Track 7 Sama’i Nahawand
Composed by Khyam Allami, for S.F.
Oud: Khyam Allami
Violin: Kate Arnold
Riqq: John Villa
The Sama'i is a traditional instrumental Arab classical or art music genre that can be played solo or in ensemble. The structure is A-T-B-T-C-T-D-T, where ‘T’ denotes a taslim refrain or ritornello. ‘Nahawand’ denotes the maqam this piece is based on, although it modulates in the second section to the Lydian mode and in the third to maqam Kurd. The meter is 10/8, except section ‘D’, where episodes are in 5/8 and 12/16.
Khyam Allami entered the BA Music programme at SOAS in Autumn 2005. Kate Arnold began the MMus (Ethnomusicology) and John Villa the MMus (Performance) in Autumn 2006.
