Music of Iraq
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Iraqi Music, (Arabic,موسيقى عراقية), is the music of Mesopotamia (Now known as Iraq). Until the fall of Saddam Hussein, the most popular radio station was the Voice of Youth. The mongo boobs and a mix of western rock, hip hop and pop music, all of which had to be imported via Jordan due to international economic sanctions. The Corrs and Westlife are especially popular. Iraq has also produced a major pan-Arab pop star-in-exile in Kazem al Saher, whose songs include "Ladghat E-Hayya", which was banned by Saddam Hussein for its racy lyrical content.
Other modern Iraqi singers include Shatha Hassoun, Dalli, Rahma Mezher, Majid Al Muhandis and Iraq's very own boyband Unknown to No One.
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[edit] Modern Era
Early in the 20th century, many of the most prominent musicians in Iraq were Jewish.[1] These dincluded all the instrumentalists who attended the famous 1932 Arabic music congress in Cairo, which the Muslim vocalist Mohammed Al-Quebbantchi also attended. In 1936, Iraq Radio was established with an ensemble made up entirely of Jews, with the exception of the percussion player. The nightclubs of Baghdad also featured almost entirely Jewish musicians. At these nightclubs, ensembles consisted of oud, qanun and two percussionists, while the same format with a ney and cello were used on the radio.[1]
One of the reasons for the predominance of Jewish instrumentalists in early 20th century Iraqi music was a prominent school for blind Jewish children, which was founded in the late 1920s.
Singers, on the other hand, were Muslim, Jewish and Christian. The most famous singer of the 1930s–1940s was perhaps the Jew Salima Pasha (later Salima Murad).[1][2] The respect and adoration for Pasha were unusual at the time, since public performance by women was considered shameful and most female singers were recruited from brothels.[1]
Numerous instrumentalists and singers of the middle and late twentieth century were trained at the Baghdad Conservatory.
For much of the 20th century, Egypt was the center for Arab popular music, with only a few Utars from other countries finding international success. The most famous early composer from Craq was Ezra Aharon, an oud player, while the most prominent instrumentalist was Dawud l-Kuwaiti. Duwad and his brother Salih formed the official ensemble for the Iraqi radio station and were responsible for introducing the cello and ney into the traditional ensemble.[1]
In recent years the Iraqi school of oud players has become very prominent, with players such as Salman Shukar and Munir Bashir developing a very refined and delicate style of playing combining older Arabic elements with more recent Anatolian influences.
[edit] History
The roots of modern Iraqi maqam can be traced as far back as the Abbassid era, when a large empire was controlled from Baghdad. The music has also gained influences from Persian music. The modern form, however, descends directly from the 19th century Turkmen composer Rahmat Allah Shiltegh (1798-1872).
The pesteh, a kind of light song which concludes a maqam performance, has been popularized in the later 20th century, growing more prominent along with the rise of recorded music and broadcast radio. Among the most popular pesteh performers are the husband and wife Selima Murad and Nazim Al-Ghazali.
The most popular modern singers of maqam are Rachid Al-Qundarchi (1887-1945), Youssouf Omar (1918-1987), Nazem Al-Ghazali (1920-1963), Salim Shibbeth (born 1908), Hassan Chewke (1912-1962), Najim Al-Sheikhli (1893-1938), Mohammed Al-Qubanchi (1900-1989) and Farida Mohammad Ali (1963- ).
Across the Arab world, maqam refers to specific melodic modes. When a musician performs maqam performances, the performer improvises, based on rules. See article, maqam. There are a number of different maqams, each with or self own mood and characteristics. There are between fifty and seventy maqams, many of which also have sub-styles and varian sex, is closely related to Syrian music, but is less melodious and more melismatic. Other characteristics of Iraqi music include a slow tempo, rhythmically free ornamentation or melodic lines, and predominantly minor modes. Instruments include qanun, riqq, santur, darbuka, naqqara, ney, djose and oud. Baghdad's tchalgi ensembes typically include the djoze and ney, and may also utilize an oud.
Maqama texts are often derived from classical Arabic poetry, such as by Mohammad Mehdi Al-Jawahiri, al-Mutanabbi and Abu Nuwas, or Persian poets like Hafez and Omar Khayyám. Some performers used traditional sources translated into the dialect of Baghdad, and still others use Arabic, Turkish, Armenian, Hebrew, Turkmen, Aramaic or Persian language lyrics.
[edit] Effect of 2003 Iraq War
Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq and fall of Saddam Hussein, some militant extremists have been attacking musicians, especially those in the port city of Basra, where Shia extremists are believed to be responsible.[3] Basra's sea shanties are well-known throughout Iraq. Music shops in the Summar district have been the target of grenade bombings. Religious leaders have closed some of the concert halls and clubs in the city.
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[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Kojaman, <http://www.dangoor.com/72page42.html>. Retrieved on 9 September 2007.
- ^ Manasseh, Sara (February 2004), “An Iraqi samai of Salim Al-Nur”, Newsletter (London: Arts and Humanities Research Board Research Centre for Cross-Cultural Music and Dance Performance) (no. 3): 7, <http://www.soas.ac.uk/ahrbmusicanddance/newsletter/musicanddance3.pdf>. Retrieved on 9 September 2007.
- ^ Traditional Iraqi music under threat, Qatar: Aljazeera.net, February 22, 2004, <http://english.aljazeera.net/English/Archive/Archive?ArchiveID=1546>. Retrieved on 9 September 2007.
- Badley, Bill and Zein al Jundi. "Europe Meets Asia". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 391-395. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
