{"id":2445,"date":"2017-09-05T11:47:28","date_gmt":"2017-09-05T15:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.harvard.edu\/loebmusic\/?p=2445"},"modified":"2021-07-06T14:08:06","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T18:08:06","slug":"arabic-78-rpm-records-collection-a-newly-catalogued-treasure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/loebmusic\/2017\/09\/05\/arabic-78-rpm-records-collection-a-newly-catalogued-treasure\/","title":{"rendered":"Arabic 78 RPM Records Collection: A Newly-Catalogued Treasure"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the shelves of Loeb Music Library lie treasures. The 78rpm Arabic records collection<\/a> is only one of many. The collection contains over 600 records belonging to the Nah\u1e0dah era (Arab renaissance) of the early twentieth century. The recordings represent voices and instruments that shaped the music scene and aesthetic taste during the period between 1910 and 1950. The collection joins another of newer Arabic LP records.<\/p>\n

The discs feature recordings of famous performers and composers who are recognized for their distinguished contribution to Arabic music, such as vocalist Y\u016bsuf Al-Manyal\u0101w\u012b (1847-1911), Sayyid Al- \u1e62aft\u012b (1875-1939) who was nicknamed the master of dawr (a form of Arabic music), Umm Kulth\u016bm (1904-1975), and Faraj Allah Bay\u1e0d\u0101, who established Baidaphon records company, the first of its kind in the Arab world in early twentieth century. It also features shadowed and forgotten voices such as A\u1e25mad afand\u012b Al-M\u012br, Na\u02bb\u012bm Sam\u02bb\u0101n, and many others. That era also marks the first recordings of women vocalists such as Mun\u012brah Al-Mahdiyyah (1884-1965), \u02bbAliy\u0101 Al-A\u1e6drash, and Laure Dacc\u0101sh.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jaddid\u012b y\u0101 nafs \u1e25a\u1e93ak. I-II Gaddidi ya nafs al-Mar\u1e25\u016bm al-Shaykh Y\u016bsuf al-Manyal\u0101w\u012b (CRG 60061),\u00a0AWM 78-60<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

One of the most important names of that period was the violinist S\u0101m\u012b Al-Shaww\u0101 who introduced the violin to the traditional Arabic music ensemble (takht). Al-Shaww\u0101 performed with Y\u016bsuf Al-Manyal\u0101w\u012b and Abd Al-\u1e24ay Hilm\u012b whose voices were preserved on Gramophone Monarch Records and famous Baidaphon records.<\/p>\n\n\t\t