Andalusī nūbah (نوبة أندلسيّة), also transliterated nūba, nūbā, or nouba (pl. nūbāt), or in its classical Arabic form, nawba, nawbah, or nōbah, is a

music genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from '' musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are som ...

found in the North African

Maghrib The Maghrib Prayer ( ar, صلاة المغرب ', "sunset prayer") is one of the five mandatory salah (Islamic prayer). As an Islamic day starts at sunset, the Maghrib prayer is technically the first prayer of the day. If counted from midni ...

states of

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 A ...

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

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

, and

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

but, as the name indicates, it has its origins in

Andalusi music Andalusi classical music ( ar, طرب أندلسي, ṭarab ʾandalusī; es, música andalusí), also called Andalusi music or Arab-Andalusian music, is a genre of music originally developed in al-Andalus by the Muslim population of the region a ...

. The name replaced the older use of '' sawt'' and originated from the musician waiting behind a curtain to be told it was his turn or ''nawbah'' by the ''sattar'' or curtain man. The North African cities have inherited a particularly Andalusian musical style of Granada. The term ''gharnati'' (

Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...

n) in

designates a distinct musical style from "Tarab Al Ala" originating in Córdoba and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, according to the authors Rachid Aous and Mohammed Habib Samrakandi in the latter's book ''Musiques d'Algérie''.

Form, texts, and performance

According to tradition, there were initially 24 nubat, one for each hour of the day. Each nuba must have a duration of 1 hour. Lyrics are sung by a soloist or in unison by a chorus, and are chosen from the '' muwashshah'' or ''

zajal Zajal () is a traditional form of oral strophic poetry declaimed in a colloquial dialect. While there is little evidence of the exact origins of the zajal, the earliest recorded zajal poet was the poet Ibn Quzman of al-Andalus who lived from 1078 ...

'' poetic forms, which are in classical and colloquial Arabic, respectively. An ''andalusi nubah'' uses one '' tab''' (similar to a maqam, or mode) per performance, and includes several instrumental pieces as well as predominantly vocal pieces accompanied by instrumentation. These differ as to ''mizan'' (pl. ''mawazin'') or rhythmic pattern (''

wazn WAZN (1470 AM) is an ethnic radio station in the Boston, Massachusetts market, licensed to Watertown. It is owned by Multicultural Broadcasting, and broadcasts Chinese language programming, simulcast from M.R.B.I.'s New York City station. His ...

'', pl. ''awzan''). Formally the

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

increases while the ''awzan'' simply within each of five sections, called ''mawazin''. The sections are introduced by short instrumental pieces and vary according to region, the name of a section indicating the ''wazn'' used: *in Algeria (12 nubah and 4 incomplete): *in Tunisia (13 nubah): *in Morocco (11 nubah): The instrumental ensemble used includes the '' ud'', rabab,

Maghreb rebab The Maghreb rebab is a bowed lute now played mainly in Northern Africa. It fits within the wider rebab traditions of the Arab world, but also branched into European musical tradition in Spain, Sicily, and the Holy Roman Empire. In the late Middle ...

rebec The rebec (sometimes rebecha, rebeckha, and other spellings, pronounced or ) is a bowed stringed instrument of the Medieval era and the early Renaissance. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and one to five strings. Origi ...

, '' nay'', qanun,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called " zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, tho ...

, and a goblet drum called ''darbuka''. The instrumentalists also serve as

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

Scales

Tunisia

In Tunisia, the 13 nubat are traditionally said to have been classified and organized by the 18th-century aristocratic amateur Muhammad al-Rashid Bey, who died in 1759. He is also credited with the composition or commissioning of the 27 instrumental pieces (, etc.) that introduce and separate the main vocal pieces in the nuba cycle. In this system, the 13 nubat are treated as a single overarching cycle, given a sequence in which, ideally, they should be performed.

Morocco

The nubat of Morocco were collected and classified toward the end of the 18th century by the musician Al Haïk from Tetuan. Unlike the nubat from Algeria or Tunisia, Moroccan nubat are long, so it is rare for a Moroccan nuba to be played in its entirety. Another distinction is that many Tunisian or Libyan nubat and some Algerian nubat are considered as being of Turkish inspiration, whereas Moroccan nubat are free of this influence.

Discography

*''Anthologie Al-âla: musique andaluci-marocaine''. 12 vols. **Vol. 1: ''Nûbâ gharîbat al-husayn, version intégrale''. Orchestre al-Brihi de Fès; Haj Abdelkrim al-Raïs, dir. 6-CD set. Auvidis W 260010.

abat Abat is a community in the former Shalë municipality, Shkodër County, northern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city o ...

Wizarat al-Thaqafah al-Maghribiyah = Royaume du Maroc Ministère de la Culture; Paris: Maison du cultures du monde / INEDIT, 1989. **Vol. 2: ''Nûbâ al-'ushshâq, version intégrale''. Orchestre Moulay Ahmed Loukili de Rabat; Haj Mohammed Toud, dir. 6-CD set. Auvidis W 260014.

Wizarat al-Thaqafah al-Maghribiyah = Royaume du Maroc Ministère de la Culture; Paris: Maison du cultures du monde / INEDIT, 1990. **Vol. 3: ''Nûbâ al-isbihân, version intégrale''. Orchestre du Conservatoire se Tétouan; Mohammed Larbi Temsamani, dir. 6-CD set. Auvidis W 260024.

Wizarat al-Thaqafah al-Maghribiyah = Royaume du Maroc Ministère de la Culture; Paris: Maison du cultures du monde / INEDIT, 1993. **Vol. 4: ''Nûbâ al-rasd, version intégrale''. Orchestre de Tangier; Ahmed Zaytouni Sahraoui, dir. 6-CD set. Auvidis W 260027.

Wizarat al-Thaqafah al-Maghribiyah = Royaume du Maroc Ministère de la Culture; Paris: Maison du cultures du monde / INEDIT, 1995. **Vol. 5: ''Nûbâ al-îstihlâl, version intégrale / durée 7 h 40''. Orchestre al-Brihi de Fès; Haj Abdelkrim al-Raïs, dir. 7-CD set. Auvidis W 260028.

Wizarat al-Thaqafah al-Maghribiyah = Royaume du Maroc Ministère de la Culture; Paris: Maison du cultures du monde / INEDIT, 1994. **Vol. 6: ''Nûbâ rasd al-dhil, version intégrale / durée 6 h 10''. Orchestre Moulay Ahmed Loukili de Rabat; Haj Mohammed Toud, dir. 6-CD set. Auvidis W 260029.

Wizarat al-Thaqafah al-Maghribiyah = Royaume du Maroc Ministère de la Culture; Paris: Maison du cultures du monde / INEDIT, 1996. **Vol. 7: ''Nûbâ 'irâq al-'ajam, version intégrale''. Orchestre de Tanger; Ahmed Zaytouni Sahraoui, dir. 7-CD set. Auvidis W 260030.

Wizarat al-Thaqafah al-Maghribiyah = Royaume du Maroc Ministère de la Culture; Paris: Maison du cultures du monde / INEDIT, 1996. **Vol. 8: ''Nûbâ al-hijâz al-kebîr, version intégrale / durée 7 h 30''. Orchestre al-Brihi de Fès; Haj Abdelkrim al-Raïs, dir. 7-CD set. Auvidis W 260031.

Wizarat al-Thaqafah al-Maghribiyah = Royaume du Maroc Ministère de la Culture; Paris: Maison du cultures du monde / INEDIT, 1997. **Vol. 9: ''Nûbâ ramal al-mâya, version intégrale''. Orchestre du Conservatoire de Tétouan; Mohammed Larbi Temsamani, dir. 8-CD set. Auvidis W 260032.

Wizarat al-Thaqafah al-Maghribiyah = Royaume du Maroc Ministère de la Culture; Paris: Maison du cultures du monde / INEDIT, 1997. **Vol. 10: ''Nûbâ al-hijâz al-msharqî, version intégrale''. Orchestre al-Brihi de Fès; Haj Abdelkrim al-Raïs, dir. 7-CD set. Auvidis W 260033.

Wizarat al-Thaqafah al-Maghribiyah = Royaume du Maroc Ministère de la Culture; Paris: Maison du cultures du monde / INEDIT, 1998. **Vol. 11: ''Nûbâ al-mâya, version intégrale''. Orchestre de Tanger; Ahmed Zaytouni Sahraoui, dir. 7-CD set. Auvidis W 260034.

Wizarat al-Thaqafah al-Maghribiyah = Royaume du Maroc Ministère de la Culture; Paris: Maison du cultures du monde / INEDIT, 1998. **Vol. 12: ''Les deux dernièrs quddâm''. Ensemble Al-Âla; Mohammed Briouel, dir. 2-CD set. Auvidis W 260035.

Wizarat al-Thaqafah al-Maghribiyah = Royaume du Maroc Ministère de la Culture; Paris: Maison du cultures du monde / INEDIT, 1999. *''Maroc: Musique classique Andalou-Maghrébine''. ''Nûba al-Hijâz al-Kabîr''; ''Nûba al-'istihlâl''. Orchestre de Fez; Haj Abdelkrim al-Raïs, dir. Collection dirigée par Pierre Toureille. Recorded 29 March 1984 at Studio 105, Radio France, Paris. 1-CD. Ocora C559016. Paris: Radio France; Harmonia Mundi, 1987. *''Música Andalusi'', Escuela de Rabat, Orquesta de la Radio Televisión de Marruecos, Mûlây Ahmed Lúkílí, Msháliyya l-Kbíra, recorded in 1962, Btáyhi r-Rásd, recorded in 1958. Madrid: Pneuma, 1998. *''Música Andalusi'', Escuela de Tetuán-Tánger, Orquesta del Conservatorio de Tetúan, Mohammed Ben Arbi Temsamani, Qá'im Wa Nisf Al Istihlál, recorded in 1960. Madrid: Pneuma, 1999. *''Música Andalusi'', Escuela de Fez, Orquesta Brihi, Haj Abdelkrim al-Raïs, Qyddám Al-Máya, Cantor Muhammed Jsásí. Madrid: Pneuma, 2000. *''Musique arabo-andalouse classique''. ''Nouba Hijaz M'Charqi''; ''Nouba Raml al Mâya''. Mahammed Al Moussadir (melismatic chant); Ahmed Chikhi (voice and oud); Mustapha Amri (oud and alto kamanja); Mohammed Diouri (swissèn); Hadj Mohammed Lahlou (tar); Hadj Ustad Mohammed Masano Tazzi (rebab), dir. Recorded June 1987 at Hay al Amal, Fez, Marocco. 1-CD. Le Chant du Monde CMT 274 1007. aris Le Cant du Monde, 1995. *''Nawba hijaz la-msharqi''. Françoise Atlan (soprano), Abdelfettah Bennis (tenor), Noureddine Tahri (tenor); Abdelkrim Raïs Andalusian Orchestra of Fès; Mohammed Briouel, dir. Recorded 18 October 1998, in the Mnehbi Palace, in the Medina at Fès, Morocco. 1-CD. Erato 3984-25499-2.Paris: Erato Disques, S. A., 1999.

References

Sources * * * * *

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20071127014103/http://www.andaloussiaband.com/ Andaloussia band {{Authority control 18th-century music genres Algerian music Moroccan styles of music Tunisian music Arabic music Classical and art music traditions Maqam-based music tradition