Levantine Arabic Music

Levantine Arabic music is the art and folk music of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine, built on the maqam modal system and the wasla suite tradition of Aleppo and Damascus. Its core forms are the muwashshah, the improvised mawwal and layali, the qudud of Aleppo and the Lebanese 'ataba and mijana sung over oud, qanun, nay, riq and violin. Aleppo's *Sabah Fakhri* set the standard for tarab performance, *Wadih El Safi* embodied the Lebanese mountain voice, and *Fairuz* with the *Rahbani Brothers* modernized the repertoire into short songs, musical theatre and a pan-Arab popular canon while retaining its modal language.