Andalusian Music of Fes

Al-Ala, the Andalusian classical music of Morocco, traces itself to the courts of al-Andalus and was carried to North African cities by successive waves of departure from Iberia between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is organised into nubat, suites, each associated with a mode and by tradition with a time of day or a season; of a much larger number said to have existed, eleven survive in Morocco, transmitted orally and later written down. A nuba runs through five rhythmic movements from slow to fast and can last hours; the orchestra is oud, rebab, violins held upright on the knee, qanun and percussion, with the players singing in chorus. Fes, Tetouan, Rabat and Tangier each have schools with their own emphases, Tetouan's being particularly associated with the Granadan line. Conservatoires and festivals keep it going and recordings are widely available.

What you actually see

• Eleven surviving suites - nubat tied to modes and to times of day.
• Five movements - a nuba running from slow to fast over hours.
• Upright violins - held on the knee, alongside oud, rebab, qanun and percussion.
• City schools - Fes, Tetouan, Rabat and Tangier each with their own line.

When to go

All year; festival programmes in spring and summer. An evening.

Honest expectations

Full nubat are long - several hours - and complete performances are rare. Concerts are announced locally and mostly in Arabic and French. The idiom is demanding for unfamiliar listeners. Recordings are the practical way in.

Nearby

The Fes sacred music festival programmes it; Tetouan has its own school.