Digital opera has roots in electroacoustic works that integrate spatial soundscapes into performance, such as Kaija Saariaho’s L’amour de loin (2000, pictured above). Musicologist Anna Schürmer offers a broader view, tracing its history even further, suggesting its origins may precede electroacoustic sound. Schürmer links the evolution of digitally mediated works to the construction of larger 18th century theaters, where sound connected audiences across physical divides. Earlier multimedia-infused productions, like Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Die soldaten (1965), Harrison Birtwistle’s The mask of Orpheus(1986), Libby Larsen’s Frankenstein(1990), and Bill Viola’s The Tristan project (2004, in collaboration with the Los Angeles Philharmonic), are significant for their use of electronics. However, they fall short of utilizing digital sound sample processing. Additional antecedents include mid-20th century radio plays and performances where multimedia significantly shaped the auditory experience.
A production of Viola’s The Tristan project.
From Rihm’s Die Hamletmaschine.
The most prominent use of contemporary digital technology in opera lies in sound design, where digital processing techniques shape how audiences perceive sound within the performance space. This innovation builds on earlier milestones, including IRCAM (the French institute of research on music and sound) performances employing electronic or MIDI keyboards and voice, such as Wolfgang Rihm’s Die Hamletmaschine (1987) and various works by Karlheinz Stockhausen. In the 21st century, the digital manipulation of sound samples has become a staple–though often overlooked–in both contemporary and traditional operatic productions, with subtle amplification techniques further extending its reach.
This according to the new entry on digital opera by Megan Steigerwald Ille, in DEUMM Online.
Below is a performance of Die soldaten with music by Bernd Alois Zimmermann, along with an excerpt from Kaija Saariaho’s L’amour de loin sung by the soprano, Susanna Phillips.
The avant-garde artistic movement known as synchromism was founded in Paris in 1913 by the American modernist painters Morgan Russell and Stanton Macdonald-Wright. Initially focused on figurative art, the two artists, after relocating to the French capital, began to explore the properties and effects of color, drawing inspiration from the artistic currents that had emerged in the late 19th century. Russell coined the term “synchromism” by combining the word “symphony” with “chrome,” inspired by idea of color and music blending together. The resulting artwork, called synchromies, used the color scale in a manner similar to how notes are arranged in a musical composition. Synchromism, in its prismatic approach to space through the decomposition of light, is grounded in the belief that color and sound are analogous phenomena. Color, in this sense, can be orchestrated on canvas or paper in much the same way a composer arranges frequencies, timbres, and modulations in a musical score.
The idea that a painting could be conceived based on a predetermined chromatic range was circulating in the artistic manuals of the time. Russell seemingly drew on the ideas of Canadian painter Percyval Tudor-Hart, whose lectures he attended with Macdonald-Wright in Paris. Tudor-Hart believed that sounds and colors are similar, both in their psychological effects and in the way they are perceived. Convinced that exact physical and mathematical correspondences between the two phenomena could be demonstrated, he proposed that, just as musical octaves are based on the progressive increase in frequencies, a similar principle applies to color scales.
Morgan Russell’s Cosmic synchromy (1913–14).
When considering other sound parameters, he drew parallels between acoustics and optics: pitch corresponds to brightness, intensity to color saturation, and timbre to the tone of color. In traditional chromatic models, the colors of the spectrum are uniformly distributed around a circle. However, in the pattern proposed by Tudor-Hart, the three primary colors—red, yellow, and blue—are equidistant, as are the three secondary colors—orange, green, and violet (or purple). By inserting six intermediate or tertiary colors between the primaries and secondaries, a chromatic circle consisting of twelve colors is formed. If each sector of this circle corresponds to a semitone in music, one could theoretically construct major and minor scales of light frequencies by selecting a different color as the tonic for each scale.
Stanton Macdonald-Wright’s Stony river rippling, lightning flickering.
Macdonald-Wright’s Treatise on color, a self-published theoretical guide for the students at the Art Students’ League of Los Angeles, closely resembles the approach proposed by Tudor-Hart. In this work, Macdonald-Wright provides a detailed discussion on how to create color scales and demonstrates how chord inversions, transpositions, and modulations between keys can be achieved. To help readers visualize these concepts, he suggests imagining the twelve colors arranged along a keyboard, with each primary, secondary, or tertiary color corresponding to a specific note of the musical scale.
This according to the entry on synchromism by Cristina Santarelli in DEUMM Online.
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In Mexico, the feast of the Eucharist has been celebrated since at least the 17th and 18th centuries, marked by vibrant processions featuring a parade of iconic joker characters, including La Tarasca, El Diablo Cojuelo, giants, and Indigenous folk figures. These characters would dance their way through the cities, creating a lively spectacle. Central plazas became a bustling hub, filled with artisans and merchants who traveled from across the region. Many Indigenous people, dressed in traditional attire, performed dances and played various forms of music, contributing to the rich cultural atmosphere of the celebration.
Celebrating Día de Corpus in México.
Cathedral chapel masters were responsible for composing special musical pieces–such as songs, matins, and masses–for the Corpus Christi festival. This task was of great significance, according to the minutes preserved in the cathedral archives. The Día de Corpus (Day of Corpus Christi) became one of the most important festivals in Mexico, alongside the Natividad. By the 19th century, the festival grew even more popular, with composers such as José Mariano Elízaga and José Antonio Gómez continuing the tradition of composing music for the event. However, the Mexican Reform War and the conflict against the Second Empire (1863–1867) diminished the festival’s prominence. Over time, the custom of creating special music for the Corpus Christi festival gradually faded. Today, the festival is only observed in certain communities of southern Mexico, where processional dances and songs of praise are performed, much like those held in honor of regional patron saints.
Musical accompaniment to Día de Corpus celebrations in Panama.
Similar festivals are celebrated across Central America, particularly in Panama, where the event blends Catholic traditions with local customs and lively festivities. The celebration features theater, music, burlesque dances, and vibrant costumes and masks. In some communities, dances are performed on carpets made of flowers, enhancing the visual splendor of the occasion. After the procession, participants dance freely, gathering in the streets and in family homes to share food and drinks, reinforcing community connections. In certain celebrations, a day before the main event, a theatrical and musical performance reenacts the battle between good (represented by Michael the Archangel) and evil, personified by the devil and his followers, as they struggle for control over the human soul. The dances and other cultural expressions of Panama’s Corpus Christi festivals are included on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
This according to Diccionario enciclopédico de música en México (2006–2007). Find it in RILM Music Encyclopedias.
Watch a short video produced by UNESCO on the artistic expressions (including music and dance) of Panama’s Corpus Christi festivals below.
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The country singer, songwriter, actor, and businesswoman Dolly Parton was the fourth of twelve children in a family of sharecroppers in Sevierville, Tennessee, located in the Appalachian Mountains. Commenting on her childhood, Parton once said, “Everybody where we grew up had a hard time. We were mountain people. Most people were poor, but we didn’t realize that we were poor until some smart head said so. Everybody around us lived the same way, but you don’t think about that until you’re away. We had good parents, but we didn’t have all the big luxuries that I’m able to afford now. But I wouldn’t trade it for nothing.”
Surrounded by hymns, traditional mountain music, and popular music genres from the 1940s and 1950s, Parton began playing the guitar at a young age. By 10 years old, she was already performing regularly on radio and television shows in Knoxville, Tennessee, hosted by Orton Caswell (Cas Walker). In 1960, Parton traveled to Louisiana to record two rockabilly songs for the Goldband Records label. While still in high school, she performed at local venues, and after graduation, she moved to Nashville, where her uncle, the well-established songwriter Bill Owens, assisted her in finding work and refining her songwriting abilities.
Parton and Porter Wagoner on the set of their 1960s television show.
Parton achieved her first commercial success as a songwriter in Nashville in 1966 when she recorded her debut country record. Country singer Porter Wagoner invited her to become a regular partner on his television show and also produced her solo recordings, helping her establish a moderately successful career. Parton’s major breakthrough came when she recorded a cover of Muleskinner blues, followed by her original song Joshua, which reached number one on the Billboard country charts. In the early 1970s, Parton rose to become one of country music’s biggest female stars, crafting a public image that celebrated her Appalachian roots, such as in the songs The Appalachian trail and Coat of many colors, while also embracing a distinctly female perspective, showcased in songs such as Jolene.
Parton performs I will always love you.
In 1974, Dolly Parton made the bold decision to separate professionally from Porter Wagoner, taking full control of her solo career. This decision proved successful, as she soon achieved a string of number one hits, including her most famous composition, I will always love you (later covered by the pop singer Whitney Houston). By 1977, Parton began embracing a crossover pop sound with songs like Here you come again. A new manager played a key role in facilitating her transition to the larger pop market. Parton also ventured into Hollywood, playing a leading role in the 1980 film 9 to 5, followed by other films like Steel magnolias (1989). Her commercial success continued into the early 1990s, including the acclaimed Trio album with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, and Honky tonk angels with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette. In the mid-1990s, Parton shifted her musical style again, returning to more acoustic, bluegrass-inspired sounds reminiscent of her early work. Since the early 2000s, she has continued to release new albums, some of which were produced through her own record label.
Parton has been inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She has also received a National Medal of Arts in 2005 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 and is the recipient of over two dozen major country music industry awards.
Read the full free article on Dolly Parton in MGG Online.
As classic exponents of producer Phil Spector’s “wall of sound”, The Ronettes combined their striking beehive hairstyles and heavy mascara to add a tough, sultry edge to the girl-group genre. The trio, consisting of sisters Veronica and Estelle Bennett and their cousin Nedra Talley, were a group of multiracial women from New York’s Spanish Harlem, born during World War II. They began their musical journey as the Darling Sisters and by 1961, were performing a song-and-dance routine inspired by Chubby Checker’s version of The twist at the Peppermint Lounge. They later recorded for Colpix Records (1961–1962) under the name Ronnie and the Relatives, while also performing alongside disc jockey Murray the K’s (Murray Kaufman) rock shows and providing backup vocals for some of the era’s biggest pop stars.
Signed by Spector to his Philles label in 1963, the Ronettes achieved major success with their debut single, Be my baby, which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100. While their subsequent releases continued to showcase Spector’s signature production style, none managed to break into the Top 20. By 1966, Spector had lost interest in recording and married Ronnie Bennett. Following a few unsuccessful attempts to launch her solo career, the couple divorced in 1974.
The Ronettes with producer Phil Spector (1963).
Classifying The Ronettes’ sound strictly as pop overlooks the complexities of their artistry, particularly since they did not write the lyrics or produce the instrumental layers that accompanied their vocals. Instead, by examining how their vocal style and visual presentation diverged from the polished tone and conformity typical of 1960s pop girl groups, their contribution may be recognized as a subtle form of rock and roll disguised as pop. The Ronettes crafted a sound and image that embodied proto-rock transgressions and a quasi-drag “bad girl” persona. This blurring of genre boundaries reveals that the distinctions between sonic categories are often more fluid than listeners may acknowledge, especially during the formative years of rock, with The Ronettes skillfully navigating and challenging these boundaries.
This according to the entry on The Ronettes in the Encyclopedia of recorded sound (2005, find it in RILM Music Encyclopedias and “It’s time to recognize The Ronettes as rock and roll pioneers” by Hilarie Ashton (NPR Music [12 March 2018]; RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2018-46676).
Below is an AI colorized version of The Ronettes performing Be my baby in 1966.
Arriving in India in the mid-1930s in search of performance opportunities and a better quality of life, African American jazz musicians significantly contributed to the growth of jazz and Western popular music in the country. In 1935, Bombay’s premier hotel, the Taj Mahal, hired the first all-African-American jazz band to play in India. The eight-member band, led by Leon Abbey, a violinist from Minnesota, included a host of experienced musicians who had performed alongside jazz legends. Their success and influence attracted local Anglo-Indian and Goan musicians, who began to perform jazz in the cosmopolitan centers of India. In Bombay, Goan musicians incorporated Western popular music into local cabaret performances and even into early film songs. In this context, African American musicians played a pivotal role in broadening the landscape of Western popular music in India, shaping early Bombay cabaret songs and the hybrid sounds of the emerging film industry.
Goan jazz musician Rudy Cotton.
Members of Duke Ellington’s orchestra in India with tabla player Chatur Lal.
The presence of jazz orchestras in Bombay during the 1940s and 1950s highlighted various historical connections. These orchestras supplied essential musical resources for creating cabaret scenes in Hindi-language films. African American jazz musicians residing in India inspired local musicians to join urban jazz orchestras, which led to the development of a vibrant jazz cabaret economy. This economy was centered around recording in film studios, collaborating with film music composers, performing as backdrop dance bands in movies, and engaging in ghost composing and arranging.
Furthermore, ragtime and jazz were performed in Calcutta’s hotels and clubs, which were vital to the social lives of the elite during colonial India. While the musicians were often European or American, especially when foreign bands were brought in for a season, some ensembles included Anglo-Indian members. These Anglo-Indian musicians served as intermediaries, transmitting theoretical knowledge of Western harmony and teaching the use of Western instruments to subsequent generations of musicians in post-independence India. They were also the first Indian musicians to perform jazz and blues standards in Calcutta and Bombay around World War II, playing a significant role in the spread of jazz and blues music throughout the country.
This according to “Orchestras and musical intersections with regimental bands, blackface minstrel troupes, and jazz in India, 1830s–1940s” by Bradley G. Shope, Global perspectives on orchestras: Collective creativity and social agency, ed. by Tina K. Ramnarine (New York City: Oxford University Press, 2017, 226–241; RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2017-33724), and “Jazz and race in colonial India: The role of Anglo-Indian musicians in the diffusion of jazz in Calcutta” by Stéphane Dorin (Jazz research journal 4/2 [November 2010] 123–140; RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2010-19314).
Teresa Teng (鄧麗君, born Deng Lijun) was one of the most influential singers in Asia during the Cold War era. She rose to fame in 1960s Taiwan, and by 1971, at the age of 18, shifted the focus of her career from Taiwan to Hong Kong. This decision would become the most important chapter in Teng’s music career, as she would live in Hong Kong for next 20 years. Her preference for Hong Kong was expressed in the release of two singles, namely Night of Hong Kong (香港之夜,1982) and Hong Kong, Hong Kong (香港香港, 1989), which she recorded specifically for her local fans. Teng’s other well-known songs also told the stories of small rural towns in China, where many of her other loyal fans lived.
Teng recalled that as a second-generation migrant from China to Taiwan, she frequently experienced discrimination by Taiwanese people towards her. Unable to overcome of the feeling of being a stranger there, she found safe harbor in Hong Kong‘s immigrant community. Teng’s rise to become one of Asia’s most influential singers is also the story of Hong Kong’s expanding political and economic influence in the region, along with the cross-cultural appeal of Hong Kong’s popular culture during the Cold War period. A series of albums entitled Island love songs (島國之情歌), produced when Teng was employed by PolyGram Music in Hong Kong, as well as her two albums in Cantonese, and the album Light exquisite feeling, which promoted the idea of a transnational “imagined China”, aurally evoke a sense of Hong Kong’s colonial modernity.
Celebrate the first day of women’s history month by reading “Love songs from an island with blurred boundaries: Teresa Teng’s anchoring and wandering in Hong Kong” by Chen-Ching Cheng, in Made in Hong Kong: Studies in popular music (Routledge, 2020). Find it in RILM Abstracts.
Below, Teresa Teng sings one of her most popular songs The moon represents my heart (released in 1977).
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Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor’s expressive cover of the ballad Nothing compares 2 U, originally composed by Prince for his 1985 album The Family, turned into a worldwide hit in 1990. The song, which explored the pain of separation, received platinum and gold album awards in numerous countries and became O’Connor’s biggest hit. Her album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got (featuring Nothing compares 2 U) was one of the world’s best selling albums of 1990 and was nominated for four Grammys. Sinéad spent parts of her youth in boarding schools and busking locally. At age 20, she moved to London and released her debut album The Lion and the Cobra, which went certified gold in the United States in 1987.
In 1992, she appeared on the popular U.S. sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live where famously she drew attention to sexual abuse in the Catholic Church by tearing up a picture of the Pope on live national television. Some of her songs explored her experiences with abuse as a child and denounced war. Sinéad also publicly campaigned for women’s rights and especially the right to abortion in Ireland. Together with musicians from the bands Coldplay, Led Zeppelin, One Direction, Queen, U2, and others, she took part in Bob Geldof’s Band Aid 30 project in 2014 to raise funds to combat the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. The documentary Nothing Compares, about her life and career, directed by Kathryn Ferguson, was released in 2022 and received two British Independent Film Awards (BIFA).
In Sinéad’s final interview in 2023, she discussed how in childhood she realized the power of music and her voice. As she described, “My first musical memory is my father singing to me [the folk ballad] Scarlet ribbons. I just remember being blown away . . . lying on my pillow and my dad singing this song to me. I was like, ‘Oh my God, the angels came in the window.’ My mother was a very violent woman, not a healthy woman; she was physically, verbally, psychologically, spiritually, and emotionally abusive. My mother was a beast. And I was able to soothe her with my voice. I was able to use my voice to make the devil fall asleep.”
Sinéad O’Connor passed away in London on 26 July 2023. Read her obituary in MGG Online and stay tuned for a full article.
Listen to Don’t give up, recording that features O’Connor with Willie Nelson below.
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The Hollywood Bowl is one of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with seating for 18,000 people. The first concert season was held in 1922 and since that time, some of the greatest performers have appeared in this venue, including such diverse artists as Jascha Heifetz, Otto Klemperer, Leonard Bernstein, Judy Garland, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Beatles, The Doors, The Who, Ben Harper, and Halsey.
The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra was founded by Leopold Stokowski in 1945 and gained immediate recognition for its distinctive sound and exciting programs. In the 1950’s the orchestra was conducted by Carmen Dragon, who introduced the popular evening concerts. In 1991, John Mauceri took over the orchestra and greatly enhanced its proud tradition. The repertoire of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra is quite diverse, ranging from Mozart to Motown. Each season, the orchestra can be heard performing Broadway favorites, film music, pop, jazz, classical music, and premieres by living composers. The specialty of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, however, has been the live performance of film music that previously had been heard only on original soundtracks. Beginning in the early 1990s, the Hollywood Bowl (and Los Angeles Philharmonic) have restored and performed a number of neglected or lost film scores. Some of this repertoire has been performed live by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra including the theme to Gone with the wind, the Dream ballet sequence from Oklahoma!, the Born in a trunk sequence from A star is born (1954), and many others.
Learn more in Conductors and composers of popular orchestral music: A biographical and discographical sourcebook (2013). Find it in RILM Music Encyclopedias.
Below is a medley of music from well-known movies performed by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
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The library of the Institut du Monde Arabe (Arab World Institute) in Paris is home to an extensive collection of writings on music from the Arab world, a region stretching from the Atlas Mountains to the Indian Ocean. This series of blog posts highlights selections of this collection, along with abstracts written by RILM staff members contained in RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, the comprehensive bibliography of writings about music. Since the onset of the Arab Spring in the early 2010s, the Institut du Monde Arabe has hosted exhibitions and concerts featuring musicians and artists who are at the heart of the cultural production in the region.
Illustration by artist Amado Alfadni featuring the young female protestor Alaa Salah, nicknamed the “Kandaka” of the Sudanese revolution of 2018-2019 for her role in mobilizing protesters through revolutionary chants. Kandaka refers to the name of ancient Nubian queens and the design is a remake of the old perfume label “Bint El Sudan” (the daughter of Sudan). Illustration used with permission.
“It takes a revolution/To find a solution” - From the song “Revolution” by the Palestinian hip-hop band DAM.
Revolutions and popular movements are characterized by a distinct soundscape defined by chants, songs, and the rhythmic movements of collective bodies. The act of protesting in the Arab world is often encapsulated in the idiom kasir ğidār al-ṣamt (to break the barrier of silence); in contrast, the authorities’ act of oppression is referred to as an act of silencing.
Since the turn of the 20th century, the peoples of the Arab world have composed, disseminated, and rendered songs and chants against all forms of domestic, foreign, secular, and religious oppression. Musicians, vocalists, urban poets, and rappers all moved people to act in spaces, public and virtual. In music literature, these songs and chants are referred to by different names: al-aġānī al-ṯawrīyaẗ (revolutionary songs), aġānī al-iḥtiğāğ (protest songs), al-aġānī al-multazimaẗ (socially committed songs), and al- aġānī al-waṭanīyaẗ (patriotic songs). With the rise of communist and leftist movements in the Arab world during the 1960s and 1970s, aesthetic judgment was defined by the level of social and political consciousness of music and songs.
The history of independence and protest movements in the Arab world is interlinked with a crackdown on civil liberties and freedom of expression, and is marked by the movement of peoples across regional borders and beyond. Writers on music have commented on the phenomena of protest songs in their home countries as well as the circulation of songs across borders and cross-cultural influences among Arab diasporas in exile, acknowledging the continuous connections between communities at home and elsewhere.
Given the cosmopolitan contexts in which musicians and poets work and perform, the musical and poetic production of non-Arabic-speaking peoples of the region is noteworthy: The Algerian Kabyle vocalist Lounès Matoub (1956–98) singing in Kabyle, youths living abroad rap in European languages, and Moroccan urban poets known as Jil Lklam (Generation of Words) mix the languages and dialects of Amazigh and Arabic, fusing them with expressions in French, English, and Spanish.
The music that carries protest and political themes is as diverse as the dialects and languages present in the Arab world. The patriotic and nationalist songs of the first half of the 20th century draw from the rich repertoire of al-qaṣīdaẗ al-ʽamūdīyaẗ (vertical poetry), fusing with local melodies and European-style orchestration and arrangement. Other songs rely on local dialects and musical sensibilities to appeal to the broader masses. Among the anti-colonial and independence songs, the Tunisian “Tūnis al-yūm brāt mi al-tankīdaẗ” stands out, sung here by legendary Tunisian vocalist Saliha (1914–58).
Tunisian musician Ṣalīḥaẗ performs “Tūnis al-yūm birāt mi al-tankīdaẗ”
The songs of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s that offer social and political commentary rely on local folk styles and instruments, as can be observed in the revolutionary songs of the Sabreen group (Palestine) and the revolutionary anthems of the Firqaẗ al-Ṭarīq (Iraq). The songs of Nass el Ghiwane (Morocco) feature elements of rwais, and the rebel songs of Groupe El-Ouali (Mauritania) use the subversive lyrics of Sheikh Imam (1918–95) from Egypt. In the last decades, rock, reggae, rap, hip hop, and other popular genres have served as a source of inspiration for bands such as Mashrou’ Leila (Lebanon), DAM (Palestine), and Cairokee (Egypt), with its aspirational lyrics and rock instrumentation that respond to the 2011 Egyptian revolution. “Ya El Medane” is one song that expressed the aspirations of the youth during the Egyptian revolution.
Cairokee’s “Ya El Medane”
Protest songs in the Arab world are forms of expression that break boundaries, defy expectations, and challenge reality. They hail from the Atlas Mountains to Tangier and Algiers, and find a receptive audience in the banlieues of Paris; chants are heard in Tahrir Square and move protesters in Sana’a, Beirut, and Tunis.
The writings featured in this annotated bibliography present and carefully analyze songs accompanying key political and social events. These include nationalist protest movements that unfolded in the Arab world in the last century, from anti-colonial movements and national movements in the first half of the century to chants that accompanied the revolutions of 2011 and beyond.
– Written and compiled by Farah Zahra, Assistant Editor, RILM
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Select Bibliography
Caubet, Dominique and Amine Hamma. Jil Lklam: Poètes urbains (Casablanca: Éditions du Sirocco; Mohammedia: Senso Unico Éditions, 2016). [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2016-56443; IMA catalogue reference]
The Moroccan music scene that emerged in the mid-1990s has become a crucial part of the overall cultural scene of the country. Rappers, slammers, reggae musicians, creators of metal music and non-music genres such graffiti and break dance have all initiated an urban movement that mixes genres and contributes to a multicultural Morocco. The evolution of discourse emerging from the underground scene to the public sphere is explored, with attention to the lyrics of songs expressing a young generation that is concerned with taboo subjects, cool music, and tough texts. Eloquent, humorous, sensitive, angry, and poetic, this creative and rebellious generation expresses, in multilingual tongues—vernacular, Amazigh, mixed with French, English, and Spanish—its love for its homeland along with its desire for dignity, freedom, and a future. A new generation of artists is revealing, in addition to its eloquence and its extraordinary talent for writing and composition, an unquenching determination to be heard. The generation adapted the American counterculture’s ethos of do-it-yourself and solidarity while using new technology and social media to share its music. Including interviews with experts on the new music scene, a selection of song texts shared in their original language and translated to French, and rich iconography, the book represents a platform for the new generations of artists to be heard and seen, a generation that is the true echo of the youth.
Dridi, Daïkha and Omar Zelig. “La petite musique du voyage au bout de la nuit: Quand la musique se revolte, entre ‘bizness’ et poesie”, La pensée de midi 4 (mai 2001) 65–71. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2001-49702; IMA catalogue reference]
Abstract: A description and an interpretation of the music scenes in 2001, after ten years of political violence that Algeria witnessed. The aftermath of violence and political stances in music genres and scenes, old and new, is discussed. Local genres such as raï, Kabyle militant, and chaabi triste sorrowful chaabi capture a general spirit of hopelessness, but also of hope. Case studies and performances such as the hip-hop group Intik and the group Ragga-Gnawi are explored, and the performance and the following banning of Baaziz’s “Algérie mon amour” is interpreted against the backdrop of political upheavals in Algeria. Algerian hip hop is a rhythmic, musical, and lyrical rupture from everything that preceded it.
El Mazned, Brahim. “Les rwayss, ou la musique amazighe comme résistance”, Le monde arabe existe-t-il (encore)?, ed. by Chirine El Messiri. Araborama 1 (Paris: Institut du Monde Arabe; Seuil, 2020) 190–193. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2020-71413; IMA catalogue reference]
Abstract: Approaches Amazigh (Berber) music as an expression of cultural, social, and political resistance. Rwayss is a genre that originates in the Sous region, the center of Amazigh culture, and incorporates singing, dance, and a religious ceremony. The setting where rwayss is traditionally performed is described, and new scenes of rwayss in urban spaces in Morocco and in Europe, especially in France and Belgium, are analyzed. Resistance to musical assimilation and the importance of continuity in rwayss and its connection to the past are considered the main expression of resistance that the tradition holds.
El Zein, Rayya. “Resisting ‘resistance’: On political feeling in Arabic rap concerts”, Arab subcultures: Transformations in theory and practice, ed. by Layal Ftouni and Tarik Sabry. Library of modern Middle East studies (London; New York: I.B. Tauris, 2016) 83–112. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2016-56445; IMA catalogue reference]
Abstract: Explores the ways in which young Arab rap artists navigate the contradictions in the urban and public spheres in everyday life. The discourse of resistance permeating scholarship on rap and hip hop in the Arab world is critiqued and perceived as an expression of neoliberal power. Within the context of the rap scenes in Beirut and Ramallah, political feeling is expressed through objection, confrontation, repetition—a set of processes that hinges on collective action and solidarity rather than individual agency. Interactions, as such, should not be labeled as political but should be approached as subversive in their own terms. Conclusions are based on ethnographic studies conducted in Beirut and Ramallah, where interviews and conversations were conducted and exchanges between artists and audiences were observed.
Houssais, Coline. “En chansons: Florilège musical révolutionnaire”, Il était une fois…: Les révolutions arabes, ed. by Chirine El Messiri. Araborama (Paris: Institut du Monde Arabe; Seuil, 2021) 239–248. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2021-101344; IMA catalogue reference]
Abstract: Provides a selection of songs that marked the history of revolutionary and nationalist songs. Most of them were initially poems later set to music. All the case studies feature a short background on the poet, the performer, and the historical context. Brief background information is then followed by the lyrics in Arabic and a French translation. Among the case studies featured are Min djibalina (From our mountains) by Mohamed Laid Al Khalifa from Algeria, Irdatou al-hayat (The will to live) by Abou el Kacem Chebbi from Tunisia, “Ana Afriqi ana Soudani” by Alsir Gadour from Sudan, Ounadikoum (I call upon you) by the poet Tewfik Ziad from Palestine, and other cases from Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, and Syria.
Institut du Monde Arabe. Hip Hop: Du Bronx aux rues Arabes [Exposition, Paris, Institut Du Monde Arabe, 28 Avril–26 Juillet 2015], ed. by Aurélie Clémente-Ruiz (Gent: Snoeck; Paris: Institut du Monde Arabe, 2015). [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2015-89747; IMA catalogue reference]
Abstract: Issued as part of the exhibition Hip Hop, du Bronx aux Rues Arabes organized by the Institut du Monde Arabe in 2015. The book is divided into three sections: the birth of a movement, a new aesthetic, and rap and society. The editors approach hip hop not simply as a genre but as an aesthetic, a lifestyle in perpetual evolution and a continuous transformation. In the preface, the director of the Institut du Monde Arabe remarks on the recourse of young Arab generations to hip hop as a way to express frustration with current realities and to vocalize their aspirations. Articles by multiple authors covering various topics and aspects of hip hop history and its adaptation by contemporary Arab artists are included.
Massad, Joseph. “Liberating songs: Palestine put to music”, Palestine, Israel, and the politics of popular culture, ed. by Rebecca L. Stein and Ted Swedenburg (Durham; London: Duke University Press, 2005) 175–201. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2005-31981; IMA catalogue reference]
Abstract: Analyzes the role of patriotic, nationalist, and revolutionary songs in the struggle for Palestinian liberation, approaching songs as a register for the changing dynamics of the Palestinian struggle and the various populations and demographics involved in it at different stages of the country’s history. Themes of the songs include the fight for liberation, the dream for Arab unity and solidarity, and the struggle for refugees’ rights. Songs are categorized in three historical phases. The first phase is marked by the growing support for pan-Arabism, the rise of Palestinian guerrillas, and the underground scene in the late 1960s and 1970s. The second phase comprises songs produced by non-Palestinians following the great defeat of 1967. The third phase covers songs that accompanied the first intifada (1987–93). Overall, resistance songs were subject to many transformations throughout the second half of the second century and beyond. Musicians and artists moved away from state-sponsored productions to underground scenes in Palestine and among its displaced population. Nowadays, Palestinian resistance and patriotic songs have reached a wide reception and have become a founding aspect of Arab and Palestinian popular culture.
Mérimée, Pierre and Jacques Denis. Intifada rap. Trans. by Tara Dominguez and Sarah Bouasse(Paris: LO/A Edition, 2014). [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2014-95113; IMA catalogue reference]
Abstract: Presents photographs featuring Palestinian rappers, spoken word artists, and musicians, as well as photos of the broader urban spaces in which the alternative and broader Palestinian music scene flourishes. The photographer followed musicians in their everyday lives and captured aspects of their activity. The photographs are occasionally accompanied by brief written commentary and by quotes or lyrics by Palestinian poets and artists and Israeli activists. Hip hop artists featured include Saz (Sameh Zakout), Boikutt (Jad Abbas), Shaana Streett, Mahmoud Jrere of DAM, and members of MWR, WE7, and G-Town. Other non-hip-hop artists featured are Amal Murkus and Said Mourad (founder of Sabreen Band).
République Arabe Sahraouie Democratique. Groupe El- Ouali chants et danses sahraouis: Une culture de résistance (Nouakchott: Ministère de L’information de la République Arabe Sahraouie Démocratique, 1983). [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 1983-26413; IMA catalogue reference]
Abstract: Surveys the works, repertoire, and style of the Mauritanian music and dance company Groupe El-Ouali, and situates them within the broader landscape of cultural resistance in Mauritania in the 1970s and the liberation movement led by the Front Polisario. Groupe El-Ouali was formed by amateur musicians and militants and performed live concerts and disseminated their music on cassettes. The book covers dance styles such as the war dance Dance de ausred, which was performed during the resistance movement led by the Front Polisario against the Spanish occupation of the Sahara, and La touiza, a women’s dance. The book also includes lyrics of selected songs by Groupe El-Ouali translated into French. The songs express themes of revolution and independence, as well as relationships to the land, national identity, and the values of the nationalist movement.
Shalaby, Nadia A. “A multimodal analysis of selected Cairokee songs of the Egyptian revolution and their representation of women”, Women, culture, and the January 2011 Egyptian Revolution, ed. by Dalia Said Mostafa (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 2017) 59–81. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2017-90149; IMA catalogue reference]
Abstract: Analyzes the music videos Ṣawt al-ḥurrīyaẗ (Voice of freedom), Yā al-mīdān (O Tahrir Square), and Iṯbat makānak (Stand your ground) by the Egyptian band Cairokee. The three music videos were released during the year following the breakout of the Egyptian revolution on 25 January 2011, and each reflects the popular mood accompanying the phases of the revolution. The creation and reception of meaning through these music videos is a product of lyrics, music, and other semiotic resources such as visual cues, photographs, camera angles, framing, range of shots, and gaze. The visual design of each music video is discussed to show how multimodal discourse is formed through the employment of various visual, verbal, and musical modes. Finally, the presence and the agency of women in the three music videos are analyzed following the same analytical model.
Skilbeck, Rod. “Mixing pop and politics: The pole of raï in Algerian political discourse”, The Arab-African and Islamic worlds: Interdisciplinary studies, ed. by Kevin R. Lacey and Ralph M. Coury (Bern: Peter Lang, 2000) 289–302. [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2000-83623; IMA catalogue reference]
Abstract: Documents the rise of popularity of raï and of kabyle musics among young Algerians at home and among the country’s diasporas, covering the origins and early development of raï in the early 20th century and documenting its popularity in the 1970s and 1980s. Raï is a hybrid genre that merges Arabic and Bedouin poetry and incorporates local and Western instrumentation. Raï song texts can be categorized in terms of clean raï, which narrates stories of love, and dirty rai, which deals with forbidden sexual desires, alcoholism, and alienation. At the start of the Algerian civil war in 1991 raï became one of its battlefields, and while raï itself was not political, it became political insofar as it represents marginalized social classes through expressions of themes that are deemed taboo or unethical by society or political authorities. During the civil war raï artists were banned, and some were murdered by religious guerrilla groups. One important case study presented is the raï song El harba way? (To flee but where to?) by Cheb Khaled, which became the anthem of protesters during the political crisis of 1988.
Al-Sayyid, ʽUmar. Kalām al-ġīwān (Rabat: Ittiḥād Kuttāb al-Maġrib, 2002). [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 2002-50214; IMA catalogue reference]
Abstract: A comprehensive collection of song lyrics by the Moroccan group Nās al-Ġīwān, compiled by one of its members. The preface includes key information about the group and presents a critical take on various commentators’ views on the phenomenon of Nās al-Ġīwān, their musical career, and their popularity in Morocco. Formed in the 1960s, the group accompanied and contributed to the cultural, artistic, and political movement that was unfolding in Morocco. The 1960s and 1970s were marked by a growing popular protest movement that Nās al-Ġīwāne marked with their lyrical and musical contribution. However, one should not reduce the group’s artistic production to a political message. Nās al-Ġīwān merged musical and lyrical elements belonging to four cultures—African, Arab, Amazigh, and Saharan—providing a case study of how to properly reclaim musical and cultural heritage and identity. The concept of a Nās al-Ġīwān dictionary of terms is introduced.
Šalābī, Fawzīyaẗ. Qirāʼāt munāwiʼaẗ (Tripoli: al-Dār al-ʽArabīyaẗ li-al-Kitāb, 1984). [RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, 1984-28079; IMA catalogue reference]
Abstract: Approaches political songs from the 1960s through the 1980s as expressions of contemporary Arab consciousness. The difference between the Arab intellectual elites fueling the conscious cultural movement and the Arab masses who follow with little critical take is explored. Political songs that do not give lip service to intellectual elites, but rather engage and express the real suffering of the people, are highlighted, distinguishing between progressive songs (al-aġānī al-taqaddumīyaẗ) of politically and socially engaged people and political songs (al-aġānī al-siyāsīyaẗ) of authoritarian states and the Arab right. Case studies from Morocco (Nās al-Ġīwān), Tunisia (Aṣḥāb al-Kalimaẗ), Iraq (Firqaẗ al-Ṭarīq), and Egypt (al-Šayẖ Imām) are included.
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