Farid Al Atrash Taqsim Al Rabeea Part 4 - Finale!

I was listening to this Album by the Classical Arabic Orchestra of Aleppo, Ottoman Arabic Classical Music. The first track is Samai Bayati starting with a Oud taqsim. At about 0:53 seconds, the Oud player plays the exact same riff that Farid Al Atrash played from his taqsim Al Rabeea… it’s not exactly the same, but it’s quite obvious where the inspiration for this comes from.

In Middle Eastern culture, it’s common to make reference to famous poetry, famous musical melodies, or other people’s work without mentioning the source, and without fear of plagiarism or copyright.

Now I can’t comment on Arab culture, but this is what I’ve seen in Persian culture. I’ve been present at Persian concerts where the musicians spend a whole segment of their performance improvising on an old traditional melody or spontaneously do a cover from another musician’s repertoire.

The whole reason for doing this is not necessarily to steal some else’s work and profit off it. Rather, it is to pay homage to that artist’s work. It is also a proof of erudition and learning. It is also a way of gaining the listener’s interest.

Whoever the Oud player was from that clip, he was giving Farid Al Atrash some credit. But perhaps only a select few would really know where that riff was from and appreciate it.