BAHRAIN – UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Pêcheurs de Perles et Musiciens du Golfe Persique – OCORA 42

BAHRAIN – UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Pêcheurs de Perles et Musiciens du Golfe Persique – OCORA 42, recorded by Poul Rovsing Olsen, 1962-1963 (LP)

This precious LP, recorded in 1962-1963, offers a rare glimpse into the fascinating traditional music from Bahrain and Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) in the Persian Gulf (aka the Arabian Gulf).

Side A features stunning side-long singing by pearl divers from Muharraq, Bahrain, who have been diving for pearls for more than 4,000 years. By the early 1960’s, when this recording was made, they had almost disappeared following the competition of cultured pearls from Japan in the 1930s, the discovery of oil and the area’s gradual modernization.

As pearl diving was a physically exhausting and perilous job, pearl boats welcomed professional naham lead singers onboard with accompanying musicians playing drums and hand cymbals to encourage and sustain the energy of the divers and their helpers. Nahams sang at top volume, supported by percussion, and the crew responded in deep, low drones (similar to vocal drones in Tibetan Buddhist music), exclamations, clapping, and whistling. These extraordinary trance-like collective worksongs were played uninterrupted from dawn to dusk.

Side B showcases inspired and dense performances highlighting the region’s rich ethnic and cultural diversity:

(B1) Salim Ahmed performing a Taqsim (maqam rast) on the oud lute, Manama (Bahrain);

(B2) Baluchi wedding music featuring a surnai oboe and tabl drum, Sharjah (UAE);

(B3) Kafur Moubarek, lyre (or tanboura) and voice, interpreting a love poem, Manama (Bahrain);

Kafur Moubarek was a Sudanese Bahraini. “Nowadays the lyre is rarely used, except by East Africans; lyres may be found in Saudi Arabia and several sheikhdoms of the Arabian Gulf but the musicians who play them are always Africans of Sudanese origin,” says Poul Rovsing Olsen in the liner notes. (see miniature below).

(B4) Rajab bin Khamis on droneless jirbe bagpipe, and two tabl drums, Manama (Bahrain).

Ce disque précieux, enregistré en 1962-1963, offre un aperçu rare de la remarquable musique traditionnelle de Bahreïn et de Sharjah (Émirats arabes unis) dans le golfe Persique (ou golfe Arabique).

La Face A présente des chants fascinants de plongeurs de perles de Muharraq (Bahreïn) qui pêchaient la perle depuis plus de 4 000 ans. Au début des années 1960, lorsque cet enregistrement fut réalisé, ils avaient presque disparu en raison de la concurrence des perles de culture du Japon dans les années 1930, la découverte de pétrole et de la modernisation progressive de la région.

Comme la pêche à la perle était un travail particulièrement éprouvant et périlleux, les bateaux-perles embarquaient des chanteurs professionnels naham, accompagnés de musiciens jouant du tambour et des cymbales à main pour encourager et soutenir l’énergie des plongeurs et de leurs assistants. Le naham chantait fort, soutenu par des percussions, auquel l’équipage répondait par des bourdons profonds dans l'extrême grave (rappelant les bourdons vocaux que l’on trouve dans la musique bouddhiste tibétaine), des exclamations, des applaudissements et des sifflements. Ces extraordinaires musiques collectives qui mènent à la transe étaient jouées sans interruption de l'aube au crépuscule.

La face B présente des musiques denses et inspirées qui reflètent la riche diversité ethnique et culturelle de la région:

(B1) Salim Ahmed exécutant un Taqsim (maqam rast) sur luth oud a cinq double cordes, Manama (Bahreïn);

(B2) Musique de mariage Baloutchi avec un hautbois surnai et un tambour tabl, Sharjah (Émirats arabes unis);

(B3) Kafur Moubarek, lyre (ou tanboura) et voix, interprétant un poème d'amour, Manama (Bahreïn);

Kafur Moubarek était un Bahreïni soudanais (voir miniature ci-dessous). « De nos jours, la lyre n’est guère utilisée que par les Africains de l'Est ; on trouve des lyres en Arabie Saoudite et dans plusieurs émirats du Golfe mais les musiciens qui s'en servent sont toujours des Africains d'origine Soudanaise, » explique Poul Rovsing Olsen dans les notes de l’album.

(B4) Rajab bin Khamis jouant de la cornemuse jirbe sans bourdon, accompagné de deux tambours tabl, Manama (Bahreïn).

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Our other share of the region's music:
Abu Dhabi/Bahrain - Les Emirats du Golfe Arabique - Disques Alvarès C 471 here

“ONE OF THE MOST MUSICAL CULTURES OF ITS TIME?

The result, demographically and socially, of having professional musicians on so many pearling boats is remarkable. In 1907 J.G. Lorimer stated that Bahrain had 917 boats. If only half of the vessels had two musicians on board, in a population ca 70,000 that would indicate that 1.3 percent of Bahrainis were professional-level musicians. If we go back in time, the proportions are even greater. The Dutch explorer Carsten Niebuhr noted that by 1750 Kuwait actually had 800 pearl diving boats in a population of 10,000. If only 500 of the boats had one nahham, then 5 percent of the population of Kuwait were active musicians. This is a remarkable amount of people devoted to music in a lone community. Comparatively, in the US in 1910, not even a quarter of 1 percent were considered professional musicians (Lorimer 1907; Niehbur 1792, 127; Shamlan 2000, 53; US Census Bureau; U.S. Census of Population). The large proportion of Gulf musicians did not just have an impact on the seamen but also on the greater community. After four months on the pearling boats, musicians returned and were heard by, and influenced, the local residents. (…) Certainly, the Arabian Gulf is historically one of the most musical regions of the Peninsula.”*

*From the fascinating and richly-documented Music and Traditions of the Arabian Peninsula – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar by Lisa Urkevich, Routeledge, 2014.

Photograph below is from Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories by Sonya Rhie Quintanilla, Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016:

Lyre player (track B3), presumably Sudanese, Mughal painting, India, c. 1640-1660.

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