Egyptian Music

Egyptian music names the recorded tradition centred on Cairo, for most of the twentieth century the capital of Arabic popular culture. Its classical-popular mainstream was built by composers such as *Sayed Darwish* and *Mohammed Abdel Wahab* and by singers of exceptional stature, above all *Umm Kulthum*, whose long, improvisatory tarab performances on voice and takht ensemble defined the art. The tradition joins Arabic maqam melody and cyclical rhythms to violins, qanun, nay, oud and riq, and extends from theatre song and film musicals through religious and Nubian music to the Cairo jazz experiments of *Salah Ragab*.