Music of Iraq
Template:Short description Template:Culture of Iraq Template:Use dmy dates The music of Iraq or Iraqi music, (Template:Langx), [Romanised: mūsīqā ʿirāqiyya], also known as the music of Mesopotamia, encompasses the music of a number of ethnic groups and genres. Ethnically, it includes Mesopotamian Arabic, Assyrian, Kurdish and the music of Turkmen, among others. Apart from the traditional music of these peoples, Iraqi music includes contemporary music styles such as pop, rock, soul and urban contemporary. Instruments used include the oud, Iraqi santur and rebab.
History
Instruments
In 1929, archaeologists led by the British archaeologist Leonard Woolley, representing a joint expedition of the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, discovered the Lyres of Ur or Harps of Ur, which are considered to be the world's second oldest surviving stringed instruments when excavating the Royal Cemetery of Ur between from 1922 and 1934.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> They discovered pieces of three lyres and one harp in Ur, located in what was Ancient Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They are over 4,500 years old,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> from ancient Mesopotamia during the Early Dynastic III Period (2550–2450 BC).<ref name="Visit the Penn Museum">Template:Cite web</ref> The decorations on the lyres are fine examples of the court art of Mesopotamia of the period.<ref name="Visit the Penn Museum"/>
Classical Iraqi music
Iraqi classical music necessitates some discussion of the social environment, as well as references to the poetry. Poetry is always rendered clearly. Poetry is the art of the Iraqis, and sung poetry is the finest of all. In Baghdad from 760 to 1260, writers spurned musical notation.<ref>Classical Music in Iraq Virginia Danielson, Harvard University</ref>
Maqam
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History
The roots of modern Iraqi maqam can be traced as far back as the Abbasid Caliphate, when that large empire was controlled from Baghdad.
The pesteh, a kind of light song which concludes a maqam performance, has been popularized in the later 20th century, growing more prominent along with the rise of recorded music and broadcast radio. Among the most popular pesteh performers are the husband and wife Salima Pasha and Nazem Al-Ghazali.
The most popular modern singers of maqam are Rachid Al-Qundarchi (1887–1945), Youssouf Omar (1918–1987), Nazem Al-Ghazali (1920–1963), Salim Shibbeth (born 1908), Hassan Chewke (1912–1962), Najim Al-Sheikhli (1893–1938), Mohammed Al-Qubanchi (1900–1989), Hamid Al Saadi (1959-),Template:Cn and Farida Mohammad Ali (1963-), who moved to the Netherlands in 1997.<ref name=bio>Template:Cite web</ref>
Modern era
In 1936, Iraq Radio was established by two of Iraq's most prominent performers and composers, the Kuwaiti-born Iraqi Jewish musicians, Saleh and Daoud al-Kuwaity with an ensemble, with the exception of the percussion player. The nightclubs of Baghdad also featured almost entirely Jewish musicians. At these nightclubs, ensembles consisted of oud, qanun and two percussionists while the same format with ney and cello were used on the radio.<ref name="Kojaman">Template:Cite web</ref>
One of the reasons for the predominance of Jewish instrumentalists in early 20th century Iraqi music was a prominent school for blind Jewish children, which was founded in the late 1920s by the great qanunji ("qanun player") Joseph Hawthorne (Yusef Za'arur) (Template:Langx Template:Langx).
The most famous singer of the 1930s–1940s was perhaps the Iraqi Jewish singer Salima Pasha.<ref name="Kojaman"/><ref name="Manasseh">Template:Citation .</ref> The respect and adoration for Pasha were unusual at the time, since public performance by women was considered shameful and most female singers were recruited from brothels.<ref name="Kojaman"/>
Numerous instrumentalists and singers of the middle and late twentieth century were trained at the Baghdad Conservatory, such famous oud players Munir Bashir, his brother Jamil Bashir (who both taught there<ref name=si>Template:Cite web</ref>), Salman Shukur, Ghanim Haddad, and Rahim AlHaj, who studied under Munir and Jamil Bashir as well as and composer and oud player Salim Abdul Kareem.<ref name=si/>
In recent years the Iraqi school of oud players has become very prominent, with players such as Salman Shukur and Munir Bashir developing a very refined and delicate style of playing combining older Arabic elements with more recent Anatolian influences.
Pop music
Until the fall of Saddam Hussein, the most popular radio station was the Voice of Youth, which used to play the popular music of Iraq to continue the culture of the country. The station also played a mix of rock, hip hop and pop music.<ref name=Tarlach>Template:Cite news</ref>
Effect of 2003 Iraq War
After the 2003 invasion of Iraq and fall of Saddam Hussein, and with some religious figures coming to power, concerts were forbidden in areas considered as "conservative". However, since 2018, many concert were held in different areas throughout the country. In 2021, Babylon arts festival was held for the first time in almost 20 years. Performers were from Iraq, Middle East, Europe and Africa.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Film
The 2015 documentary film On the Banks of the Tigris, by filmmaker Marsha Emerman and Iraqi-Australian writer and actor Majid Shokor, shows some of the historical and contemporary Iraqi musicians and traditions. It features Iraqi Jewish musicians who moved from Baghdad, where they were celebrities, to Israel, where they were anonymous. Shokor left Iraq as a refuguee from Saddam Hussein's regime, as did many musicians. The film was awarded Best Documentary Film at the Baghdad International Film Festival that year.<ref name=docfilm>Template:Cite web</ref>
Important musicians
See also
References
Further reading
- Badley, Bill and Zein al Jundi. "Europe Meets Asia". 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 391–395. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. Template:ISBN
External links
- BBC Radio 3 Audio (60 minutes): Iraq's classical and gypsy music traditions. Accessed November 25, 2010.
- BBC Radio 3 Audio (60 minutes): Ilham Al-Madfai. Accessed November 25, 2010.
- Iraq4u Music
- Sephardic Pizmonim Project by Jewish community of the Middle East.
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