Salim Shibith - Iraqi maqams owj and birzawi سليم شبث مقام أوج مقام بيرزاوي

Music for Peace in the Middle East spotlights Jewish, Muslim, and Christian musicians who fostered peaceful coexistence through collaborative music-making. Salim Shibith was a highly regarded qari al-maqam (“maqam reader”) who performed al-maqam al-‘Iraqi (the Iraqi maqam). Ethnomusicologist Esther Warkov recorded Salim Shibith in two interviews at his home in Givat Olga, Hadera, Israel, shortly before his death in 1981. Learn more about Salim Shibith and read an analysis of this maqam rast performance in “The Urban Repertoire of Jewish Professional Musicians in Iraq and Israel: Instrumental Improvisation and Culture Change,” a Ph.D. dissertation at Academia.edu. http://bit.ly/1niES7r. Enter Salim Shibith in the dissertation's search field.

Like other performers, Shibith learned the tradition while listening to performances in Baghdadi coffee houses. Shibith took the additional step of engaging a teacher of Arabic literature and poetry to augment his education at a Jewish school in Baghdad.

We hear a familiar story: Shibith, known for his devotion to the maqam, was requested to complete a maqam performance at a Jewish club one evening when Rashid al-Qundarji became too inebriated to finish. Upon hearing Shibith, Rashid al-Qundarji reportedly kissed him and promised to teach him the intricacies of the maqam, Na‘im Twayna wrote in Al-Anba’ newspaper June 30, 1978. It is believed that Shibith modeled his performances on those of Rashid al-Qundarji.

In time, Shibith performed at the Iraqi broadcasting station, and became the preferred vocalist at the home parties of prime minister Nuri Sa‘id, according to Na‘im Twayna. Like most maqam singers, Shibith also worked in a second profession; he chose carpentry.

After immigrating to Israel in 1951, Shibith, like others, had few opportunities to perform the traditional Iraqi repertoire. Fortunately, Israel Radio arranged for Shibith (among others) to recorded many Iraqi maqam performances. Shibith recorded at least 38 different maqamat, some more than once, for a total of at least 82 recordings. These full-length performances, in contrast to shorter versions on ’78 discs, serve as examples for generations to come.

The owj and birzawi performances include the Iraqi-Jewish santur player Yusuf Petaw, who was a part of the Iraqi delegation to the First International Conference of Arabic Music in Cairo, Egypt, 1932.

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