Munir Bashir
Background information
Born	1930[1] Mosul, Iraq
Died	September 28, 1997 Budapest, Hungary
Genre(s)	Middle Eastern music
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	lute, oud
Years active	1953 and 1954–present

Munir Bashir (Arabic: منير بشير‎, Syriac: ܡܢܝܪ ܒܫܝܪ) (1930 – September 28, 1997) was one of the most famous musicians in the Middle East during the 20th century and was considered to be the supreme master of the Arab maqamat scale system.^[2] Image File history File links MBashir. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... The category Middle Eastern music refers to music from the Middle East and its different regions such as North Africa, the Levant and the Persian Gulf States. ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... The lute is a plucked string instrument with a fretted neck and a deep round back. ... Front and rear views of an oud. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... Syriac ( Suryāyā) is an Eastern Aramaic language that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... In music, a maqam [sic] (plural maqamat) is a technique of improvisation that defines the pitches, patterns, and development of a piece of music. ...

He created different styles of the Arabian short scaled lute, the oud. He was one of the first Arabian instrumentalists known to Europe and America. Bashir’s music is distinguished by a novel style of improvisation that reflects his study of Indian and European tonal art in addition to oriental forms.^[3] The lute is a plucked string instrument with a fretted neck and a deep round back. ... Front and rear views of an oud. ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Philosophically, improvisation often focuses on bringing ones personal awareness into the moment, and on developing a profound understanding for the action one is doing. ...

Despite not being an ethnic Arab, Munir played a big role in Arab culture throughout the 20th century. Born in Iraq, he had to deal with numerious disruptions of violent coup attemps and multiple wars that the country went through. He would eventually exile to Europe and become noticeble first in eastern nations such as Hungary and Bulgaria. Languages Arabic other languages (Arab minorities) Religions Predominantly Muslim Some adherents of Druze, Judaism, Samaritan, Christianity Related ethnic groups Mizrachi Jews, Sephardi Jews[], Ashkenazi Jews, Canaanites, other Semitic-speaking groups An Arab (Arabic: ‎; transliteration: ) is a member of a Semitic-speaking people originally from the Arabian peninsula and surrounding territories... For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... A coup détat, or simply a coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually done by a small group that just replaces the top power figures. ...

Life

Early life

Mosul with its Tigris bridge

Munir Bashir was born in Mosul, situated in northern Iraq.^[4] According to different references he was born in a period of time from 1928 to 1930. Bashir is descended from an Assyrian father and a Kurdish mother, ^[3] which has bred several influential musicians for generations. For example, his father Abd al-Aziz Bashi and his brother Jamil Bashir had good reputations as oud-soloists and vocalists; Jamil wrote an important textbook for the oud. The family started musically educating young Bashir at his age of five, Bashir's father began to instruct him and his older brother Jamil in the basics of ud. His father, who was also a poet believed that a pure tradition of Arab music had devolved in Baghdad^[5].^[3] He first learned to play the violoncello, an European instrument that had become a popular bass-instrument in Arabian music during the end of the 19th century. He simultaneously was taught playing the oud. For better understanding it has to be said, that the lute plays a similar role in Arabian music as the piano does in European music: It is the instrument used to impart the most important theoretical aspects in music. Image File history File links Tigris_river_Mosul. ... Image File history File links Tigris_river_Mosul. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Tigris River (Arabic: دجلة Dijla, Hebrew: חדקל ḥiddeqel, Kurdish: Dîjle, Pahlavi: Tigr, Old Persian: Tigrā-, Syriac: ܕܩܠܬ Deqlath, Turkish: Dicle, Akkadian: Idiqlat) is the eastern member of the pair of great rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of Anatolia through Iraq (the name Mesopotamia... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Languages Assyrian, Chaldean, Turoyo Religions Christianity Related ethnic groups other Semitic peoples Assyrians are an ethnic group whose origins lie in what is today Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria, but who have migrated to the Caucasus, North America and Western Europe during the past century. ... Kurdish may refer to: The Kurdish people The Kurdish language This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Jamil Bashir Jamil Bashir was born in Mosul, Iraq in 1921 and is the brother of Munir Bashir. ... Baghdad (Arabic ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... Alternate meaning: Cello web browser A cropped image to show the relative size of a cello to a human (Uncropped Version) The cello (also violoncello or cello) is a stringed instrument and part of the violin family. ... Arab music is the music of Arabic-speaking people or countries. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ...

Due to a blend of many different styles and traditions there is a rich musical history in northern Iraq. In this milieu Bashir came in contact with Byzantine, Kurdish, Assyrian, Turkish, Persian, and traditional Abbasidian music. Byzantine music is the music of the Byzantine Empire and by extension the music of its culture(s) as they continued in the Orthodox Christian parts of the population after the fall of the empire to the rule of the Ottoman Empire. ... Traditionally, there are three types of Kurdish Classical performers - storytellers (çîrokbêj), minstrels (stranbêj) and bards (dengbêj). ... Assyrian music is divided into three main sections or periods, The Ancient Period that is of (Ur, Babylon and Nineveh), The middle period or Tribal and Folkloric period, and the Modern Period. ... Moosiqi Asil or Persian music is the traditional and indigenous music of Persia and Persian-speaking countries: musiqi, the science and art of music, and moosiqi, the sound and performance of music (Sakata 1983). ... Abbasid (Arabic: العبّاسيّون, Abbāsīyūn) is the dynastic name generally given to the caliph of Baghdad, the second of the two great Sunni dynasties of the Arab Empire, that overthrew the Umayyad caliphs from all but Spain. ...

Moving to Baghdad

Baghdad in the 1970s

At the age of six talented Bashir was sent to the Baghdad conservatory, founded 1934 by the distinguished Iraqi musicologist Scharif Muhyi ad-Din Haydar Targan (1892 – 1967). Already during his studies, but especially after his degree, Bashir paid his attention to documenting and preserving the traditional musical styles of his country. Due to the turbulent Iraqi history and other reasons these styles were overridden by “Western” ones, especially commercial ones. Image File history File links Bagdad2_i_juni_1977. ... Image File history File links Bagdad2_i_juni_1977. ... Baghdad (Arabic ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... Baghdad (Arabic ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... A conservatory is a school dedicated to teaching the art of music including playing of musical instruments, musical composition, musicianship and music theory. ...

In 1951, Bashir took a teaching assignment at the new founded Académie des Beaux-Arts in Baghdad, besides his editorial work for the Iraqi broadcasting. .^[6] The Académie des beaux-arts (Academy of Fine Arts) is a French learned society. ...

Exploring outside of Iraq

Beirut, Place de l'Étoile

Bashir always had an ambivalent relationship to his country: On the one side he felt deeply rooted in the rich cultural heritage of Mesopotamia, on the other side the Iraq had no phases of inner stability during the musicians lifetime. Especially the 1950s and 1960s - the last years of the Hashemitian monarchy and a time of military coups following the fall of Faisal II. in 1958 - forced Bashir to work abroad. Image File history File links Beirut_etoile. ... Image File history File links Beirut_etoile. ... For other uses, see Beirut (disambiguation). ... Mesopotamia refers to the region now occupied by modern Iraq, eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and Southwest Iran. ... Hashemite is the Anglicised version of the Arabic: هاشمي (transliteration: Hashemi) and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or clan of Hashem, a clan within the larger Quraish tribe. ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A monarchy, from the Greek μονος, one, and αρχειν, to rule, is a form of government that has a monarch as head of state. ... Faisal II of Iraq Faisal II (May 2, 1935 - July 14, 1958) was the last king of Iraq from April 4, 1939 to 1958. ...

His reputation had already arrived in Beirut, therefore he was contracted as accompany and “star-soloist” by the legendary Lebanese chanteuse Fairuz immediately when he arrived at the Lebanese capital in 1953. He got to know US and Latino American popular music but intensified his attempts of investigating Middle Eastern musical traditions. Due to his profound musicological knowledge he gained teaching assignments at the musical colleges of Baghdad and Beirut. For other uses, see Beirut (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...

The years 1953 and 1954 marked the beginning of Bashir’s career as an instrument virtuoso. His first concert as a soloist took place 1953 in Istanbul, in the next year the 24-year-old was featured in Iraqi television. 1957 he started several tours leading him to most of the European countries. The difficult political status of his country and the resulting problematic working parameters for musicians forced him to leave the country permanently. Istanbul (Turkish: Ä°stanbul, Greek: , historically known in English as Constantinople; see other names) is Turkeys most populous city, and its cultural and financial center. ...

Budapest

Budapest seen from the Gellért Hill

After a sojourn in Beirut, Bashir settled down in Budapest in the beginning 1960s, where he established a place of residence until his death. He married a Hungarian, his son Omar was born 1970 in the Hungarian capital.^[6] His son went on to be a musician as well. ^[7] This city was attractive for the Iraqi not only because of its status as European music metropolis, but for giving him the opportunity to study at the Franz Liszt-Conservatory (Liszt Ferenc Zeneakadémia) under supervision of Zoltán Kodály, where he did his doctorate in musicology in 1965.^[3] Kodály had rendered outstanding services to the preservation of traditional Hungarian songs in collaboration with Béla Bartok. This well corresponded to Bashir’s aims and methods concerning his engagement for traditional folk music of his home country. Download high resolution version (1632x1232, 374 KB)Budapest, looking north from Gellért Hill. ... Download high resolution version (1632x1232, 374 KB)Budapest, looking north from Gellért Hill. ... Gellérthegy is part of Budapest’s XI District, and is mainly centred around the eponymous Gellérthegy (Gellert Hill), named after the saint thrown to his death from the hill (by?). The famous Gellert Hotel can be found in Gellert Square in the areas eastern stretches. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Franz Liszt (Hungarian: Liszt Ferenc) (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer of the Romantic period. ... Zoltán Kodály (IPA: ) (December 16, 1882 – March 6, 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, educator, linguist and philosopher. ... Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and collector of Eastern European and Middle Eastern folk music. ...

After Kodály’s death in 1967 Bashir spent some time in Beirut again. But he was repelled by the development of the Arabian music, which was marked by progressive degeneration and commercialisation, due to the incompetent and uncritical dealing with western influences. Considering, that the popular chanters were responsible for these trends, he refused to take engagements from them.

Messenger of Iraqi music

In 1973, the Iraqi ministery of information appointed Bashir to its culture committee ^[6]; the regime of the Baath party was not well established at that time and made Bashir to a cultural figure of integration of the Christian minority. Also because of his international popularity, Bashir, who rather presented himself apolitical, seemed to be a suited personality for representing the different ethnic, religious, and political groups of his home country. In 1981 — Saddam Hussein was already in power and the actual forces passing over to the Sunnites — the regime also supports the formation of Bashir’s Iraqi Traditional Music Group that dedicates itself to the diversity of the Iraqi culture. Baath Party symbol Party flag The Arab Socialist Baath Party (also spelled Bath or Baath; Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي Ḥizb al-Ba`ṯ al-`ArabÄ« al-IÅ¡tirāki) was founded in 1947 as a radical, secular Arab nationalist political party. ... Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti (Arabic: [1]; April 28, 1937[2] – December 30, 2006[3]), was the President of Iraq from July 16, 1979, until April 9, 2003. ... Sunni Islam (Arabic سنّة) is the largest denomination of Islam. ...

In 1987 — during the First Gulf War — Bashir succeeded in realising a long-cherished project: For the first time the Babylon International Festival of dance, music, and theatre, which Bashir was leading for several years, took place. See also: 2003 invasion of Iraq and Gulf War (disambiguation) C Company, 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment, 1st UK Armoured Division The Persian Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of 34 nations led by the United States. ...

But Bashir himself rarely spent his time in Baghdad and finally left the country after the Second Gulf War in 1991. Guest performances mainly in Europe offered him a big open-minded audience, and therefore an excellent platform for the presentation of his meanwhile very original and mature style of improvisation and composition. Most of his records were also recorded in Europe. In his last years he aimed at making his son Omar to his musical successor. A duo-recording of Bashir and Omar made in Februar 1994 is considered to be a classic of Bashir’s Œuvre, because of its exemplary combination of traditional - mainly folk - material with most artful technique of improvisation. Combatants UN Coalition Republic of Iraq Commanders Norman Schwarzkopf Peter de la Billière Khalid bin Sultan Saleh Al-Muhaya Mohamed Hussein Tantawi Saddam Hussein Strength 883,863 360,000 Casualties 378 dead, 1,000 wounded 25,000 dead, 75,000 wounded The Gulf War or the Persian Gulf War...

Munir Bashir died of heart failure in 1997 in Budapest at the age of 68, a short time before his planned departure to his Mexican tour. ^[3]

Instrumental style

General characteristics

In the long history of the oud, Munir Bashir is one of the most important players.^[8] His style noticeably differs from other oud-players, for example from the urban “showmanship” in the “typical Egyptian” style of Farid Al Attrach, or from the heavily jazz-oriented music of Lebanese Rabih Abou-Khalil, who is very popular in Europe. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Rabih Abou-Khalil is a Lebanese oud player and composer. ...

Especially in the field of soloistic improvisation (Arabic: taqsim) over the common scales (maqam, plural maqamat) in Arabian music, his colleagues considered him to be an unsurpassed master.^[3] It surely attributes to Bashir’s pioneering work, that nowadays oud-players are able to give solo-concerts all over the world. // Look up scale in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

But during his musical development he fought against the cliché, that the oud is the oriental equivalent to the condescendingly smiled at western “campfire guitar”.

Tunings

In many musical idioms it belongs to the tradition of stringed instruments to work with different tunings, adapted to the demands of the piece of music. Therefore it is not surprising, that Bashir experimented with a lot of tunings. A common tuning of the Arabian oud — “Arabian” in contrast to the almost identical Turkish instrument, that has a slightly different history — is: A string instrument (also stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... In music, tuning is the process of producing or preparing to produce a certain pitch in relation to another, usually at the unison but often at some other interval. ...

audio sample

Based on older traditions of the Iraqi oudist-school (for example the one of his older brother) Munir Bashir developed a typical tuning, that is named after him: Image File history File links Loudspeaker. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1050x315, 1 KB) Description A commonly used tuning of the Arab Oud. ...

Noticeable is the doubling of the actual “highest” course in F by another one, that is higher, but is tuned one octave lower. This trick enables a special full sound of the high melody course and complies with Bashir’s interest in melodic forms. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1077x330, 1 KB) Summary Oud scordatura typical of Munir Bashirs style; Music publisher 5 file by the author Author: user:Bottomline of German wikipedia Original page: German wikipedia image site Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia... A course is a pair of adjacent strings tuned to unison or an octave and usually plucked together as if a single string, in musical instruments such as the lute, vihuela or mandolin. ...

Another tuning of this kind was developed by members of the Bashir family: The player uses an F-course on the bass strings, tuned another octave lower as in the above mentioned example; optional two F-strings can be put on, tuned in an octave-interval. Using this special tuning the melody course in the center of the fingerboard is framed by the bass courses. Tuned this way the oud has a really full sound and enables unusual melodies, but such a complex tuning system makes high demands on the picking and stopping techniques of the musician.

Picking technique

A reesha

Like with other instruments of the lute-family (among such different instruments like the mandolin and the sitar) the player makes the sound by picking the strings with a plectrum (pick). The Arabian term for the pick is reesha, which originally was made of a pinfeather of an eagle. One impressive aspect of Bashir was the precision of his risha. His style emphasized a clean risha, while most other oud players have a heavy risha.^[9] The reesha is held in the palm of one’s hand, resulting in a difficultly learnable picking technique; furthermore the doubled strings have a less controllable attack than single strings. Image File history File links Holding_the_risha_pos_1. ... Image File history File links Holding_the_risha_pos_1. ... Carved (electric) and round backed mandolins (front) A mandolin is a small, stringed musical instrument which is plucked, strummed or a combination of both. ... Premla Shahane playing a sitar, 1927 The sitar (Urdu: ستار, Hindi: सितार) is probably the best-known South Asian instrument in the West. ... Various guitar picks A plectrum (plural plectra or plectrums) is a device for plucking or strumming a stringed instrument. ... Genera Several, see below. ...

Therefore the inevitable rhythmic reliability in fastest, asymmetric accented, melodies is a special trademark of virtuosos. Generalizing: Arabian music is much more interested in rhythmical patterns that are more complex than European ones. Bashir's virtuosity of picking can easily be understood, when he shows his ability to apply the abovementioned scordatura, with its string pairs tuned in octaves, in an improvisation in the fast 10/8 metre, without the immense stopping problems of this method becoming hearable. For the popular Tamil film, see Rhythm (film) Rhythm (Greek = flow, or in Modern Greek, style) is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events. ... Metre or meter (US) is the measurement of a musical line into measures of stressed and unstressed beats, indicated in Western music notation by a symbol called a time signature. ...

Bashir's dealing with foreign musical forms appears also in his experiments with alternative picking techniques. He made the fingerpicking, cultivated on the guitar — especially in flamenco — to an essential attribute of his mature style. But after a few experiments, he gave up using a thumb-plectrum (mizrab), that he got to know during his studies of the Indian sitar. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Fingerstyle guitar. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Parts of the guitar. ... Bailaora (dancer) of Flamenco Belén Maya, photograph taken by Gilles Larrain at his studio, 2001 Flamenco is one of the great European nonacademic musical genres. ... Two mizrabs A mizrab as worn on the index finger A Mezrab (also spelled mizrab) is worn on the finger of a Sitar player as shown. ...

Ornamentation

Bashir's preferred improvisational type, the taqsim improvisation pulls its attractiveness out of the intelligent and strictly regulated ornamentation of melodies or familiar melodic fragments. Therefore a taqsim evolves out of different, but less artful criteria, than in modern jazz, where an improvisation takes place inside of a relatively strict metric, harmonic, and formal raster. But similar to jazz-improvisation, some distinct patterns can be assigned to their originator. On this note, a connoisseur of Arabian music is able to recognize a lot of “bashirisms”, analogue to a jazz-fan, who undoubtedly identifies the influence of Louis Armstrong or Charlie Parker in special melodic phrases. Jazz is a musical art form that originated in New Orleans at around the start of the 20th century. ... Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901[1] – July 6, 1971) (also known by the nicknames Satchmo, for satchel-mouth, and Pops) was an American jazz musician. ... Charles Bird Parker, Jr. ...

Expansion of the ambitus

As mentioned above, the oud belongs to the family of short scale lutes. The widest interval that can be stopped between the open string and the end of the fingerboard is a fifth (quint); though it is possible to play wider intervals on the same string by stopping tones on the top of the corpus. Although Bashir has not invented this slightly unorthodox technique, he has integrated it into his style in an exemplary manner. The ambitus of a Gregorian chant is the range, or the distance between the highest and lowest note. ... The lute is a plucked string instrument with a fretted neck and a deep round back. ... In music theory, an interval is the relationship between two notes or pitches, the lower and higher members of the interval. ... The perfect fifth or diapente is one of three musical intervals that span five diatonic scale degrees; the others being the diminished fifth, which is one semitone smaller, and the augmented fifth, which is one semitone larger. ...

Also, before Bashir, the usage of flageolets did not belong to the traditional playing techniques of the oud, even though this technique actually is characteristic for stringed instruments. A Flageolet is a woodwind musical instrument and a member of the fipple flute family. ...

Foreign influences

Bashir's occasionally polemic engagement for the authentic means of expression of Arabian music not only resulted from a rigorous inner view. He was a comprehensive educated and interested musician, who showed a notedly open-mindedness for non-Arabian styles in his lifetime; whereas he paid special attention to European and northern Indian (Hindu music.)^[10] Hindu music is music created for or influenced by Hinduism. ...

This profound knowledge enabled him to incorporate foreign influences into his music not as incoherent quotations, but to include them in a convincing way.

Bashir's working mode is pointed out with an extra spectacular example: His composition Al-Amira al-Andaluciyya (“The Princess of Andalusia”), that can be heard on the duo-recording of Bashir and his son Omar, has an opening motif that is very unusual for its Arabian context.

audio sample

The C-major arpeggio (motif a) that opens the piece would be an extra banal phrase in European music, but played on the oud it represents a totally unusual musical gesture, because there are no such major triads of that form used in Arabian music. Then the playing around the note C (motif b) points to the musical connotation (Andalusia, for centuries a province of the caliphate, and homeland of the flamenco), that was intended by the composer. With the help of only two notes (Db and Bb) the major triad changes into the Phrygian mode that is very typical for the flamenco, whereas the tremolo-like ornamentation of the leading Db supports this effect. Then the line descending to G (motif c) establishes the key for the further improvisations. This key is called maqam Hijaz Kar Kurd and has the following (simplified) structure: Image File history File links Loudspeaker. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1668x387, 4 KB) Summary Opening motif of Munir Bashirs composition „Al-Amira al-Andaluciyya“ (The Andalusian Princess), own transcription, Music Publisher 5 file by the author Author: user:Bottomline of German wikipedia Original page: German wikipedia image site Licensing File... Motto: Andalucía por sí, para España y la humanidad (Andalusia by herself, for Spain, and for humankind) Capital Seville Official language(s) Spanish Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 2nd  87,268 km²  17. ... The Caliphate (Arabic خلافة) is the theoretical federal government that would govern the Islamic world under Islamic law, ruled by a Caliph as head of state. ... Bailaora (dancer) of Flamenco Belén Maya, photograph taken by Gilles Larrain at his studio, 2001 Flamenco is one of the great European nonacademic musical genres. ... Due to historical confusion, Phrygian mode can refer to two very different musical modes or diatonic scales. ...

audio sample

The asymmetric setup of this scale requires a different leading of the ascending and descending melody lines, and is well suited for flamenco-like improvisations, because the flamenco style is characterized by a typical ambivalent and unstable reference to the major/minor-tonality. The last one naturally is unknown to Arabian music that has no harmony. Image File history File links Loudspeaker. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1449x264, 2 KB) Maqam Hijaz Kar Kurd, Music Publisher 5 file by the author Author: user:Bottomline of German wikipedia Original page: German wikipedia image site File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on...

During the progressing improvisations Bashir uses another virtuosity effect by playing many chords. These so-called rasgueados are an indispensable element of style of the flamenco guitar. But on the fretless oud it is very difficult to intonate them correctly. Look up chord in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A rasgueado or rasgueo is a technical strum in flamenco guitar that uses the back of the fingernails in sequence to give the impression of a very rapid strum. ... The fretless guitar is a guitar without frets (including similarly configured bass guitars known as fretless bass). ... Intonation is a term used to cover particular uses of tones in linguistics and music. ...

Influences and reception

Relevance for Arabian music

Munir Bashir emerged into the scene at a time that was anything but fortunate for Arabian music. Because of his professional experiences he was more conscious of these difficulties than many of his colleagues, who often tended towards retreating into niches or more or less resignedly accepting these conditions. Bernard Lewis, the British historian, refers to the musician as an example of a Middle Eastern, who has understood to meet the influence of the Western culture on the basis of equal collaboration. Bashir sought and found new possibilities of musical expression by standing up for the traditions of “his” music and by dealing with older forms. Prof. ...

On a more technical level, Bashir put his improvisations in the context of maqamat, which were never used outside of Iraq, or which fell into obscurity during the 20th century.

Criticism

Bashir's integration of foreign elements of style led to a lack of understanding and criticism of the traditionalists. As reported by the music journalist Sami Asmar, Bashir was accused of chumming up to his western audience by preferentially making music in extra simple maqamat. It was explicitly stated that Bashir abuses the maqamat Rast and Shadd Araban that way.^[6]

Maqam Rast audio sample

Maqam Shadd Araban audio sample

Indeed it is right, that maqam Rast is a very basic scale in Arabian music, comparable to C-Major in western music. For western listeners this tonality — approximately the Dorian scale with quartertone intervals — is anything else but catchy. In Shadd Araban it is the use of two 1½ intervals, that makes the scale abstractly sounding for western ears. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 235 pixel Image in higher resolution (867 × 255 pixel, file size: 2 KB, MIME type: image/png) Maqam Rast (Arab scale), Music Publisher 5 file by the author Author: user:Bottomline of German wikipedia Original page: German wikipedia image site... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 235 pixel Image in higher resolution (867 × 255 pixel, file size: 2 KB, MIME type: image/png) Maqam Rast (Arab scale), Music Publisher 5 file by the author Author: user:Bottomline of German wikipedia Original page: German wikipedia image site... Image File history File links Loudspeaker. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 250 pixel Image in higher resolution (846 × 264 pixel, file size: 2 KB, MIME type: image/png) Maqam Shadd Araban (Arab scale), Music Publisher 5 file by the author Author: user:Bottomline of German wikipedia Original page: German wikipedia image... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 250 pixel Image in higher resolution (846 × 264 pixel, file size: 2 KB, MIME type: image/png) Maqam Shadd Araban (Arab scale), Music Publisher 5 file by the author Author: user:Bottomline of German wikipedia Original page: German wikipedia image... Image File history File links Loudspeaker. ... Fifth century BCE hoplite, or heavy-armed soldier, possibly the Spartan king Leonidas, a Dorian, who died holding the pass at the Battle of Thermopylae. ...

Apart from the sparsely convincing assumptions on which these criticisms are based, those are not supported by Bashir's recordings. In these recordings there are no signs of a preference for the aforementioned scales, and there is no evidence for other behaviour at Bashir's live performances. In contrast it is more easily verifiable that Bashir preferred even such scales, which enabled huge melodic freedom, and which implicate a strong tonal ambivalence for the European ear that is used to harmony – as shown above for the Hijaz Kar Kurd.

Honours

Bashir, especially in his latter years, received international honors for his musical opus and his engagement for the dialog of cultures. Amongst others he was vice president of the UNESCO International Music Council ^[11], knight of the French Legion of Honour, and secretary general of the Arabian music academy in Baghdad. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ... The International Music Council (IMC) was created in 1949 as UNESCOs advisory body on matters of music. ... Chiang Kai-sheks Légion dhonneur. ...

Discography

L'Art du 'Ud

• Recital – Solo de Luth Oud, Live in Geneva
• Munir Bashir & the Iraqi Traditional Music Group
• Recital; Solo de Luth Oud (Live in Geneva)
• Maqamat
• En Concert a Paris (Live in Paris)
• Meditations
• Flamenco Roots
• Concert in Budapest
• Raga Roots
• Oud Around the Arab World
• The Stockholm Recordings
• Duo de 'Ud (with Omar Bashir)
• L'Art du 'Ud (The Art of the Ud)

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

Literature

• Sami Asmar: The Musical Legacies Of Sayyid Makkawi, Munir Bashir and Walid Akel. in: Al-Jadid. A Review and Record of Arab culture and arts. Los Angeles 4.1998, H 23.
• Habib Hassan Touma (1996). The Music of the Arabs, trans. Laurie Schwartz. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-88-8.

References

External links

Music theory, biography

• Munir Bashir International Foundation
• Website of the oud-expert Dr. David Parfitt
• Comprehensive website about the oud
• Excellent, easy to understand introduction of Arabian music theory
• Encyclopedia of the Orient
• Saramusik

Audio samples

• Excerpt of the duo-improvisation with Omar over the folk-songFog en-Nakhel
• Excerpt of an solo-improvisation in maqam Kurd
• Excerpt of an solo-improvisation in maqam Rast