Mizrahi music

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:This article is about the music of the Mizrahi Jews. For the main article on secular Jewish music, see Secular Jewish music.

Mizrahi music (Hebrew: מוזיקה מזרחית, Muzika Mizrahit) refers to the genre of Middle Eastern style of Israeli Music. It combines elements and flavours of Arabic, Turkish and Greek music brought to Israel by Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. It is usually sung in Hebrew, but may often be combined with lyrics in Arabic or other languages from lands where Jewish Israeli artists may trace their most recent ancestral roots. The literal definition of Mizrahi in Hebrew is "Eastern" or "from the East."

Typical Mizrahi songs will have a dominant violin or string sound as well as Middle Eastern percussion elements. Mizrahi music is usually high pitched. The themes of Mizrahi pop songs are usually more simple than those of Israeli rock.

Contents

[edit] Emergence of Mizrahi music

[edit] Background

In today's Israeli music scene, Mizrahi music is very popular. However, its popularity is a somewhat recent phenomenon. Until the 1970s, the Israeli music industry was dominated by westernized European derived popular Israeli music.

The owners of record labels quite simply weren't interested in Mizrahi music. Instead they signed music to their personal taste: American and European-style rock and pop music. Examples of this include Kaveret and Shlomo Artzi in the 1960s and 70s, and earlier on "pioneer", more idealistic folk-musicians such as Naomi Shemer and Yehoram Gaon.

Israeli immigrant communities from the countries of the Middle East and North Africa have over the last 50 years created a synthetic musical style the combines elements of Arabic, Turkish, Greek, and the until then Ashkenazi (European Jewish) dominated Israeli music. As opposed to the New Hebrew Style, which was the conscious creation of Eastern European immigrants trying to define their new Israeli identity, the Muzika Mizrahit style is truly spontaneous and indigenous[1]. Initially met with hostility by the mainstream cultural institutions of Israel, it has now become a major force in Israeli culture.

The Muzika Mizrahit movement started in the 1950s with homegrown performers in the ethnic neighborhoods of Israel - the predominantly Yemenite "Kerem HaTemanim" neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Moroccan neighborhoods and neighborhoods of Iranian and Iraqi immigrants - who played at weddings and other events. They performed songs in Hebrew, but in a predominantly Arabic style, on traditional instruments - the Oud, the Kanun, and the darbuka. In the 1960s, they added acoustic guitar and electric guitar, and their sound became more eclectic. Vocalists typically decorated their singing with trills and other oriental-style ornaments, and delivery was often nasal or guttural in character. Intonation was typically Western, however; singers did not use the quartertone scales typical of Arabic music.

Lyrics were originally texts taken from classic Hebrew literature, including liturgical texts and poems by medieval Hebrew poets. Later they added texts by Israeli poets, and began writing original lyrics as well. An example is the song "Hanale Hitbalbela" (Hannale was confused), sung by Yizhar Cohen. The lyrics are by the modern Israeli poet and lyricist Natan Alterman, to a traditional tune.

[edit] The 1970s and onward

One of the first widely popular Mizrahi musicians was Zohar Argov, who was from Rishon LeZion and who had grown up singing in his synagogue, released his defining Mizrahi hit, Perach BeGani (פרח בגני) ("Flower in my Garden"). Women have also begun to play a significant part in popular Mizrahi music, with famous artists such as Sarit Hadad becoming more popular.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, a few of these performers began distributing their songs on cassette tapes. The tapes were an instant hit. They were sold in kiosks in the rundown shopping area around the Tel Aviv bus station, and the music became known derogatorily as "Muzika Kassetot", cassette music, or "Bus station music". Performers during this period included Shimi Tavori and Zohar Argov, whose song "HaPerah Begani" (the Flower in my Garden) became a major hit. Argov, a colorful character who died in 1987 as a result of suicide, became known as the "King of Muzika Mizrahit"; he became a folk hero, and a movie was made of his life.

Despite the obvious popularity of this music, the state radio eschewed Muzika Mizrahit almost entirely. "The educational and cultural establishment made every effort to separate the second generation of eastern immigrants from this music, by intense socialization in schools and in the media," wrote the social researcher Sami Shalom Chetrit.[2]

The penetration of Muzika Mizrahit into the Israeli establishment was the result of pressure by Sephardic composers and producers such as Avihu Medina, the overwhelming, undeniable popularity of the style, and the gradual adoption of elements of Muzika Mizrahit by mainstream artists. Yardena Arazi, one of Israel's most popular stars, made a recording in 1989 called "Dimion Mizrahi" (Eastern Imagination), and included original materials and some canonic Israeli songs. Also, some performers started developing a fusion style of Muzika Mizrahit, Israeli, Greek, rock, and other styles. These included Yehuda Poliker, and Shlomo Bar, whose group "HaBreira HaTivit" (The Natural Choice) incorporated Sitars, tabla, and other Indian instruments to create a new, "World" style.

The acceptance of Muzika Mizrahit, over the 1990s, parallels the social struggle of Israelis of Sephardic origin to achieve social and cultural acceptance. "Today, the popular Muzika Mizrahit has begun to erase the differences from rock music, and we can see not a few artists turning into mainstream .... This move to the mainstream culture includes cultural assimilation," writes literary researcher and critic Mati Shmuelof.[3]

[edit] Well-known Mizrahi singers

[edit] References

  1. ^ Regev and Seroussi (2004), pp 191-235
  2. ^ Chetrit (2004).
  3. ^ Shmuelof (2006).

[edit] External links

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