Bright, old age and tastes.. Why did the train of life of modern Moroccan music stop?

Why did modern Moroccan songs not last long? Why did their influence not extend to creating new musicians with whom their tunes and writings continued and were renewed, except for classics that became part of the Kingdom’s musical history?

The reader will find the answer to these two questions in the two most recent publications of Moroccan critic Hassan Bahraoui, “Modern Moroccan Song: History and Trends,” and “Regarding the Ghiwane Phenomenon.”

How was Morocco influenced by the oriental song?

“Modern Moroccan song” was the result of “the combination of a number of external factors; especially Egyptian oriental song, and internal influences such as traditional Andalusian and Granadan singing and Malhoun music, in addition to drawing inspiration from popular local folk heritage such as Aita, Taqtuqa, and Barawil…” according to Bahraoui.

The Moroccan university professor interested in folk arts recorded the arrival of Morsi Barakat, the Egyptian qanun player, in Morocco “at the invitation of Moulay Abdel Aziz in 1906, with a musical group to perform some concerts in the royal palaces.”

He added: “It seems that the position has been pleasing to him in our country, and it has inspired the King to create a modern royal orchestra that will undertake a transformation in the ancient Makhzen traditions in the field of music and singing. Thus, the direct entry of oriental adwar and taqatiq into Moroccan territory took place, alongside the arts of Levantine muwashahat (…) which will later result in the emergence of an elite group of young Moroccan musicians.”

Bahraoui spoke about “the great role played by Morsi Barakat in the (Easternization) of Moroccan music,” an Easternization that “does not go beyond Egyptian classical singing in particular, represented in the songs of Sheikh Muhammad Abu al-Ala, Sayyid Darwish, Salama Hegazy, Abdo al-Hamuli, and Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab…”; to which is added “the phenomenon of traveling Egyptian theater groups starting in 1923, whose crew always included a musical band that would usually open and close the performances, and perhaps provide musical interludes between the scenes (…) Although it was primarily a matter of theatrical performances, Moroccans expressed their admiration for the singers more than they were drawn to the actors and actresses. It was clear that most of these actors were originally singers and musicians, such as Muhammad Izz al-Din, Hassan Banan, and Sami al-Shawa.”

After that, “it was the turn of the radio, which was established by the protectorate authorities in the late twenties (1928), and it soon became the means for Moroccans to open up to models of classical Egyptian singing, and oriental singing music, which began to fill homes and cafes and delight the ears of young people who had grown tired of the old traditional singing, which continued to be played live on the radio waves, before the introduction of audio recordings.”

During this same period, “a group of Lebanese merchants in Casablanca had opened stores selling and renting music records; this gradually opened people’s ears and tastes to an oriental music repertoire, especially Egyptian and Levantine, which quickly turned over time into something that was always present in cafes, weddings and celebrations of all kinds. Through these media, Moroccans got to know the stars of oriental singing, who had a huge artistic and emotional influence on them that lasted for many decades, such as Mohammed Abdel Wahab, who launched his series of musical films in 1933 (…) During which time, Moroccans became fond of songs and pieces; such as ‘Al-Saba Wal-Jamal’, ‘Jafna Alam Al-Ghazal’ and ‘Mudnak Jafah’ (…) and watched the films of Farid Al-Atrash”, and from the female singers “the radio delighted them with the voices of the pioneers”; Such as Asmahan, Laure Daccache, Shadia, Fayza Ahmed, and “the diva, the star of the East, Umm Kulthum, who was the first singer to become famous in the twentieth century.”

Moroccans also loved the songs of Mohamed Abdel Muttalib, Karim Mahmoud, and Mohamed Qandil, and “finally, the star of Abdel Halim Hafez emerged, whose songs have been on everyone’s lips since the beginning of the fifties.”

Hassan Bahraoui added: “With this fertile and multi-sourced lyrical memory, Moroccans were able to open up to the ever-more diverse forms of oriental singing, and develop their tastes towards interacting with new styles of composing and performing (…) Young amateurs went further by starting to practice playing and singing those oriental models that they were saturated with through watching musical films and listening to recordings on the radio and records, and gradually turned away from their usual daily association with Andalusian instrumental music, the art of Malhoun, and everything traditional and popular in the strict sense, and among them emerged musicians and singers who began to enliven concerts and receive encouragement, and in the thirties names such as Ahmed Al-Baydawi, Abbas Al-Khayati, Mohammed Al-Samiris, Mohammed Al-Qazwi, and Abdelkader Bensalah shone. They were followed in the forties by a new generation more saturated with oriental singing and mastering its arts; such as Abdel Wahab Akoumi, Abdel Nabi Al-Jarari, and Abdelkader Al-Rashidi.”

The book goes back to the establishment of the “Royal Orchestra of Modern Music” in the 1930s, by order of Sultan Mohammed V, whose “management would be entrusted to the Egyptian qanun musician Morsi Barakat, who would have a positive impact on musical practice in Morocco, when he surrounded himself with a group of Moroccan musicians, including Ahmed Al-Baydawi,” who would manage the orchestra after his death in the 1940s.

Why has modern song become stagnant in Morocco?

Critic Hassan Bahraoui pointed out that the Moroccan orchestras, which were established successively after the 1940s, “went too far in imitating and emulating the oriental musical styles, whether in terms of playing instruments such as the violin, qanun, oud, and percussion, or in terms of vocal performance, the predominance of mawwals, and solo singing. Of course, it was not expected that these amateur beginners would announce anything of originality and distinction, as long as they remained within the circle of imitation of the Egyptian takht style, which itself suffered from monotony and regurgitation, and did not deviate from the established program; with honor or two sama’in muwashshahat, layali, dwar poem, or taqtuqa.”

The Moroccan critic added: “The first melodies and songs of Ahmed El-Baydawi, Abdel-Wahab Akoumi, Abbas El-Khayati, and El-Moati El-Baydawi provide us with the best example of the great influence that had an effect on the elite of young Moroccan artists since the middle of the last century; that great influence that reached its peak with the use of words in Egyptian colloquial, and the immersion in copying melodic forms with imported scales and tunes.” Consequently, “our emerging bands will remain at this pace until the late fifties, when some modest attempts will begin to search for a new way that will free them from the exaggerated influence of Egyptian oriental singing, and the burning desire to create Moroccan singing with its own words, style, and independent musical identity will emerge,” with “the first group of owners of authentic melodies, such as Mohamed Fouiteh, Abdel-Qader El-Rashidi, Ibrahim El-Alami, and Mohamed Ben Abdel Salam.”

However, it was necessary to “wait for more time to be completely and finally liberated from the influence of the oriental song” because “it remained throughout the years and decades, and succeeded in penetrating the subconscious of Moroccan artists, who always considered it a model and example to follow, and to weave on its pattern, and as a result enjoyed all the expected praise and deserved appreciation.” Also, “the imported musical traditions had managed to penetrate the consciousness of the Moroccan listener himself to an indescribable extent; indeed, they became for him a measure of the success or failure of any song, whatever its type, and a decisive way to judge every musical creation produced by Moroccan artists.”

Over the years, modern Moroccan song has moved in similar directions, even if the sources are different. Bahraoui distinguished between singing styles, namely: “oriental inspiration” whose models include Al-Baydawi, Al-Jarari, and Amer; “popular inspiration” whose examples include Al-Alami, Ben Abdel Salam, and Fouitah; “Andalusian inspiration” with Abbas Al-Khayati and Akoumy, for example; and “balanced inspiration” with Al-Rashidi, Al-Saqqat, and Abdel-Wahhab Al-Dakali.

The writer then added: “With the new generations, the modern song has overcome the problem of direct inspiration, and has tended to benefit from the efforts of the pioneers in an oblique manner; but with clear features, as its results crystallized in the melodies of Ahmed Al-Alawi, Abdel Qader Wahbi, Hassan Al-Qadmiri, and others.”

In response to the reason for the passing of the “Modern Moroccan Music” moment, Bahraoui stated that since “the mid-sixties of the last century, the cup had overflowed with the colors of singing and popular music in Morocco; traditional arts such as Andalusian instruments, Malhoun, Aita, and popular Barawil… had been drowned in regurgitation and stagnation due to stagnation and lack of innovation; something that distracted the interest of young listeners in particular. In turn, modern national singing continued to suffer from the overwhelming influence of oriental music; and thus was unable to provide a convincing local alternative with its lyrics and melodies, which reduced its communication with new generations.”

Hassan Bahraoui explained “the reasons for the near halt of the Moroccan modern song train” with elements including the passing of the first pioneers due to old age or illness, and the cessation of production by others due to lack of motivation and the change in the means of reception, which have become unbearably complicated, such as video clips and the Internet, in addition to the lack of interest of the national audio-visual media, which has come to prefer its Egyptian and Gulf sisters.

Among the researchers’ opinions that the critic interpreted this fate with is the continuation of “everyone pointing the finger of blame at the ‘Eastern invasion’ in its most superficial form, as the main reason for the decline of Moroccan singing, which can no longer confront the successive waves of great temptation in creativity and techniques.” The source also drew attention to interpretations that showed that this is ultimately self-evident “given the recent age of modern Moroccan song, which has not exceeded half a century, which has marked it with fragility and made it a permanent candidate for decline and stagnation.”

Among the opinions that the academic and critic brought up are those that say that among the reasons for the decline that has befallen modern Moroccan songs is “the almost complete absence of critical follow-up that every artistic movement needs to continue production and development,” and “the lack of awareness of the change in taste among successive generations and the lack of interest in renewing the methods of composing and performing in order to keep pace with these changes and meet the new needs of the recipient.”

So what was the result? Hassan Bahraoui answered: “The door has been opened to musical styles (…) that are fast-paced and light in content; such that their lifespan has become short and may not exceed one season, despite the millions of virtual listeners brought about by the intelligent reliance on social media networks.”