The Congrès du Caire (First Congress of Arab Music; ar, مؤتمر الموسيقى العربية الأول; ''Mu'tamar al'mūsiqā al-'arabiyya al-awwal'') was a large international

symposium In ancient Greece, the symposium ( grc-gre, συμπόσιον ''symposion'' or ''symposio'', from συμπίνειν ''sympinein'', "to drink together") was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was acc ...

and music festival that was convened by King

Fuad I Fuad I ( ar, فؤاد الأول ''Fu’ād al-Awwal''; tr, I. Fuad or ; 26 March 1868 – 28 April 1936) was the Sultan and later King of Egypt and the Sudan. The ninth ruler of Egypt and Sudan from the Muhammad Ali dynasty, he became Sulta ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, Egypt, from March 14 to April 3, 1932. The idea had been suggested to Fuad by the French

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

Rodolphe d'Erlanger Baron Rodolphe d'Erlanger (b. Boulogne-Billancourt, France, June 7, 1872; d. Tunis, October 29, 1932) was a French painter and musicologist, specializing in North African and Arabic music. Life and artistic career Rodolphe François Baron d'Erl ...

, and the congress was the first large-scale forum to present, discuss, document and record the many musical traditions of the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

from North Africa and the Middle East.

Overview

By a royal decree of January 20, 1932, a commission was appointed to organize the congress. It was headed by the Minister of Public Education Muhammad Hilmi Isa Pacha, with d'Erlanger serving as vice-chairman and Mahmud Ahmed El-Hefni in charge of the General Secretariat. The festival was held at the National Academy of Music, at 22 Malika Nazly Street (now Ramses Street) in the

Azbakeya Azbakeya ( ar, أزبكية; also spelled Al Uzbakeya or Auzbekiya) is one of the central districts of Cairo, Egypt. It contains many historically important establishments. One of these is the Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, which was in ...

district of downtown Cairo. It drew scholars and performers from throughout the Arabic-speaking world as well as from Turkey, including Muhammad Fathi, Ali Al-Darwish, Kamil Al-Khulai, Mahmud Hefni, Tawfiq Al-Sabbagh,

Rauf Yekta Bey Rauf or Rawuf (Arabic: رَؤُوف ''ra’ūf'' or ''rawūf'') is an Arabic male given name or surname which is a noun and the exaggerated form of the name Raif (or Raef) meaning "kind, affectionate, benign", "sympathetic, merciful" or ''compassion ...

, Mohammed Gnanem, Mohammed Ben Hassan, Mohammed Cherif, and

Mesut Cemil Mesut Cemil (; b. 1902 – d. October 31, 1963) was a Turkish composer, and a notable ''tanbur'' lute and cello player. His father was Tanburi Cemil Bey. He participated in the 1932 Cairo Congress of Arab Music. Cemil took cello and violin les ...

) as well as European scholars, composers and

musicologists Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

such as

Henry George Farmer Henry George Farmer (17 January 1882 – 20 December 1965) was a British musicologist and Arabist. He studied under Thomas Hunter Weir, Professor of Oriental Languages at University of Glasgow. He wrote extensively about Arab musical influen ...

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...

, Alexis Chottin (the head of the National Conservatory for Arab Music in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

), Father M. Collangettes,

Erich Moritz von Hornbostel Erich Moritz von Hornbostel (25 February 1877 – 28 November 1935) was an Austrian ethnomusicologist and scholar of music. He is remembered for his pioneering work in the field of ethnomusicology, and for the Sachs–Hornbostel system of musica ...

Curt Sachs Curt Sachs (; 29 June 1881 – 5 February 1959) was a German musicologist. He was one of the founders of modern organology (the study of musical instruments). Among his contributions was the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which he created with Erich ...

and Robert Lachmann. Nations sending delegations of musicians included

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

as well as

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, representing its own musical tradition. The Congress' sections focused on the past, present and future of

Arabic music Arabic music or Arab music ( ar, الموسيقى العربية, al-mūsīqā al-ʿArabīyyah) is the music of the Arab world with all its diverse music styles and genres. Arabic countries have many rich and varied styles of music and also man ...

, and believing such music to be in decline, it made recommendations for its revitalization and preservation. 360 performances of Arabic music by the visiting groups were recorded, and many of these recordings survive in the Phonotèque of the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. 162 of these records were released by the

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

company, and a collection of those records was given to the

Guimet Museum The Guimet Museum (full name in french: Musée national des arts asiatiques-Guimet; MNAAG; ) is an art museum located at 6, place d'Iéna in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. Literally translated into English, its full name is the Nation ...

in Paris by King Fuad I. In addition, proposals for the modernization and

standardization Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardization ...

of Arabic music were presented, including a proposal to standardize the Arabic tuning system to 24 equal steps per octave including

quarter tone A quarter tone is a pitch halfway between the usual notes of a chromatic scale or an interval about half as wide (aurally, or logarithmically) as a semitone, which itself is half a whole tone. Quarter tones divide the octave by 50 cents each, a ...

s, thus substituting an equal-tempered system for the traditional non-tempered system. The Egyptian delegate Muhammad Fathi recommended that Western instruments be integrated into Arabic ensembles, due to what he believed to be their superior expressive qualities. Three similar congresses were held in subsequent years, but none were of the scale and influence of the one held in 1932.

Discography

*1988 - ''Congrès du Caire, 1932: musique arabe savante & populaire'' / Muhammad al Qubbanji, Dawud Hosni, Muhammad Ghanim, etc. 2 CDs made from historical recordings in the occasion of Cairo Congress in 1932: v. 1. Musique savante de Bagdad/Irak; Musique populaire/Égypte—v. 2. Musique citadine de Tlemcen/Algérie; Musique savante de Fès/Maroc; Musique citadine de Tunis/Tunisie. Includes a special booklet in Arabic, English, and French. Paris: Édition Bibliothèque Nationale - L'Institut du Monde arabe (Ma`had al-`Alam al-`Arabi), APN 88-9,10. *1989 - ''Maroc: Musique Classique'' / Congres du Caire 1932 Cheikh Mohamed Chouika and Omar Jaïdi / Moroccan famous musicians. Paris: Club du Disque Arabe/Artistes Arabes Associés AAA006. *1994 - ''Le Maqam en Iraq'' vol. I Congres du Caire 1932 / Mohamed Elkabandji / Iraqi singer Mohamed Elkabandji (b. 1901), et al. Paris: Club du Disque Arabe AAA087. *1994 - ''Malouf Tunisien: La Musique Classique Tunisienne'' - Congres du Caire 1932. Tunisian classical music performed by Mohamed Ben Hassan and Mohamed Cherif. Paris: Club du Disque Arabe AAA094. *1994 - ''Le Maqam en Iraq'' vol. II Congres du Caire 1932 / Mohamed Elkabandji / Historical recordings of Iraqi Mohamed Elkabandji (b. 1901), et al. Paris: Club du Disque Arabe AAA097. *1995 - ''Musique Classique Arabo-Andalouse'' - ECOLE DE TLEMCEN Congres du Caire 1932 / ELHADJ ELARBI BENSARI et RODWANE. Historical recordings of Algerian El Haji El Arabi (1857-1954) and his son Rodwane. Paris: Club du Disque Arabe AAA098.

References

Bibliography

*Bartók, Béla, with contributor Benjamin Suchoff (1992). Music/History and criticism series. Univ. of Nebraska Press. . *Danielson, Virginia (1994). ''Musique Arabe: Le Congres du Caire de 1932'' by Philippe Vigreux." ''

Yearbook for Traditional Music The ''Yearbook for Traditional Music'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on folk music and dance. It is published by the International Council for Traditional Music, once a year in December. The editor-in-chief is Kati Szego. T ...

'', vol. 26, pp. 132–36. *Qassim Hassan, Shéhérazade and Philippe Vigreux, (eds.) (1992). ''Musique arabe; Le Congrès du Caire de 1932''. Cairo: Cedej. *el-Ḥefnī, Maḥmūd Aḥmed (ed) (1934). ''Recueil des travaux du Congrès de Musique Arabe qui s’est tenu au Caire en 1932 (Hég. 1350) sous le haut patronage de S.M. Fouad Ier, Roi d’Égypte''. Cairo. *Katz, Israel J., with the collaboration of Sheila M. Craik (2015). ″Henry George Farmer and the First International Congress of Arab Music (Cairo, 1932)". Islamic History and Civilization Studies and Texts, vol. 115. Leiden: Brill, 2015. *_____. "Congress of Arab Music 1932" (2018), in ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'', Leiden, iii, pp. 17–21. *Racy, A.J., "Historical worldviews of early ethnomusicologists: An east-west encounter in Cairo, 1932 (1991) in S. Blum, et al (eds.), ''Ethnomusicology and modern music history''. Urbana-Chicago 1991, 68-91. *_____ (2003). ''Making Music in the Arab World: The Culture and Artistry of Ṭarab''. Cambridge Univ. Press. *_____ (2015). "Comparative musicologists in the field: Reflections on the Cairo Congress of Arab Music, 1932 (2015) in V.L. Levine and P.V. Bohlman (eds.), ''This thing called music: Essays in honor of Bruno Nettl'', Lanham, MD, pp. 137–50.
Sawa, George Dimitri (1993). ''The World of Music'' 35, no. 3, pp. 107–11.
*Shannon, Jonathan Holt (2006). ''Among the Jasmine Trees: Music and Modernity in Contemporary Syria''. Social life and customs series. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. .

External links

*Article about th
"First Congress of Arabic Music in 1932: A Richly Diverse Palette of Rhythm and Timbre"
from

qantara.de Qantara.de (Classical Arabic: ', meaning "bridge") is an Internet portal in German, English, and Arabic, produced by Deutsche Welle in order to promote intercultural dialogue between the Western and Islamic worlds. The portal was founded on the ...

{{Authority control Arabic music Music festivals in Egypt 1932 in music 1932 in Egypt Culture in Cairo Music festivals established in 1932 1932 music festivals Ethnomusicology