After featuring the Sultana of Tarab Music, the Prince of Arabic Violin, the Master of Buzuq, Hajja Zeinab El Mansouria, we proudly introduce the rich music of Yemen.
Music is a powerful force for healing and reconnecting us with our roots and shared humanity in a world of numerous challenges.
'From Ocean to Gulf: Heritage Music of the Arab World' is a new series by Ahram Online, in partnership with the AMAR Foundation (Foundation for Arab Music Archiving and Research). Focusing on the early years of recording in our region, which reflected a modern cosmopolitan repertoire and coincided with the Renaissance era that flourished in Egypt between the mid-19th century and the 30s of the twentieth century, this initiative aims to introduce our audience to the iconic figures of Arab music whose contributions have enriched our intangible cultural heritage and inspired generations worldwide.
Meet the Masters
Yemen, a country on the Arabian Peninsula, is one of the world’s most beautiful and historically rich nations. Often known as Al-Yaman al-Sa‘īd (Happy Yemen), it has long served as a centre of discovery for travellers and a subject of research for historians, social scientists, natural scientists, and others.
In parallel with the rise of image-capturing and sound-recording technologies, Yemen’s landscapes and cultural expressions have been documented extensively. Photographer and explorer Dame Freya Stark (1893–1993) captured its striking scenery in her book "Seen in the Hadhramaut" (1938), later followed by "Seen in the Yemen: Travelling with Freya Stark and Others" (2011), authored by Hugh Leach.
Similarly, musician Hans Helfritz was among the first to record Yemen’s music in the 1930s. More recently, ethnomusicologist Jean Lambert—affectionately known as the “Lover of Sanaa”—has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to the study, preservation, and dissemination of the country’s musical heritage.
These cumulative efforts culminated in 2008, when UNESCO enlisted the tradition of poetic songs of Sana'a, called al-Ghina al-San'ani, on the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
Yemenis commemorate July 1 as the Yemeni Song Day, an annual celebration that underscores the integral role of music in Yemeni society. Still, music in Yemen is unfortunately unknown outside the region and quasi-forgotten in Yemen itself. Yemeni music, in general, with its various types, is not well-known in the Arab countries, except in the Arab Gulf, where it is mainly recognised on a commercial level, rather than as a heritage.
Yemen, as a country, remained isolated for a long time, mainly during the first half of the 20th century, when the fundamentalist political-religious system in Sanaa isolated it and discouraged art in general, and music in particular. Upon the 1962 revolution, Yemen opened up to the rest of the world, but it was unable to spread its heritage outside its historic borders.
8th and 9th Century BC Stone drawings of Yemeni musical instruments
Archaeological excavations have confirmed the antiquity of music in Yemen, demonstrating that it is a unique art form independent of influences from the ancient Near East. Archaeological surveys and excavations have revealed that music in ancient Yemeni civilisations originated when early Yemenis employed a diverse array of musical instruments. Stone drawings in Yemen go back to the 8th and 9th centuries BC.
They represent artists playing the lyre or the semsemeya and playing drums during the Kingdom of Ṣaba and the Kingdom of Ḥimyār. Others depict wind instruments like the trumpet and the khushkhishah, as well as stringed instruments such as the Tanbura, alongside wind instruments like the trumpet and flute, carried by groups of priests. Numerous other archaeological findings further attest to the rich diversity of wind, percussion, vocal, and stringed instruments in ancient Yemen. Music evolved over time and throughout the different civilisations that existed in Yemen. The beginning of Islam in Yemen and the cultural movement that started in the north of the island undoubtedly brought new musical instruments, types, and forms, including the ‘ūd.
Hada, The Origin of Arabic Singing
In the Arabian Peninsula, historian al-Masudi traced the origin of Arabic singing to what he called the “Hada,” stating, “the Hada is the origin of singing.” According to his account, when camels became exhausted on their long journeys, they required something to stimulate them and help them forget the pain of hunger, thirst, and heavy loads—thus, the “Hada” served as one of the best means of revival. He also noted that Yemenis were familiar with two distinct types of singing—Himyarite and Hanafi, with them preferring the latter.
Tune in to listen to Sheikh ‘Alī Abū Bakr Bāsharāḥīl, accompanied by the Yemeni ‘ūd, i.e. the ṭarab or qanbūs.Around 1939 by Odeon, in Aden. From the archives of Dr Jean Lambert. Click here: https://soundcloud.com/anr09-755808180/sheikh-ali-abu-bakr-basharahil
Ibn Tanbur
Yemeni singers have risen to prominence in various eras. At the close of the Umayyad period and the dawn of the Abbasid era, Ibn Tanbur became renowned for his light style of singing, known as “al-Hazj” (meaning “close to the rhyme”). Historians have described him as one of the most eloquent and agile singers. For instance, Al-Isfahani, in his book Kitab al-Aghani, distinguishes between three vocal traditions—Arabic, Yemeni, and Roman—citing, among other examples, how Ibrahim Al-Mawsili performed a Yemeni tune. Zabid has long been a thriving centre of musical prosperity in the Middle Ages, particularly during the era of the Najahid state (1022-1158).
The manufacture of ‘ūdkumaythrī and the Yemeni ‘ūd
Yemen, during and after the Ayyubid Dynasty (1173–1229), witnessed the rule of its descendant, the Rasulid Dynasty (1229–1453). They did not draw but wrote many books on the economic, social, and agricultural life, including a report on the city of Ta‘z’ markets and factories, published in Sanaa by the Centre français d’archéologie et de sciences sociales, with a beautiful mention about the manufacture of the ‘ūdkumaythrī and the Yemeni ‘ūd with the animal skin cover.
Music boomed during the Rasulid Dynasty. It had an elite of the Ayyubid army who worked hard to bring into Yemen elements of civilisation, including crafts, techniques of agriculture and irrigation, as well as the administration of the dynasty.
The Rasulid Dynasty
As for music, musician ‘Abd al-Lāh al-Fārisī, who came from Iran, wrote two books about music theories. They were unfortunately lost but were mentioned in the 13th century in Yemen. Furthermore, the Rasulid kings were keen on practising Sufism. Religious chanting was practised under the Sufi Sheikhs, including famous Sheikhs who followed the way of Ibn ‘Arabī. It seems that Yemen was happy and prosperous during this period. Yemen was almost unified. The Rasulid dynasty ruled over Northern Yemen, the western Tihama regions, and the city of Aden, and benefited from the commercial sources and activities in Aden and its port. It grew richer and was able to attract aspects of civilisation as well as specialised professionals. It also became rich by imposing taxes on Aden’s commercial guilds.
Classical, religious and folkloric music prospered during the Rasulid dynasty. Fortunately, the end of this dynasty did not end this boom. Since the Rasulid dynasty was followed by another dynasty born on the heights of Yemen, in the regions around Sanaa, the Qāsimiyyīn, imams of the Banū Qāsim dynasty, who were Zaydī imams, and completely different from the Rasulid dynasty. They established the Qasimid State (1597-1638), also known as the Zaidi Imamate, which was a Zaidi-ruled independent state in the Greater Yemen region. It was founded by Imam al-Mansur al-Qasim in 1597, absorbed much of the Ottoman-ruled Yemen Eyalet by 1628, and then completely expelled the Ottomans from Yemen by 1638.
Renowned Poet, Muḥammad Bin ‘Abd al-Lāh Sharaf al-Dīn
The family of Zaydī princes, Bayt Sharaf al-Dīn, who was a political elite as well as a cultural/intellectual elite, practised ḥumaynī poetry in a very distinctive way, notably Muḥammad Bin ‘Abd al-Lāh Sharaf al-Dīn, an author/poet who lived in the 16th century during the Ottoman occupation. This great poet gave a great push to poetry and music during this period. His poetry still exists today. It was recorded in the manuscripts of that historical period. Remarkably, Muḥammad Bin ‘Abd al-Lāh Sharaf al-Dīn compiled his ḥumaynī dīwān and added to this work numerous historical stories, such as his biography, offering extensive information on his era and his art, as well as on how he excelled in the art of poetic writing and inshād, and added glimpses about music during this period.
Unfortunately, the melodies were neither recorded nor notated, as this only started in Turkey shortly after this period. On the other hand, they were recorded as they carried into the 20th century. We compare the melodies with the qaṣīda to try to find out the age of these very old melodies, most of which date back to this golden age when most poets were also composers.
Muḥammad ‘Abd al-Lāh Sharaf al-Dīn was probably a composer himself. Many of the melodies we know today were very possibly composed by these great 16th and 17th-century poets. This is because ‘AlīUfuqīBēh’s Turkish manuscripts, for example, include some Arabic melodies that are still sung today. He notated them then, even though they had been memorised orally, not through his notation. As such, these pieces have indeed been passed down orally for over 400 years. Furthermore, it does not imply that this heritage did not evolve. The melodies we hear today were certainly not the same then. These people undoubtedly played at the time a major role in establishing the heritage we know today. Nevertheless, the musical system remained faithful to itself. Yemeni melodies are influenced by the Arabic and Zalzalian vocal steps. But the theoretical maqām system does not exist in Yemen. Consequently, the oral vocal legacy transmitted these musical scales as they were, while the melodies probably changed or were improved. Yet, the musical system did not change much.
The 17th-century authors include Aḥmad al-Ruqayḥī. The 18th century’s authors include great poets with strong texts, such as ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Ānisī (end of 17th century and beginning of 18th century towards the end of the Qasimid dynasty.
The poetry of poets Abd al-Raḥmān al-Ānisī and his son Aḥmad al-Ānisī still exists, in the form of a qaṣīda, along with the related melodies, even though we are unsure if they were composed then or later. We do not have names of famous musicians from this period, possibly because of the fundamentalism during the Zaydī Qasimid Imamate or the negative social opinion on art.
Listen to A firtāsh –called Turkish firtāsh by Yemenis, which indicates its Ottoman origin. Yet, it has become a full-fledged Yemeni form with all its characteristics –by Mr. Ḥasan al-‘Ajamī, who specialises in this form. From the archives of Dr Jean Lambert
Click here:
Ḥasan al-‘Ajamī by Anr09
The 19th Century
There are names of great artists starting at the beginning of the 19th century, such as the poets who further developed ḥumaynī poetry, who were mainly from the 18th century, including ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Ānisī and his son Aḥmad, and ‘Alī al-‘Anisī –a judge, they called Judge ‘Alī al-‘Anisī. All their qaṣīda are written down in manuscripts. They mostly developed the Yemeni muwashshaḥ, which includes three parts: the bayt, the tawshīḥ, and the taqfīl.
This sectioning was a very important element of Yemeni music, since, when we hear today a full melody with its 3 parts, the bayt, the tawshīḥ, and the taqfīl, we know it is an original melody, because it is very difficult for any artist to affix such a melody onto another qaṣīda. This demonstrates how the history of literature helps music history. They are closely linked. To Yemenis, the muwashshaḥ is a form of ḥumaynī poetry.
There are many recordings of muwashshaḥ authored by one of these poets. The famous ones include “Yuqarrib al-Lāhlī bi-al-‘āfiya w-al-salāma”, made of 3 parts, and sung by many artists. Its author is ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Ānisī himself, the father.
50 years
The second Ottoman occupation of Yemen started in 1870 in Sanaa and ended in 1919. These 50 years were very important for Yemen as they laid the foundation for its scientific and cultural openness. Art in Yemen was encouraged as the Ottoman rulers and soldiers in Yemen enjoyed Yemeni music: certain Yemeni artists sang and played at the governor’s mansion, or in the homes of Ottoman officers.
However, many officers were of Arab origin. They were either from the Levant or Egypt, which explains the interest and mingling between the Ottoman officers and the Yemeni artists, poets, or people in general. Among such artists is Jābir Rizq, born in Sana'a around 1870. He practised his art but later left Sanaa to settle in Tihāma, where he joined a Sufi order and became a poet more than an instrumentalist. Iconic artist, Sa‘d ‘Abd al-Lāh, followed his path and played the qanbūs or ṭarab for the Ottoman officers, at the beginning of the Imamate in Sanaa, 1905.
Further References and Readings, tune in to AMAR’s Podcasts:
https://www.amar-foundation.org/112-music-in-yemen-1/
https://www.amar-foundation.org/113-music-in-yemen-2
https://www.amar-foundation.org/114-music-in-yemen-3/
Short link: