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Muwashah: A Key Arabic Vocal Form

The muwashah is a vocal music genre that originated in Andalusia in the late 9th century. It spread throughout the Arab East by the 12th century. A muwashah performance typically involves a chorus alternating with a soloist, accompanied by instruments like the ud, violin, and percussion. A complete muwashah performance, or waslah, consists of up to eight muwashah pieces in succession. Muwashah songs usually deal with themes of love, beauty, and wine. Some famous historical muwashah composers include Omar El Batsh, Sheikh Sayyed Darwish, Sheikh Ahmad Qabbani, Muhammad Kamil Al Khula’i, and others from the late

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522 views1 page

Muwashah: A Key Arabic Vocal Form

The muwashah is a vocal music genre that originated in Andalusia in the late 9th century. It spread throughout the Arab East by the 12th century. A muwashah performance typically involves a chorus alternating with a soloist, accompanied by instruments like the ud, violin, and percussion. A complete muwashah performance, or waslah, consists of up to eight muwashah pieces in succession. Muwashah songs usually deal with themes of love, beauty, and wine. Some famous historical muwashah composers include Omar El Batsh, Sheikh Sayyed Darwish, Sheikh Ahmad Qabbani, Muhammad Kamil Al Khula’i, and others from the late

Uploaded by

fadikallab2433
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Part 2

Some Forms in Middle Eastern vocal music


1- The Muwashah
The muwashah is a vocal music genre based on the poetic form of the same name, that originally existed in
Andalusia, and some theorists say that this form was first attributed to Al Mukaddam Ibn Muaafa of
Qabra during the Arabic reign in the late 9th century.
The Muwashah spread in the Arab East at the 12 th century approximately. It can be further distinguished
from that of the Maghrib in that the poets of the East feel bound to the strict rules of Arabian meter,
whereas those in North Africa ignore them. The muwashah is usually performed by a chorus alternating
with a soloist, the whole being accompanied by a ud, violin, qanun, daff and tabla.
Before the trend toward modernization decisively influenced music in the Arabian world, it was customary
in one concert to perform a complete waslah, that is, up to eight muwashahat in succession together with
an instrumental introduction (samai or bashraf). Common to all sections of such a waslah cycle is the
principle Maqam of all muwashahat whereby the combination of pieces can comprise the works of several
poets and composers.

The Muwashah Form: The melody and the structure of the muwashah vary in sophistication. In general,
the melody of the muwashah is divided into 3 parts:
 The first part called Dawr, that could be followed by a second and third dawr or even more and all
adwar share the same rhythm and melody.
 The second part called Khana, usually this part is written in the high register of the maqam, and
could also contain modulation to neighboring maqamat
 The third part, called Qafla or Ghita’, which follows again the melody and rhythm of the first dawr
and with which the muwashah ends.

Naming convention: A specific muwashah can be more precisely identified by naming the first lines of the
poem, the principal maqam and the accompanying rhythmic pattern and the names of the poet and
composer. If the identities of poet and composer are not known, one usually encounters the reference
“qadim” meaning “old”.

Muwashah subjects usually deal with love, flirtation, praise of women’s charms and wine.

Some prominent muwashahat composers are:


Omar El Batsh (1885-1950) of Aleppo
Sheikh Sayyed Darwish (1892-1923) of Alexandria
Sheikh Ahmad Qabbani (1841-1902) of Damascus
Muhammad Kamil Al Khula’i (1879-1938) of Cairo
Salim El Helou of Beirut
Toufic El Bacha of Beirut
Sheikh Ali Darwish and his son Nadim of Aleppo
Ibrahim Shafiq of Cairo

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