I don't recall how or when this tape fell into my hands. It contains some nice solo and group amdah (praise poetry in honor of Prophet Muhammad) and some solo and group Qur'an recitation. Melodies and cadences are very Moroccan in character. (Middle Eastern styled recitations and religious song are also common in Morocco, so it's nice to find some of that down-home religious sound).
Particularly lovely is the group recitation of Qur'an 2:284-286 (track 3). I'm fascinated with group recitation of the Qur'an, something I've heard only in a Moroccan context. Since there are no set melodies associated with the text of the Qur'an, I always wonder how reciting groups stay together in pitch and time. Here, it sounds like there is one primary reciter and the rest of the group follows his lead.
For those of you commemorating Eid al-Miloud (a.k.a. Mawlid or Milad en-Nabi or the Prophet's Birthday), may your celebration be filled with love, remembrance & blessing!
1) Madh 1 (group)
2) Madh 2 (group)
3) Quran 2-284-286 (group)
4) Qur'an 25- 58-77 (solo - cuts out during verses 60-61)
5) Madh 3 (group)
6) Madh 4 (solo)
7) Madh 5 (group)
Get it here.
thank you for the tape and for the good wishes
ReplyDeleteCorrecto mundo. The celebration of the Day of The Birth of Prophet Mohammed was spot-on.
DeleteI might elaborate more about the recitation, even if I'm not a Muslim myself. So, yeah... 'ere it is, good sire:
When a group recitation of Quran begins, the lead reciter (also called Moqhre'e/ Moratel), takes one of the seven readings known in Islamic art of recitation as his way of reading the holy text, and 'entonates' this into what Muslims refer to as 'Tajwid'/ 'Tarteel'.
There is a difference between these two styles. The first is based majorly on stops, elongated word endings, stresses, and such articulations also present in the Torah's (and of course, the Bible's) hymns and psalms. But, the other style is based solely on the reader's ability to go solo; sometimes transcending into another realm beyond the read word for a long time. Some reciters do have a tendency to repeat again and again whatever they've already read and that's when you know they're enjoying their voice. It's a blessing given to but a few, I guess, and a rather lucrative way to make money in religious ceremonies all over the Middle-east (esp. Egypt).
I hope this following link would not set you chopping zzz's. Enjoy:
http://microtonal.tripod.com/music/papers/quran.html
Moreover: it's a great cassette. Many thanks.
H.H.
EID MUBARAK TO ALL.
ReplyDeleteBakra Mandi Cow Mandi