Notes on the Listening Examples

By Jim Grippo

PERSIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC

1. "pish daramad-e chehargah" (excerpt): composed by Yahaqi in the dastgah chehargah. This is a short precomposed instrumental piece featuring tar (lute), santur (hammered dulcimer), kamanche (spike fiddle), and tombak (wood goblet-shaped, skin-headed drum). A pish daramad is the first piece in a larger set of classical pieces which are all in one specific mode, or dastgah. In this case, we hear dastgah chehargah with the notes: C D* E F G A* B c (notes with a * after them are koron, or "quarter tones," notes between the notes used in the West). You can hear one of these notes being played in the very beginning of the piece in a repeated pattern A* CCA*C C pause CCA*C C.

2. "reng-e naz" : composed by Ali Naqi Vaziri (1886-1981): tar/setar player, theorist, composer, writer, 1st Persian to seek music education in Europe, proposed 24 quarter-tone scale for Persian music in 1922, wrote a tar method book. The reng is often called a "stylized dance piece" because it is based on a dance form but dance is rarely performed with it. The reng is the final piece of a full blown performance of Persian classical music. Try to hear the 6/8 rhythm by counting melodic phrases in 3's.

TURKISH CLASSICAL MUSIC

3. "ussak pesrevi" (pronounced "ushak peshrevi"): composed by Kamani Tatyos Keseryan (1855-1913) and performed by the Kudsi Erguner Ensemble. Tatyos Keseryan was an Armenian composer and violinst. He composed some 11 instrumental works and 53 sarki-s (light classical songs). This pesrev is an introductory composed instrumental work in a solemn 28 beat rhythmic cycle (usûl) called devri kebir. It is organized by 4 separate sections (hane), one of which is repeated throughout (mulazime).

Instruments include: kanun (plucked zither), clarinet, oud (lute), violin, tanbur (lute), framedrum with cymbals. The pesrevi is often the first piece in a "suite form" called fasil (fasul) in Turkish (note: pes and pish are derivations of the same word = introduction), classical songs (sarki) would follow, then a saz semaisi would conclude the set. Listen for the sophisticated ornamentation of the melody, which everyone is playing heterophonically. Can you figure out where the 1 is?

ARAB ART MUSIC

4. "violin taqasim" performed by Simon Shaheen. Taqasim, or taksim in Turkish, refers to an instrumental improvisation in a specific mode, or maqam (makam in Turkish). Simon Shaheen is a Palestinian-American living on the east coast and is considered to be one of the most respected and successful musicians of Arab music in the United States. He is a master musician on both the violin (and viola) and the 'ud (lute). A taqasim is often performed to introduce the maqam to the listeners, providing either an emotive introduction to a composed piece of music or a break in the middle of a piece. Performers of taqasim have the opportunity to show off their technical prowess on an instrument or their sophisticated knowledge of the maqam system, but evoking tarab, a hightened sense of emotion, spirit, and/or mood, is a necessity.

5. "tahmillah suznak" performed by Simon Shaheen and his ensemble. The tahmillah is a composed piece which leaves open doors for improvisation by any number of instrumentalists. Suznak here refers to the maqam. Try to discern which parts are composed and which parts are improvised. What instruments are featured in solo moments.

Tracks 4 & 5:
album title: Turath
artist: Simon Shaheen
1992; produced by Bill Laswell and Simon Shaheen

6. "ibnil Balad" (Son of the Country), a piece composed by one of the greatest Egyptian composers Mohammed 'Abd al-Wahhab (in 1942), arranged and performed by Simon Shaheen and his ensemble.

This piece, inspired by urban dance music, exploits the tendency in Arab music to feature vivacious contrast. Four different rhythms are used and there are several colorful dialogues that occur between the ensemble and the solo instruments, the qanun, nay and violin. Listen for the incessant contrast that occurs between these instruments, rhythms, and tempos (tempi). Arab music LOVES contrast!

7. "sitt al-habayeb" (Beloved Woman), a song composed by Mohammed 'Abd al-Wahhab for Egyptian superstar singer Faiza Ahmed. The lyrics to this song evoke the strength and spirit of women and has commonly been dedicated to Egyptian mothers.

Mohammed 'Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1991), as well as being a master singer and 'ud player, was one of the most prolific composers in the Arab world. Simon Shaheen is one of the most respected Arab musicians in America, and his re-orchestration of Wahhab's work is truly monumental.

Tracks 6 & 7:
album title: The Music of Mohamed Abdel Wahab
artist: Simon Shaheen
1990; Island-produced by Bill Laswell and Simon Shaheen

EGYPTIAN POP MUSIC

8. "hibbina", an example of modern Egyptian pop music by Hakim, "The Lion of Egypt." In these past few years, Hakim has received attention from Western ears for the first time since he began his career in the early 1980s. One of the reasons for this is the rapidly globalizing markets of "World Music", and another reason is because of his collaborations with fusion groups such as Transglobal Underground. This example has been remixed by Transglobal Underground, but retains many qualities that are regarded as Egyptian such as remaining in a maqam (saba), certain rhythmic elements, and lyrical content and dialect.

album title: Yaho
artist: Hakim
2000; Mondo Melodia