{"id":4742,"date":"2013-02-15T10:12:27","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T17:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/?p=4742"},"modified":"2013-02-15T10:16:41","modified_gmt":"2013-02-15T17:16:41","slug":"alia-tahabet-emotion-inspired-by-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2013\/02\/15\/alia-tahabet-emotion-inspired-by-song\/","title":{"rendered":"Emotion Inspired by Song"},"content":{"rendered":"

Interpreting Arabic Orchestral Music<\/h2>\n

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by Alia Thabit<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\tposted February 15, 2013<\/span><\/h3>\n

When we talk about Arabic orchestral music, we\u2019re talking about songs that are often known as tarab songs, Um Kalthoum<\/a>, Farid al Atrach, Mohammed abdel Wahab<\/span>, and so on. This is music from the classical genre that has crossed over into dance, though not originally written as dance music. While some of it is instrumental, much of it has lyrics. The lyrics are often exquisite poetry, and thus difficult to translate, as Arabic is a particularly rich and suggestive language. There are, however, several sites that have kindly developed archives of lyrics. [See Resources below]<\/p>\n

Because of the poetic nature of the lyrics, these songs are emotionally complex, and this influences the interpretation of the song. They are also musically complex, with multiple parts. They are a far cry from the verse – chorus – taqsim structure of the repertoire associated with Vintage Orientale or folkloric music such as baladi or Sai\u2019idi. They are also different from, though similar to, the Oriental dance genre of the Mergence (pronounced merjensee), which is a dancer\u2019s emergence or entrance music, as a Mergence has been written for dance yet also includes many different moods and rhythms.<\/p>\n

1. Complex Structure<\/p>\n

Tarab songs typically have multiple sections, many more than we, as dancers, usually hear. Coincidentally, there are often dance gems in those other sections. Most of what we think of as Um Kalthoum songs, for example, are the overtures to songs that last forty-five minutes or more. It is well worth while to start collecting original full-length versions of these songs and getting a feel for them in their natural form. The stops and changes are often striking, and there are musical themes that reappear and morph over the course of the song. <\/p>\n

These songs are best danced after careful listening, to have a sense of the structure as a whole. The first time I ever heard Alf Leila wa Leila, I was performing to it. The same goes for Darit il Ayyam.<\/p>\n\n\n
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