Gharnati music


Gharnati refers to a variety of Algerian music originating in Al-Andalus. Its name is related, being derived from the Arabic name of the Spanish city of Granada.
Gharnati was preserved, enriched and developed in Tlemcen in Algeria.
This variety of Andalusian classical music has been established in other cities like Oran and Sidi-Bel-Abbès in Algeria. And thereafter, in Rabat and Oujda in Morocco by algerian families who moved and settled there, as confirmed by Jerrilynn D. Dodds in his book "The literature of Al-Andalus", éd. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000, p. 72-73
If the term Gharnati refers in the region of Tlemcen in Algeria to a distinct musical style of the Andalusian music and confirmed by the authors Rachid Aous, Mohammed Habib Samrakandi pages 15 and 24 in their book "Music of Algeria". In Morocco this style is specific to the cities of Rabat and Oujda, and was brought by Algerians from Tlemcen and Algiers

Features

Modes

The modes ' that are known in the school of Tlemcen are the following :
In Tlemcen, a nuba is a musical composition consisting of an ordered suite of vocal and instrumental pieces built around five movements whose rhythm progresses from very slow to very light and which are divided into two theoretical parts, the first comprising the first three movements ' and the second, the last two '.
The structure of a typical nuba :
  1. Mšālyā : an unmeasured instrumental prelude that introduces and develops the main mode and neighboring modes used in its development. It also introduces the audience into its mood and plays the role of a rhythmic introduction to the tūšiyya.
  2. Tūšiyya : instrumental ouverture composed of several patterns in which follow a series of rhythmic signatures recalling the five movements that form the nuba.
  3. * Rythmic cycle :
  4. ** Mîzān əl-bašraf ǧwāb "instrumental"
  5. ** Mîzān əl-inqilāb
  6. ** Mîzān əl-qṣîd ǧwāb "instrumental"
  7. ** Mîzān əl-inṣirāf / əl-meẖles
  8. Mšālyā :
  9. Kūrsi al-mṣeddar : a melodic and rhythmic pattern that introduces the first movement.
  10. * Rythmic cycle :
  11. ** Mîzān əl-qṣîd ǧwāb "instrumental"
  12. Kūrsi al-mṣedrayn : a melodic and rhythmic pattern that separates two mṣeddar-s.
  13. Mṣeddar : vocal and instrumental piece.
  14. * Rythmic cycle :
  15. ** Singing : mîzān əl-qṣîd qūl
  16. ** Instrumental answer : mîzān əl-qṣîd ǧwāb
  17. Kūrsi al-bṭāyḥī : a melodic and rhythmic pattern that introduces the second movement.
  18. * Rythmic cycle :
  19. ** Mîzān əl-bašraf ǧwāb "instrumental"
  20. Bṭāyḥī : vocal and instrumental piece.
  21. * Rythmic cycle :
  22. ** Singing : mîzān əl-bašraf qūl
  23. ** Instrumental answer : mîzān əl-bašraf ǧwāb
  24. Kūrsi əl -derǧ : a melodic and rhythmic pattern that introduces the third movement.
  25. * Rythmic cycle :
  26. ** Mîzān əl-derǧ
  27. Derǧ : vocal and instrumental piece.
  28. * Rythmic cycle :
  29. ** Mîzān əl-derǧ
  30. Istiḥbār : Unmeasured vocal improvisation where the musician displays his inspiration and his virtuosity.
  31. Tūšiyyet əl-inṣirāfāt : instrumental interlude introducing the fourth movement. In its absence, the kūrsi əl-inṣirāf takes its place.
  32. * Rythmic cycle :
  33. ** Mîzān əl-inṣirāf
  34. Inṣirāf : vocal and instrumental piece.
  35. * Rythmic cycle :
  36. ** Mîzān əl-inṣirāf
  37. Meẖles : vocal and instrumental piece.
  38. * Rythmic cycle :
  39. ** Mîzān əl-meẖles
  40. Tūšiyyet əl -kamāl : Instrumental piece ending the nuba. It may also serve to introduce another nuba.

    Nubat əl-inqilābāt

It is a suite composed of vocal and instrumental pieces in which different modes and rhythmic cycles follow one another, mīzān ə-sofyān, mîzān əl-bašrāf ǧwāb and bašrāf qūl, mîzān əl-Gūbbāḥī and mîzān əl-inṣirāf ).

Slisla

Slisla refers to a kind of nubat əl-inqilābāt in which pieces evolve in the same rhythmic cycle, such as slislet mîzān əl-qṣîd, slislet mīzān ə-ṣofyān, slislet mīzān əl-bašraf or slislet mīzān əl-inṣirāf. Each slisla begins with a mšālyā and a tūšiyya, and ends with a meẖles.

Qadriyya

It is a small vocal piece composed in a mîzān əl-inṣirāf often used to close a classical nuba.
Qadriyya-s are found in seven modes including mawwāl, zīdān, ğārkā, raml əl-Māya, ‘Irāq and sīkā.

Representative artists

Algeria

Composers

Current celebrities

Famous performers