It is not slight significance that the trio of Julien WEISS (qanun) with master Mohamed SAADA (nay) and Adel SHAMS ELDIN (riqq) bear the name of AL KINDI. This Arab philosopher was impregnated by Hellenism and is the symbol of an epoch when the assimilation of Persian, Syriac, Indian and Greek texts resulted in a fertile intermingling of cultures. The group, spurred by the same spirit, has delved into the Arab-Andalusian, Oriental, Turkish and Iranian sources of music.
In their quest for excellence, they have held to rigour, Here, profuse inspiration did not lead to easy paths, but to the shedding of the unnecessary. The reduction of long traditional compositions did not deprive them of their substance, for conciseness magnifies the living body of the essential. Flagging imitation gives way to meditation and renewal. Thus a reserved yet elegant music unfolds, full or intransigeant purity and, above all, of profound tenderness.
A miracle of beauty stripped of all convention. To listen to Stabat Mater, The Art of Fugue or a psalmodied sura is to draw on this same prodigious alchemy. This is a step into the absolute.
Three artists, a Tunisian, an Egyptian and a french make up the trio which is more than a simple conjunction of rigorous and generous talents; it is the fruit of a communion of hopes.
Jamel Eddin BENCHEIKH,
Professeur des Universites
ARAB CLASSICAL MUSIC:
A SCHOLARLY AND REFINED THOUSAND YEAR OLD TRADITION
The world of Arabic and Islamic music is unjustly misunderstood by the educated music-loving public who associate it, usually, with its more familiar and mercantile aspects. It is, also, often viewed by a large number among us, in the aftermath of an orientalism of colonial obedience and as a result of European centricity as an archaism, the obsolete branch of evolution. In this pseudo-Darwinian approach, polyphony, alone, merits patent of nobility.
Yet, there is a rich musical tradition which can be traced back to golden age of Arab civilization (9th to the 11th century). This aristocratic and urban tradition emerged from purely Arab origins and was accompanied, all along, by scholarly thought. Other elements, Persian, Greco-Byzantine, Turkish, Indian, Balkan have been incorporated into it throughout the centuries.
In this music have been perpetuated the musical and aesthetic forms of the great civilizations of Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, cradle of the heptatone.
THE MAQAMAT (modes)
The soul (ruh) of Arab classical music is in the maqam (scale or mode). It draws its emotional force (tarab) from a certain spiritual and emotive relation with the Koranic psalmody (tartil) especially in the heart rending and emotional expression of the mawal (vocal improvisation), and of its instrumental equivalent: the taqsim.
Polyphony, in the European sense of the term, is, practically, inexistent in Arab music. In its orchestral forms, it uses the octave and unison, as well as the drone effect which takes the form of a repetitive leitmotiv, whether choral or instrumental, and upon which a voice can improvise.
The richness of such music lies in the subtlety and complexity of its idiomatic mode (maqamat) which number more than one hundred. It is hardly possible to play the maqamat on Western instruments; since their fixed and tempered sounds (piano, guitar) would truncate their character. Musicologists use the term micro-interval when they carry out comparative analysis (quarter of a tone, come, cent...) for the purpose of designating their characteristics.
The cornerstone of the maqam is the jinn (trichord, tetrachord, pentachord). There are sixteen of them which are combined to obtain the various maqamat. The jinn shows that Arab music methodology was borrowed from the ancient Greeks. Its terminology is to be found in Persian origins, revealing at the same time the influence of Sassanid musical science on the early dynasties of Arab caliphates.
THE IQAAT (rhythms)
In its structural forms, Arab classical music uses percussion. The percussionist's role is to support the musical edifice with grave and high-pitched strokes, marked by the onomatopeic sounds of dum and tak repeated in a periodic manner.
In fact, rhythms is the major and preponderant element of all composition in this music. It determines the pattern of a melody, like the weave of a fabric which guides the design of an embroidery or the movement of the pieces on a chessboard. These rhythmic cycles are intricate and extremely varied. Some of them have two beats, others thirty-six or more, some are said to be "limping" or "assymetric" and others form a series of several cycles.
AL KINDI AND THE CENTURY OF THE ONE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS
In the eight century A.D., Arab classical music became and authentic and refined art. In the court of the caliph of Baghdad, HARUN AL RASHID, musicians enjoyed a privileged status and taught in their prestigious school.
It was at the end of such a reign that was born ABOU YOUSSOUF AL KINDI, the father of Arab philosophy. Being at the same time rationalist and mystic, he made the first major approach to Hellenism by formulating it for the usage of the Islamic community. Endowed with an open universalist spirit, he mastered all the fields of human thought: metaphysics, arithmetic, medicine, the authoritative references in the monasteries and the universities of Europe. However, it is particularly, as the first theorist of Arab music that he has retained our attention.
Julien Jalal Eddin WEISS
Al KINDI GROUP
Founded in 1983, at the initiative of J.J. WEISS, AL KINDI group formed a quartet, which became septet and finally settled as a trio.
A perfect balance between strings (qanun), wind (nay), and percussion (riqq), this trio, although unusual in form, restitutes perfectly the sound of each instrument without causing any overshadow of one instrument on the other.
Larger groups or even mammouth ones, enhance the exoteric aspect of music by drowning the sound of the pure Arab instruments in an undif-ferentiated nebula where the violin (an instrument of european manufacture) dominates, this concealing the esoteric and sacred virtues of such music.
The forms of Arab instrumental music being but a few, J.J. WEISS had the original idea of making instrumental arrangements out of the vocal forms which are often more complex and more numerous. An alien, through the force of circumstances, to any Arab ethnocentric inclination, J.J. WEISS has not limited himself to presenting a regional repertoire. He has also shied away from indulging in any polyphonic artifice which, if introduced, would deprive the music of its spirit.
AL KINDI group has drawn its repertoire from the so-called Arab-Andalusian tradition of North Africa, the heir of the magnificent Islamic civilization of Spain; it delved into the Syro-Egyptian tradition which flourished during the artistic renaissance (AL NAHDA) of the 19th century, and found inspiration in the Iraqi tradition in the footsteps of the Abbassid dynasty, and as well in the Turkish instrumental music of the Ottoman Empire.
This recording has been made during the Euro-Arab summer university, presided by Professor MOHAMED AZIZA, during the celebrations of the ninth Centenary of the University of Bologna in Italy which was organized by the director of the Faculty of Law, Professor GIUSEPPE CAPUTO
AL KINDI group has performed before large audiences in international festivals held in Italy, France, Spain Switzerland, Holland, Finland, malta, Tunisia, Algeria, Irak, Koweit, Jordan, Syria. It has taken part in numerous tours organized by the France". Concerts were given by the group at the "Institut du Monde Arabe" at Unesco and the Arab League headquarters in Paris.
THE PERFORMERS
MOHAMED SAADA
He is a master of the nay, and the most well-known musician in Tunisia. As a professor of music at the Higher of Tunis, he trained most of the musicians of the Younger generations. He led the Maluf Tunisian group Al Rashidia during seven years. he studied in France harmony, counterpoint and orchestra conducting. He has been performing with AL Kindi since he first met J.J. WEISS during the festival of Hammamet in Tunisia in 1986.
ADEL SHAMS ELDIN
He is a master of the egyptian instrument riqq. He left his career as engineer to dedicate himself to music. After having trained at the Conservatory of Alexandria, he accompanied local orchestras, then settled in Paris where he became known as the best player of the riqq. He masters solfege and the long period rhythms. he accompanies famous Arab singer like WADIH AL SAFI.
JULIEN JALAL EDDIN WEISS
J.J. WEISS is French with a Swiss-German mother and a father from Alsace. He received his first teachings in qanun from masters such as the Egyptian, kamel ABDALLAH, soloist of the El Efni quintet and professor at the Academy of Arts of Cairo; the Tunisian, HASSAN GHARBI, conductor with the Tunisian radio and TV; the Lebanese, ELIE ASHKAR; the Turk, SAADETIN OKTENAY in Istanbul and the Iraqi, SALEM Hussein in Baghdad.
As well as the founder of the AL KINDI group, he is also a classical guitarist, composer and music critic.
He composed and performed play and ballet musics. He has also made a number of recordings or taken part in several musical, theatrical and choreographic performances of modern works such as " la Conjuration" in a tribute paid to the poet Rene CHAR, musical poetry readings with the writer ABDELLATIF LAABI...
In 1998, he led the music festival of Euro-Arab summer university.
THE INSTRUMENTS
THE QANUN
It is a zither in a trapezoid-rectangular form. It soundboard is perforated with three finely worked rosettes, its base is in walnut wood while the frame and the interior are in beech. The tuning-pegs are in apricot wood tree.
It has 26 triple strings, that is 78 nylon strings which are plucked with horn plectrums fixed with silver rings on each index finger. The bridge, held with supports, rests on parchments of fish skin stretched on five rectangular frames that yield the cristalline sound so typical of this instrument. This refined manufacture is not enough without the mechanic part (orabat) which necessitates the maximum of precision. In fact, these small metallic clacks divid each tone into eleven unequal parts, and demonstrate thus the complexity of the arabic musical scales. In view of its sensitivity to hygrometric and thermal variations, the qanun necessitates daily and repeated tuning. the instrumentis used to accompany singing in Arab North African orchestras and in the Middle East. It is, also, very much appreciated in Turkey, Iran, Greece, Armenia, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.
the name of this instrument is attributed to the philosopher AL FARABI (10th century), and it means in Greek as well as in Arabic, law or rule. school, the monochord was also called qanun) The qanun was introduced in Europe during the Crusaders' campaigns. It is mentioned by GUILLAUME DE MACHAUT in his poem " The Fall of Alexandria" (13th century). It is thought that this instrument was the originator, after the inclusion of a keyboard, of the harpsichord.
THE NAY
It was the favourite instrument of certain heterodox Islamic rites and was glorified by many poets among them whom JALAL EDDIN ROUMI, rounder of the brotherhood of the dancing dervishes (13th century), the nay is the only known wind instrument to be used in Arab classical music.
This flute, as its Persian name indicates, is the hollow stem of a reed. It must be strictly Linear and have eight knots dividing the tube into nine regular segments. Depending on the diameter and the length of the reed.
Seven nays can thus be obtained. However, the professional musician carries with him around twenty nays which can be adapted to the problems of tuning on a relative pitch. In spite of the simplicity of its appearances, the nay has astonishing resources. It has seven finger holes, six of which are on the upper part and one on the lower one. It products sounds by blowing sideways on the slightly bevelled extreme section of it, the mouthpiece. The fibre of the reed resounds then and the wailing sound produced provokes the ecstasy of the enchanted audience.
THE RIQQ
It is a tembourine with a 22 cm diameter. Its frame is slit in five places at regular intervals. A pair of brass jingles is placed in each slit and they are tuned in unisson.
The head is a parchment of fish skin from the Upper Nile. If the climate is neither dry nor hot, tension of the parchment is maintained by heating it from time to time.
The frame is inlaid with mother-of-pearl ebony, ivory and bone.
It is a very old instrument as witnessed by biblical texts and mural drawings in Mesopotamia. The musician holds the riqq between the thumb and the index of his left hand, while the other three fingers strike the rim of the head or the closest jingles. The right hand beats freely on the rim or on the centre in order to obtain the dum and the tak of the rhythm.
THE WORKS
1.
SAMAI SHADD-ARABAN
J.B. TUNBURY, end of 19th century
arranged by J.J.WEISS
It is an instrumental ouverture composed on a ten time rhythm. It consists of three couples alternating with a refrain and finish on a fourth couplet in a manner which recalls a viennese valse.
Although profane, the Sami was originally destined to induce meditation during ecstatic ritual ceremonies of the Turkish Sufis.
2.
DAWR KADNIL HAWA
M. OSMAN, end of the 19th century
Arranged by J.J. WEISS
It is a typically egyptian vocal form: the alternance of a men choir with a tenor or a women choir.
DAWR means "cycle" in arabic. It is sung in colloquial Arabic. M. OSMAN introduced some refinements to the form and included it in the classical repertoire. This dawr is probably, one of the great master-pieces of the composer.
3.
WASLA BAGHDADIA
Baghdadian Suite, a tribute to M. BACHIR
Qanun solo composed and performed by J.J.WEISS for the first international festival of Babylone in 1986
This piece is composed of five parts. The first one is a taqsim (improvisation) with the maqam Bayati Nawa, the following three parts are suggestive melodies in the 10/16 rhythm (two-time of five beats each), using the original bass ostinato which accelerates in the fifth movement in the way of the Persian tshahar-mezrab , all the while keeping a typically Iraqi style, in spite of a few heptatone incursions.
4.
NAWBA MAYA
Arabo-Andalusian nawba is a suite of vocal and instrumental voices respecting the unity of the mode and which is executed during several hours. Music of the court of the caliphates of moslem Spain, it is though that it found its way in North Africa with the arrivals of the Andalusians from Spain after its reconquest by the Christians. Arab North Africa has many regional traditions. The Tunisian school is called maluf and owns an unequalled heritage of these modes, a consequence of the superposition of oriental, bedouin, berber and especially turkish influences.
This instrumental version, the original of the nawba maya (maya indicates the name of the mode used) is formed of 18 ditincts parts, grouped in 8 main movements and divided in their middle by a long improvisation (istikh bar) by the Tunisian Master of the nay, Mohamed SAADA.
Title of the parts:
1) ISTIFTAH
2) MSADDAR, TAWQ, SILSILAT
3) DKHOUL AL ABYAT:
- Barouel, Btayhi
- Al Abyat
- Farighat Al Abyat
4) BTAYHI
5) ISTITKKBAR ( Nay Solo)
6) BAROUEL
7) FARIGHAH AL DRAJ, DRAJ
8) FARIGHAH AL KHAFIF, KHAFIF
9) KHATM 1 and 2
5.
WASLA HIJAZ KAR
Arranged by J.J. WEISS
the wasla is a suite of vocal and instrumental pieces used in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon. It respects the unity of the mode. The essential part of the vocal pieces is the mouwashahats a very sophisticated form, from the rhythmic and melodic point of view. The mouwashah was, at the origin, a classical poem of 16 feet, created by the Andalusians.
This percussionist displays, in the introduction, a bar of his rhythmic cycle of 28 time, then the group performs the first two couplets alternating with a refrain. The bashraf (meaning prelude in Persian) is the oldest instrumental Turkish theme, set up in general, on a long period rhythm. because of its austere and internal character, nowdays, it is no longer used.
the wasla, like the Samai, Constituted one of the elements of the Sufi musical liturgy. Following two bars of an 8 time rhythm, the group plays a first mouwashah, then a second composed on a rhythmic cycle of 22, 12 and 6 time (from Syria, unknown source of 18th century). This wasla ends with a light, lively movement of balkanic inspiration: the lounga.
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