Damascus-SANA
The late great Sabah Fakhri said about religious qidoud, “Its topic touches the strings of the heart and elevates the taste, the hum of its melodies.. As for researching its content, it needs a great effort due to the difficulty of achieving its texts and the accuracy of transcribing its melodies.. This model is cherished by the Syrian heritage, and it is in the forefront along with Muwashah, Mawal, and Improvised Poem.
The religious tale of al-Qudud began when Aleppo’s musical heritage was transmitted orally from generation to generation, even with the advent of specialized books, because they believed that singing is a listening art that can only be taken from the mouth of the teacher, just like the Arab heritage, where these qudud were transmitted frequently and reached us in their craftsmanship or close to the original.
The zikr circles and the corners of the Sufi orders in Aleppo played an important role in the spread of religious qidud, and chanting troupes arose in it, which is a group of vocalists “the chief of the dhikr, the wings and the assistants.”
One of the most famous places in Aleppo was also the house of Sheikh Omar al-Batsh, the composer of the most famous muwashshah from 1885-1950, and he was one of the singers of the crescent corner.
In one group, Sheikh Al-Batsh met the famous singers, composers and dancers of Al-Samah, namely Sabri Mudallal, Abdel Qader Hajjar and Bahjat Hassan. As for Haj Sobhi Al-Hariri, who was the head of more than one male circle in Aleppo, the most important of which was the Crescent Circle. Maqam and rhythm sciences.
At the hands of Sobhi Al-Hariri, who became a professional singer, and went to the theater to sing accompanied by the band, including his two students, Muhammad Khairy and Abdul Rahman Attia, who became major singers of Aleppo.
And to find out more about the details of religious qidoud among the musician Muhammad Qadri Dalal in his book (The Religious Qudoud), which is a historical and musical research on al-Qudud al-Halabi.
As for the forms on which religious codification is formulated, Qadri Dalal indicated that they are three: the first is a melodic text of mechanical music, the second is a religious poetic text in classical on zajal, or vice versa, a religious poetic text eloquent over another like it.
Regarding the first form, Qadri Dalal explained that the people of Aleppo, because of their strong love for music and singing, were not convinced by the zajal or eloquent poetic texts, so they worked on other texts, but rather moved them to mechanical melodies. For his singing in the solfege way, and this color needs a poet who is familiar with music and rhythm to imitate the melody in poetic language.
As for the characteristics of the religious or ghazal al-Qudud al-Halabi, it is the ease and its origin is popular songs that are easy to melody suitable for all occasions and celebrations, while Qadri Dalal showed the link between religious and non-religious qid, as he showed the existence of a reciprocal relationship between the two faces, as we can have a non-religious popular text that is formulated on it, and vice versa. correct.
One of the most famous Syrian religious poets is Sheikh Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi al-Dimashqi, who died in 1720. He is a mystic poet and a genius composer who treated all forms of religious chanting, as many of the melodies of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus are attributed to him, including the melody of the collective call to prayer and the famous and audible call to prayer to this day.
Among the poets are also Sheikh Omar Al-Yafi, Yusuf Al-Qarqali, Sheikh Al-Homsi Amin Al-Jundi, Sheikh Abu Al-Huda Al-Sayadi and Muhammad Al-Nashar. Among the poets are Aisha Al-Ba’ouniyah of Damascus, Umm Muhammad Al-Talawiya and many others.
In the religious book of Qudud, he documented about 129 religious and worldly qids, and Qadri Dalal presented their texts and some of their biography, showing the relationship between them and how contemporary singers and singers formulated their songs and tunes in the manner of this or that qid and outlined the melodies and maqamat of these quds and their rhythms.
Among the religious Qudud (Abu al-Zahra a Prophet) from the position of Rast and (Make all your time joys) the position of Jahar Kah and (Love in Sincerity of Intention) the position of the culmination of Iraq and (the universe has lit up from you) the position of Ajam and (You are the copy of the universes) the position of Hazam and has (Oh The Imam of the Messengers is my support - Maqam Hijaz Isfahan.
Rasha Mahfoud
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