São Paulo – A dive into the features and nuances of the music from the Middle East and North Africa is what is offered by the course Arab Music: Expressiveness and Subtlety, organized by the Institute for Arab Culture (Icarabe) and taught by Marcia Dib, holder of a master’s degree on Arab Culture from São Paulo University (USP). Classes are scheduled for every Tuesday in September (6,13,20 and 27) in the city of São Paulo. Registrations are open.
“The Arab music was composed based on four strings of the lute”, says Dib, mentioning the musical instrument that is similar to the acoustic guitar. “They said they were like the four parts of the universe, that each string had a different energy”, explains the professor on the foundations of this type of music.
Dib says that it’s not possible to know when and where Arab music originated. She says, however, that the first essays on the topic date back from centuries 9 to 12. “Since in those times the borders issue wasn’t clear cut, the rulers found people [musicians] in other regions”, she says.
According to her, what is known is that the Mesopotamia region, today’s modern Iraq, was a place where many musical wise men lived. “It came to be gradually”, says Dib.
Dib points out that the fact that ancient Arab societies were basically oral, that is, didn’t have any written records of their traditions, means that many facts and events about the Arab music’s origins were lost. “People had knowledge on many things, but it wasn’t written. The essays covered some aspects of the music, and others [were only known] by the wise men”, she says.
According to Dib, one can say that Arab and Western music “are two completely different languages”. The professor says that Arab music is modal, that it embraces the listener in its sound. This sound, she says, operates in circles, establishing a “sound environment” in which the goal is the experiencing of each sensation and mood provided by the way the sounds are performed. By contrast, Western music is tonal, based on chords that promote tensions and relaxation, referring to a constant search for something, just as the day-to-day of Western society.
About the musical instruments, Dib says that the main feature of the Arab instruments is their natural tuning. Arab music’s main instruments, she says, are the lute, the qanun (string instrument) and the flute.
She also points out that Arab music is divided in different styles among the many countries of the Middle East and North Africa. An interesting fact mentioned by Dib is how the music is influenced by nature’s different environments and features, such as the desert, the mountains, the rivers and cities. “The more contact human beings have with the environment, the more it influences them”, says the professor.
She compares the desert and beach environments and mentions, as example, beach vendors, who stretch their lines when announcing their products. “In the desert, the notes need to be long to be heard and understood from afar. The environment influences movement and hearing”, she adds.
Quick Facts
Arab Music: Expressiveness and Subtlety
September 6, 13, 20 and 27
Where: Livraria Martins Fontes
Avenida Paulista, 509 – São Paulo
Prices: general public– R$ 300 (USD 94.14); single class – BRL 75 (USD 23.53). Members of Icarabe, students and retirees –BRL 250 (USD 78.45); single class – BRL 65 (USD 20.39)
Further information and the course’s full programme and registrations at cursos@icarabe.org or (55 11) 5084-5131
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
