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Tabal Tamboora. sense of form, which is so satisfying intellectu­
ally to the lover of classical Arab music.
The Muwasha was and is the accepted mode
of composition in the Arab countries of the
mediterranean littoral. From Morocco east­
wards, through Egypt to Syria, Lebanon, Central
Arabia and Iraq, this music is the characteristic
vehicle of expression. Modern composers have
orchestrated it- and the use of piano, violin,
cello and electric guitar is standard to their
compositions, and their re - interpretations of
traditional melodies.
But southward to the Indian ocean another
mode developed, which is particular to the area
of the southern Arabian Gulf. This music is
known as F’jcri, and is the music of the sailors
and pearl divers, who were the source of the
greatest wealth of their primitive communities.

produce an effect that is barbarically imposing.
As they expanded westwards along the
Mediterranean shore, the Arabs brought their
music - and particularly their sense of timing -
with them. In the brilliant and seminal
culture that evolved in Spain arose that
marriage of rhythm and feeling which formed
the classical style, the Muwasha, which is still
employed throughout the Arab world. The
love-song, the Andalus. which is the product
of this cross - fertilization, takes its name from Merwas
Spain and is the purest expression of that capa­
city for intense feeling, allied with the strictest

Forced by the inhospitable nature of the
land at their backs, the people of the Gulf
turned outward to the sea and became the great
traders and navigators of the Arab world. Their
fleets went east and west to India and Africa,
and they were in constant contact with their
neighbours of the Persian shore. Evidence of
these influences is to be found in F'jeri music,
which has in it elements of foreign origin, as in
Rababa the use of the Meruwas, a small drum held in
one hand, and struck with the index finger. The
Meruwas resembles a South Indian drum.
The pearling fleet spent up to four months a
year on the pearl banks, at the season of
greatest heat and humidity, when the water
was warm and still. The life was hard and
monotonous and, .to relieve this, musicians, and
singers were part of the crew, entertainers hired
specially for the purpose of keeping up the
divers’ spirits and to make the time pass more
quickly. The captain who could provide a
favourite singer or player was assured of the
pick of the divers available, for they would
choose him in preference to one who might offer
higher wages but inferior entertainment.

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