europeans who could speak Arabic.^[25] Regardless of William's involvement in the tradition's creation, Magda Bogin states that Andalusi poetry was likely one of several influences on European "courtly love poetry".^[26] J. B. Trend has also asserted that the poetry of troubadours was connected to Andalusi poetry.^[27]