ARABIC CONTRIBUTIONS TO SPANISH MUSIC, SONG AND DANCE

by HABEEB SALLOUM, Senior Global Correspondent

One of the important contributors to Spanish music was Ziryab, one of the greatest teachers of musicians and singers of all time. He arrived in Andalusia in 82l A.D. directly from the court of Baghdad. Ziryab was a marvellous entertainer, and he enchanted the court of Cordova for years with his wit, music, and song. He was steeped in the knowledge of refined music, and established a conservatory of music in Cordova with his daughter as its head, and which was the first of its kind in Europe. His method of teaching his pupils to sing and play music left an imprint on the Spanish, and to some extent, other European music, for all times.

The Arab music brought to Spain by Ziryab embellished Cordova's golden years, which lasted from the 9th to the 12th century, when this capital of Arab Spain rivalled Baghdad as the richest and most powerful city in the world, and where all the sciences, including music, were pursued. To the music schools of Arab Andalusia in these golden years, many students from other European countries came to study, and then returned to their lands, heavily influenced by the music of the Arabs – which was the finest in the world at that time.

During their centuries in the Iberian Peninsula, the Arabs developed innumerable types of music, song, and dance. The zajal and muwashshahat type of verse and song were the most famous. Muqaddam ibn Qabri, born in Cabra near Cordova, was the father of this type of verse and song. His songs and music were widely sung and appreciated by both the Muslims and Christians in all parts of the Iberian Peninsula. He became famous as his type of verse spread throughout the Arabic-speaking world of his time. And the centuries have not eroded his fame but rather, solidified his greatness. Today, his poetry is still sung by famous singers across the whole of the modern Arab world.

The zajal was the colloquial form of the muwashshahat, written and sung in vulgar Arabic. It was popular among the masses in both Muslim and Christian Spain, and later spread throughout the Muslim world with remarkable rapidity. Ibn Guzman, the well-known 12th-century poet from Cordova, used to boast that his zajal was sung as far away as the eastern Arab world. This type of verse did not disappear in the subsequent centuries. Today, in Egypt and Lebanon, the zajal continues to be a popular folk art.

It is believed that the zajal gave rise to the villancico, a type of Spanish Christmas carol and that it was from the zajal and muwashshahat the Spanish cantigas developed. The musical form of the zajal is clearly evident in the cantigas de Santa María, compiled by Alfonso the Wise. It is said that the majority of Alfonso's cantigas were direct translations of Arab zajal verses. In later centuries, these cantigas were to have a great impact on all European music.

Califales

The romerias, which were celebrations held near Christian shrines, and are still seen in modern Spain, were originally visits to the shrines by Muslim holy men, and have since passed from the Moorish to the Christian communities. In the spring months, when the cities of Andalusia are filled with colourful religious parades, the sad and wavering laments of the saeta punctuate these processions. Although now sung in Spanish, there is no doubt that its origins go back to the Arabic songs of the Moors.

The poetry and music of the zajal and muwashshahat also gave rise to the troubadours, which is from the Arabic tariba - to sing. From the very beginning, these entertainers sung Arabic poetry in its authentic and sentimental state, and also in its method and construction. Arabic was later abandoned for the languages of southern Europe, but the Arabic format remained.

Closely associated with the haunting music of the Arabs are the fiery dances of Spain, the most well-known being the flamenco. The dance itself, accompanied by the penetrating Moorish tunes of the cante jondo, and with its rhythms separated by slight pauses, is of Arab origin. One can easily hear and see the similarities if one listens to the mawwals of the Arab east, or as some scholars have indicated, to the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer, and if one observes the Berber dances of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco.

The canas, jaleo, malaaguea, polos, and tiranas of the flamenco; the zarabanda danced in Spain during the 16th century; the zorongo dance with its Andalusian music; the jota from the Arabic khata (to step); the sequidillas; the fandango; the folias; the sevillanas; and the bulerias, all have been influenced to some extent by the music, song, and dance of the Moors.

In the 900 years the Arabs spent in Spain, first as conquerors then as the conquered, they have left their distinct mark. Even when the Spaniards occupied Granada, the last city held by the Moors, Arab music and singing did not die. It actually flourished. The conquered Muslims, up until the first part of the 16th century, were allowed to have their music-filled evenings. Their entertainers were in demand even in the courts of the king and among the nobles of the land.

The talents of the well-trained Moorish musicians and singers were known throughout all of southern Europe. However, when the Spanish Inquisition banned everything Arab and Muslim, including music and song, Moorish entertainment faded from the land. But the haunting melodies of Arab music were not lost. They evolved into the modern Spanish folk music of our day.

There is no doubt that the music of the West is saturated with the rhythms of Arab melodies. Western scholars have for many centuries denied that the Arabs contributed greatly to the melodies and dances of Europe. But research by scholars in the last hundred years has established that not only measured music but the popular Spanish music and, in fact, the folk music of all South¬west Europe, was taken from Arab-Andalusian sources.

The contributions made by the Arabs to Spanish music, song, and dance permeates even the life of modern Spain. In his book, Moorish Spain, Enrique Sordo, discussing life in today's Spain, writes:
"....an inner room in an Andalusian tavern; glasses of golden wine, a guitar; a voice.... The ole of the cante hondo is still the wa-Allah ‘oh God’ with which the Arabs cheered every poetic recitation."