Andalusische Musik aus Marokko · Andalusian Music from Morocco
Marokkanisches Ensemble aus Fez · Moroccan Ensemble Fez | Abdelkarim Rais

medieval.org

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis Documenta

LP, 1984:
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (EMI) 1C 16 9525 3 / 1C 2LP 153

CD, 1991:
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (BMG) “Editio Classica ” GD 77 241

[recorded 1977]






Um den zyklischen Charakter dieser Musik zu wahren,
wurde keine detaillierte Einteilung in einzelne Tracks vorgenommen
In order to preserve the cyclical character of this music,
the recording has not been divided into individual tracks


CD 1
[48.48]

naubatu r-raSdi, mīzānu l-quddāmi
(1.Teil/first part)

al-bugyatu  (rhythmisch nicht gebundenes Instrumentalvorspiel)
at-tawshiyatu  (rhythmisch gebundenes Instrumentalvorspiel)

aS-San‘atu 1 - al-laylu laylun ‘ajībun („Die Nacht ist eine wunderbare Nacht“)   B:93/1   M:166/1
aS-San‘atu 2 - anā qad ‘ayya Sabrī („Meine Standhaftigkeit ist schwach“)   B:93/2   M:167/n2
aS-San‘atu 3 - qalbī tarahū yafrahu („Die siehst est, mein Herz ist frölich“)   M:167/3
aS-San‘atu 4 - yāTal‘ata al-badri („Oh Schönheit des Vollmondes“)   M:167/4

al-baytāni
(Gesangsimprovisation)

aS-San‘atu 5 - katamtu l-maHabbata sinīna („Jahrelang habe ich die Zuneigung verschwiegen“)   M:170/15
aS-San‘atu 6 - nahwā mina l-gizlāni („Unter der Gazellen“)   B:93/3   M:169/10
aS-San‘atu 7 - al-lā'imu lā yulawwimunī („Der Tadler tadelt mich nicht heftig“)   M:390/13

naubatu r-raSdi, mīzānu l-quddāmi
(2.Teil/second part)

aS-San‘atu 8 - awHashat mudh gibta („Es ist einsam du weg bist“)   M:176/29
aS-San‘atu 9 - ayyuhā as-sā'ilu („Oh Bittsteller“)   M:176/30
aS-San‘atu 10 - ammā qad Hafita („Du warst verborgen“)   M:101/2
aS-San‘atu 11 - yā muqābilu („Oh Gegenüber“)   B:94/5   M:177/34
aS-San‘atu 12 - yā man malakani ‘abdan („Oh wer mich Diener beherrscht“)   B:94/6   M:177/35

al-mawwālu
(rhythmisch nicht gebundene Gesangs- und Instrumentalimprovisation)

aS-San‘atu 13 - tayyahtanī bayna l-anāmi („Du bringst mich in Verwirrung“)   B:95/7   M:179/2
aS-San‘atu 14 - qum tarā r-rauDa („Steh auf, betrachte den Garten“)   M:178/37
aS-San‘atu 15 - ayyu Zabyin ‘alā l-asadi („Welche Gazelle kämpft mit dem Löwen“)   M:215/37


CD 2
[54.25]

naubatu l-māyati, mīzānu l-basīT

al-bugyatu (rhythmisch nicht gebundenes Instrumentalvorspiel)
at-tawshiyatu (rhythmisch gebundenes Instrumentalvorspiel)

aS-San‘atu 1. unZur ‘ilā raunaqi l-‘ashīyati („Sieh den Glanz des Abendhimmels an“)   B:37/1   M:352/1
aS-San‘atu 2. al-‘ashīyatu aqbalat bi-l-iSfirāri („Der Abendhimmel wird gelb gefärbt“)   B:37/2   M:352/2

al-baytāni (Gesangsimprovisation)

aS-San‘atu 3. al-‘ashīyatu fi l-iSfirāri („Der Abendhimmel in Gelbfärbung“)   B:38/4 M:354/6
aS-San‘atu 4. qum ‘āyini l-‘ashīyata („Steh auf, schau dir den Abendhimmel an“)   B:38/5 M:357/7
aS-San‘atu 5. yā ‘ashīyatu („Oh Abendhimmel“)   B:39/6 M:355/12
aS-San‘atu 6. unZurú Samsa l-‘ashīyati („Seht die Sonne des Abendhimmels an“)   B:39/7 M:355/12
aS-San‘atu 7. qum tarā Samsa l-‘ashīyati („Steh auf, betrachte die Sonne des Abendhimmels“)   B:40/8 M:356/13
aS-San‘atu 8. qad ashraqad shamsu l-gabini („Schon scheint die Sonne der Stirne“)   B:40/9 M:277/19

naubatu l-māyati, mīzānu l-quddāmi

al-bugyatu (rhythmisch nicht gebundenes Instrumentalvorspiel)
at-tawshiyatu (rhythmisch gebundenes Instrumentalvorspiel)

aS-San‘atu 1. al-‘ashīyatu ilā l-gurūbi („Der Abendhimmel verdunkelt sich“)   B:50/1 M:367/1
 aS-San‘atu 2. wa-‘ashīyatin („Beim Abendhimmel“)   B:50/2 M:367/2
aS-San‘atu 3. jā'a a l-habību („Der Freund ist gekommen“)   B:50/3 M:370/12
aS-San‘atu 4. yā sāhibā („Oh Gefährte“)   B:51/4 M:369/8

al-mawwālu
(rhythmisch nicht gebundene Gesangs- und Instrumentalimprovisation)

aS-San‘atu 5. a‘Zam yā ‘ashīyatu („Séi erhaben, oh Abendhimmel“)   B:51/5 M:369/8
aS-San‘atu 6. shamsu l-‘ashīyi qad garabat („Schon geht die Abendsonne unter“)   M:375/30
aS-San‘atu 7. anā kullīyun milkun lakum („Ich bin euch völlig ergeben“ mit interpolierter tawshiyatun)   B:51/6
aS-San‘atu 8. samsu l-‘ashīyati raunaqat („Glanzvoll ist die Sonne des Abendhimmels“)   B:51/7 M:378/40





Hajj ‘abdelkarim rais, rabab, Gesang/voice
muHammad bajdub, Gesang/voice
sidi samlali, Violin/e, Gesang/voice
muHammad ben hayyun, Violin/e, Gesang/voice
Hajj muHammad buzuba, ‘ūd, Gesang/voice
SaleH sherki, qānūn, Gesang/voice
Hajj muHammad tazi, Tār, Gesang/voice
Hajj ‘abdelahad ‘amri, darābukka, Gesang/voice

Leitung/Direction: HAJJ ‘ABDELKARIM RAIS


rabab : zweisaitiges Streichinstrument | two-stringed bowed instrument
‘ūd : Laute | lute
qānūn : Zither mit trapezförmigem Resonanzkasten | zither with trapezoidal soundbox
tar : Tambourin mit Schellen | tambourine with jingles
dardbukka : einfellige Bechertrommel | single-headed goblet drum

[CD]
Ⓟ 1984 harmonia mundi, D-7800 Freiburg
© 1991 Schola Cantorum Basiliensis

Aufnahme/Recording: Robert Lattmann
Aufgenommen/Recorded: 3. 2. 1977
Phonag Tonstudio, CH-8307 Lindau ZH

Kommentar/Liner notes: Thomas Binkley
Übersetzungen/Translations: Meinrad Schweizer, Anne Smith, Genevieve Begou, Isabel Rodriguez-Nogueras

Titelbild/Front cover picture: Miniatur aus der Cantigas-Handschrift/ Miniature from the Cantigas manuscript
El Escorial, Real Monasterio de El Escorial, T.j.1.
Mit freundlicher Genehmigung des/by kind permission of the
Patrimonio Nacional, Tesoro Artístico, Madrid

Titelbild/Front cover picture Booklet:
Die Tafel zeigt einen Baum mit „Stämmen“ und „Asten“, der das System der in der „andalusischen“ Musik verwendeten 24 Tonarten darstellen soll. Die vertikal angeordnete Schrift in der Mitte (hadha shajaratu T-Tubū‘i: „Das ist der Baum der Tonarten“) bildet den Grundstamm, um den links und rechts vier „Stamme“ mit ihren „Ästen“ angeordnet sind; der fünfte „Stamm“ (unten in der Mitte) hat keine „Aste“.
Das Bild ist eines der wenigen Zeugnisse mit theoretischem Ansatz zur nordafrikanischen Musiktheorie und wird erstmals von dem Marokkaner muHammad al-Bū‘isāmī (+1690) erwähnt.

Booklet cover illustration: The table shows a tree with “limbs” and “branches” representing the system of 24 tonalities employed in “Andalusian” music. The vertically aligned inscription in the center (hadha shajaratu T-Tubū‘i: “This is the tree of tonalities”) forms the trunk, to the left and right of which are arranged four “limbs” with their “branches”. The fifth “limb” (bottom center) has no “branches”.
This illustration is one of the few sources dealing with rudiments of North African musical theory and was first mentioned by the Moroccan muHammad al-Bū‘isāmī (+1690).

Redaktion/Editing:
Thomas Drescher (SCB)
Dr. Jens Markowsky (dhm)
All rights reserved

HARMONIA MUNDI D-7800 FREIBURG
Eine Co-Produktion mit dem | A co-production with
Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln

Introduction

This recording cannot fail to stimulate interest in the history of Western culture as it is preserved in non-European traditions. Here we take up one fascinating musical tradition of North Africa, a descendant of medieval Hispano-Arabic music which migrated to the Moslem Mediterranean world as the Moors were driven from Spain during the centuries of conflict, the reconquista, completed by the Catholic kings at the close of the 15th century; a music which in its pure state is unlike any other Moslem musical tradition, one which since the 18th century has become stabilized in its repertory and in its performance practice.

There is a very large literature concerning the contributions of the Hispano-Arabs to Christian civilization in languages, sciences and arts, a literature far too complex and detailed to review here. One tributing is of importance in charting the awakening of interest in the music of the Maghreb. The painter Nicolas Jacques Conte (1775—1805) was appointed by Napoleon Bonaparte to accompany a team of researchers forming an expedition to Egypt. He was to capture Egypt in countless sketches and paintings of subjects about which the other team members were to write. The results of that expedition is contained in the 24 volumes of the remarkable Description de l'Egypte, 10 volumes of text, 14 oversized volumes of plates published in two editions between 1809-28 and 1821-30. This is a rich source of information on virtually every aspect of 18th century Egyptian life, including music. Villoteau's “de l'etat actuel de l'art musical en Egypte” includes explanations of Maqqam, Ethiopean notation, improvisation on a single note, Coptic chant, Jewish music, musical instruments and much more. Conte illustrated this discourse with a great many plates.

This enormous study stimulated interest in the music of the non-European Mediterranean world, and led to other works such as Edward William Lane's mid 19th century An account of the Manners and Customs... (still in print today) which also touches upon musical practices. Of more importance for us is Salvador Daniel, who before he was executed was for a few days the director of the Paris Conservatoire during the commune of 1871, and who wrote La musique arabe: ses rapports avec la musique grecque et le chant grégorien, Algiers 1863 / 2nd edition 1879, and later translated into English by Henry George Farmer, an outspoken defender of the thesis of Arabic influence on Western music. Daniel included the first — as far as I am aware — piece of Andalusian music to appear in Western literature, a piece he called “Heuss-ed-Doure, a Moorish song from Algiers”. Actually it is a section from the Nouba meia [Núba al-Maya] contained on this record (see Compact Disc 2).

In 1922 a musicological controversy arose with the publication of the Arabist Julian Ribera's La música de las Cantigas (Madrid 1922), followed by La música andaluza medieval en las canciones de trovadores..., 3 vols, 1923-25. Ribera sought the rhythmic solution of the notation of the Cantigas de Santa Maria in Arabic practices, a standpoint shared with few music historians. The suggestion of some connection between the Hispano-Arabic music and the Cantigas has remained alive in spite of the negative reception of Ribera's thesis. Indeed, interaction between the Moslem, Jewish and Christian civilizations has been studied extensively in literature. Nyhl and later Briffault along with many others defended the Arabic thesis of influence of the Arabs on courtly love and troubadour lyric. Others supported the opposing theses of classical heritage, while a few wrote about a spontaneous development. Le Gentil in a little book about the villancico tried to present the conflicting theses in perspective. In 1953 Samuel Stern published his remarkable discovery that the final verses of the Andalusian muwashshahs were not nonsense Arabic as had been believed, but were written in a romance language. (Samuel Stern, Les chansons mozarabes: les vers fin aux [kharjas] en espagnol dans les muwashshahs arabes et hébreux..., Palermo 1953, reprint Oxford 1964). More recently, studies and translations of Hispano-Arabic literature have proliferated — eg. Garcia Gómez Todo Guzmán, and the exemplary anthology of James Monroe.

The existence of Christian-Moslem interaction in literature supports the notion of interaction in other areas, including music. Whereas in literature we have the written words in original manuscripts this is not the case with music, which was largely an unwritten tradition in Spain in the 13th century. Non-European traditions may shed light upon important questions where documents are lacking. For example, in a library of Valencia is the manuscript of a medieval Arabic cookbook from Spain which purports to contain recipes by Ziryab, that original musician, artist and bon vivant frequently credited with founding the Spanish school of Arabic music. These recipes employ culinary techniques and prepared “fonds” not adequately explained in the text. I was unable to execute the recipes until James Monroe, who also knew the manuscript, revealed his discovery to me, that through the study of contemporary indigenous (i.e. non-French) cooking techniques from Morocco the problems dissolved. If such study can help with the problems of medieval cooking practice, perhaps it can help with the music too. The Studio der frühen Musik (Early Music Quartet) undertook two expeditions in the Maghreb (with the assistance of the German Goethe Institute) in the 1960's, which were fruitful in the pursuit of elements of musical performance practices relevant to the performance of Western medieval monophony. The results have had a lasting influence on nearly all subsequent performances of the monophonic repertory, either through imitation, reflection or rejection. (viz. Basler Jahrbuch für historische Musikpraxis 1; also the recording Cantigas de Santa Maria, SCB-Documenta, harmonia mundi IC 065-99898 which reflects the Andalusian practice in the performance of Cantigas).

There are two clear areas where the use of this Andalusian music is appropriate as a model: performance techniques of an instrument (all known to have been employed in the West) and the manner of joining instruments together in the performance of monophonic music. Of less direct importance are the specific improvisational models pursued by the Andalusian players and singers, the manner of constructing preludes, postludes and interludes, and the manner of grouping poems together into suites accompanied by cyclic rhythms in predetermined sequences. The origin of the specific repertory is not relevant to this interest because it is not the material but how it is presented that is important. It may be too late today to penetrate the specific ties of this repertory to the medieval past. As we have seen so often in this century, every erosion of a cultural border dilutes the traditional music with exotic entries — new instruments, new rhythms, a new sociology which all bring about irreversible changes in performance.

All the more valuable, then, that this music has been captured on record, an unalterable performance of a traditional music which has ties — however elusive - to the Spanish Middle Ages.

Thomas Binkley

Moroccan music as an aid in the interpretation of medieval songs

The present recording may be traced back to a “Woche der Begegnung — Musik des Mittelmeerraumes und Musik des Mittelalters” (“A Week of Exploration — Mediterranean Music and Medieval Music”) that was held in Basel from January 31 to February 4, 1977. The focal point of this week was the encounter of the “Studio der frühen Musik” (Andrea von Ramm, Thomas Binkley, Richard Levitt and Sterling Jones) with the “Andalusian” musical practice of North Africa as represented by a leading ensemble from Fez under the direction of Hājj Abdelkarim Rais. The group's musicological advisor was Hājj Idress Benjellun, director of the Association of Friends of Andalusian Music in Morocco (jam‘iyatu hawāti l-mūsiqū l-andalusīyati, magreb). The “Woche der Begegnung” consisted of several concerts performed by both groups, a workshop about the “Andalusian” musical practice, as well as a musicological symposium about the “Performance Practice of Medieval Songs” with Wulf Arlt, Thomas Binkley, Josef Kuckertz (Cologne), Ernst Lichtenhahn, Hans Oesch, Christopher Schmidt and Habib Hassan Touma (Berlin). The papers presented at this symposium may be found in the Basler Jahrbuch für historische Musikpraxis I (Amadeus-Verlag, Winterthur, 1977).

The organizers of the “Woche der Begegnung” were the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and the Musicological Institute of the University of Basel in collaboration with the Basel section of the Schweizerische Musikforschende Gesellschaft and the Verein der Freunde alter Musik of Basel.

The “Studio der frühen Musik” had the opportunity of becoming acquainted with a musical practice which only recently has departed from its unwritten tradition, as is the case with the “Andalusian” music from Morocco, and of investigating how what they learned could be used in their study of the performance practice of non-liturgical, monophonic songs from the Middle Ages. Here the problem lies in the realization of the extant written material — in which the (relative) pitches of the monophonic melodies is notated and underlaid with the text of one strophe of the song — in sound, a process involving rhythmic specification, the textual underlay of further strophes of the song and the addition of instruments. The “Andalusian” musical practice, one which has an unwritten tradition, could be of assistance here because of the geographical as well as the historical and cultural connections between “Andalusian” music from Morocco and the medieval song from southwest Europe. It is, however, particularly difficult to reconstruct these connections in the field of music in that there is no direct information from the Middle Ages about the “Andalusian” musical practice, whereas the inverse holds for the material with which it is to be compared. On the one hand our contact with the medieval song is through an abstract notation, whose informational content is such that our ability of producing an historically accurate realization is limited, while, on the other hand, “Andalusian” music sounds today and is a part of a musical tradition whose historical dimensions are far from being clarified. The “Woche der Begegnung” thus remained an experiment, one which by no means provided new solutions to the problems of performance practice, but one, however, which made one aware of those features, outside the realm of historical knowledge, of a real, sounding musical practice which may have been lost.


“Andalusian” music

Recent research about Arabic music distinguishes two main traditions of Arabic art music, one associated with an eastern and the other with a western region (Northwest Africa). In such studies the western tradition is generally called “Andalusian” music under the justified assumption that this art music now cultivated in North Africa was once an art whose home was in southern Spain. Its origins, because of the occupation of the Iberian peninsula by Islamic peoples (Arabian al-andalus, land of the wandalun, of the Vandals), are thought to extend back to the court of [the] Abbas[sids] in Baghdad. Reference is made, as direct evidence of such a tradition, to a musician from Baghdad by the name of Ziryab who emigrated to Spain in the 9th century and brought much innovation in the field of music with him. The information in these sources concerning matters of musical practice as well as of theory and terminology, however, is totally inadequate for making a comparison with today's musical practice. The first direct evidence we know of showing an immediate connection with today's musical practice comes from the 17th and 18th centuries. On the one hand this consists of the specification of the names of the 24 keys by Muhammad al - būiSāmī (+ 1690) (Cf. the Comments about the frontispiece) and, on the other, of the collection of poems by muHammad al-Hā'ik, which was commissioned by the Moroccan ruler, Muhammad b. ‘Abdallah (who reigned from 1757-1790). This collection of song texts still constitutes the basic repertory of “Andalusian” music today. A thorough study of the contents, a classification of the repertory, as well as an identification of the poets in the manuscripts, which are now mostly located in Morocco, all have yet to be undertaken.


The repertory of “Andalusian” music

“Andalusian” music in Morocco has a clearly defined repertory which is subdivided into eleven sets of songs (so-called naubātun, sing.: naubatun) and instrumental pieces. In order to more explicitly specify a naubatun, the name of the key primarily used, such as al-māyatu, ar-raSdu, is appended. Further, each naubatun has 5 parts, whereby each part is accompanied by a basic rhythmic pattern (mizānun, pl.: mawāzinun). The parts are called by the names of these rhythmic patterns:

Basic form (“dum”: low note, “tak”: high note)

During the performance of a section, the rhythmic pattern is played repeatedly while the tempo is gradually being increased. On top of this framework, songs (Sanā‘tu, sing.: San‘atun) with instrumental accompaniment are executed with instrumental preludes and interludes (tawshshiyatun). At the beginning of each naubatun there is an instrumental piece called a bugyatun which is tied to no rhythmic pattern. The bugyatun has the function of establishing the main melodic mode of the entire naubatun. Additional pieces, such as the baytāni and the mawwāl may be interpolated in the individual sections. The baytāni is a vocal improvisation on two lines of text which is not tied to a specific rhythm. The singer, in addition to the two lines of text, uses the meaningless syllables “ha na na” to extend his improvisation. The mawwāl is an improvisation undertaken by the singer and the players of melodic instruments. Like the baytāni this improvisation is not tied to a rhythmic pattern and has the same improvisatory character. It differs from the baytāni in that before and between the vocal sections, which are performed by the singer alone, individual instrumentalists execute their own improvisations.

The main components of each naubatun are the songs, muwashshahun and zajalun which have been set to music — poems which have been allotted to specific naubatun on the basis of their content. Descriptions of nature, such as of sunrises and sunsets or the beauty of plants, social gatherings over wine, longing for one's distant lover, and praise for the Prophet Muhammad are the main themes found in these poems.

As far as the form is concerned, the musical settings of the poems are based upon their strophic form; for the most part they have a seven-line strophe, AABBBAA. This seven-line strophe consists of one three-line section, which has a rhyme of its own (BBB), and of two two-line sections with a rhyme in common (AA), which enclose the three-line section. Based upon this strophic form, five-line poems are usually performed, ones which lack the first two-line section (AA). This results in the rhyme scheme of BBBAA. Subdivisions within the lines which coincide with internal rhymes are significant in determining the form of the musical setting, particularly in the first line of the two-line section. The individual half lines and lines are thus associated with specific melodic sections in a fixed order, whereby the following sequence is valid for the strophic form BBBAA:

Melodic Section I: first line (B) and instrumental repetition
Melodic Section I: second line (B) and instrumental repetition
Melodic Section I: third line (B)
Melodic Section II: fourth line up to internal rhyme, instrumental repetition
Melodic Section II: second half of fourth line (A)
Melodic Section I: fifth line (A).

SCHOLA CANTORUM BASILIENSIS - DOCUMENTA

After more than half a century the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) and the concept on which it is based have lost none of their relevance today. Founded in 1933 by Paul Sacher, this “Lehr- und Forschungsinstitut für alte Musik” at the Music Academy in Basle has remained unique in many respects. From the time it opened until today, musicians prominent in the development of the performance of early music, in which historical practices are taken into account, have gathered together there.

Music from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 19th century is studied at the SCB. Research, teaching, concerts, and publications are always closely connected with one another because of the cooperation between musicians and musicologists.

Some of the important subjects dealt with at events and in editions sponsored by the SCB are preserved on this series of recordings. The performers and the authors of the commentaries are usually affiliated with the Institute.

The purpose of the series is to document the significant initiatives made by the SCB in the field of early music and to make them available to a larger audience.