home >> collections & research
services >> finding aids >> individual collections
Finding Aids to Individual Collections in the Archive of Folk Culture
THE PAUL BOWLES MOROCCAN MUSIC COLLECTION
AFC 1960/001
Compiled by Michelle Forner
Library of Congress
Washington DC
August 1994
SUMMARY
This collection consists of audio recordings, photographs, and accompanying
documentation of Moroccan folk, popular, and art music collected by writer/composer
Paul Bowles (1910- ). The collection includes recordings Bowles made in
1959 during a four- month field project sponsored by the Library of Congress
with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation as well as additional field
recordings that he made between 1960-62. Bowles captured vocal and instrumental
(including dance) music of various tribes and other indigenous populations
at 23 locations throughout the country. In 1972, the Library of Congress
issued a 2-record LP set, "Music of Morocco," containing selections from
the collection.
The index to recordings prepared by Bowles, arranged numerically by tape
side in chronological order, includes AFS numbers, song titles, performers,
and recording locations. The field notes, also arranged numerically by
tape side in chronological order, provide more detailed description of
each recording, including date, place, performers, song titles, musical
instruments, and other pertinent information.
Access and Reproduction: Listening and viewing access
to the collection is unrestricted. Duplication of the recorded materials
may be governed by copyright and other restrictions. In addition to standard
permission requirements, publication of the recorded materials requires
permission of the collector.
Key Subjects: ahouache (music-dance event); Andaluz;
aqlal (dance ceremony); Arabs; bendir; Berbers; chaabiya (modern Moroccan
popular music); costume; dance, Morocco; dance music; fjer (early morning
call to prayer); Gnaoua; gogo (Sudanese instrument); guedra; guinbri; Haha;
musical instruments; music, Islamic; qarqaba; qsbah; qsida (traditional
popular music); Sephardim; Songs, Arabic; squel (sword dance); sword dances;
tahouacht (war dance); Tiskiouine; war dances; zamar
Languages and Dialects: Arabic, Hebrew, Maghribi, Tachelhait
(Chlech), Tamazirht, Tariffcht
Physical Description |
Location Numbers |
Print Materials |
1 box (11 folders) |
|
Microfilm |
1 reel |
Music 0441 (Music Division) |
Sound Recordings |
2 double-sided 12 in. discs at 33 1/3 rpm |
AFS L63-64 (published recordings) |
65 7" DT reels |
AFS 11,623-11,687;
LWO-3068;
preservation #
LWO-8527 R93-100;
LWO-12,419 R1-19 |
5 7" DT reels |
AFS 12,016-12,020; LWO-3863 |
27 7" DT reels |
Reference copies |
Graphic Materials |
18 b&w photoprints (1 box) |
|
Map: 1 folder |
Map drawer, Folklife Reading Room |
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The Paul Bowles Moroccan Music Collection consists of audio recordings,
photographs, and accompanying documentation that focus primarily on one
recording project. With a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and sponsorship
from the Library of Congress, Paul Bowles spent the months of August to
September of 1959 traveling throughout Morocco recording approximately
60 hours of traditional folk, art, and popular music. Bowles collected
in 23 villages, towns, and cities along the Mediterranean and Atlantic
coasts, from Goulimine in the Sahara to Segangan in the Rif country, and
inland through the Middle and Grand Atlas ranges to Zagora in the Anti-Atlas.
Due to the political situation at the time, Bowles was not able to record
in the southeastern region. In 1963, the Library acquired five additional
recordings of Moroccan music made by Bowles in 1960- 62. In 1972, the Library
issued a two-record set of selections from the collection. A nine-page
descriptive booklet accompanies the set.
The heterogenous recordings reflect the variety of Moroccan culture. From
urban professionals and religious singers to rural and nomadic tribespeople,
the musicians performed vocal and instrumental music. The collection includes
dance music, secular music, music for Ramadan and other Islamic rites,
and music for animistic rituals. Berber and Arab music predominates, and
a considerable variety of styles emerges from the survey of different areas
and tribes. Some selections exhibit traces of the antique Andalusian style,
reflecting Morocco's historic relationship to Spain. Musical examples originally
derived from Mauritania, West Africa, and the Sudan demonstrate the influence
of migrations and cultural interchanges across the Sahara and along the
Atlantic coast. In addition, there are examples of Sephardic liturgical
music and other folksongs from the historic Jewish communities in Essaouira
and Meknes. Several recordings feature the rare zamar, a double-reed instrument
fitted with two mouthpieces and two bulls' horn resonators.
Dance often was integral to the music events; as Bowles pointed out, usually "music
and dance are one thing" to the peoples of Morocco, especially the Berber
tribes. In the field notes on the music, Bowles often alluded to the concurrent
dancing and sometimes gave movement description. He recorded, among other
things, music that accompanied the guedra dance from the village of Goulimine,
ahouache (music and dance events) of the Anti-Atlas and Grand Atlas, the
aqlal (dance ceremony) in the Draa Valley, Pre-Sahara, and the squel (sword
dance) of the Draaoua people of Zagora, Moroccan Sahara. The appendix lists
the field notes of recordings where dance was specifically described or
alluded to in Bowles' notes or in the LP recording booklet.
The manuscripts (correspondence and field notes) describe not only the
content of the recording project, but also the bureaucratic, political,
and cultural context of conducting ethnographic fieldwork in the late 1950s.
They highlight the cultural and political situation in the newly-independent
Morocco as well as the customs of different cultural groups. The correspondence
between Bowles and LC staff during the project offers additional insight
into the circumstances and content of the recordings, while the photographs
of several performance events provide visual documentation that supplements
those recordings.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Paul Bowles (1910- ) is an American-born artist who has lived in Morocco
since the late 1930s. He has been described as the father of the Beat movement
and a prominent figure in the American expatriate community in Tangier,
Morocco. A well-known composer, his scores include the incidental music
to such plays as Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie" and "Sweet Bird
of Youth"; he has worked with other artists such as Orson Wells, Elia Kazan,
and Salvador Dali. As an author, he is best known for his novels such as
The Sheltering Sky, Let It Come Down, and The Spider's House, and for his
collections of short stories and travel essays. Extensive travel in Europe,
North Africa, and South America provided material for his literary works
as well as opportunities to collect folk music. He married novelist Jane
Auer (1917-73) in 1938.
COLLECTION INVENTORY AND DESCRIPTION
I. MANUSCRIPTS
Location
|
Contents
|
Folder 1
|
Administrative: One folder consisting
of the collection register, a copy of the contract between Bowles
and the Library of Congress, a copy of the index to field recordings,
a copy of Bowles' project correspondence, and a copy of the LWO log.
|
Folders 2-5
|
Correspondence: Four folders arranged
chronologically (1957-72) with the following subdivisions: pre-project,
project, post-project, and LP production. Consists of correspondence
primarily between Bowles and LC personnel such as Harold Spivacke
(Chief, Music Div.), Edward Waters (Acting Chief, Music Div.), Rae
Korson (Head, Archive of Folk Song), Alan Jabbour (Head, Archive
of Folk Song), as well as several people from the Rockefeller Foundation
and the U.S. Embassy and State Department; descriptive and financial
monthly reports; and correspondence about the collection with researchers.
The project correspondence includes progress reports from Bowles
to the LC that augment the field notes.
|
Folder 6
|
Index to LC project recordings: One
folder of typed index to project recordings arranged numerically
by tape side (12 pp.). (Missing: pages with tape numbers 33-44).
Consists of an original and two copies, one of which has hand-written
corrections on it. Includes AFS numbers, Bowles' tape numbers, song
titles, performers (tribes), and recording locations. (There is no
index of the last five "sample" tapes from the project.)
|
Folders 7-8
|
Field notes I (LC project recordings):
Two folders (one original, one copy) of typed field notes (130 pp.).
Includes an opening note and description of instruments. Arranged
numerically by tape side in chronological order. Documents dates
and locations of recordings, performers, leaders, tribes, song titles,
instruments used, and comments about performance events, music/dance
types, circumstances of recording, instruments, etc. (There is no
log of the last five "sample" tapes.)
|
Folder 9
|
Field notes II (non-project field
recordings 1960-62): One folder (one original and one copy) of field
notes of audiotape recordings made 1960-62 (8 pp.). The tape number
order is not chronological. Written in a similar format to the project
fieldnotes, and includes hand- written AFS numbers.
|
Folder 10
|
LP record set booklet: One folder
containing the 9-page booklet that accompanies the record set.
|
Folder 11
|
Articles: One folder containing articles
that describe the collection.
|
II. MICROFILM
Microfilm of the LC project field notes and map: Music 0441, located in
the Music division.
III. RECORDINGS
LP Record Set: "Music of Morocco," AFS L63-64. Recorded and edited by
Paul Bowles, 1972. Includes 9-page booklet with notes and bibliography
of publications and documentary recordings. (Listening copy available in
the AFC Reading Room.)
LC project recordings: 65 DT 7" reels (the last five are samples from
the 60 recordings); approximately 65 hours; approximately 220 pieces. AFS
11,623-11,687; LWO-3068; preservation numbers LWO-8527 R93-100; LWO-12,419
R1-19. (Listening copies available in the AFC Reading Room.) Accessioned
in June 1960.
Non-project field recordings (1960-62): 5 7" reels; AFS 12,016- 12,020;
LWO-3863. (Listening copies available in the AFC Reading Room). Non-project
field recordings accessioned in June 1963.
IV. PHOTOGRAPHS
One box containing 18 black and white photographs. Location information
is written on the backs of most photographs. The photographs include scenes
of performers at Essaouira, Amizmiz, Taza, and Segangan, and several shots
of houses and casbahs.
V. MAP
One folder containing original and copies of a map, hand-drawn by Paul
Bowles, that documents recording locations and routes traveled during the
field project.
RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Bowles, Paul. "The Rif, to Music." In Their Heads are Green and Their
Hands are Blue, 97-141. New York: Random House, 1957.
Jabbour, Alan, and Joseph C. Hickerson. "African Recordings in the Archive
of Folk Song." Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress 27
(July 1970): 284-85.
Leavitt, Donald, L. "Folk, Popular, and Art Music of Morocco." Library
of Congress Information Bulletin 19 (October 17, 1960): 589-91.
Melville, Annette. "Paul Bowles Collection." In Special Collections
in the Library of Congress, 47. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress,
1980.
Sawyer-Laucanno, Christopher. An Invisible Spectator: A Biography
of Paul Bowles. New York: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1989.
APPENDIX A
SPECIFIC DANCE-RELATED MATERIAL
Dance in Morocco is often an integral part of a music event, especially
for the Berber tribes. However, since Paul Bowles was primarily interested
in documenting music, he did not always note when events included dance.
The following is a list of field notes for recordings that specifically
mention dance as part of the documented music event. Also included are
references to related LP recording booklet notes or photographs.
Field note related to AFS 11,623 Tape 1A "Yarza Digi Inrhancha Airhi
Rebbi" and "Sagous Touit Idar Ayardanou." Beni Mguild Tribe. Recorded at
Ain ed Diab.
Field note related to AFS 11,624 Tape 2A "Abou ou Harrak." Beni Mtir Tribe,
El Hajeb, Middle Atlas. Recorded at Ain ed Diab.
Field note related to AFS 11,624 Tape 2B "Traditional music of the Gnaoua
cult." Recorded at Essaouira.
Field note related to AFS 11,625 Tape 3A "Amimmi." Cheikh Moha ben Driss
and ensemble. Beni Mtir Tribe, El Hajeb, Middle Atlas. Recorded at Ain
ed Diab.
Field note related to AFS 11,625 Tape 3B "Music of the Haha Tribe," Tamanar.
Recorded at Essaouira.
Field note related to AFS 11,626 Tape 4A "Ai Manonne Atasa Aili Taamit
Ya Richa Zriti." Cheikh Diaai ben Ali and Cheikha Fatoma bent Kaddour with
ensemble. Beni Mguild Tribe. Recorded at Ain ed Diab.
Field note related to AFS 11,626 Tape 4B "Ahouache Haha Janoubia" (Festival
of the Southern Haha Tribe). Rais Mahamed ben Mohammed and ensemble, Tamanar.
Recorded at Essaouira.
Field note related to AFS 11,629 Tape 7A "Music of the Haha Tribe," Tamanar.
Recorded at Essaouira.
Field note related to AFS 11,630 Tape 8A "Limbia Limbia" and "Guennou
Ouahib Bouir" (guedra). El Ferqa dial Guedra Goulimine. Recorded at Goulimine.
Field note related to AFS 11,630 Tape 8B See also notes to AFS L-64, A1 "Ounalou
Biha Rajao," "Rax dial Et Tbel," and "Rax dial Guedra" (guedra). El Ferqa
dial Guedra Goulimine. Recorded at Goulimine.
Field note related to AFS 11,631 Tape 9A "El Malik Allah i Nidji." El
Ferqa dial Guedra Goulimine. Recorded at Goulimine.
Field note related to AFS 11,632 Tape 10B "El Maya dial Chtah." Rais Ahmed
ben Bakrim and group. Recorded at Tiznit.
Field note related to AFS 11,633 Tape 11A See also notes to AFS L-63,
A6. "Ahaouche Tafraout" and "Ajmak Ilirh." Maalem Ahmed and ensemble. Recorded
at Tafraout, Souss.
Field note related to AFS 11,643 Tape 21A "Party music." Musicians and
villagers of Einzoren, Rif. Recorded at Einzoren, Rif.
Field note related to AFS 11,644 Tape 22A "Dance." Elements of both the
Mouh Taieb and Morsan ensembles. Beni Ouriaghel Tribe. Recorded at Einzoren,
Rif.
Field note related to AFS 11,644 Tape 22B "El Aalaoui dial Tazourakht" (Dance).
Elements of both the Mouh Taieb and Morsan ensembles. Beni Ouriaghel Tribe.
Recorded at Einzoren, Rif.
Field note related to AFS 11,645 Tape 23B "Impromptu Dance." Cheikh Hamed
bel Hadj Hamadi ben Allal and ensemble. Beni Bouifrour Tribe. Recorded
at Segangan, Rif.
Field note related to AFS 11,646 Tape 24A "Aaouuad dial Azrheung-ng'n." Cheikh
Hamed bel Hadj Hamadi ben Allal and Ensemble. Beni Bouifrour Tribe. Recorded
at Segangan, Rif.
Field note related to AFS 11,658 Tape 36A "Dada Hbibti." Cheikha Haddouj
bent Fatma Rohou and ensemble. Zaiane Tribe, Middle Atlas. Recorded at
Khenifra.
Field note related to AFS 11,659 Tape 37A "Rhna dial Imdyazen." Mohammed
bel Hassan, leader. Ait Bou Guemmaz Tribe, Grand Atlas. Recorded at Ait
Mohammed.
Field note related to AFS 11,661 Tape 39A See also notes to AFS L-63,
B6. "Idihan dial Bou Guemmaz." Mohammed bel Hassan, leader. Ait Bou Guemmaz
Tribe. Recorded at Ait Mohammed.
Field note related to AFS 11,664 Tape 42B "Dance for Guinbri Solo." Embarek
ben Mohammed. Recorded at Marrakech.
Field note related to AFS 11,667 Tape 45A "Moulay el Hassan" (ahouache).
Maalem Ahmed Gacha, leader. Misfioua Tribe. Recorded at Ait Ourir.
Field note related to AFS 11,667 Tape 45B "Ichoua Nit Ifoulki" and "Achimtsa
Ajdig Atizona" (ahouache). Maalem Ahmed Gacha, leader. Recorded at Ait
Ourir.
Field note related to AFS 11,669 Tape 47A, 47B "Music of the Guidmioua
Tribe (Tiskiouine)," Grand Atlas. Larbi bel Hocein Nait ou Nasr, Moqaddem.
Recorded at Amizmiz. See also photographs AFC1960/001:p13, p14.
Field note related to AFS 11,670 Tape 48A "Tahouacht" (war dance). Larbi
bel Hocein Nait ou Nasr, Moqaddem. Guidmioua Tribe (tiskiouine), Grand
Atlas. Recorded at Amizmiz. See also photographs AFC1960/001:p13, p14.
Field note related to AFS 11,674 Tape 52A &52B See also notes to AFS L-63,
A3 "Music of the Draaoua" (sqel, sword dance; aqlal, dance ceremony of
the Draa Valley, Pre-Sahara). Moqaddem Mohammed ben Salem, leader. Recorded
at Zagora, Moroccan Sahara.
Field note related to AFS 11,675 Tape 53A & 53B See also notes to AFS
L-63, A3 "Music of the Draaoua" (sqel, sword dance; aqlal, dance ceremony
of the Draa Valley, Pre-Sahara). Moqaddem Mohammed ben Salem, leader. Recorded
at Zagora, Moroccan Sahara.
Field note related to AFS 11,681 Tape 59A "Aoulouz (Taroudant)." Rais
el Hussein and ensemble. Music of the Souassa. Recorded in Marrakech.
Field note related to AFS 12,016 Tape IB "Song and Dance." Recorded near
Tata, Moroccan Sahara.
Field note related to AFS 12,017 Tape IIA "Aissaoua Ceremony." Recorded
at the Amara (festival) of Sidi Kacem, Tangier.
Field note related to AFS 12,018 Tape IIIA "Section of dance from ahouache" (women)
and "song and circular dance from ahouache" (men). Recorded at Timguircht,
Anti-Atlas.
|