Orchestre al-Brihi de Fès

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Orchestre al-Brihi de Fès is an orchestra from Fez in Morocco that plays Andalusian-Moroccan music, known under the name al-âla. Little is known about the ensemble itself, but its recordings show what it plays: the nuba, a musical form from the Maghreb, found in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. As the name indicates, it goes back to the music of Al-Andalus. The name nuba comes from the musician's waiting behind a curtain until the curtain man said it was his turn.

Music and breakthrough

According to tradition there were originally twenty-four nubat, one for every hour of the day. A nuba uses one tab' per performance, comparable to a maqam or key, and contains several instrumental pieces and above all sung pieces with accompaniment. The ensemble consists of oud, violins, rabab, nay, qanun, tambourine and darbuka, and the instrumentalists also form the choir. In Morocco there are eleven nubat, which were collected and ordered towards the end of the eighteenth century by the musician Al Haïk of Tetouan. They are so long that a Moroccan nuba is rarely played in full.

Influence

The orchestra's recordings make that audible: Nûba Gharîbat Al-Husayn from 1989, and later the complete editions Nûba al-Istihlal from 2012 with a running time of almost eight hours, and nuba al-hijaz al-msharqi from 2014. In this way the orchestra preserves a centuries-old musical memory of the Mediterranean, and is an important source for anyone who wants to hear how Arabic and Spanish music touched one another.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1989Nûba Gharîbat Al-Husayn: Al-Âla: Musique Andaluci-Marocaine
• 2012Anthologie al-âla, Maroc : Nûba al‐Istihlal (Version intégrale / Durée 7h40)
• 2014Anthologie al-âla, maroc : nuba al‐hijaz al‐msharqi (Musique andaluci‐marocaine, version intégrale)