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Article: Something Moor than minimalist
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- April 8, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1995 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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For 700 years, between the arrival of the first Arab invaders
in AD711 and the flight of the last defenders of Granada before the
all- conquering Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, Spain -
or Al Andalus, as it was then known - lay under Islamic rule.
Musically, the equivalent of the arches and patios of Moorish
architecture is the ala, that body of raga-like song suites (or
nuba) originated at the medieval courts of Granada, Cordoba and
Seville, and still preserved in Morocco by a dozen Andalus
orchestras composed of lutes, rebab fiddles, violins, qanun zithers
and percussion.
Since a ground-breaking co-operation in 1983 between the
flamenco singer Enrique Morente and the Orquesta ...