The ''Qudud Al-Halabiya'' (, literally "musical measures of

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

") are traditional Syrian songs combining lyrics in

Classical Arabic Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic () is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notably in Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid literary texts such as poetry, e ...

based on the poetry of Al-Andalus, particularly that in ''

muwashshah ''Muwashshah'' ( ' ' girdled'; plural '; also ' 'girdling,' pl. ') is a strophic poetic form that developed in al-Andalus in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. The ', embodying the Iberian rhyme revolution, was the major Andalusi inno ...

'' form, with old religious melodies collected mainly by Aleppine musicians. Their themes are most often love, longing and spirituality. At the 16th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in December 2021, the entire set of songs was included into the UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list as

Intangible cultural heritage An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. In ...

History

Qudud Halabiya originated in

al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

. However, it was formed as a musical genre in the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

, mainly in the city of

. It was developed by the musicians in Aleppo, based on secular, folk and religious songs. During the 20th century, Qudud Halabiya further developed and popularized by many Aleppine musicians including Omar al-Batsh (1885–1950), Abdul Qader al-Hajjar (1917–1993), Bakri al-Kurdi (1909–1978), Bakri Rajab (1910–1979), Sabri Moudallal (1918-2006), Sabah Fakhri (1933-2021), Mohammad Khairy (1935-1981), etc. Contemporary Qudud Halabiya performers include Mohammad Qadri Dallal, Shadi Jamil, Nihad Najjar, Hamam Khairy,

Shahd Barmada Shahd ( or ; also romanized as Shahad or Shahed) is an Arabic feminine given name, which means 'pure honey’ or ‘honeycomb'.''Behind the Name''"Given Name Shahad" Retrieved on 28 January 2016. Notable people with the name include: * Shahad B ...

, Nadya Manfukh, Subhi Toufic, Ahmad Azrak etc.

Famous songs

"Ya Tira Tiri"

"Ya Tira Tiri Ya Hamama" (Fly, fly away, my dove) has been famously sung by Fairouz and Sabah Fakhri. It was also played by Abdallah Chahine on his Oriental piano.

References

{{UNESCO Oral and Intangible music Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity Arabic music Arabic and Central Asian poetics Vocal music Classical and art music traditions Song forms Music of Syria Aleppo

History

Famous songs

"Ya Tira Tiri"

See also

References