Loeb Music Library's Arabic 78 Collection
- URL:
- harvardmusiclib.aviaryplatform.com
- Primary subject:
- Recorded Music
- Secondary subject(s):
- Arabic Music, 78s
- Description:
- The Loeb Music Library’s collection of early disc recordings of Arab and Arab-American music spans the first half of the twentieth century, roughly 1903 through the 1950s. The Arabic 78 Collection currently contains nearly 600 cataloged recordings, many made by large multi-national American and European record companies (Gramophone Company, Columbia, Victor and Odeon) as well as some by significant local companies such as Baidaphon (the first independent record label in the Arab world) and Fabrik Mechian alongside Maloof and Macksoud from the US. The collection also includes discs issued on early pirate labels like Opera Disc Company and later Arab-American record labels such as Alamphon, Arabphon and Al-Chark. Genres cover a wide range of Arab musical forms including al-mawwāl (vocal improvisation), qaṣīdah (sung poems), taqsīm (instrumental improvisation), film music, ṭaqṭūqah (pop songs) and Qur’anic recitations. Recordings deemed to have been released before December 31, 1922 can be streamed and downloaded.
- Online Access:
- Partial
- Physical Location:
- Cambridge, MA
- Primary Language:
- EN
- Last Checked:
- December, 2023
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