Sanaa (music)

The sanâa or sanâa of Algiers (arabic: الصّنعة, ə-Ṣan'a) or simply the Andalusian, refers to the Algerian Arab-Andalusian classical repertoire of the school of Algiers, and which tradition relates to

Origin and meaning#

Sanâa or san’a means “musical mastery”, This is the specific name attributed in Algeria to the Andalusi nubah of Algiers, to be distinguished from the Gharnati of Tlemcen and the Malouf of Constantine. However, the sanâa of Algiers shares many similarities with the Gharnati of Tlemcen. The schism between them occurred by 1946, with the creation of the Arab-Andalusian classical orchestra of Radio d’Alger.

Modes#

The sanaa musical system is a modal system, based on sixteen modes (الطبع: Ṭabʿ, الطبوع: pl. tūbūb’) which are divided into two main groups : principal modes, defined on the basis of seven istiḥbār (vocal and instrumental semi-improvisations), and derived modes. # Istiḥbār Mawwāl : ##* Mawwāl (الموال) ##** Dīl (الذيل) ##** Raṣd ə-Dīl (رصد الذيل) ##** Māya (الماية) # Istiḥbār Zīdān : ##* Zīdān (الزيدان) ##** Raml (الرمل) ##** Mǧənba (المجنبة) # Istiḥbār Raml əl-Māya : ##* Raml əl-Māya (رمل الماية) ##** Raṣd (الرصد) # Istiḥbār al-‘Iraq : ##* ‘Iraq (العراق) ##** Ḥsīn (الحسين) ##** Ġrīb (الغريب) ##** Ġrībat əl-Ḥsīn (غريبة الحسين) # Istiḥbār Ǧārkā : ##* Ǧārkā (الجاركاه) # Istiḥbār Sīkā : ##* Sīkā (السيكاه) # Istiḥbār Məzmūm : ##* Məzmūm (المزموم) The French musicologist, Jule Rouanet, added other modes considered as lost : * Asbaʿayn (الاصبعين) * Ḥsīn Aṣīl (الحسين الاصيل) * Ḥsīn Ṣabā (الحسين صبا) * Ḥsīn ʿUšəyrān (الحسين عشيران) * Iṣbahān Kabīr (الاصبهان الكبير) * Iṣbahān Ṣaġir (الاصبهان الصغير) * Rahāwi (الرهاوي) * Raml əl-ʿAšiyya (رمل العشية) * Māya Fāriġ (الماية الفارغ) * ʿUššāq (العشّاق)

Rhythmic system#

The rhythmic system of the sanaa takes into account percussion, melody and prosody rhythms, which distinguishes it from the Andalusian muwashshah whose rhythm is based exclusively on the music. The rhythm of the percussion is relatively simple:

The nuba#

The oldest elements of the Andalusian repertoire are organized into large suites (nûba (arabic: النوبة), pl. nubât (arabic: النوبات)) consisting of different vocal and instrumental mouvement of different tempi and percussive cycles. The Algerian nuba repertoire is modular, each one is based on one main musical mode (tab’) which gives it its name. We identify twelve complete nuba and four which are incomplete.