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qadeem
mawwal
dawr
moursal
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qaseed
jadeed
watani
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This site is under construction,
Thank you for your patience...
In the meantime, you can listen to some
of the songs (and music) that I have recorded.
They are categorized by style. I came up
with these styles based on my experience with
Abdelwahab's works.
Please send comments to Saad Mneimneh

Below is a brief description of the different styles:

Qadeem: songs before 1928.
Mawwal: traditional arabic mawwal that starts with
Ya Leil Ya 3ein.
Dawr: traditional arabic dawr with choir interaction.
Moursal: this form does not have a clear dominant
melodic theme but it is based on a mode like etudes
in classical music. It is not mawwal because it
contains progressive melodies specially towards the
end. Two of the songs in this style contain choir
harmony. Some of the songs are characterized by the
absence of a traditionally present rhythmic pattern.
Khafeef: this style contains songs that are
composed of a number of parts separated by a single
melodic phrase that gets repeated. It conforms to the
taktouka form in traditional arabic music.
Qaseed: these are obviously poems; however, not
every poem belongs to this style. Except maybe for
Al Hawa Wal Shabab which I included in this style,
all of the songs in this style are similar in their
composition.
Jadeed: this style contains songs that were made
during and after 1933, the year when Abdelwahab
started composing his movie songs.
Watani: these are political, national, and arab
national songs.

Thanks: I would like to thank Anthony Coussa,
Ben Benaziza, and Issam Lakkis for their input
and contribution to this site.

External Links:
More compilations thanks to the effort of Mohammad Osman, Emile Farah, and Anthony Koussa

I covered the period 1920-1939. I will
add new songs in the future.
I apprecicate your patience.