Mediterranean Intangible Heritage Soundscape

The Cantu in paghjella is a living singing tradition of the Mediterranean island of Corsica, and it is based on three parts vocal registers. It is performed a cappella and it begins with the so called segonda, that gives the pitch and carries the main melody, followed by the accompaniment and support of the bassu, while the highest voice, called terza enriches the song with its melismatic ornamentations.

The main subjects of the poetry of the traditional repertoire of paghjella are love, nature, daily life, work, emigration, and it represents the historical collective identity of the Corsican society.

Iviu Pasquali, the founder of the vocal group Madricale, was raised in the Castagniccia, in the Northeast of Corsica, and practised the cantu in paghjella since his youth dedicating his life to the transmission and dissemination of this oral tradition that in 2009 was inscribed in the UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, with the condition of a periodical reporting due to the need of urgent safeguarding.

About Iviu Pasquali

Pasquali is from San Damiano on his father’s side and from Zuani on his mother’s side, two villages in Castagniccia, the region where Cantu in Paghjella was born and where tradition runs deep. Born in 1957 into a family of polyphonic singers, he was immersed from childhood in the world of traditional secular and sacred songs that accompany life from birth to death.

In 1986, he founded the first school of cantu in paghjella, with the aim of passing on these traditional polyphonic songs to younger generations. He has always worked on a voluntary basis to ensure that these traditional male songs do not become commercialized, but instead remain an essential link that keeps a deeply rooted Corsican tradition alive.

Episode's musical sources list

Madricale / Paghjella traditionnel San Damianu

Madricale / Si ne parte Bernardinu / Paghjella traditionnel Orezza

Madricale / U versu di Mocu Tirriola / Paghjella traditionnel Alesgiani

Madricale / Curentina / traditionnel

Madricale / Kyrie / traditionnel Zuani Pianellu

Madricale /Eramu en campu / traditionnel Tagliu Isolaccia

Madricale / Nun ti scurda de me / terzettu traditionnel

Madricale / Sanctus / Traditionnel San Damianu

Disclaimer

Mediterranean Intangible Heritage Soundscape is a podcast by Paolo Scarnecchia, produced by UNIMED, Mediterranean Universities Union. Musical works included in the Podcast are used for purpose of illustration for teaching, and not for commercial purposes.

Please notice that opening and closing voice over is generated with AI tools.

Kudsi Erguner has devoted his life to promoting the rich heritage of Ottoman musical history on the international stage, a legacy also shaped by the contributions of Turkish, European, and Arab musicians. At the heart of his musical formation stands the ney, the reed flute elevated by the great mystical poet Mevlana (Jalal al-Din Rumi) to a spiritual symbol representing the inner voice of the soul.

That formation was nurtured within a family of musicians and through his ensemble’s concerts and recordings it has helped explore the richness of a musical culture that holds a universal heritage.

In describing the environment he grew up in, he also illustrates the main elements that compose the formal structure of the fasıl, the suite where vocal and instrumental pieces unfold in alternation. Central to the fasıl are the melodic progressions of the taksim, an improvised form used to explore the characteristics of the various modal scales, makamlar, that underpin the musical system of Ottoman artistic culture. 

About Kudsi Erguner

Kudsi Erguner came from a family of musicians. His father Ulvi and grandfather Suleyman Erguner are among the most famous ney players. Suleyman Erguner Dede was a pupil of Emin Dede (1883–1945), himself a pupil of Aziz Dede (1840–1905) and Hüseyin Fahreddin Dede (1854–1911). Kudsi Erguner thus had the opportunity to rub shoulders with the musical greats from the older generation and used his time with them to immerse himself in an authentic style reflecting centuries of musical tradition that he keeps alive today. Read more

Episode's musical sources list

Hicaz Taksim – on ney by Kudsi Erguner 

Segâh Taksim – on ney by Süleyman Erguner (grandfather of Kudsi Erguner)

Rûy-i Irâk Âyin – composed by Ahmed Avni Konuk

Uşşak Taksim – on ney by Ulvi Erguner (father of Kudsi Erguner)

Rast Kâr – composé par Abdülkadir Meragi interpreted by (ensemble Ulvi Erguner)

 Nevâ Kâr – composed by Buhurizade Mustafa Itrı, interpreted by (ensemble Kudsi Erguner) Arrangements by Kudsi Erguner

Ferahfezâ Taksim – au ney composed and interpreted by Kudsi Erguner 

Beyati Araban Peşrev – composed by Ulvi Erguner interpreted by Erguner brothers

Buselik Peşrev – composed by Dimitrie Cantemir (interpreted by ensemble Kudsi Erguner) Arrangements by Kudsi Erguner

Nishaburek Yürük Semai – Greek version by Yorgos Protopsaltis interpreted by (ensemble Kudsi Erguner) Arrangements by Kudsi Erguner 

Saba Şarkı – composed by Suphi Ziya Ozkan & interpreted by Nesrin Sipahi and (ensemble Kudsi Erguner)

Saba Nihavend Taksim – composed and interpreted by Kudsi Erguner au ney 

Hümayun Peşrev – composed byVeli Dede interpreted by (ensemble Kudsi Erguner)

Hicaz Şarkı – composed by Sadettin Kaynak & interpreted by Müzeyyen Senar & (ensemble Kudsi Erguner) Arrangements by Kudsi Erguner 

Şedaraban Saz Semaisi – composed by Tanburi Cemil Bey interpreted by ensemble Kudsi Erguner)

Suznak Saz Semaisi – composed by Tatyos Efendi (interpreted by ensemble Kudsi Erguner)

Disclaimer

Mediterranean Intangible Heritage Soundscape is a podcast by Paolo Scarnecchia, produced by UNIMED, Mediterranean Universities Union. Musical works included in the Podcast are used for purpose of illustration for teaching, and not for commercial purposes.

Please notice that opening and closing voice over is generated with AI tools.

In this episode we will travel right into the heart of Turkey with Jérôme Cler, lecturer in ethnomusicology at Paris-Sorbonne University. 
Despite the variety of his cultural experiences, Cler’s interest has remained constantly focused on Asia Minor, first through his studies dedicated to the civilisation and language of ancient Greece and later through his field research on the oral music traditions of the Anatolian highlands.

After learning to play the saz thanks to the teachings of Talip Özkan, one of the most important virtuosos of the instrument, and having made numerous trips to Anatolian villages, frequenting rural communities and participating in their social and religious rituals, Cler wrote the ethnographic account Ritournelles de l'arrière-pays. Musique et ethnographie en Turquie rurale published in 2025 by Éditions Mimésis and which is the result of thirty years of research in the south-west of the country.

About Jérôme Cler 
After studying literature and specialising in medieval Greek, Jérôme Cler began learning to play the long-necked saz lute under the tutelage of master Talip Özkan, which led him to branch out into ethnomusicology, a subject he taught for 25 years at Sorbonne University. He has always favoured slow immersion in the ‘field’, which he frequented for three decades (1991-2025). His field of research is rural Turkey, in a peasant environment of nomadic ancestry, but he has also worked in Bulgaria (2008) and Colombia (2009-2011).

Episode's musical sources list

Ritournelle, recording of Jérôme Cler: village de Tasavlu, avec Hayri Dev, Hasan Yıldırım, Zafer Dev.

Kurdes Irak Unesco extrait, CD Unesco : Kurdish music, Auvidis D 8023 (1974/1989), «Naghma Jabali We Binafshé»

Talip Ozkan / taksim dersi bozlak, « leçon de Taksim ». Field recording of Jérôme Cler 1992 https://youtu.be/25_ihcKZxAo?feature=shared

Talip Ozkan / taksim dersi bozlak, une chanson de la région de Denizli. Recording of Jérôme Cler 1992 https://youtu.be/25_ihcKZxAo?feature=shared

Hayri Hasan

Gizli Düdük, recording of Jérôme Cler. Le gizli düdük « sifflet secret » 

"Turquie - Voyages D'Alain Gheerbrant En Anatolie (1956-1957) Ocora-radio-france 1985 « nefes : un haut pilier au centre de l’univers » extrait

Biz bektaşi gulleriyiz (We are the bektaşi roses) recording of Jérôme Cler in Tekke 2011 cf. CD Turquie : cérémonie de djem bektashi, la tradition d’Abdal Musa, OCORA-Radio-France 2012

Babalar semahi début plus babalar transition. Jérôme Cler, recording November 1997 : début du semai des baba plus transition vers la modulation de la 2è partie du semah

Semah, Alevi-Bektaşi ritual https://youtu.be/e2zsCoNnfg8?feature=shared

Al beni - Zafer, recording of Jérôme Cler 1995 Zafer Dev, fils de Hayri Dev, chante accompagné par Hauri et Hasan

Disclaimer
Mediterranean Intangible Heritage Soundscape is a podcast by Paolo Scarnecchia, produced by UNIMED, Mediterranean Universities Union. Musical works included in the Podcast are used for purpose of illustration for teaching, and not for commercial purposes.

Please notice that opening and closing voice over is generated with AI tools.

Fado, the urban song of Lisbon, was inscribed in 2011 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Fado’s history partially mirrors that of 20th-century Portugal.  
Its ill-famed origins linked to the alleys and taverns of the Alfama and Mouraria neighborhoods, contributed to creating a sort of mythology that fueled his poetics, and the best definitions of this musical genre are found in the verses of his songbook in which the word saudade, difficult to translate, continually echoes.
It is something akin to nostalgia and melancholy, but it also expresses a restlessness, a longing, a regret and more, which cannot be precisely defined outside the Portuguese cultural context.

But from the point of view of a fado singer, this risks appearing like an overused stereotype, and Rodrigo Costa Félix, who talks about his musical education and his way of feeling and interpreting fado, prefers to underline the poetic quality of the verses of the songs, often citing the charismatic figure of Amalia Rodrigues as an essential point of reference for his generation.

About Rodrigo Costa Félix
Rodrigo Costa Félix is one of the Fado references of his generation. He started singing Fado at the age of 17.
He made his professional debut when he was eighteen, at the São Caetano Restaurant (formerly Pátio das Cantigas) in Lapa - in Lisbon. There he hung out with great musicians and singers and really began to realise the importance of these places in any artist's apprenticeship.

He started participating in major Fado events throughout the country, mainly with one of the biggest names ever, João Braga.
His international career began in 1997 and he has been travelling around the world ever since.

He participated in the first record of the so-called new generation of Fado, the CD “Alma Nova” in 1994, but his first solo CD, “Fados D’Alma”, was recorded only in 2008. Read more


Episode's musical sources list

Rodrigo Costa Félix / O pai de todos os fados / Popular - Tiago Torres da Silva

Rodrigo Costa Félix / Fado das mágoas / João Ferreira-Rosa – Pedro Lafões

Amalia Rodrigues / Fado portugues / Amalia Rodrigues - José Regio
https://youtu.be/1YriVM8sC7M?si=NQKqkRjA_smiZBoa

Trovante / Travessa do poço dos negros / Luis Represas – João Gil 

Pedro Caldeira Cabral / Fantasie Tinha o nome de saudade

Amália Rodrigues / Povo que lavas no rio / Pedro Homem de Mello – Joaquim Campos
https://youtu.be/CHn5eetWpFQ?si=hGNmVrw8-HyTXCCL

Amália Rodrigues ao vivo em Milano
https://youtu.be/UYD6hQQe6Go?si=MNr_f4UTgKWQ7d1b

Amália Rodrigues / Grandola vila Morena / Zeca Afonso
https://youtu.be/umbEOUYaxa4?si=tuxMWqund3C830OK

Miguel Carvalho on his book about Amalia
https://youtu.be/d8S8hSQvgds?si=BsRJ_ZkzV_3fnAuQ

Rodrigo Costa Félix / Amália / José Galhardo - Frederico Valério

Mariza / Lagrima / Amália Rodrigues – Carlos Gonçalves
https://youtu.be/5RK1qGWl6r0?si=pnSGpJ5GfxQaxWyR

Moment of Announcement of Fado as Intangible Heritage of Humanity
https://vimeo.com/groups/785262/videos/54319143

Rodrigo Costa Félix / Tinha o nome de saudade / João de Freitas – João Maria dos
Anjos

Rodrigo Costa Félix / Amigo aprendiz / Pd. Zezinho scj. – Tiago Bettencourt

Disclaimer
Mediterranean Intangible Heritage Soundscape is a podcast by Paolo Scarnecchia, produced by UNIMED, Mediterranean Universities Union. Musical works included in the Podcast are used for purpose of illustration for teaching, and not for commercial purposes.

Please notice that opening and closing voice over is generated with AI tools.

As the title of Adnan Haydar’s new book announces, New Words to Old Tunes, in this episode we are brought into the fascinating world of recited and sung verbal duels, rooted in Lebanon’s oral poetry tradition.
Zajal is a creative game filled with rhetoric, metaphors, mockery, and clever wordplay, touching on both frivolous and serious themes—daily life, emotions, history, politics, famous figures, and, more broadly, opposing ideas that generate a poetic joust between two or more poets. These poets improvise their verses while adhering to different Arabic metrical forms. 

The living zajal tradition was inscribed in 2014 on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and continues to flourish in convivial gatherings that draw large audiences. In a traditional public zajal encounter, the poets divide into two teams of two or four, with a small choir behind them, singing the last couplet of each poet’s verse as a refrain.

As a profound connoisseur of this tradition, Prof. Adnan Haydar offers a detailed account of the structure and characteristics of the main meters that define and shape Lebanon’s oral poetry tradition within a broader Mediterranean context. 

About Adnan Haydar
Adnan Haydar is head of the Arabic section in the department of world languages, literatures, and cultures and professor of Arabic and comparative literature at the University of Arkansas, where he also directed the King Fahd Middle East Studies Program from 1993 to 1999. Dr. Haydar has taught at the University of California, the University of Pennsylvania, Middlebury College, and the University of Massachusetts. His fields of specialization and areas of teaching include modern and classical Arabic literature, Arabic language, folk literature, oral poetry, and European and Arabic poetics.  He has directed SINARC,  BAALI, and SCALE, three summer institutes in Lebanon for intensive Arabic language and culture from 1997-2010.
He has authored, co-authored and co-edited eight books, including Naguib Mahfouz: From Regional Fame to Global Recognition, and published numerous translations and interpretations of poetry and fiction, including Adonis’ Mihyar of Damascus, His Songs, Khalil Hawi’s Naked in Exile, and Jabra Ibrahim Jabra’s celebrated novels The Ship and In Search of Walid Masoud. He has edited numerous modern Arabic novels in translation for Syracuse University Press. His many articles on modern literary theory and oral poetry have appeared in premier literary journals in the U.S. and in the Middle East. His translation (with Michael Beard) of Adonis’ Mihyar of Damascus, His Songs, published by BOA Editions, has recently been awarded the Modern Language Association’s prestigious Lois Roth Award for the Translation of a Literary Work. 

Episode's musical sources list
Zein Sheib, Zajal 1968 Lebanese Tradition Freestyle Battles, 1968
https://www.facebook.com/reel/922711795564597  

Jiryis al-Bustani (sung by Adnan Haydar), Boasting

Edward Harb clip 2, Zajal 1968 Lebanese Tradition Freestyle Battles, 1968
https://www.facebook.com/reel/922711795564597

Reddadeh (chorus), Zajal 1968 Lebanese Tradition Freestyle Battles, 1968
https://www.facebook.com/reel/922711795564597

Zaghloul al-Damour (sung also by Adnan Haydar), Opening ode, Beit Mery, Lebanon, 1972

Zaghloul al-Damour, Opening ode, Beit Mery, Lebanon, 1972 

Unknown, (sung by Adnan Haydar), Qarradi with English and French Words 

Another clip from Zajal 1968 Lebanese Tradition Freestyle Battles, 1968
https://www.facebook.com/reel/922711795564597

Maʿannā sung by Mansour Ajami
https://cdn.openbookpublishers.com/resources/10.11647/obp.0424/1-ma-anna-1.mp3

Maʿannā 2 sung by Mansour Ajami
https://cdn.openbookpublishers.com/resources/10.11647/obp.0424/2-ma-anna-2.mp3

Qarradi 1 sung by Mansour Ajami
https://cdn.openbookpublishers.com/resources/10.11647/obp.0424/3-qarradi-1.mp3

Qarradi 2 sung by Mansour Ajami
https://cdn.openbookpublishers.com/resources/10.11647/obp.0424/4-qarradi-2.mp3

Qarradi 3 sung by Mansour Ajami
https://cdn.openbookpublishers.com/resources/10.11647/obp.0424/5-qarradi-3.mp3

Aframiyya
https://cdn.openbookpublishers.com/resources/10.11647/obp.0424/6-aframiyyat-ya-salihan.mp3

Layya w layya sung by Mansour Ajami
https://cdn.openbookpublishers.com/resources/10.11647/obp.0424/7-Layya-w-layya.mp3

Alyadi
https://cdn.openbookpublishers.com/resources/10.11647/obp.0424/8-al-yadi-source.mp3

Ya ghzayyel
https://cdn.openbookpublishers.com/resources/10.11647/obp.0424/9-ya-ghzayyil.mp3

Mijana
https://cdn.openbookpublishers.com/resources/10.11647/obp.0424/13-mijana-refrain.mp3

Ataba
https://cdn.openbookpublishers.com/resources/10.11647/obp.0424/14-ataba.mp3

Hida
https://cdn.openbookpublishers.com/resources/10.11647/obp.0424/18-al-hida.mp3

Nadb
https://cdn.openbookpublishers.com/resources/10.11647/obp.0424/20-nadb-iii-ghaybitak.mp3

Qasid
Zaghloul’s opening ode repeated

Mkhammas Mardud
Fayrouz, Wadi al-Safi, Nasri Shamseddine, Baalbek, 1973
https://cdn.openbookpublishers.com/resources/10.11647/obp.0424/28-mkhammas-mardoud-fayrouz-and-nasri-shamseddine.mp3


Disclaimer
Mediterranean Intangible Heritage Soundscape is a podcast by Paolo Scarnecchia, produced by UNIMED, Mediterranean Universities Union. Musical works included in the Podcast are used for purpose of illustration for teaching, and not for commercial purposes.


Please notice that opening and closing voice over is generated with AI tools.

The convivial meetings perfectly encapsulate the social dimension of the Cretan traditional music. Within these gatherings, the sound heritage of the Greek island is nurtured and passed on, as explored with Ioannis Papadatos in the previous episode “The social role of parea in the musical tradition of Crete”.
As a natural continuation, this episode presents the testimonies of four distinguished Cretan musicians, corroborating the fundamental role of that sense of unity and belonging where different musical forms flow in harmony with the rhythms of traditional dances such as syrtos, pentozali, sousta, kastrinós. 
In these convivial spaces, aspiring musicians refine their techniques and stylistic approaches across different repertoires, guided by the wisdom of seasoned mentors. This exchange allows them to develop and perfect their expressive and musical abilities. 
The enthusiasm of the meraklides, devoted connoisseurs who delight in life’s pleasures, from music to gastronomy, blends seamlessly into the convivial spirit of the parees. Within this vibrant setting, you can hear musicians playing verses from the early 17th century chivalric poem Erōtókritos or improvising mantinades. 
In this episode, the four musicians, Zacharias Spyridakis, Dimitris Sideris, Georgios Zacharioudakis and Yannis Papatzanis, paint a vivid portrait of the diversity of their learning and experiences of the Cretan musical heritage, and unanimously acknowledging its fundamental values. 

About the musicians
Zacharias Spyridakis, Dimitris Sideris, Georgios Zacharioudakis and Yannis Papatzanis compose the Cretan Music Ensemble. More information is available here   

Episode's musical sources list

“Erotokritos Eastern Crete melody” (in the way of “kontilies”)
sang by Dimitris Sideris

“Chalepianos manes” “skopos” (table melody)
sang by Zacharias Spyridakis

“Erotokritos Eastern Crete melody” (in the way of “kontilies”)
sang by Dimitris Sideris

Learning my rst “sirtos” named “Ti mana mou tin agapo 

“Erotokritos Main melody”
sang by Dimitris Sideris

“Erotokritos Main melody”
sang by Dimitris Sideris

“Erotokritos Eastern Crete melody” (short)

“Protos sirtos” 
example melody to explain the technical way to perform Lute

Sound example of “Madoura instrument”

“Pidichtos dance”
explaing the way performing “Madoura” with ornaments

“Kathe chimona ta poulia” “sirtos”
sang by Yannis Papatzanis, Double “Madoura” or “Askomadoura” (Cretan backpipe)

“sirtos melody”
“Thiampoli insrument” (Cretan flute)

“Egiran ta klonaria mou”
“skopos” (table melody) sang by Yannis Papatzanis

“Ethianos Pidichtos”
dance with “Toubaki instrument”

“Sousta dance”
sang by Yannis Papatzanis

“Rizitiko” “Kori ke nios”
(table or walking melody)

“Protos sirtos”


Disclaimer
Mediterranean Intangible Heritage Soundscape is a podcast by Paolo Scarnecchia, produced by UNIMED, Mediterranean Universities Union. Musical works included in the Podcast are used for purpose of illustration for teaching, and not for commercial purposes.

Please notice that opening and closing voice over is generated with AI tools.

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Ioannis Papadatos has been a long‐term participant‐observer during a fieldwork in the island of Crete to prepare his dissertation about the local performances of Cretan traditional music for the University of Kent’s degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He participated and enjoyed the convivial atmosphere of social gatherings called parees in which music plays a pivotal role, mostly in Heraklion where he resided in 2012 and 2013.
These meetings are very inclusive, because at the same time are a social space where sharing the passion for music and singing or playing independently from the technical level and the knowledge of the repertoire, and where learning the unspoken rules that govern the musical sequences of the performances while improving one’s own ability. 
The key concept of meraklís (enthusiast, fan, aficionado, devotee, lover, buff) reveals this inclusive and participatory kind of gatherings where people socialize through music, and the parees open performances keep alive the original musical traditions of this big Greek Mediterranean island.

About Ioannis Papadatos
Ioannis Papadatos is an ethnomusicologist in the field of Greek studies and the Cretan musical tradition. He lives in Athens and has conducted a long-term ethnographical fieldwork in the island of Crete as part of his doctorate research at the University of Kent. 

Episode's musical sources list

Έla san éheis órexi (Come if you like, known as: Na mpóries me ta máthia mou If you could see through my eyes)
Ioannis Papadatos field recording 2012

Έla san éheis órexi (Come if you like, known as: Na mpóries me ta máthia mou If you could see through my eyes)
Ioannis Papadatos field recording 2012

Agrimia ki agrimakia mou (My beasts and little beasts)
Arranged by Yannis Markopoulos, singer Nikos Xilouris https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG6WZoVfGao

Htikiaris (Sickly person)
Karolos Kouklakis and Irini Derebei - Ioannis Papadatos field recording 2011

Ta vasana mou (I rejoice in my sorrows)
Ioannis Papadatos field recording in Roustika 2013

Pentozalis
Ioannis Papadatos field recording in Roustika 2013

Ki an mou 'heis kapsei tin kardia (Even if you’ve burnt my heart)
Ioannis Papadatos field recording 2012

Staras – apo to 1968 Lefkogiani parea – kalamatiana, (parea at Lefkogia of Rethymnon prefecture) Nikos Petrakis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0EDlimpNwk)
Courtesy of the Staras Family to Ioannis Papadatos

Όla gia séna ta ’pexa (I risked everything for you)
Ioannis Papadatos field recording 2012

Ksirosterianos
Ioannis Papadatos field recording in Roustika 2013

Έla san éheis órexi (Come if you like, known as: Na mpóries me ta máthia mou If you could see through my eyes)
Ioannis Papadatos field recording 2012

Mmono ekeinos p'agapa (Only the one who loves)
Ioannis Papadatos field recording in Roustika 2012

Kastrinos
Ioannis Papadatos field recording in Roustika 2013

Pote tha kanei xasteria (When will the skies clear again)
Nikos Xilouris https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzSjGLAVQpY

and Polytechnic students’ street protest of November 1973 where they sang Pote tha kanei xasteria https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&app=desktop&v=8Qa9

Disclaimer
Mediterranean Intangible Heritage Soundscape is a podcast by Paolo Scarnecchia, produced by UNIMED, Mediterranean Universities Union. Musical works included in the Podcast are used for purpose of illustration for teaching, and not for commercial purposes.

Please notice that opening and closing voice over is generated with AI tools.

This episode includes AI-generated content.

The multipart singing of the rural Southern region of Portugal, called cante alentejano, is proudly performed by amateur choral groups that intone two short simple poems, first the cantiga and then the moda, standing side by side and slightly undulating.
Their chanting is a means to reinvigorate the sense of belonging to their land and a way to bound social ties among communities of Alentejo. 
Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco has a deep ethnomusicological knowledge of the different musical traditions of Portugal, and contributed with the anthropologist  Paulo Lima to create the conditions of the inclusion in 2014 of this form of singing in the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Here she explains what cante alentejano is and what it represents in the frame of cultural and social life of Portugal.

About Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco 
Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco is Professor Emerita of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, NOVA University of Lisbon (FCSH-UNL) and president Emerita of the Instituto de Etnomusicologia-Centro de Estudos em Música e Dança (INET-md), a research unit that she founded in 1995 and directed up to 2020.
She was elected President of the International Council for Traditional Music (2013 - 2021). She earned a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology in 1980 at Columbia University. Her academic career was launched at New York University where she was a tenure-track Assistant Professor from 1979 to 1981, founded and directed an MA program in urban ethnomusicology.
She was Associate Professor at the newly founded Musicology Department at NOVA-FCSH, completed her habilitation in 1986 and won a full professorship in 1988, the first in musicology in Portugal. She chaired the Musicology Department during its foundational and consolidation phases (1983-1988; 1995-1997).
She was visiting professor at Columbia University, Princeton University; Tinker Professor at Chicago University, Overseas Visiting Scholar at St. John's College, Cambridge University and Gulbenkian Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. She carried out field research in Portugal, Egypt and Oman resulting in publications on: cultural politics, musical nationalism, music heritage, music media, music and conflict, and institutional and disciplinary histories. 
More information and the list of publications are available here.

Episode's musical sources list

O Alentejo em Lisboa
Modas e Cantigas do Alentejo. Grupo Coral Alentejano. Amadora AURPIF. Ideal voice CD s.d.

Bairro Alentejano
Grupo Coral 1° de Maio do Bairro Alentejano: O Ninho. Sociedede Recreativa e Cultural do Povo, Bairro Alentejano, CD 2007

Hino do Mineiro
Aljustrel Tradiçao Musical. Grupo Coral do Sindicato Mineiro de Aljustrel, CNM, CD 2002 Os Ganhões de Castro Verde

Alentejo, Alentejo
Grupo Coral e Etnográfico Os Camponeses de Pias
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfWykIA1MQ0 http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpB20kmRi4zgMxyyJL3Qrmg

PARIS, 27-NOV-2014 (na Sede da UNESCO). Declaração do júri da UNESCO, integrando o CANTE ALENTEJANO na lista representativa do PATRIMÓNIO CULTURAL IMATERIAL DA HUMANIDADE. (Registo vídeo da MODA - Associação do Cante Alentejano, edição de José Colaço) https://youtu.be/r69KHaXCLGs?feature=shared

Cefeira Linda Cefeira
Terra - Os Ganhões de Castro Verde, Antologia: 1972 -2006. Polifonias Alentejanas

Meus Lirio roxo
Lirio Roxo: cançao Alentejana. Rancho Coral de Serpa. The Gramophone Company EQ 354 OPC 14  1949?

Ao romper da bela aurora 
Grupo Coral Os Cefeiros de Cuba: Alma do Poco CD 2005

Fui colher Marcela
Modas dos mastros - Grupo Coral e Etnografico As Camponesas de Castro Verde, Cortiçol – Cooperativa de Informaçao e Cultura, CRL, CD, 1997

Lá vai Serpa, lá vai Moura 
Cantes de Aldeia Nova - Rancho dos Cantadores de Aldeia Nova de São Bento CD 2001

Lá vai Serpa, lá vai Moura 
Cançao do Alentenjo. Edmundo Bettencourt. Columbia 8121 1928

Cefeira 
Celina da Piedade. Gravaçao inedita cedida por Celina da Piedade 2015

Venho da ilha dos vidros 
Viola Campaniça: Ilha dos vidros. Grupo de Violas Campaniças. Associaçao Cante Alentejano: Os Cardadores 2006

Toda a bela noite que eu ando  
Castro Verde tem uma minha: Grupo e Coral Etnografico “Os Carapinhas” de Castro Verde. Cortiçol – Cooperativa de Informação e Cultura. CRL. CD 1997.

Que inveja tens tu das rosas   
Antonio Zambujo. Por meu cante. Ocarina OCA 008. 2004.

All the music works short examples here above listed are included in the collection CANTES. Cante Alentejano Património Cultural da Humanidade (4 Books and CDs), A Bela e o Monstro. Edições / Público Comunicação Social SA, 2018. Coordination, texts and musical selection by Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco and Paulo Lima   

Disclaimer
Mediterranean Intangible Heritage Soundscape is a podcast by Paolo Scarnecchia, produced by UNIMED, Mediterranean Universities Union. Musical works included in the Podcast are used for purpose of illustration for teaching, and not for commercial purposes.

Please notice that opening and closing voice over is generated with AI tools.

When a musical culture is endangered and can nearly die out, it may happen that a single person can help to draw attention on it and stimulate the creation of a virtuous circle to induce a revival, even in a society which is so unstable and fragile as the Yemenite one.
This is the case of Jean Lambert, ethnomusicologist and musician, who fell in love with the country from the first time he visited it and became a kind of unofficial ambassador of the traditional music of Yemen from its capital city Sana’a.
During his field research he discovered a lute of ancient origin, the qanbus, that was on the verge of vanishing, as well as the original way of playing a copper dish called sahn mimiye. He studied the social importance of music in the Yemeni culture and collaborated to the process for including the Song of Sanaa in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

About Jean Lambert
Jean Lambert is an anthropologist and an ethnomusicologist specialized on Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula, as well as the history of Arab music. He also studies Arabic oral literature (poetry, tales, legends) in Yemen and Lebanon.
He is currently Assistant professor in the Musée de l'Homme (National Museum of Natural History, Paris) and an associate researcher in the CREM-LESC (Université Paris Nanterre). He supervised many PhD candidates.

From 2003 to 2008, he was the Director of the French Center for Archeology and Social Sciences (CEFAS) in Sanaa. Between 2009 and 2014, he was the Director of the Centre for Research in
EthnoMusicology (CREM-LESC), CNRS, Université de Paris Nanterre.
More information about his work is available here.

Episode's musical sources list
(most of them coming from J. Lambert’s book:  La médecine de l'âme. Le chant de Sanaa dans la société yéménite, Nanterre, Société d'ethnologie (1997, 1 CD included).


01) Abdallah al-Jabri et Husayn Sa'sa, mizmar
02) Yahya al-Nunu, Chant de Sanaa, oriental lute, “Zamân al-sibâ” (The time of youth)
03) Abdallah al-Hammami, nashîd, “Yigarreb Allah“ (May God bring closer our encounter)
04) Hasan al-Ajami, yemenite lute, “Bada ka-l-badr“ (He appeared like the full moon)
05) Hasan al-Ajami, yemenite lute, instrumental introduction, fartash turki
06) Mohammed Hamud al-Harithi, oriental lute, mutawwal : “Rahmân yâ Rahmân” (O Misericordious)
07) Ahmed al Tashshi, yemenite lute, instrumental introduction, fertash
08) Mohammed al-Khamisi, ”Yâ hayy yâ gayyûm” (O Living God, o Erected), copper plate, sahn
09) Ahmed Telha, declamation of poetry
10) Abdallah al-Hammami, nashîd, “Iqbis mata shiit” (Pick up as you want the flame of love from my liver)
11) The Song of Sanaa, Unesco
12) Abdallah a-Hammami, psalmody, Tasbih of pilgrimage
13) Nidaa Abou Mrad, Tahmîlat Aqsâq Bayyâtî - taqâsîm
14) Shaykh Ali Abu Bakr Ba-Sharahil,  yemenite lute, Song of Sanaa,“Yigarreb Allah” (May God bring closer our encounter)
15) Mohammed bin Shamikh, oriental lute, tarhîb : “Bushrâk hâdha-I yawmu Îd” (Welcome song: Today is a feast day) (from cd Yemen: Songs from Hadramawt, Unesco Collection 1998
16) Abdallah al-Hammami, wedding procession song, ziffa
17) Hasan al-Ajami, Chant de Sanaa, “Ya mughir al-gazala” (O you who make the deer jalous), copper plate, sahn

Disclaimer
Mediterranean Intangible Heritage Soundscape is a podcast by Paolo Scarnecchia, produced by UNIMED, Mediterranean Universities Union. Musical works included in the Podcast are used for purpose of illustration for teaching, and not for commercial purposes.

Please notice that opening and closing voice over is generated with AI tools.

When we think about what has been called “classical music” of Maghreb, oral by tradition and linked to a past medieval artistic splendour, we immediately think of Morocco and Algeria, then of Tunisia, but much less of Libya.
In Libya sufi brotherhoods played an important role in preservation and transmission of the nawabat (suites) common heritage for all the North Africa of Andalusian-Maghrebi art music, and the so called ma’lūf az-zāwiya, is the core of this tradition which is rooted in the Muslim Spain. However when it is performed by professional or semi professional musicians, it is generally indicated as ma’lūf alidhā‛.
The Arab Andalusian musical tradition of Libya is close to the Tunisian one and shares the same name of ma’lūf. 
Guiding us in this tradition is Philip Ciantar, Associate Professor at the Department of Music Studies of the University of Malta. 
During his field research in Tripoli, Philip Ciantar met with Hassan Araibi, the musician who was one of the most important connoisseurs of the repertoire of sung poetry organised in different modal suites. From this experience the maltese scholar started to investigate further this living tradition, meeting also with the members of the Araibi Ensemble that was part of the Libyan Radio. Prof. Ciantar listened and learned from their point of view the features, the key concepts and the poetic of this enchanting musical tradition.

About Philip Ciantar 
Philip Ciantar is an Associate Professor at the Department of Music Studies within the School of Performing Arts, University of Malta. He teaches ethnomusicology and related subjects. His research interests lie in the areas of Mediterranean music studies; Andalusian music in North Africa; Maltese popular music; music and colonialism; the transmission of musical knowledge; and world music analysis. His publications include articles in a variety of journals and edited volumes, as well as entries in leading music encyclopedias. Among his publications are two single-authored monographs: The Ma’lūf in Contemporary Libya: An Arab Andalusian Musical Tradition (Ashgate 2012; Routledge 2016) and Studies in Maltese Popular Music (Routledge 2021).

Episode's musical sources list

Libyan Nawba: Jamru al Hawā
Hassan Araibi's Orchestra

Libyan Nawba: Jamru al Hawā
Hassan Araibi's Orchestra

Muwashshah: Salfiy ad-Dhalām
Hassan Araibi's Orchestra

Libyan Nawba: Jamru al Hawā
Hassan Araibi's Orchestra

Ma’lūf Az-Zawya during a Mawlid Parade 

Libyan Nawba: Nāh al Hamām
Hassan Araibi's Orchestra

Libyan Nawba: Nāh al Hamām with a Ottoman-like military melody 

Libyan Nawba: Shawqa Danīy
Hassan Araibi's Orchestra

A song from Libyan Nawba Nāh al Hamām compared to a Nawba Song from the Tunisian Ma’lūf Repertoire 

Nawba Nāh al Hamām in az-Zawya style 

Libyan Nawba: Shawqa Danīy
Hassan Araibi's Orchestra

Disclaimer
Mediterranean Intangible Heritage Soundscape is a podcast by Paolo Scarnecchia, produced by UNIMED, Mediterranean Universities Union. Musical works included in the Podcast are used for purpose of illustration for teaching, and not for commercial purposes.

Please notice that opening and closing voice over is generated with AI tools.