Paul Bowles Moroccan music collection
By: collected by Paul Bowles for the Library of Congress
Contributors: Archive of Folk Song (U.S.)
Published: 1957
Language: eng
Number of pages: 70
Subjects: Islamic music; Berbers; Dance music; Dance; Sephardim; Arabs; Field recordings; Arabic Songs; Ethnomusicological collections; Musical instruments; Music; Sword-dance; Clothing
Other titles: Music of Morocco.
Description: An ethnographic field collection of sound recordings, photographs, and accompanying documentation of Moroccan folk, popular, and art music. The collection includes recordings Paul 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 music of various tribes and other indigenous populations at 23 locations throughout the country. 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 Sephardic liturgical music and folk songs are included. Dance was often integral to the music events. Field notes and correspondence describe the recording events (including dance) and circumstances of the project.
Notes: Field notes provide substantial information on the following dances: Guedra, Ahouach, Taskiouine, Gnaoui. Information is also found on the following dances: Aqlal, Ahmeilou, Tahouacht, and dances of the Haha tribe.

Recorded Aug.-Sept. 1959, and 1960-1962 in 23 locations in Morocco.

Paul Bowles Moroccan Music Collection (AFC 1960/001), Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Duplication of the recorded materials may be governed by copyright and other restrictions. Duplication for publication purposes requires the prior written permission of the collector. Address available in the American Folklife Center.

Paul Bowles, an American-born writer, composer, and folk music collector, lived in Morocco beginning in the late 1930s.

in English.

in Berber languages, Arabic, and Hebrew.

Collection guide available in the Folklife Reading Room and the American Folklife Center web pages.