Sawt

Sawt is the classical urban song form of Kuwait and Bahrain, a setting of Arabic poetry for solo singer with oud and mirwas drum, later joined by violin, that is considered the supreme vocal art of the Gulf. Built on the maqam modal system, it unfolds in named types — the free-rhythm istima introduction, the love-song arabi and shami forms, and the closing khatm — and is performed at the samra, the evening gathering where audiences answer the singer with the interlaced hand-clapping called sherbaka. Its poetry, drawn from classical and Yemeni-influenced verse, treats love, longing, honour and the sea.