Music of Morocco |
Genres |
---|
Specific forms |
Regional music |
Moroccan music varies greatly between geographic regions and social groups. It is influenced by musical styles including Arab, Berber, Andalusi, Mediterranean, Saharan, West African, and others.
Musical styles vary by geography. Andalusi music and malhun are associated with urban centers in the north, chaabi and aita are associated with the Atlantic coastal plains, reggada is associated with the Beni-Znassen region ( Oujda, Berkane..), gnawa with Essaouira and Marrakesh, ahidus with the Middle Atlas, ahwash with the Sous region, and guedra in the Sahara.
Particularly since the 20th century, musicians have been synthesizing Moroccan musical traditions with influences from around the world, such as blues, rock, metal, reggae, rap, etc. Each genre and musical style is made up of regional subgroups, and is further divided between 'modern' and 'traditional' music.
Aita (عيطة "call, cry or lament") is a popular Bedouin musical style that originates from the countryside of Morocco, especially the Atlantic plains—areas such as Doukkala-Abda, Chaouia-Ouardigha, and Rehamna.
There are many varieties of Berber folk music and dance, such as Rif, Atlas, Chawia, and Canaria. [1]
Ahwash (أحواش, ⴰⵃⵡⴰⵛ) is a collective musical form associated with Amazigh communities in southern Morocco, particularly around Ouarzazate, the Dra'a Valley, and Sous. [2] Ahwash involves dance, singing, poetry, and percussion.
Ahidus (أحيدوس, ⴰⵃⵉⴷⵓⵙ) is a style of collective dance and song of the Amazigh tribes in Middle and Eastern High Atlas.
Guedra is a music and dance style associated with the Tuareg "blue people" of the Moroccan sahara. [3] The name comes from an earthen cookingware over which a hide is stretched to form a drum. [4]
In 2021, the anthology of the art of "Rrways - a journey into the realm of Amazigh wandering poet- singers", presenting a booklet and ten compact discs with current recordings received the ' Prix Coups de Cœur - Musiques du Monde' of the Académie Charles Cross in France. [5]
For the music of Andalusia, Spain, seemain article: Music of Andalusia
Andalusi classical music (Arabic : طرب أندَلُسي, موسيقى الآلة transliterated ṭarab andalusi or Musiqa al-Ala, Spanish: música andalusí) is a major genre of Arabic music found in different local substyles across the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya in the form of the Ma'luf style). It originated in the music of Al-Andalus (Muslim Iberia) between the 9th and 15th centuries.
Some of its lyrics are based on poetic works written by authors from Al-Andalus, such as Al-Shushtari, Ibn al-Khatib and Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad. Andalusi music is considered part of the longest traditions of art and music in the world. Andalusi music was greatly influenced by Ziryab , a freed Persian slave and musical pioneer, in the early 9th century. After Ziryab's death, two new styles of Arabic poetry were introduced in Al-Andalus: Muwashshahat and Zajal. [6]
Chaabi (Arabic: الشعبي, meaning popular in English) is a music consisting of numerous varieties which descend from the multifarious forms of Moroccan folk music. Chaabi was originally performed in markets, but is now found at any celebration or meeting.
Morocco has produced its own stars like Mimoun El Oujdi and Hanino. Rai music originated from Algeria, but is just as effective and popular in Morocco. This style of music was created during a period of political turmoil, and served a purpose of social and political commentary. Rai music has gained massive support over the years from the urban populace for its purpose of addressing taboo topics. [7] It was also greatly known for code switching between French and Arabic. Rai artists use this method to add to the rhetorical and aesthetic effect of the lyrics, as well as a method of opening the lyrics to a wider range of an audience.
Gnawa music is a mystical form of music and incantation of West African origin. It was initially brought to Morocco by Sub-Saharan Africans and gradually became part of the Moroccan musical tradition. The gnawa musicians are respected for their spiritual performances. Through oral traditions, they have handed down a specific cultural ceremony, called derdeba or lila, which consists of song, dance, the burning of incense and of specific costumes and colours. The instruments used are large drums called “ tbel ” or “qanqa” and metal double castanets called “garageb”. The main instrument is a three-stringed bass lute, called the “ gimbri ” accompanied by the chanting of the singers. [8]
Classical Malhun is peaceful music associated with urban centers such as Meknes, Fes, Salé, Tetouan, and Oujda. It has been played around in the streets of Morocco for over a thousand years. It is very common music to hear in Morocco.
Sufi brotherhoods ( tariqas ) are common in Morocco, and music is an integral part of their spiritual tradition. This music is an attempt at reaching a trance state which inspires mystical ecstasy.
Attarazat Addahabia was one of the pioneers of funk music in Morocco. [9] Jil Jilala was also influential in this genre.
Nass El Ghiwane, led by Larbi Batma, was an icon of Moroccan music in the late 20th century.
Hoba Hoba Spirit is a rock band that draws influence from traditional Moroccan styles such as gnawa, as well as styles from abroad such as reggae.
Bab L' Bluz combine Gnawa music with various influences such as blues and psychedelia to embody the "Nayda" movement among young people in Morocco.
Notable Moroccan hip hop musicians include L'Morphine, El Grande Toto, Don Big, Dizzy Dros and others. Among the younger generation there are Issam, JIMMY BLANKA (music artists from north Morocco) and Manal Benchlikha.[ citation needed ]
Algerian music is virtually synonymous with Raï among foreigners; the musical genre has achieved great popularity in France, Spain and other parts of Europe. For several centuries, Algerian music was dominated by styles inherited from Al-Andalus, eventually forming a unique North African twist on these poetic forms. Algerian music came to include suites called nuubaat. Later derivatives include rabaab and hawzii.
North Africa has contributed considerably to popular music, especially Egyptian classical music alongside el Gil, Algerian raï and Chaabi. The broad region is sometimes called Maghreb, and the term Maghrebian music is in use. For a variety of reasons Libya does not have as extensive nor popular a tradition as its neighbours. Folk music abounds, however, despite frequent condemnation and suppression from governments, existing in multiple forms across the region—the Berbers, Sephardic Jews, Tuaregs, Copts and Nubians, for example, retain musical traditions with their ancient roots.
The Gnawa are an ethnic group inhabiting Morocco, that had been brought as slaves from the West African Sahel.
Andalusi classical music, also called Andalusi music or Arab-Andalusian music, is a genre of music originally developed in al-Andalus by the Muslim population of the region and the Moors. It then spread and influenced many different styles across the Maghreb after the Expulsion of the Moriscos. It originated in the music of al-Andalus between the 9th and 15th centuries. Some of its poems derive from famous authors such as al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, Ibn Khafaja, al-Shushtari, and Ibn al-Khatib.
Andalusī nūbah, also transliterated nūba, nūbā, or nouba, or in its classical Arabic form, nawba, nawbah, or nōbah, is a music genre found in the North African Maghrib states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya but, as the name indicates, it has its origins in Andalusi music. The name replaced the older use of sawt and originated from the musician waiting behind a curtain to be told it was his turn or nawbah by the sattar or curtain man.
Nass El Ghiwane are a musical group established in 1970 in Casablanca, Morocco. The group, which originated in avant-garde political theater, has played an influential role in Moroccan chaabi.
Malhun, meaning "the melodic poem", is a form of music that originated in Morocco. It is a kind of urban, sung poetry that comes from the exclusively masculine working-class milieu of craftsmen's guilds. On 6 December 2023, malhun was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists of Morocco.
The culture of Morocco is a blend of Arab, Berber, Andalusi cultures, with Mediterranean, Hebraic and African influences. It represents and is shaped by a convergence of influences throughout history. This sphere may include, among others, the fields of personal or collective behaviors, language, customs, knowledge, beliefs, arts, legislation, gastronomy, music, poetry, architecture, etc. While Morocco started to be stably predominantly Sunni Muslim starting from 9th–10th century AD, during the Almoravid period, a very significant Andalusi culture was imported, contributing to the shaping of Moroccan culture. Another major influx of Andalusi culture was brought by Andalusis with them following their expulsion from Al-Andalus to North Africa after the Reconquista. In antiquity, starting from the second century A.D and up to the seventh, a rural Donatist Christianity was present, along an urban still-in-the-making Roman Catholicism. All of the cultural super strata tend to rely on a multi-millennial aboriginal Berber substratum still present and dating back to prehistoric times.
Moroccan architecture reflects Morocco's diverse geography and long history, marked by successive waves of settlers through both migration and military conquest. This architectural heritage includes ancient Roman sites, historic Islamic architecture, local vernacular architecture, 20th-century French colonial architecture, and modern architecture.
Abu l-Hasan 'Ali Ibn Nafi', better known as Ziryab, Zeryab, or Zaryab, was a singer, oud and lute player, composer, poet, and teacher who lived and worked in what is now Iraq, Northern Africa and Andalusia during the medieval Islamic period. He was also a polymath, with knowledge in astronomy, geography, meteorology, Botanics, cosmetics, culinary art and fashion.
Jil Jilala is a Moroccan musical group which rose to prominence in the 1970s among the movement created by Nass El Ghiwane and Lem Chaheb. Jil Jilala was founded in Marrakech in 1972 by performing arts students Mohamed Derhem, Moulay Tahar Asbahani, Sakina Safadi, Mahmoud Essaadi, Hamid Zoughi and Moulay Abdelaziz Tahiri. In 1974, they released their first record Lyam Tnadi on the Atlassiphone label. The songs "Leklam Lemrassaa," "Baba Maktoubi," "Ha L'ar a Bouya," "ah ya Jilala" and "Chamaa" quickly achieved the status of popular 'classics.'
Hoba Hoba Spirit is a musical fusion band based in Casablanca, Morocco that was formed in 1998. It is composed of Adil Hanine (drummer), Anouar Zehouani (guitarist), Saâd Bouidi, Reda Allali - and Othmane Hmimar(percussionist). The name of the group is based on a song by Bob Marley.
Aḥwash is a Shilha style of collective performance, including dance, singing, poetry and percussion, from southern Morocco. The ahwash is performed on the occasion of local festivals as a celebration of the community.
Ammouri M'barek was the renovator of the Moroccan Amazigh (Berber) Music, was born in 1951 in Irguiten, a small village located at the bottom of the High Atlas near Taroudannt town, in Taroudannt Province, Morocco.
Amina Alaoui is a Moroccan interpreter of Andalusian classical music. She sings in Arabic, Classic Persian, Haketia, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Moroccan pop or abbreviated as Morocco-pop music is a genre of the new Moroccan music generation along the hip hop, rap music in Morocco.
Mohamed Abdennour is an Algerian composer, arranger and instrumentalist, active in France and playing a fusion of different musical forms mixed with chaabi.
Mohamed Benomar Ziani is a Moroccan musician specialized in the Aita and Chaabi music.
Haim Botbol is a Moroccan musician.
Brahim El Mazned is a Moroccan cultural manager and director of World Music festivals, who works to develop popular musical activities around the world, with a focus on Moroccan and African culture. He is the founding director of cultural management organization Anya that promotes Moroccan and African cultural activities. Promoting Amazigh culture, El Mazned has served as the artistic director of the Timitar Festival of World Music in Agadir, Morocco. Further, he is the founding director of Visa for Music, the first festival and professional market for music in Africa and the Middle East.