Muwashshah
Encyclopedia
Muwashshah or muwaššaḥ can mean:
(lute
), kamanja (spike fiddle), qanun
(box zither), darabukkah (goblet drum
), and daf
(tambourine
),: the players of these instruments often double as a choir. The soloist performs only a few chosen lines of the selected text. In Aleppo
multiple maqam
rows (scales) and up to three awzān
(rhythms) are used and modulation to neighboring maqamat was possible during the B section. Until modernization it was typical to present a complete waslah
, or up to eight successive muwaššaḥ including an instrumental introduction (sama'i
or bashraf
). It may end with a longa
.
word mušaḥta (ܡܘܫܚܬܐ) meaning "rhythm" or "a psalm verse". The earliest muwaššaḥs in the Levant
are thought to have been heavily influenced by the Syriac sacral music even retaining refrains in Syriac. Some relate it the word for a type of double-banded ornamental belt, the wišaḥ. The underlying idea is that, as there is a single rhyme running through the refrain of each stanza, the stanzas are like objects hung from a belt.
- an Arabic poeticArabic poetryArabic poetry is the earliest form of Arabic literature. Present knowledge of poetry in Arabic dates from the 6th century, but oral poetry is believed to predate that. Arabic poetry is categorized into two main types, rhymed, or measured, and prose, with the former greatly preceding the latter...
form, consisting of a multi-lined strophic verse poem written in classical ArabicClassical ArabicClassical Arabic , also known as Qur'anic or Koranic Arabic, is the form of the Arabic language used in literary texts from Umayyad and Abbasid times . It is based on the Medieval dialects of Arab tribes...
, usually consisting of five stanzas, alternating with a refrain with a running rhyme. It was customary to open with one or two lines which matched the second part of the poem in rhyme and meter; in North Africa poets ignore the strict rules of Arabic meter while the poets in the East follow them; or - a secular musical genre using muwaššaḥ texts as lyrics. This tradition can take two forms: the waṣla of AleppoAleppoAleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
and the Andalusi nubahAndalusi nubahAndalusi nubah is a musical genre found in the North African Maghrib states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya but, as the name indicates, it has its origins in the Arabo-Andalusian music...
of the western partMaghrebThe Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
of the Arab worldArab worldThe Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
.
Musical genre
Musically, the ensemble consists of oudOud
The oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
(lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
), kamanja (spike fiddle), qanun
Kanun (Instrument)
The Qanun is a string instrument found in the 10th century in Farab in Turkestan...
(box zither), darabukkah (goblet drum
Goblet drum
The goblet drum is a hand drum with a goblet shape used mostly in the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe....
), and daf
Daf
A daf is a frame drum used as a musical instrument in popular and classical music. The term daf is used in Iran / Kurdistan for a large drum that has a series of four interlinked rings in the frame. Daf is mostly used in Middle East, Iran, Armenia, Pakistan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and ...
(tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
),: the players of these instruments often double as a choir. The soloist performs only a few chosen lines of the selected text. In Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
multiple maqam
Arabic maqam
Arabic maqām is the system of melodic modes used in traditional Arabic music, which is mainly melodic. The word maqam in Arabic means place, location or rank. The Arabic maqam is a melody type...
rows (scales) and up to three awzān
Wazn
Rhythm in Arabian music is analysed by means of rhythmic units called awzan and iqa'at.-Wazn and Iqa':A rhythmic pattern or cycle in Arabian music is called a "wazn" , literally a "measure", also called darb, mizan, and usul as is in Ottoman classical music)...
(rhythms) are used and modulation to neighboring maqamat was possible during the B section. Until modernization it was typical to present a complete waslah
Waslah
A wasla is a set of pieces in Arabic music. It comprises eight or more movements such as muwashshah, taqsim, layali, mawwal, qasida, dawr, sama'i, bashraf, dulab, and popular songs....
, or up to eight successive muwaššaḥ including an instrumental introduction (sama'i
Sama'i
A vocal piece of Ottoman Turkish music composed in 6/8 meter, or usul semai, or yürük semai. This form and meter is often confused with the completely different Saz Semaisi, an instrumental form consisting of three to four sections, in 10/8 meter, or usul aksak semai...
or bashraf
Pesrev
Peşrev , Pişrev , peshrev, or pishrev; called bashraf بشرف in Arabic; is an instrumental form in Turkish classical music. It is the name of the first piece of music played during a group performance called a fasıl...
). It may end with a longa
Longa (Middle Eastern music)
A longa is a genre in Turkish music that was adapted from the Romanian music, also influenced by the Byzantine music, with many elements of syrtos dance in the late 19th century...
.
History
Examples of muwaššaḥ poetry start to appear as early as the 9th or 10th century. The full sense of the word is thought to come from the SyriacSyriac language
Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...
word mušaḥta (ܡܘܫܚܬܐ) meaning "rhythm" or "a psalm verse". The earliest muwaššaḥs in the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
are thought to have been heavily influenced by the Syriac sacral music even retaining refrains in Syriac. Some relate it the word for a type of double-banded ornamental belt, the wišaḥ. The underlying idea is that, as there is a single rhyme running through the refrain of each stanza, the stanzas are like objects hung from a belt.
Source
- Touma, Habib Hassan (1996). The Music of the Arabs, trans. Laurie Schwartz. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0931340888.
See also
- AljamiadoAljamiadoAljamiado or Aljamía texts are manuscripts which use the Arabic script for transcribing Romance languages such as Mozarabic, Berber Spanish or Ladino.According to Anwar G...
- The kharjaKharjaThe kharja , also known as jarcha in Spanish, is the final refrain of a muwashshah, a lyric genre of Al-Andalus written in Classical Arabic or Hebrew....
is the final stanza of a muwaššaḥ, of which a few are in the Mozarabic languageMozarabic languageMozarabic was a continuum of closely related Romance dialects spoken in Muslim-dominated areas of the Iberian Peninsula during the early stages of the Romance languages' development in Iberia. Mozarabic descends from Late Latin and early Romance dialects spoken in the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th...
and therefore the first attesting of an Iberian Romance language and first written examples of the CastilianSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
language. - Emilio García GómezEmilio García GómezEmilio García Gómez, 1st Count of Alixares was a Spanish Arabist, literary historian and critic, whose talent as a poet enriched his many translations from Arabic.-Life:...
- James T. MonroeJames T. MonroeJames T. Monroe is an American scholar. He is emeritus professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, focusing on Classical Arabic Literature and Hispano-Arabic Literature...
- WaslahWaslahA wasla is a set of pieces in Arabic music. It comprises eight or more movements such as muwashshah, taqsim, layali, mawwal, qasida, dawr, sama'i, bashraf, dulab, and popular songs....
- FasılFasilThe fasıl is a suite in Ottoman classical music. It is similar to the Arabic nawba and waslah.A classical fasıl generally includes movements such as taksim, peşrev, kâr, beste, ağır semâ'î, yürük semâ'î, gazel, şarkı and saz semâ'î, played continuously without interludes and interconnected through...