iraqinfo

The most famous musical instrument of Iraq is the oud. It is widely spread over the Arabic world and the north of Africa. Its sound vibrates within the hollow body and is the typical soundtrack of the near and middle east.

The Oud - Instrument © Flickr / captain.orange

In its Arabian origin the oud is known as the king of instruments. It is considered to be the oldest musical instrument in its region of use and the name derives from the Arabian term for “wood”. It is central to tradition in eastern music. Its shape is very peculiar. A large and round soundbox is connected to a short neck.

Nazik Al-Malaika was one of most influential Iraqi female poet. She is famous to be the first Arabic poet to use free verse. She was born in Baghdad in 1922. At the age of 10, she wrote her first poem.

Al-Malaika graduated in 1944 from the College of Arts in Baghdad. Later, she got a Master in comparative literature at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her first book of poetry “Ashiqat al-Layl” (”Night’s Lover”) was published in 1947. “Shazaya wa Ramad” (”Sparks and Ashes”) followed in 1949. Other publications of her were “Qararat al-Mawja” (”Bottom of the Wave”) and “Tree of the Moon”.

Nazik Al-Malaika taught writing at several universities. She left Iraq in 1970 with her family after the rise of the Baath Party. She lived in Kuwait until 1990 when Saddam Hussein invaded that country.

Al-Malaika lived in Cairo for the rest of her life. In 2007, at the age of 84, she died after suffering Parkinson’s disease.

Iraq has a variety of about 60 different musical instruments, that can be categorized in “sound-type”, “air-type”, “string-type”, and “leather-type” instruments. These instruments are spreaded according to the geography and cultural background of the population. The most common popular, string instruments in the country are the Oud, Kanoon, Santour, and Joza.

A folkloric string instrument is the “Rababa”, which is a single-string instrument used by Bedouins. The air-instruments include the flute and the double-cylinder mutbij and the “Zerna”, which is made of wood.

In Basra, Abu Al-Khaseeb and the central Euphrates region, leather-type beat instruments are very popular, such as the clay-tabla, the wooden tabla, the Deff and Naqqarra. Single-side, and double-sided drums are used in all parts of Iraq.

In Basra region, an area-specific string-instrument called Tauboura can be found. This instrument’s origin goes back to Sumerian times to an instrument called Kannara.

Singer Nazem Al-Ghazali was born in 1921 in Haydar Khanah quarter in the city of Baghdad. He grew up as an orphan under the guardianship of his uncle.

He studied at the Institute of Fine Arts in Iraq. After a few years of acting, he turned to be a singer. He was one of the most popular Iraqi singers and his songs are still popular today.

He was also a student of one of the most prominent maqam singers of the last century. Nazem also recorded some maqams. His wife was the Iraqi Jewish singer Salima Murad. Nazem Al-Ghazali died in 1963.