Were the decades between World War II and the start of the Lebanese Civil War (1975) the Golden Age of Lebanese pop music, or was it the Golden Age of Traditional Lebanese Music Sometimes Updated to Embrace Western Song Structures While Still Featuring Ancient Arabic Instruments Like the Oud (a Middle Eastern/Asian guitar-like lute0, the Mijwiz (a double-pipe, single-reed clarinet), the Durbakke (a goblet drum), the Riq (a tambourine-like frame drum) and especially the Buzaq (a long-necked lute). Carla Fleyhan of Brazil’s “Jornal Jovem” characterizes (and surely idealizes) post-World War II, pre-Civil War Lebanon, as, “Friendship, love, peace, safety, charity, life on the pond, joy, and happiness, but above all this the arts: this is how life was in Lebanon.” Good? (In this video watch beloved Lebanese vocalist Fairuz, known for her popular modern music, perform a traditional tune with Nasri Shamsedine.)
Tag Archives | Oud
Armenian Music is Everywhere
Richard Hagopian shows us the way to Armenia….
The music of the Southern Caucasus has its roots in two thousand years of cultural, ethnic and religious struggle, its mere survival a testament to the persistence and communal strength of Georgian, Azeri and Armenian people. While contemporary musicians from the Caucasus readily embrace global genres, especially those who live in emigrant communities in America and Europe, artists who perform the region’s traditional music know that when they’re passing their ancient music to a new generation, they’re doing much more than just singing songs. For example, Armenia has a long, rich history during which its music has had the the chance to establish deep, resonant roots. Today’s Armenian music is a mix of ancient Church liturgy, super-ancient pre-Christian chants, relatively new indigenous folk (only centuries old) and raucously ultra-modern Euro-pop that draws substantially on what came before. Substantial populations of Armenians live and create music not only in their homeland but in many communities abroad. Let’s start the week this video of a musician of Armenian descent, born and raised in the diaspora — Armenian-American oud player Richard Hagopian.
A Short-Necked Lute with a Long History
The Middle Eastern oud, a stunning stringed instrument, is at the core of traditional ensembles all around West Asia. Potentially derived from the Persian “barbat” and other stringed lutes going back over a thousand years, the oud differs from other stringed instruments because it has no frets — dividers on the “neck” of a stringed instrument that allow a musician to make clearly differentiated notes ring separately. A Middle Eastern oud player can place his or her fingers on the neck to either play a clearly delineated tone, one that corresponds with a note on the major or minor scale, or can press the strings to the fretboard in between distinct notes, making “quarter tones.” This makes the oud a perfect match for Arabic, Persian and other West Asian musics, which gain so much of their strength from the tones between the tones. In this video we enjoy a performance by, as the YouTube description says, “the first girl graduated as a soloist represent[ing] Egypt in the Arab Oud House and the third graduate of the Arab Oud House.” Does the YouTube description say let us know her name? Nah.
Says the Riq, Don’t Call me a Tambourine!
Bravo, Bahareh Moghtadaei…!The riq is one of the staples of any traditional music ensemble from West Asia and the Middle East. It’s not exactly the same as a tambourine, but it’s a small, round frame drum like a tambourine, and has jingles, like a tambourine. Unlike a tambourine, a riq usually has ten pairs of jingles, set in five pairs. Also, while a musician holds a tambourine in the dominant hand to make it easy to shake, hitting its head the alternate hand, a riq player holds the instrument with its head facing forward and uses fingertips of both hands to hit the head, striking the jingles with the hand holding the drum. While hand drums such the daf or tar may hold down the beat in Arabic music, forming a rhythmic anchor, the riq is often a showboat. Its players lead the way, transforming rhythm into melody. Watch this video of Bahareh Moghtadaei playing the riq and you’ll see what I mean.
