1. I am indebted to the American Research Center in Egypt, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research and the National Science Foundation for the grants which supported nine months of field research in Cairo (1977–1978) on which the present study is partly based. I am also grateful to Professor Dieter Christensen for having suggested the topic of this paper, and to Professor Harold Powers for his comments on an earlier draft.Google Scholar

2. This and other Arabic terms are transliterated according to the system published in the Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition (1965).Google Scholar

3. For a detailed examination of the musical characteristics of AMAA see Salwa El-Shawan, “Al-Mūsīḳa Al-‘Arabiyyah: A Category of Urban Music in Cairo, Egypt, 1927–1977” (Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1980).Google Scholar

4. A tak̲h̲t consisted of a small instrumental ensemble and, when warranted by the genre, a chorus of four or five male (in rare instances female) vocalists. The instrumental segment of the tak̲h̲t usually consisted of two to five of the following instruments: ‘ūd (a fretless short-necked lute with five or six pairs of strings); ḳānūn (a trapezoidal, plucked zither with 17–25 courses of three strings); nāy (an end-blown cane flute with six to seven holes); violin which was designated kamān or kamanj̲j̲ah; and riḳ (a round frame drum, approximately ten inches in diameter, with jingles).Google Scholar

Firḳah ensembles are distinguished from the tak̲h̲t by their size, instrumental makeup, and leadership patterns. In the firḳah, tak̲h̲t instruments, with the exception of the riḳ, are multiplied and new instruments are added. A firḳah may include from three to fifteen violins, one or two ḳānūn, ‘ūd, nāy, and one riḳ. Several instruments which were never used in the tak̲h̲t are also found in many firaḳ (plural of firḳah). These include: one or two cellos and a double bass. In addition, a flute, accordion, ṭablah (goblet-shaped drum), and bongo are occasionally included in the firḳah. Solo vocalists were the focal point of all firḳah performances up to 1967 when they were replaced, in some ensembles, by a large chorus of usually twelve men and twelve women. For more detail on the structure and role of tak̲h̲t and firḳah ensembles, see Salwa El-Shawan, “Al-Mūsīḳa Al-‘Arabiyyah: A Category of Urban Music in Cairo, Egypt, 1927–1977” (Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1980).Google Scholar

5. Al-turāt̲h̲ is one of the sub-categories of AMAA. It “… designates the ‘traditional’ and ‘old’ repertoire. The temporal boundaries of al-turāt̲h̲ are not fixed. Thus, during the 1930s and 1940s, AMAA's producers and consumers used the term al-turāt̲h̲ to refer to the ‘traditional’ repertoire composed and performed approximately up to the 1910s. During the 1960s and 1970s, the boundaries of al-turāt̲h̲, shifted to include the ‘traditional’ repertoire from the 1930s and 1940s.” (El-Shawan 1980:86).Google Scholar

6. A brief field trip in the Fall of 1981 revealed that the older ḥafaẓah are gradually being replaced by a younger generation of musicians who learned their repertoire directly from them.Google Scholar

7. Al-mūsīḳa al-s̲h̲ā‘i‘ah (widespread music), also designated al-mūsīḳa al-dārid̲j̲ah (colloquial music), al-mūsīḳa al-k̲h̲afīfah (light music), and al-mūsīḳa al-yawmiyyah (daily music), shares some of AMAA's musical characteristics and partly overlaps with its subcategory al-d̲j̲adīd (the new), which includes AMAA “… that is deliberately and consciously open to non-traditional influences, including musical styles and techniques outside the sphere of Arabic music altogether” (El-Shawan 1980:86). The growth of al-mūsīḳa al-s̲h̲ā'i‘ah was enhanced during the 1930s and 1940s by the then new media: radio and song-films. It has been almost exclusively vocal. Like AMAA, it is organized according to the maḳām and iḳāᶜ principles of pitch and time organization. However, only a few maḳāmāt and iḳāᶜāt have been used by its composers. In particular, maḳāmāt bayātī, rast, hiᶜdjāz, and nahawand, and iḳāᶜāt maṣmūdī, dāriᶜdj and ͨal-waḥdah. Occasionally, Western harmony and Western popular dance patterns (e.g., rumba, samba, waltz) have been used. The repertoire of al-mūsīḳa al-s̲h̲ā'iᶜ ah has been usually performed by a solo vocalist accompanied by a large instrumental ensemble of Arabic and Western instruments such as the piano, accordion, electric guitar, electric organ, cello, double bass, timpani, flute, clarinet, trumpet and horn.Google Scholar