Gharnati. En Concert
year • 2009
genre • Arabo-Andalusion music
country • Morocco
cd • S 62606
tracklisting:
1. Li Ayyi Sabab Uhjar
2. Kam Ba'athna / Ana Qad Kana Li Khalil
3. Nada Te Turbe / Lamma Bada Yatathanna
4. Taksim Ud
5. Ya 'Adili Billah
6. Maluf Instrumental
7. Ya Laylo Layl
More than seven centuries of Arabian civilization - from 711 to 1492 - saw the establishment of a thriving Islamic culture in the Iberian peninsula which, by integrating certain elements from the Pre-Islamic tradition, brought a cultural amalgam to this area. Aided by the tolerant climate of the Umayad Caliphate, or Emirate of Cordoba, a variegated civilization emerged, leaving its marks in such diverse areas as music, architecture, gastronomy and ceramics.
Music from Andalusia is like a mirror of a heterogeneous society and the encounters between its constituent cultures. It encapsulates the heritage of the Arabian music from the East, which had integrated Greek and Persian elements and Byzantine sounds, as well as Arabian modulations and rhythms. Berber rhythms fusing with the culture of the Iberian peninsula.
In the final centuries of Al Andalus contact between the two regions on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar intensified. Large numbers of migrants settled in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, many of them from families that took pride in their colourful worldly heritage. This rich legacy, which is still being added to, appearing in all kinds of local flavours, is referred to as Música Andalusí. By way of tribute to the city of Granada, the last Arab stronghold in Spain, the Tarab Gharnatí stands out as one of its leading components.
The development of this style in Morocco is the result of a living oral tradition among both Andalusian and Moriscos families, as well as Jewish families originating from Al Andalus, who now lived in Fez, Rabat, Sala, Tetuán and Oujda. We cannot really speak of musica gharnatí without putting it in its proper geographic context, which even includes Algeria – a country that gave this style its brilliance and vivaciousness. Indeed, even the people of Fez used the term dziri when referring to tarab gharnati.
The art of the gharnatí music runs the full gamut of delicate melodies and rhythms, as the structure of the Nuba shows. It illustrates the works of the great Al Andalus poets, with rhythmic compositions dominated by serenity, depth and nobility. This is about the very last remaining piece of musical heritage from Islamic Spain, preserved for five centuries and still very much alive along the coasts of North Africa. Until it was banned by the Spanish Inquisition, it was also the musical style of the Moriscos. Despite all bans and historical changes, these sounds, songs and rhythms have managed to survive intact within the intimacy of today’s Andalusian music, both in folk music and in flamenco.