Music of Morocco

Music of Morocco: Subjects
Andalusian	Berber music
Chaabi	Gharnati
Gnawa	Malhun
Sephardic music	Taktoka
Timeline and Samples
Francophone Africa
Algeria - Burkina Faso - Burundi - Cameroon - Central African Rep. - Comoros - Congo-Brazzaville - Congo-Kinsasha - Côte d'Ivoire - Djibouti - Madagascar - Mali - Mauritius - Morocco - Niger - Rwanda - Senegal - Seychelles - Togo - Tunisia

Music of North Africa
Algeria Egypt Libya Mauritania Morocco Sudan Tunisia

The music of Morocco ranges and differs according to the various areas of the country.

Traditional music styles

Berber folk music

Main article: Berber music

There are three varieties of Berber folk music: village and ritual music, and the music performed by professional musicians.

Village music is performed collectively for dancing, including ahidus and ahouach dances. Instruments include flutes and drums. These dances begin with a chanted prayer. Ritual music is performed at regular ceremonies to celebrate marriages and other important life events. Ritual music is also used as protection against evil spirits. Professional musicians (imdyazn) travel in groups of four, led by a poet (amydaz). The amydaz performs improvised poems, often accompanied by drums and rabab (a one-stringed fiddle), along with a bou oughanim who plays a double clarinet and acts as a clown for the group.

The Chleuh Berbers have professional musicians called rwais who play in ensembles consisting of lutes, rababs and cymbals, with any number of vocalist. The leader, or rayes, leads the choreography and music of the group. These performances begin with an instrumental astara on rabab, which also gives the notes of the melody which follows. The next phase is the amarg, or sung poetry, and then ammussu, a danced overture, tammust, an energetic song, aberdag, a dance, and finally the rhythmically swift tabbayt. There is some variation in the presentation of the order, but the astara always begins, and the tabbayt always ends.

Chaabi "popular" folk music

Main article: Chaabi

Chaabi الشعبي (popular in English) is a music consisting of numerous varieties which are descended from the multifarious forms of Moroccan folk music. Chaabi was originally performed in markets, but is now found at any celebration or meeting.

Chaabi songs typically end with a leseb, or swift rhythmic section accompanied by syncopated clapping.

A sophisticated form of chaabi evolved in the 1970s competing with popular Egyptian and Lebanese music. These chaabi groups consisted of a lute and a hadjuj, with some form of drum. Eventually, new instruments like buzuks and electric guitars were added. The three most important early groups were Lemchaheb, Nass El Ghiwane and Jil Jilala. All three bands featured politicized lyrics that got the songwriters in trouble with the government.

The 1980s saw a new wave of modernizing bands like Muluk El Hwa and Nass El Hal.

Gnawa, mystical

Main article: Gnawa and/or Gnawa music

Gnawa music is considered a mystical music. It was gradually brought to Morocco by Sub-Saharan Africans and later became part of the Moroccan tradition. The ritual of the gnawa (or gnaoua) follow rules, that are part from the muslim sufi tradition and partly of African animistic origin similar to the traditions that are found in the african diaspora, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti and so forth. The centre of the ritual is the so-called "leelah" (the night), also called "derdeba", the night of trance. Here the seven spirits are evoked through around 100 chants. Especially in the Muslim month of Sha'aban, which is just before Ramadan, there are "leelahs" held in the gnawa community.

Classical Malhun

Main article: Malhun

Milhûn is a form of sung poetry which uses many of the same modes and instruments as al-âla. A milhûn suite comprises two parts, the taqsim overture played on an oud or violin in a free rhythm to introduce the mode for the rest of the piece, followed by the qassida, or sung poem which is itself divided into three parts. These are the solo verses (al-aqsâm), choral refrain (al-harba) and crescendoing chorus that completes the suite (al-dîdka).

Thami Lamdaghri is perhaps the best-known milhûn composer, known for songs like "Al-Gnawi" and "Aliq Al-Masrûh".

Milhûn orchestras include oud, kamenjah, darbuka, handqa (small cymbals), hadjouj (a bass lute) and swisen (a high-pitched lute).

Classical Sufi music

Sufi brotherhoods (tarikas) 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. The brothers hold hands in a circle and chant or dance. Sufi music is usually without rhythm.

Marrakech and other regions in southern Morocco are home to the Gnawa Brotherhood, which claims descent from the Ethiopian muezzin Sidi Bilal.^{[citation needed]} Gnaoua ceremonies (derdeba) are used to protect against mental illness, scorpion stings and malicious spirits. Derdeba may be related to Sub-Saharan African ceremonies and use a long-necked lute of African origin called the guembri, as well as castanets called qaraqab.

The Jilala are another brotherhood, known for their hypnotic and otherworldly music. They are devotees of Moulay Abdelkader Jilali. Instruments include the bendir (frame drum) and qsbah (flute).

Other brotherhoods include Hamadcha (founded by Sidi Ali ben Hamdouch), Aissaoua (founded by Sidi Mohamed ben Aissa, Derkaoua, Haddaoua, Cherkaoua, Dar Damana (the Sufi saints of Ouezzane). A well-known local cult is in village of Jajouka in the Ahl Srif Mountains, home of music group, Master Musicians of Jajouka. This cult commonly flourished near the sanctuary of a local saint. Jajouka musicians play healing music said to be written by their ninth century patron saint Sidi Achmed Schiech. They also perform a ritual called Boujeloud which is likened to the worship of the God Pan.

Rock and pop

Rai, rock music

Main article: Raï

Rai is more closely associated with Algeria in the international music scene, but Morocco has produced its own stars like Cheb Mimoun and Hanino. Especially in the eastern regions of Morocco Oujda and Berkane the Rai-style has gained a lot of popularity in the beginning of the early 90s. The two major cities in the east of Morocco, Berkane and Oujda have become centres of the new revived Rai-style in Morocco. The huge presence of Algerian-born people in the East is the major factor of popularity.

Music education

Main article: Conservatories in Marocco

See also

• Culture of Morocco
• Moroccan literature
• Ahmed El Bidaoui

References

• Muddyman, Dave. "A Basic Expression of Life". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 567–578. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0

Bibliography

• Chants et Danses Berbères (Moyen Atlas - Foire au Mouton de Timhadit) par Alexis Chottin 16 juin 1935 in Revue de musicologie, T. 17e, No. 58e (1936), pp. 65–69
• Olsen, Myriam ; Lortat-Jacob, Bernard, pref. Musiques de l’Atlas, Arles : Actes Sud : Cité de la musique, 1997 .
• Guettat, Mahmoud, La musique classique du Maghreb, Paris : Sindbad, 1980 . (La bibliothèque arabe).
• Aydoun, Ahmed, Musiques du Maroc, Casablanca : Editions EDDIF, 1994.
• Mohamed Belghazi (dir.), Instruments des musiques populaires et de confréries du Maroc. Fragments de musées, Aix-en-Provence : Edisud, La croisée des chemins, 1998.
• Catherine Homo-Lechner et Christian Rault, Instruments de musique du Maroc et d'al-Andalus, Fondation Royaumont / CERIMM, 1999.

External links

• Morocco Travel - Morocco Music
• Musique marocaine by Nature et Culture - GFDL