Arab-Andalusian Music

The songs are attributed to the great ninth-century composer, Ziryab Ibn Nafi, who was born in Iraq but forced into exile in Spain. He settled at the court of the caliph in Cordoba when Islamic civilization was at its height. Ziryab is attributed with developing the oud (lute), adding a fifth string that he called “the string of the soul”. His fame spread throughout the Muslim territories of al-Andalus.

After the expulsion of the Moors, Muslims and Jews from Spain in 1492, the classical Arabo-Andalusian musical repertoire accompanied the emigrants to North Africa, where it was handed down by oral tradition. Nowadays it is performed and taught throughout Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.