Music of Lebanon
Encyclopedia
The Music of Lebanon has a long history. Beirut
, the capital city of Lebanon
, has long been known, especially in a period immediately following World War II
, for its art and intellectualism. Several singers emerged in this period, among the most famous Fairuz
, Sabah
, Wadih El Safi
, Salwa Katrib, Majida El Roumi
, Nasri Shamseddine
, Ahmad Kaabour
, and Marcel Khalife
, an activist folk singer and oud
player. During the fifteen-year civil war
, most of the Lebanese music stars moved to Cairo
or Paris
, with a large music scene in Beirut only returning after 1992. Modern stars include Najwa Karam
, Diana Haddad
, Nawal Al Zoghbi, Haifa Wehbe
, Elissa
, Ragheb Alama
, Walid Toufic
, Wael Kfoury
, Fares Karam
, Amal Hijazi
, Nancy Ajram
, Melhem Zein
, Fadel Shaker, The 4 Cats, Assi El Helani
and Moniem who is well known for his extraordinary talent in playing the oud
, cello, guitar, qanoon, buzaq. He also writes lyrics, composes music and sings in many languages including English
.
The underground music scene is equally vibrant, spearheaded by the rock-pop duo Soap Kills
, but expanding to include a number of groups from a wide array of genres. Underground Arab hip hop
groups, such as the Rayess Bek are growing in popularity. Other Rock and Alternative Rock bands like Meen
, The Kordz and Mashrou' Leila
are also getting popular. The annual Fête de la Musique
, held in late June, brings the whole country out for organized and spontaneous underground concerts.
word which comes from the Spanish laud, which came from the Arabic word for the instrument, al-ud (meaning the branch of a tree). The lute is shaped like a half pear with a short fretted neck. It has a six courses of two strings and played with a plectrum, usually a trimmed eagle’s feather. This instrument creates a deep and mellow sound.
The mijwiz which literally means “double” in Arabic is a very popular instrument used in Lebanese music. It is a type of reed clarinet. It is played by breathing smoothly through a circular aperture at the end and by moving the fingers over the holes down the front of the tube in order to create the different notes. The minjjayrah is similar to the mijwiz, an open ended reed flute played in the same style. It is very popular among mountain villagers of Lebanon.
The tablah is a small hand-drum also known as the durbakke. Most tablahs are beautifully decorated, some with wood, tile or bone inlay, etched metal, or paintings in designs typical of the Near East. One of the most commonly played of the percussion instruments, the tablah is a membranophone of goat or fish skin stretched over a vase-shaped drum with a wide neck. Usually made of earthenware or metal, it is placed either under the left arm or between the legs and struck in the middle for the strong beats and on the edge for the sharp in-between beats.
The daff, also known as the rikk, is a popular instrument corresponding to the tambourine. It consists of a round frame, covered on one side with goat or fish skin. Pairs of metal discs are set into the frame to produce the jingle when struck by the hand. The sounds of this percussion instrument set the rhythm of much Arab music, particularly in the performances of classical pieces.
The word buzaq comes from the Turkish and occurs in bashi-buzuq, the name given to the Ottoman troops, literally meaning "burnt head" or "uprooted." The buzuq, which is an essential instrument in the Rahbani repertoire, is a hybrid instrument that is not classified among the classical instruments of Arab music or among those of Turkish music. However, this instrument may be looked upon as a larger and deeper-toned relative of the Turkish saz, to which it could be compared in the same way as the viola is to the violin in Western music. Before the Rahbanis popularized the use of this instrument, the buzaq had been associated with the gypsy music of Lebanon. A long-necked fretted string instrument, the buzuq is furnished with two metal strings which are played with a plectrum.The famous lebanese composers are : Zaki Nassif,Philemon Wehbe, The Rahbani Brothers,Romeo Lahoud,Walid Gholmieh,Boghos Gelalian.
Shakira's father is Lebanese.
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, the capital city of Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, has long been known, especially in a period immediately following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, for its art and intellectualism. Several singers emerged in this period, among the most famous Fairuz
Fairuz
Nouhad Wadi Haddad , famously known as Fairuz is a Lebanese singer who is widely considered to be the most famous living singer in the Arab world and one of the best known of all time...
, Sabah
Sabah (singer)
Sabah , Wadi Chahrour, Lebanon is a Lebanese singer and actress.She has released over 50 albums and has acted in 98 movies, as well as 20 stage plays...
, Wadih El Safi
Wadih El Safi
Wadih El Safi is a Lebanese singer songwriter, and actor of Assyrian/Syriac background. He is a Lebanese cultural icon, and is often called the "Voice of Lebanon"...
, Salwa Katrib, Majida El Roumi
Majida El Roumi
Magida El-Roumi was born in Kfarshima, Lebanon, on December 13, 1956. She is a Lebanese singer and a soprano, who started her musical career in the early 1970s when she participated in the talent show, Studio El Fan on Télé Liban and won the gold medal for best female singer...
, Nasri Shamseddine
Nasri Shamseddine
Nasri Shamseddine was a Lebanese singer and actor. His recordings remain very popular in the Arab world. He performed in several films and was associated for many years with the Lebanese singer Fairuz....
, Ahmad Kaabour
Ahmad Kaabour
Ahmad Kaabour is a Lebanese singer, music composer and actor renowned in the Arab world.-Background:Kaabour was born in Beirut in 1955 and was raised to the sound of his father's violin, which cultivated his musical background alongside other influences.In 1982, he graduated from the Lebanese...
, and Marcel Khalife
Marcel Khalife
Marcel Khalife is a Lebanese composer, singer and oud player. From 1970 to 1975, he taught at the conservatory in Beirut. In 1976, he created Al Mayadeen Ensemble and became famous all over the world for songs like Ummi , Rita w'al-Bunduqiya and Jawaz al-Safar , based on Mahmoud Darwish's...
, an activist folk singer and oud
Oud
The oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
player. During the fifteen-year civil war
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
, most of the Lebanese music stars moved to Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
or Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, with a large music scene in Beirut only returning after 1992. Modern stars include Najwa Karam
Najwa Karam
Najwa Karam is a Multi-Platinum, Best-Selling Lebanese Arab recording artist and Philanthropist. Najwa, widely known for her Mawwal and other musical talents, has surpassed musical and political limits in building her Empire, as she has effectively helped change the Arabic music industry in its...
, Diana Haddad
Diana Haddad
Diana Joseph Fouad Haddad is a Lebanese singer and television personality with Emirati citizenship. Mainly known as Diana Haddad, she is one of the most popular and successful singers in the Arab World and has been so since the late 1990s...
, Nawal Al Zoghbi, Haifa Wehbe
Haifa Wehbe
Haifa Wehbe born in Mahrouna, Lebanon on March 10, 1976 is a Lebanese model, actress, and singer born to a Lebanese father and Egyptian mother who rose to fame in the Arab world as runner up for Miss Lebanon and later through the release of her debut album Houwa El-Zaman in 2002...
, Elissa
Elissa (singer)
Elissar Zakaria Khoury simply known as Elissa is a Lebanese singer. She is known for her collaborations with well-known Arab and international artists, notably Ragheb Alama, Cheb Mami, Fadl Shaker, Chris DeBurgh and Gerard Ferrer.Born to a Lebanese father and a Syrian mother , her debut was in...
, Ragheb Alama
Ragheb Alama
Ragheb Subhi Alama is a Lebanese singer, composer, television personality, and philanthropist. Alama began his career in the 1980s when he appeared as a contestant on the talent show broadcast Studio El Fan, on which he received the Platinum Award...
, Walid Toufic
Walid Toufic
Walid Toufic , is a Lebanese singer who constantly made his big break in Egypt, and he is also known for performing in concerts and appearing in music videos.-Biography:...
, Wael Kfoury
Wael Kfoury
Michel Emile Kfoury , known by his stage name Wael Kfoury , is a well-known Lebanese singer, musician and songwriter.-Beginnings:...
, Fares Karam
Fares Karam
Fares Karam is a popular Lebanese singer who specializes in the Dabke style and Lebanese music in general, but with a more modernized twist....
, Amal Hijazi
Amal Hijazi
Amal Hijazi is a Lebanese singer, model and pop icon. She is currently one of the most active Lebanese singers and has given a number of concerts throughout the world and has made countless TV appearances. After her lengthy career as a fashion model, Hijazi released her debut album, Akher Gharam...
, Nancy Ajram
Nancy Ajram
Nancy Nabil Ajram is a multi-platinum Lebanese singer and Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. With the support of her father, Nancy began performing as a child and released her first studio album by the age of 15...
, Melhem Zein
Melhem Zein
Melhem Zein, also transliterated Melhem Zain is a well-known Lebanese pan-Arab singer. He is married to the daughter of Ali Salim al-Beidh, the former President of Democratic Republic of Yemen....
, Fadel Shaker, The 4 Cats, Assi El Helani
Assi El Helani
Mohammed El Helani , widely known as Assi El Helani , is a Lebanese singer who has been a major figure in the music scene of the Middle East since the 1990s. Assi's musical career officially started after winning the Art Studio TV Program for young artists at the age of 17.He has released more than...
and Moniem who is well known for his extraordinary talent in playing the oud
Oud
The oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
, cello, guitar, qanoon, buzaq. He also writes lyrics, composes music and sings in many languages including English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
The underground music scene is equally vibrant, spearheaded by the rock-pop duo Soap Kills
Soap Kills
Soapkills was an indie electro-pop band based in Lebanon. The group was formed in October 1997 when Zeid Hamdan and Yasmin Hamdan, both born in Beirut in 1976 but not related, decided to explore and combine their interest in classical Arabic song and electronic music.Currently a cult group in...
, but expanding to include a number of groups from a wide array of genres. Underground Arab hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
groups, such as the Rayess Bek are growing in popularity. Other Rock and Alternative Rock bands like Meen
Meen (band)
MEEN is a Lebanese rock band founded by Fouad and Toni Yammine in 2006. The band is best known for its humorous and sarcastic style, and most notably for performing in native Lebanese, not traditional Arabic.-Projects and involvements:...
, The Kordz and Mashrou' Leila
Mashrou' Leila
Mashrou’ Leila is a Lebanese seven-member alternative rock band. The band formed in Beirut, Lebanon in 2008 as a music workshop at the American University of Beirut...
are also getting popular. The annual Fête de la Musique
Fête de la Musique
The Fête de la Musique, also known as World Music Day, is a music festival taking place on June 21.-History:The idea was first broached in 1976 by American musician Joel Cohen, then employed by the national French radio station France Musique. Cohen proposed an all-night music celebration at the...
, held in late June, brings the whole country out for organized and spontaneous underground concerts.
word which comes from the Spanish laud, which came from the Arabic word for the instrument, al-ud (meaning the branch of a tree). The lute is shaped like a half pear with a short fretted neck. It has a six courses of two strings and played with a plectrum, usually a trimmed eagle’s feather. This instrument creates a deep and mellow sound.
The mijwiz which literally means “double” in Arabic is a very popular instrument used in Lebanese music. It is a type of reed clarinet. It is played by breathing smoothly through a circular aperture at the end and by moving the fingers over the holes down the front of the tube in order to create the different notes. The minjjayrah is similar to the mijwiz, an open ended reed flute played in the same style. It is very popular among mountain villagers of Lebanon.
The tablah is a small hand-drum also known as the durbakke. Most tablahs are beautifully decorated, some with wood, tile or bone inlay, etched metal, or paintings in designs typical of the Near East. One of the most commonly played of the percussion instruments, the tablah is a membranophone of goat or fish skin stretched over a vase-shaped drum with a wide neck. Usually made of earthenware or metal, it is placed either under the left arm or between the legs and struck in the middle for the strong beats and on the edge for the sharp in-between beats.
The daff, also known as the rikk, is a popular instrument corresponding to the tambourine. It consists of a round frame, covered on one side with goat or fish skin. Pairs of metal discs are set into the frame to produce the jingle when struck by the hand. The sounds of this percussion instrument set the rhythm of much Arab music, particularly in the performances of classical pieces.
The word buzaq comes from the Turkish and occurs in bashi-buzuq, the name given to the Ottoman troops, literally meaning "burnt head" or "uprooted." The buzuq, which is an essential instrument in the Rahbani repertoire, is a hybrid instrument that is not classified among the classical instruments of Arab music or among those of Turkish music. However, this instrument may be looked upon as a larger and deeper-toned relative of the Turkish saz, to which it could be compared in the same way as the viola is to the violin in Western music. Before the Rahbanis popularized the use of this instrument, the buzaq had been associated with the gypsy music of Lebanon. A long-necked fretted string instrument, the buzuq is furnished with two metal strings which are played with a plectrum.The famous lebanese composers are : Zaki Nassif,Philemon Wehbe, The Rahbani Brothers,Romeo Lahoud,Walid Gholmieh,Boghos Gelalian.
Shakira's father is Lebanese.