The prayers by the Maghreb region’s brotherhoods have remained alive at all times throughout history because of their protection and promotion by spiritual masters. Today, this tradition has been passed down to us in the form of devotional songs in Sufi ceremonies: the Sama’ (a spiritual concert) and Dhikr, or collective remembrance: “Listening to music has a divine effect which brings the heart closer to God. Those who listen to it spiritually shall reach Him,” Abul-Faid Dhu al-Nun al-Misrí (796-861).

The Sufi music of Al-Andalus, in addition to the great choral community sessions of Sama’, contain a dialogue between the instrumental solos, or taqsim, and the free soloist songs of inshad and muwwal. 

The Sufi music of Al-Andalus is an irreplaceable form of entertainment in the ambience of the mystical festival and the experience of expressing religious feeling. Through music and its qualities, exhilaration is sought until reaching a level of ecstasy. The music of Al-Andalus is related with everything inebriating: instruments used for virtuoso performances, glasses of wine and liquor in a figurative or real language, the rapture of perfumed gardens, lost love and affectionate friendship.

The Sufis sing religious music with true devotion, often with erotic texts that have mystical interpretations. On some occasions, the music is accompanied by instruments which make sounds that further their intention, increase inner joy and help perform reflection and contemplation. 

The muwwal conveys a poem, but the flow of its melody also instills listeners with emotion, an expression of affection and ethical meaning. These wonderful effects go so far as to model the character of the people who sing and listen to them at the right time, depending on their particular mood when listening.

In Arab music, the relationship between sounds, scales and cosmic forces is fundamental. These scales denote an affinity with the qualities of body and soul. 

Regarding the direct influence of music on human character and the listener’s psyche, Ibn Báya (1070-1138) stated in his Risalat al alhan (Epistle on Melodies): “Music is capable of influencing human temperament because of the synchronicity or concordance that supposedly exists amongst the different temperamental characters: choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholy, and the sounds of each of the strings on the oud.” 

The masters are familiar with the therapeutic nature of music through the modal melodies in the musical tradition of Al-Andalus. “When man listens to the notes in a melody, picks up an instrument, interprets them with the accompaniment of poetry and makes the effort to understand them, the music reaches the greatest depths of one’s being and purifies it.” 

Ibn Báya continues by discussing the concordance between sounds and human temperament: “If an affinity and concordance between characters is produced, the soul feels longing and acts by expanding its non-bodily spiritual quality when it feels joy, which is why the affability of its unbodily matter is able to flow.”

Instruments always maintain their original purpose of accompanying song, and alone they also evoke the echo of human expression of singing. Sounds in the ney are created by breathing and intelligence put to use through a hollow cane with mathematically distributed holes along it. As for the psaltery (qanun), everything relies on perfectly tuning its many strings and the touch of the fingers. Essential to the sound quality of the Arabic oud is its resonant body and the intensity with which the plectrum is strummed, whether lightly brushing the strings or striking sharp blows. When the bow is moved across the strings of the rabab and violas, our internal organs vibrate in synch with them. Drums immediately become hypnotic, paced to the beat of our hearts.

The song’s intention lies in the dynamics created between breath, song and flute. The strings of the Arabic oud and psaltery envelop their expressiveness. And together they achieve the balance, tranquility and introspection of the soul which the musician and listener need to complete the experience of an “inner journey.”

Performers:

The music accompanying these poems was taken from the tradition of Al-Andalus, from the era of the Alhambra. The love poems from the mystical Sufi texts are sung in them:  

Born in Tangiers, his education in singing began at the Zawiya (brotherhood) and later the Conservatory of Tangiers, until he was invited to become the first solo vocalist for the Conservatory Orchestra. He was awarded with the National Sufi Music Prize in the years of 1992 and 1993, with the group directed by Sheikh Mohammed El Mehdi Temsamani. A specialist in the music of Al-Andalus, he has mastered the viola of Al-Andalus played on the leg, as well as percussion instruments. Since 1994, he has collaborated with Eduardo Paniagua on the concerts and recordings of the Spanish-Moroccan group Ibn Báya, and later with the Ensemble Tre Fontane. He is currently directing his own music ensemble, called El Arabí.

Born in Tangiers, he earned his degree at that city’s Conservatory. He is a professor of violin for music from Al-Andalus and the top solo violinist for the Tangiers Conservatory Orchestra. He has also been a director of that Conservatory. A highly esteemed musician in Morocco, he has been invited by many groups and asked to take part in many recordings both inside and outside of his country. He is considered to be the finest violin specialist who performs using the traditional technique on the left leg.

Born in Madrid, Paniagua is a musician and architect who specializes in medieval Spanish music. He was the founding member of the music groups: Atrium Musicae (1966-1982) and Cálamus (1980-1994), both with extensive discographies. At present, he is the director of the groups Música Antigua and Ibn Báya. His most notable work is the anthological recording of the Canticles of King Alfonso X the Wide for the record labels SONY and PNEUMA, and the production and editing of his own record label PNEUMA specializing in Arab Spanish music heritage.