أيوه

“Ai’yoh”

Song for 4 voices choir
أيوه
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Music and text

by Abdel-Wahab M.A.
Fattah

د.محمد عبدالوهاب عبدالفتاح

Background:

“Ai’yoh” is one song of a vocal series consisting of several songs such as: “El Heiya”, “Hei”, “Gamel Waltz”, and “Mawwal”. The composer started to write them when professor Andre De Quadros the director of School of music at Boston University requested him to write Arabic songs for a 4 voice choir in order to participate in the “Jordan Festival” for choir in Amman August 2008.

The composer in this work is inspirited by mixing Egyptian traditional culture including the traditional music in the Egyptian western desert (Badawin), coastal cities (Swahly), south Egypt (Saedi) and the folk public neighborhoods in Cairo (Shaaby).

The composer mentioned “this melody with the text came to me spontaneously while I was driving my car on a scientific trip (2000) into Faiyoum city which is in the heart of the Giza desert west of Pyramids around 80 KLM away from Cairo”. This trip was to gather some folk’s melodies from the Bedouins (Badawy) environment in the desert. The composer found himself singing this text with this melody as he was impressed with the beautiful scenery of the Sahara. The sunlight reflected off of the sand in a majestic manner.

Text:

The text of this song consists of just one word “Ai’yoh”, Figure (1) which has two vowels (Ai and Yoh). This word is expressed in a powerful way and means wonderful, surprising, astonishing, or marvelous. It might be similar to (Wow) in American English dialect. This oral expression is more common in the dialect of coastal cities in Egypt, particularly in Alexandria. Figure (1).

Maqam:

The song is written in Arabic scale (Maqam) which called Kord transferred on tone (A); the original Kord should be on (C) or (D). This Maqam has two separated tetra chords, the first is the lower called; stem (Gens Gez’a) and second is the upper called bough (Gens Far’a)) and between them entire whole tone called (Boad Monfasel)

This Maqam is not a (F) major; it is more similar to Phrygian mode with a minor second degree (Thanya Saghira) from the tonic (A). Therefore the composition wrote his score without using a key signature.

In generally, the Maqam has unequal temperament intervals. The Maqam too is very rich with variety of diminished and augment intervals such as: third/ fourth/ fifth/sixth/seventh and diminished octave.

The Maqamic subdominant is most important than the dominant and the cadence is depends on (IV – I); similar to Plagal. Figure (2).

Technique and tone color:

The performance technique in these songs involves a bright tone color particularly in soli parts such as in the beginning; the tenor solo should be performing in a brighter clang. It is important to avoid the use of opera technique and the falsetto notes as possible. The technique should not come from the abdomen or head. This technique is similar to the traditional singing style in desert of Egypt.

However in Tutti parts the tone color and clang has to be dark and is inclined toward melancholy although the text is not really sad. The sound technique comes always as possible from the throat and larynx.

The syllabic of letters “Ai’yoh” should be include mordent ornaments especially in the melismatic long tones. The higher mordent is more common than the other ornaments. Figure (3).

Arabic style:

The Subjective variations in the details of each singer when they perform simultaneously in unison or coupled octaves will create a Heterophony music texture. The singing style should include some chanting elements such as a wide, dark, and full plenary of vibrato. It should also include an exaggerated portamento between the tones changing which may be performed more than in Italian protamento style. Figure (4).

Form

This song is consisting of two parts; the first is a Part (A) where the composer put the main melody for the word “Ai’yoh”. A Part (B) is contrast hamming melody. The construction of the form comes from the repeating and swapping between the two parts to build (9) parts.

The entire form of the song depends on a construction of a big Crescendo. That means the song starts in a quite solo phrase and gradually the sound becomes louder and wider. In the beginning the composer writes his melodies in empty harmony; in unisons or octaves. To assure that the composer increases gradually the melodies from soli parts into tutti parts and consents them in more polyphonic and counterpoint texture.

Figure (5)

Building the Melodies (Rhthyms and Intervals):

The main melody of “Ai’yoh” consists of just one simple melodically cell, only 4 tones (C D E G); [up and down]. The composer builds all his melodies of parts (A) and (B); form those 4 tones via repeating, sequencing and inversing the original cell.

The melodies start often in the “Upbeat” of the measures. The composer adds the syncopation bass melody to motivate the rhythms of the melodies in the repetition.

The building of the main melody “Ai’yoh” is consists of repeating the main cell in three descendant sequences. Figure (6).

The main musical cell is distinguished with 2 main closed intervals; the major/minor second and the major/ minor third. The main melody depends always on these closed scale intervals. To add more uniformness to his melodies, the composer extends gradually the range of the close intervals onto the wider intervals.

In the part (A), the melody tends to be ascendant, whoever the melody of part (B) is a kind of inversed descendant melody. In addition the tempo of part (B) is faster than in part (A). Figure (7).

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