Country in North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea, flanked by Algeria and Libya, and has an area of 154,530 km2 and a population of 9·84 million (2000 estimate). The population is almost entirely Arab-Berber and 98% Muslim. Arabic is the official language, with French reserved for the language of commerce.
Tunisian musical scholarship recognises a basic division between urban music traditions (belonging to the North African branch of Arab music), which are relatively homogeneous, and rural traditions (believed largely to derive from the Arab Bedouin tribes that settled in the individual regions), which are regionally diversified. In reality, the rural-urban divide is not quite so clearcut; migrations of rural peoples to the cities, the mass media and, since Tunisian independence from France (1956), tourism and government patronage have contributed to the widespread transplantation and transformation of previously localized rural traditions. However, with a few notable exceptions, Tunisian music scholars have concentrated almost exclusively on the urban sector and, particularly, on the repertory known as ma’lūf
RUTH DAVIS (I), LEO J. PLENCKERS (II)
Tunisia, §1: Urban music traditions
The ma’lūf (literally, that which is familiar or customary) is regarded by urban Tunisians as their oldest, most prestigious musical tradition. Also known as mūsīqā andalusiyya, the original repertory was allegedly imported by Muslims and Jews fleeing the Christian reconquest of Spain from the 12th century to the 17th. In Tunisia, the ma’lūf took root among urban communities of the northern and coastal regions, and until independence it remained virtually unknown elsewhere.
The ma’lūf is essentially a collection of songs and instrumental pieces, organized within a complex system of melodic modes called tubū’ (sing. tab‘), or more recently, maqāmāt (sing. maqām). The melodies may be in fixed or in free rhythm; if metred, they are based on characteristic rhythmic-metric cycles with distinct patterns of accentuation called īqā‘āt (sing. īqā‘). Until the recent introduction of Western notation, the melodies relied exclusively on oral transmission. The poetic texts, in contrast, were recorded in special collections called safā’in (vessels). The poems mostly belong to the Arab literary strophic verse forms of muwashshah (in classical Arabic) and zajal (in dialect); typically, they describe romantic love, the beauty of women and nature and the intoxicating effects of wine.
The core ma’lūf repertory is classified by tab‘ into 13 song cycles called nūbāt (sing. nūba). Since it would take many hours to perform an entire nūba, in practice a selection of pieces is organized according to a standard sequence of rhythmic-metric genres. The classification and internal organization of the nūbāt is attributed to the 18th-century aristocratic patron and amateur Muhammad al-Rashid Bey (d 1759), who is also credited with composing, or at least commissioning, the instrumental genres. Through the late 1930s and 40s, the repertory was transcribed into Western staff notation by the Rashidiyya Institute in Tunis. After Tunisian independence, the Rashidiyya's transcriptions became the source for the official ma’lūf canon published by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs in a series of nine volumes titled Al-turāth al-mūsīqī al-tūnisī (The musical heritage of Tunisia) (c1965–79).
The published canon comprises 13 nūbāt, totalling 372 songs and 27 instrumental pieces, two volumes of miscellaneous songs grouped by tab‘ in sets of freely contrasting īqā‘āt called waslāt (sing. wasla) and 11 instrumental bashrafs (overtures). The bashrafs and many of the miscellaneous songs are generally acknowledged to date from the 18th century or later; some include tubū’ and īqā‘āt foreign to the nūbāt, reflecting Ottoman and eastern Arab influences. The entire repertory remained anonymous until the 20th century, when composed pieces by Ahmad al-Wāfī (d 1921), Khemais Tarnān (d 1966) and Salāh al-Mahdī were accepted into the recognized canon.
The songs of the nūba are divided into five genres, each named after its corresponding īqā‘, performed in the following sequence: btayhī, barwal, draj, khafīf and khitm (ex.1). A sixth genre, dkhūl ‘al-brāwal, understood to be a derivative of the faster barwal, precedes the barwal section in only five nūbāt. The 13 nūbāt are conceptualized as a large cycle, reflecting the order in which they should ideally be performed. Ex.2 illustrates the scales of the 13 tubū’ of the Tunisian nūbāt in their conventional sequence (al-Mahdi, 1965–79, iii).
The nūba may be performed by singers without melody instruments. Alternatively, the core vocal cycle may be framed by various instrumental genres such as the istiftāh; (literally: ‘opening’), msaddar and tūwshiyya, creating an expanded cycle. The istiftāh opens the nūba with flowing, irregular phrases in duple metre played by melodic instruments alone. The msaddar is a tripartite overture played by all instruments in triple metre; each part of the msaddar is based on a different īqā‘, proceeding from slow to fast, as illustrated in ex.1.
In the expanded cycle, the core vocal pieces are preceded by an abyāt, originally a solo vocal improvisation on two lines of poetry. The abyāt was transformed by the Rashidiyya into a fixed composition for chorus in īqā‘ al-btayhī, with an integral instrumental introduction and interludes. The individual songs are embroidered with instrumental preludes (adkhāl or farighāt) and instrumental responses to the vocal lines. In both the instrumental introductory section and the vocal cycle, duple metres are followed by triple metres, longer rhythmic cycles are followed by shorter rhythmic cycles, and slow tempos are followed by faster tempos. While the overall tendency is from slow to fast, the internal sequencing principle alternates rather than progresses (ex.1).
Until Tunisian independence in 1956, the chief patrons of the ma’lūf were Sufi confraternities, popular religious organizations whose ceremonies include music, dance and breath control as a means of attaining heightened spiritual states. Many zwāyā (Sufi lodges) also cultivated the ma’lūf, whose melodies were often similar or even identical to those of the sacred repertories. In a society where public musical activity was otherwise relegated to non-Muslims and members of the lowest classes, the zwāyā functioned as music conservatories and concert halls where anyone could participate, regardless of social status. Elsewhere, the ma’lūf was cultivated in aristocratic palaces by amateur musicians in their homes. Professional musicians performed in coffee-houses, often accompanied by the smoking of hashish, and in communal celebrations for religious and family festivals such as weddings and circumcisions.
The zwāyā fostered a type of performance practice called ma’lūf khām (literally: ‘raw or unrefined ma’lūf’) characterized by a male chorus accompanied by percussion instruments such as the darbukka (goblet-shaped drum), naqqārāt (pair of small kettledrums), tār (tambourine) and bendīr (frame drum with snares) or by hand-clapping alone. In some communities, Sufi musicians also sang ma’lūf khām in cafés and during family and communal celebrations. In Tunis and other large cities, the ma’lūf was normally performed in secular contexts by small ensembles of soloists that included melodic instruments. The ensemble representing Tunisia at the 1932 Cairo Congress of Arab Music comprised a rabāb (boat-shaped, two-string fiddle), ‘ūd ‘arbī (fretless, short-necked Maghrebi lute with four strings), naqqārāt, tār and a male alto singer. More commonly, the rabāb was replaced or joined by the violin, and instruments such as the ‘ūd sharqī (six-string Egyptian lute), qānūn (trapezoidal plucked zither), darbukka and from the 1940s, the nāy (bamboo flute without mouthpiece) were added, as were fixed-pitch European instruments such as the harmonium, mandolin and piano. The instrumentalists doubled as chorus and sometimes also as solo vocalists, while the melodic instruments doubled the vocal line. Solo players and singers performed their own versions of the melodies, embellishing them spontaneously, resulting in a simple, heterophonic texture.
A third, more specialized type of performance practice was introduced by the European-style wind band based at the military school in the Bardo (fl 1855). In addition to military fanfares, the band played melodies of the ma’lūf that had been transcribed into Western musical notation. When civilian wind bands emerged at the beginning of the 20th century, they included performances of the ma’lūf in their street processions.
On the rising tide of the Tunisian nationalist movement and in the wake of the 1932 Cairo Congress of Arab Music, the Rashidiyya Institute, named after the 18th-century aristocratic patron Muhammad al-Rashid Bey, was founded in 1934 in Tunis with the aim of conserving and promoting traditional Tunisian music. The founders' stated purpose was to safeguard Tunisian traditional music from pervasive Egyptian influences imported by visiting celebrities and popularized by the emerging mass media. Modelled on the Western music conservatory and concert hall, the Rashidiyya also attempted to counteract traditional social taboos on public music-making by providing an academic status and a serious public secular environment for its performances of the ma’lūf.
The Rashidiyya also created a new type of ensemble inspired by both the European orchestra and contemporary Egyptian ensembles, excluding instruments of fixed pitch. This ensemble transcribed the entire ma’lūf repertory into Western notation for use in teaching and performance, and it instituted a formal practical and theoretic training, comparable to that developed for Western art music. The Rashidiyya ensemble comprises of a mixed chorus and a separate instrumental section, including a nucleus of Western bowed strings (several violins, two or three cellos and one or two double basses), a darbukka, tār and naqqārāt and an arbitrary smattering of traditional Arab melody instruments such as ‘ūd ‘arbī, ‘ūd sharqī, qānūn, nāy and rabāb. The timbre is dominated by bowed strings and chorus in unison and octave doublings. Since the vocal nuances are considered too subtle to be notated, the singers are taught by the traditional method of repetition and memorization, while the instrumentalists rehearse and perform from notation. The leader conducts with a baton.
After independence, the Rashidiyya's teaching methods, syllabus and personnel were transferred to the new National Conservatory of Music, whose curriculum combines Tunisian, Western and Egyptian traditions. With the creation of the Ministry of Cultural affairs in 1961, the ma’lūf became the key ingredient in the government's musical policies, and the Rashidiyya's innovations were extended throughout Tunisia. Designating the ma’lūf ‘the Tunisian musical heritage’, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs established a nationwide network of amateur ma’lūf ensembles and music conservatories along the lines of the Rashidiyya in new secular cultural institutions called dūr al-thaqāfa (houses of culture). The ministry supplied the new institutions with instruments and music teachers, and it distributed the published versions of the Rashidiyya's transcriptions as sources. Despite common acknowledgement of distinct regional variants, the published canon is officially presented as a unitary tradition, and its interpretation is monitored by an annual cycle of festivals, competitions and residential music courses.
The impact of the government's initiatives was reinforced by its hostile attitude towards Sufi confraternities, regarded as both politically suspect and socially regressive. As their activities were restricted and their social prestige plummeted, zwāyā throughout the country emptied and ceased to function; many were taken over by the state. Gradually the government modified its attitude, recognizing the confraternities as important guardians of the nation's cultural heritage. The government concentrated instead on secularizing and professionalizing them. Firaq were encouraged to reassemble in the zwāyā or in the new cultural institutions where they resumed their ceremonies in the guise of concerts, omitting practices associated with trance.
Tunisian musicians and intellectuals have criticized the Rashidiyya and its spin-off, the establishment ensembles, for turning the ma’lūf into a museum piece, removed from real-life experience. Meanwhile, in historic ma’lūf centres such as Testour, Sidi Bou Said and Zaghaun, Sufi and other old-style ensembles co-exist with modern, state-sponsored ensembles, attracting new, younger recruits and performing in traditional communal contexts. In Sidi Bou Said, the local ma’lūf ensemble featuring pedal harmonium, violin, ‘ūd and percussion, entertains both residents and tourists in the café attached to the zāwĪya, funded by the municipality. The same ensemble also performs at local weddings and other family celebrations. Since the 1960s, Tahar Gharsa, veteran ‘ūd player of the Rashidiyya ensemble, has challenged academic status quo, performing the ma’luf and other traditional songs in cafés, hotel restaurants and at wedding parties in Tunis, leading small solo instrumental ensembles.
Since the 1980s, there have been attempts from within the official establishment to reintroduce more flexible approaches to performance practice. In the adult section of the National Conservatory, a reduced ma’lūf ensemble led by Rashid Salami rehearses without notation in order to encourage improvisation and a return to solo heterophonic textures. In 1986, Muhammad Saada, former leader of the Rashidiyya ensemble, formed Al-Fann, an ensemble of eight solo instrumentalists that performs the ma’lūf along with traditional Egyptian and Turkish repertories in formal concert venues. In 1992, Amīna Srarfī founded the all-women's ma’lūf ensemble Firqat al-Azifāt, effectively shattering the all-male instrumental barrier still maintained by the Rashidiyya. Media star Lotfi Boushnak balances solo recitals of Egyptian music with traditional Tunisian songs, including the ma’lūf, backed by an ensemble of instrumental soloists. Finally, a recording of nūbāt al-sika produced in 1994 by the Tunisian Ministry of Cultural Affairs, features a reduced ensemble in a deliberate attempt to reproduce older performance styles. Some Tunisian musicians see in these high-profile developments fertile seeds of a popular revival of the ma’lūf, comparable perhaps to the original revival pioneered by the Rashidiyya ensemble.
Tunisia, §1: Urban music traditions
Songs composed specifically for the new commercial record market emerged in the 1930s. The new songs were characterized by superfical and sometimes obscene lyrics, often sung in Franco-Arabe, and frequent use of Western instruments and musical idioms. A classic representative of this genre is singer-composer Shaykh al-’Afrit whose recordings are still widely appreciated today.
The Rashidiyya reacted to the new trends by holding competitions and commissioning new songs in traditional Tunisian styles. The Rashidiyya's efforts were supported by the radio station, founded in 1938, which had a mandate to promote Tunisian music exclusively. During the years leading up to independence, the Rashidiyya ensemble provided the springboard for some of the most popular media artists of the time, including the legendary female singers Sāliha, Fathiyya Khayrī, ‘Aliyyaī, Na‘āma and Shabīla (the daughter of Sāliha) as well as the singer-composers ‘Alī Riāhī and Farīd al-Atrash. Today, songs of these and other media stars of the period, considered the golden era of Tunisian song, are collectively known as mūsīqā atīqa (traditional music), and they are sometimes even loosely designated ma’lūf. Far from representing opposing tendencies, the old and new songs are perceived by Tunisians as part of a continuum; inn which the older repertory serves as a foundation and inspiration for the new.
The relationship between old and new songs changed radically after 1958, with the creation of the first state-funded radio ensemble. The new ensemble was modelled not on the Rashidiyya but on contemporary Egyptian media ensembles, and it included a wide range of Western instruments. From its inception, it focussed primarily on Egyptian and other popular eastern Arab songs, and on songs by Tunisian composers in similar styles. The radio also popularized compositions in Tunisian folk styles, typically featuring the mizwid (bagpipe with two single reeds). Trends set by the radio were reflected in the record industry.
Since Tunisian independence, the ma’lūf has maintained a low profile in the mass media; only at the end of the 1990s has this tendency shown signs of changing.
Tunisia, §1: Urban music traditions
Scholarly interest in the music of the confraternities has tended to focus on the ma'lūf. As a result, their distinctive musical traditions remain largely undocumented. Certain Sufi confraternities, e.g. the ‘Īsāwiyya, the ‘Azūziyya and the Sulāmiyya, cultivate a genre of sacred song called shishtrī or Sufi ma’lūf. Shishtrī was introduced to Tunisia by the 13th-century Andalusian mystic poet-composer ‘Abū al-Hasan ‘Alī al-Shushtarī, and it became firmly established among the confraternities through the efforts of Sidi Qashshāsh at the end of the 16th century, coinciding with the last significant influx of Andalusian refugees.
Shishtrī draws on similar musical and poetic forms (i.e. muwashshahāt and azjāl) and, in some cases, the same melodies as the ma’lūf, to the extent that the two repertories may appear indistinguishable. Some zwāyā introduce actual ma’lūf songs into their ceremonies, interpreting their texts allegorically; more typically the ma'lūf is performed after the sacred ceremonies, providing a transition before the participants return home. In general, the confraternities restrict the use of musical instruments, especially melody instruments.
The most detailed analysis of Sufi music in Tunisia in a European language (L.J. Jones, 1977) is based on provincial traditions of the ‘Īsāwiyya confraternity, which are less closely related to the ma’lūf than those of the zwāyā in and around Tunis. Nevertheless, the provincial traditions use overlapping terminology and procedures analogous to the ma’lūf. Jones identified two types of ‘Īsāwiyya nūba. The nūbāt of the first type are named after ma'lūf, nūbāt, but their tonal structures are different. The nūbāt of the second type are named after folk modes, and they have no distinctive tonal structures. Their melodies are more limited in range, and their sections are shorter. The ‘Īsāwiyya nūba consist of two bipartite sections: first a solo introductory section in free rhythm in which the zukra is followed by a vocal qasīda; then a main section in fixed rhythm for chorus and drums. The choral section draws on two genres, a nūba followed by a faster barwal. Neither the nūba nor the barwal has a distinctive rhythm, although both may use ma’lūf īqā‘āt, and there is a gradual accelerando throughout the section. The texts are based on Arab literary forms of qasīda, muwashshah and zajal.
Sufi firaq (musical groups) rehearse and hold weekly hadrāt (ceremonies) in their zwāyā, normally after the mid-afternoon prayer on Fridays. Hadrāt are attended by all members of the community, including women and children. Special hadrāt and kharjāt (street processions) mark religious festivals such as the birthday of the Prophet or the patron saint of the zāwīya. Sufi musicians also perform at family festivities accompanying circumcisions, weddings and the return from the hajj (pilgrimage), or from work and studies abroad. Before independence, events such as birth, cutting the first tooth, the first hair cut and memorizing certain sections of the Qur’an were also celebrated. At that time, the local firqa performed without payment, as a way of honouring the family; after independence, it became customary to demand a fee. The firqa's communal activities are supplemented by state-sponsored festivals and competitions.
Two distinct musical idioms form the basis of Tunisia's rural music: the music of the autochthonous Berbers and the music of the Arabic-speaking Bedouin, such as the Bani Hilāl who invaded Tunisia in the 11th century. At least two different types of melodic traditions can be distinguished: melodies based on a gapped scale and melodies using a scale of successive seconds. The first is of Berber origin, insofar as these melodies show a resemblance to the pentatonic melodies of the Algerian Kabyls. Many melodies of the second group contain neutral 3rds, indicating Arab origin. Rural music of Tunisia has also been influenced by the music of several sub-Saharan African ethnic groups, such as the Ghebunten, who settled in the south of Tunisia.
Music plays an important role in both sedentary and nomadic rural populations, one that differs little from its role in urban society. At social events such as weddings and circumcisions and at religious festivals such as a mouwlid, the celebration of the birthday of the Prophet or local saint, music is always present.
Musical instruments are used to accompany songs and to perform instrumental introductions. There are only a few instances of autonomous instrumental music. The number of different instruments is small. In fact, only two standard combinations are used: gasba and bendīr (fig.1) and zūkra and tabl (fig.2). Gasba is the original Arabic term for a flute, and it consists of a straight bamboo tube of about 60 cm with a large bore of about 20-23 mm. Although the gasba generally has seven or eight finger holes, it is played with only six fingers: three of each hand. The remaining holes are covered with paper or wax. The bendīr frame drum has a diameter of about 50 cm. On the inside of the drum's membrane two strings are tightened that buzz when the membrane is hit.
Zūkra is a Tunisian name for a loud, penetrating double reed aerophone (zurna, elsewhere in the Arab world), which is about 25 cm long. The zūkra player generally stands while playing. The tabl is a two-headed drum hung obliquely from the player's shoulders. The drummer hits the upper membrane with a short thick stick, playing strong beats. Lighter beats and drum rolls are played with a flexible stick on the lower head. The drummer usually performs dance steps and acrobatic movements while playing.
Bands comprising one or two zūkras and two to four tabls are regularly heard in rural areas. They may lead a procession introducing an important person or escort a bride to the home of her future husband. Zūkra-tabl bands are always present at horse races, and they often play at outdoor activities to welcome guests and to accompany dances. Popular dances include the sa‘dāwī scarf dance performed by women and the zagāra dance performed by men (ex.3). The melodic structure of the music consists of a sequence of small melodic motifs consisting of three to five different tones that are constantly repeated. Zūkra players use circular breathing to perform long melodic lines without breaks. Tabl players add complex rhythmic figures framed within simple binary or ternary beat patterns.
A different kind of instrumental music is tarq al-saīd (the mode of the lion), a solo improvisation played on the gasba depicting a victorious fight between a Bedouin and a lion. In the first half of the 20th century, this type of programme music was known throughout Tunisia.
There is a large variety of vocal genres, often named after a town or region where a song originates, such as the jendoubī (after Jendouba town) or mornāgī (Jebel Mornāg mountain), or they may be named after an ethnic group, such as hamāmī (Hamama) or merzūgī (Merazig). Some song types are named after a person, such as salhī ex.4, an improvisation named after its composer, or darbashī, a ballad about a folk hero of the same name. A song type may be named after its function, such as the dirge nawāhī (nawha, ‘lamentation’)s, or yahāfī (yihfa, the enclosed couch used to carry a bride to the house or tent of her husband on the day of her wedding). A song type may also identify the rhythmic pattern of the song (allagi) or the structure of the text (melzūma).
Vocal music is made up of improvisations and pre-composed songs. Improvisations are performed in free rhythm and sung as an introduction to a pre-composed metrical song. Various types of improvisation are known by names such as mlelia, rīsh, salhī and sharmatī. With the exception of the salhī, no specific data are available. The salhī refers to Salah, a south Tunisian musician who was imprisoned and developed this type of improvisation to comment on his lost freedom. Salhī texts consist of short, two-line poems with plaintive contents and are generally performed by a singer and a gasba player. Improvisation may develop into a lively dialogue between the two musicians.
Pre-composed songs are always strophic. The stanzas are sung in alternation between a lead singer and a small choir of two or three singers who sing the refrain. There are two types of pre-composed songs: non-metric songs and songs with a steady beat. Non-metrical songs consist mainly of traditional, ritual songs such as the yahāfī, and epic songs and ballads, such as the darbaghī. Both types of song are performed by women at social events such as weddings, engagements and circumcisions. They are sung antiphonally without instrumental accompaniment. The women sing with high and loud voices and tense throats, which enables them to perform a special kind of vibrato and apply a yodelling technique. In the Khroumiri region, ritual songs and ballads comprise the main repertory for women. To the south, their repertory also contains many metrical songs, which they share with male singers. Unaccompanied non-metrical ballads are performed regularly by male singers. Unlike the women, they sing in a chant-like way with short, descending melismas that function as cadences.
Metrical songs are another important group of pre-composed songs. They are always accompanied by gasba and bendīr or zūkra and tabl. The principal role of the instruments is to repeat vocal melodies, albeit enlarged by multiple repetitions and additional improvisatory passages. Short strophic songs may be expanded this way and transformed into complicated repeated patterns by additional vocal repetition and instrumental interpolation. Metrical songs also display a great number of rhythmic patterns, each characterized by a specific succession of strong and light beats (generally called dūm and tek). Regular binary or ternary patterns are common, such as the fezzani (8/8), which originated in Libya, and the alagi (12/8). Ternary patterns often employ hemiola.
Religious songs form a special category within metrical songs. They include edifying songs, of which the texts are generally available in printed form, and songs performed in Dhikr ceremonies. Edifying songs are accompanied by bendīrs played by the singers themselves. Dhikrs songs are performed by a singer and at least two instrumentalists who play the gasba and bendīr. Dhikr song texts are made up of short invocations of a saint's name.
The structure of song texts, especially metrical and rhymed, determines musical structures. Some textual structures of Bedouin songs were described by Hans Stumme at the end of the 19th century. However, their function in the song structure is still basically unexplored, although some research has been done on the subject by Robert Lachmann.
MGG1 (‘Ziryāb’, E. Neubauer)
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F. Zghonda: Al-mūsīqā al-nahāsīyya fī Tūnis [Music of the fanfares in Tunis] (Tunis, c1980)
S. al-Mahdī and M. Marzuqi: Al-Ma‘had al-Rashidī li-l-mūsīqā al-tūnisiyya [The Rashidiyya Institute for Tunisian Music] (Tunis, 1981)
M. Guettat: ‘Visages dans la musique tunisienne’, Revue de l'Institut des Belles Lettres Arabes, 45 (1982), 227–40
J. Benazzouna: ‘Die klassische, volkstümliche und moderne arabische Musik’, Tunesien: Geographie, Geschichte, Kultur, Religion, Staat, Gesellschaft, Bildungswesen, Politik, Wirtschaft, ed. K. Schliephake (Stuttgart, 1984), 298–306
M. Chelbi: Musique et société en Tunisie (Tunis, 1985)
R. Davis: Modern Trends in the Ma’lūf of Tunisia (diss., Princeton U., 1986)
R. Davis: ‘Modern Trends in the Arab-Andalusian Music of Tunisia’, The Maghreb Review, xi (1986), 56–63
L. Jones: ‘A Sociohistorical Perspective on Tunisian Women as Professional Musicians’, Women and Music in Cross-Cultural Perspective, ed. E. Koskoff (New York, 1987), 169–78
S. al-Mahdī: Al-īqā‘āt al-mūsīqā al-‘arabīyya wa ashkāluhā [Rhythms and Forms of Arab music] (Tunis, 1990)
F. As-Sa'buni: As-Saih al-'Afrit: Mutrib Tūnis [Shaykh El-Afriat: singer from Tunis] (Tunis, 1991)
M. Budina: Dīwān al-ma’lūf [Anthology of ma’lūf texts] (Tunis, 1992)
R. Davis: ‘The Tunisian Nūba as Cyclic Genre’, Regionale Maqam-Tradition: Gosen, nr Berlin 1992, 83–114
M. Guettat: ‘La Tunisie dans les documents du Congrès du Caire de 1932’, Musique Arabe: le Congrès du Caire de 1932 (Cairo, 1992), 69–86
R. Davis: ‘The Effects of Notation on Performance Practice in Tunisian Art Music’, World of Music, xxxiv (1992), 85–114
Les Instruments de Musique en Tunisie (Sidi Bou Said, 1992) [pubn of the Ministère de la Culture]
R. Davis: ‘Tunisia and the Cairo Congress of Arab Music, 1932’, The Maghreb Review, xviii (1993), 83–102
S. al-Mahdī: Al-mūsīqā al-‘arabīyyā: maqāmāt wa dirāsāt, suwar wa tamārīn mūsīqīyya [Arab music: maqāmāt and studies, photographs and musical examples] (Tunis, 1993)
R. Davis: ‘The Arab-Andalusian Music of Tunisia’, EMc, xxiv (1996), 423–37
R. Davis: ‘The Art/Popular Music Paradigm and the Tunisian Ma’lūf’, Popular Music, xv (1996), 313–23
R. Davis: ‘Cultural Policy and the Tunisian Ma’lūf: Redefining a Tradition’, EthM, xli (1997), 1–21
R. Davis: ‘Traditional Arab Music Ensembles in Tunis: Modernising al-Turāth in the Shadow of Egypt’, AsM, xxviii (1997), 1–26
R. Davis: ‘Reinterpreting Songs of the Past: Ma’lūf Ensembles in Tunisia since the 1930s’, Musica e Storia, v (1997), 215–29
R. Davis: ‘Trends in Tunisian Musical Scholarship: a Critical Survey’, Music, folklore and Culture: Essays in Honour of Jerco Bezić, ed. N. Ceribašic and G. Marošević (Zagreb, 1999), 133–44
R. Davis: ‘Trends in Tunisian Musical Scholarship: a Critical Survey,’ Music, Folklore and Culture. Essays in Honour of Jerko Bezić, eds. N. Ceribasic and G. Marošević (Zagreb, 1999), 133–44
Musique tunisienne, Gramophone HC 40 to 55, 83 to 86 (1932) [20 discs, 78 r.p.m.]
Tunisia, i: The Classical Arab-Andalusian Music of Tunis, Folkways Recordings FW 8861 (1962) [incl. notes by W. Laade]
Tunisia, ii: Religious Songs and Cantillations from Tunisia, Folkways Recordings FW 8862 (1962) [incl. notes by W. Laade]
Tunisia, iii: Folk Music, Folkways Recordings FW 8863 (1962) [incl. notes by W. Laade]
Congrès du Caire 1932, II: Musique Citadine de Tlemcen/Algerie, Musique Savante de Fes/Maroc, Musique Citadine de Tunis/Tunisie, Edition Bibliothèque Nationale, France/l'Institut du Monde Arabe APN 88–10 (1988)
Tunisie chants et danses, Arion ARN 64108 (1990)
Tunisie Anthologie du Malouf: Musique Arabo-Andalouse, Ministère de la Culture, Republique Tunisienne, Maison des Cultures du Monde, Auvidis Inedit W260044 to 47, W260059 (1992–4) [orig. mono recordings of Tunisian Radio Ensemble, c1960)
Musique populaire tunisienne, Cheikh Elafrite, ii: les succès des années 30, Club du Disque Arabe AAA 057, CDA 410 (1992)
Lotfi Boushnak: Malouf Tunisien, Auvidis Inedit W260053 (1993)
Rural Music of Tunisia, coll. F. Zghonda, UNESCO, CIM (forthcoming) [incl. notes by L.J. Plenckers]