A collective effort to renew Moroccan Andalusian music… recording, digitizing and dating

“Reviving an ancient heritage in a new way” is present in a massive work undertaken by Moroccan researchers, musical groups and programmers, which collected all the Andalusian Moroccan music, known as “Tarab Al-Ala”, performed it and recorded it in a way that allows it to be read by musicians around the world, while allowing the following of its poetry digitally, and learning about its figures, history and depth in interactive applications.

“The Anthology of Moroccan Andalusian Music” is the culmination of decades of efforts, including the investigation and production of the Moroccan Royal Academy of the reference “Knash Al-Haik”, with the eyes and pen of Malek Bennouna, and the review of Abbas Al-Jarari, noting that it includes the preservation of Muhammad Al-Haik Al-Tetouani’s instrumental tarab bouts that were preserved until his time in the eighteenth century AD. Among the prominent stations in the preservation of this creativity, of Andalusian origin that Moroccans and Maghrebis preserved and added to and innovated in, is the recording of the Moroccan Ministry of Culture of the “Anthology of Instrumental Music” between the years 1989 and 1991, and the publication by the “Kingdom Academy” of a series concerned with studying instrumental tarab bouts and their codification, signed by researcher and musician Omar Al-Matawi, of which three volumes have been published to date.

This is in addition to other interests in Moroccan artistic and poetic memory; including, but not limited to, the publication by the Kingdom’s Academy of “The Masterpiece of Malhun” prepared by the first Moroccan Minister of Culture, Mohammed Al-Fassi, and “The Encyclopedia of Malhun” supervised by the late academic Abbas Al-Jarari, whose contributions were associated with the title of Dean of Moroccan Literature, and “The Anthology of Rawis” supervised by researcher Ibrahim Al-Mazned, in addition to other works, including the beautiful book on “Jewish Music in Morocco” prepared by music researcher Ahmed Aidoun, and published in three languages, in addition to the re-issuance of the thesis of researcher and poet Hassan Najmi entitled “Singing Al-Aita.. Oral Poetry and Traditional Music in Morocco”, and the “Academy’s” publication of the latest publication by the Dean of Granadan Tarab Ahmed Bero, in which he recorded the poems, zajals and “brawl” accompanying the Andalusian Granadan noubas in the Rabat narration.

Team effort

The primary purpose of the “Anthology of Moroccan Andalusian Music (Al-Ala),” according to Omar Al-Matawi, a musician and researcher in instrumental music and head of the “Musical Tributaries” Association in Tangier, is “to recollect all the nubas by recording, noting, and lyrics, and modern techniques, in a box containing books and a large beautiful book that identifies the participating bands and artists, and those who contributed financially to the work, headed by Anas Al-Safriwi, and the associations of Andalusian music enthusiasts in Morocco, which was supervised by a committee that oversaw the practical progress, headed by Aziz Al-Alami Al-Karfati, Mounir Al-Safriwi, and Kawthar Jassous.”

Al-Matawi added, in a statement to the electronic newspaper Hespress: “The recordings were made at the University Institute in Fez, and were supervised by Ahmed Brioul, with the participation of 7 bands from different cities in Morocco. Six recordings were made by the band of Mohamed Brioul from Fez, two by musical tributaries in Tangier, namely the band of Omar Al-Matawi, as well as the band of Jamal Al-Din Benallal, one by Si Mohamed Amin Dubai in Rabat, one by Mohamed Al-Amin Al-Akrami from Tetouan, and one by the band of Anas Al-Attar in Fez. The band of Abdelmalek Al-Uthmani in Fez also recorded the Miazin Al-Yatama and Al-Tawashi.” Thus, today, there is “a recording of more than 132 hours of music that brings together all the Moroccan Andalusian noubas,” in an effort that “can only be compared to the anthology of the Ministry of Culture that was prepared between 1989 and 1992, during the era of Minister Mohamed Ben Aissa, which had a very high impact, and most of the teachers were at a very advanced age at that time, such as Moulay Ahmed El Ouakili, who died while the anthology was in the training phase before recording, and the process was followed by the now deceased Mohamed El Toud, and that was a very important collection of memory.”

Facilitation for new students

Al-Matawi said that when a student searches for recordings of instrumental music, he finds “recordings of Moroccan radio and television in the sixties, seventies and eighties, and the repertoire of the national radio,” and others that were “recorded by the companies “Fassi Phone” and “Ouhman” for example, which are commercial recordings of light pieces, in addition to other recordings by Bajdoub and Souiri… As for the ‘correct instrument’ with its rituals, its entrances and exits, and through the scales from the heavy to the light rhythm, it was not available, and the anthology recorded by the Ministry of Culture covered the shortcomings of that time (the beginning of the nineties), but many of the crafts were not recorded. Hence, this anthology came to “recover the orphaned and hidden crafts in some regions, especially northern Morocco; And to collect the heritage again, and complete the recording of the “Nubat” and “Touchiyat”, in an application of the reference “Kanash Al-Haik”, which “is no longer theoretical, but has become practical, as we were able to restore its original melodies”, and “the complete musical writing of all the “Nubat” has been added to it, using transliteration, that is, the literal translation of writing the Arabic language in Latin; which I began in the book “Nubat Al-Istithal” so that every musician in the world can get the idea of ​​the original melody.”

The musician and researcher in instrumental music added: “All of these books are accompanied by an interactive electronic board, which contains many applications, a digital copy of all the books, an application for hearing the instrument and seeing the musical instruments, and another application for tracking the music with words and intonations, for the first time; accurately; what you hear you see in clear writing, to track the musical passages.”

The speaker continued, explaining: “This is a method that we may bring to music institutes and learners; a clear and easy tool even for the teacher who teaches the craft, because the digital board does not get tired, and can be repeated continuously, and thus constitutes a modern didactic tool.”

Global despite challenges

Omar Al-Matawi considered that the collection of capabilities of voice, writing, words, and editing in a didactic manner and a digital board is “a modern, very important achievement that preserves memory in various written and audible ways,” and a contribution to “national identity in conveying this precious legacy.”

Then the head of the “Musical Tributaries” Association in Tangier said: “This is a tool for interaction with others, through transliteration, which enables even if the artist is not Moroccan or Arab and does not know the instrument, reading it is available to him because it is written in Latin letters; the international artist in the opera sings in a language he does not know, but he knows its pronunciation from what the musical writing allows, and he only studies its pronunciation; therefore, transliterating the ‘instrument’ is a way to open this music to the world.”

Among the features of this box that includes the various aspects of “instrumental music” is that it is “interactive, to endear the subject to the student, and so that he does not see it as being linked only to the jalabiya, the tarboosh, and the balgha, because there are those who no longer like this or remember it from a certain history,” even though this is “the music that reconciles us with ourselves and with the components of our civilization, and our strong poetic language, which originated with the muwashshahat, zajal, and metrical poetry coming from the East and developed in Andalusia, Morocco, and the Maghreb countries, which developed until it gave us al-Malhun.”

The musician and researcher added: “This container (the box), with all its written, audio and digital means, sheds light on this music, the heritage of which the entire society preserved in joys and weddings; but unfortunately, at this time, everyone has withdrawn to foreign, hybrid and dance music… and we have abandoned the heritage, which is not a burden on us; rather, it is a wealth that requires study, reading, preparation and mechanisms, in order to reach what classical music has reached in the world, which if the great countries had not preserved it, it would have disappeared, because its orchestras and operas are very expensive.”

Al-Matawi stressed that “preserving our entire memory requires a very great effort; but unfortunately, music institutes are not doing their adequate role in the matter today, and the teachers are somewhat frustrated without formalization, motivation, and mechanisms,” noting that “we have competencies in the choirs; but who will employ them and care for them if they do not sing dance or popular songs?!”