Abstract
This article deals with a socio-cultural structure of singing tradition in the historic city of Aleppo with a specific focus on singer-notable relations in the old city. This study explores the background for the continuity of this tradition by shedding light on two socio-cultural aspects; first the positioning of this tradition and singers in society and second their relations with the elite.
In the Mashriq region, Cairo saw the rise of secular and new musical scenes in the 20th century, while in this tradition of Aleppo religious singers, munshid in Arabic, still played an important role. Firstly their quality of being religious singers gave them more freedom for activities in Muslim society, where the centrality of religion was highly respected. And the social norms put more emphasis not on music itself but on conditions such as time, place, and companion when listening to music. In this context talented singers used to sing at courtyard house of the elite in the old city and were able to identify themselves as companion to the elite due to their art as well as to their religious quality. All these factors helped them shape their distinct identity and create group cohesiveness to preserve the repertoire as well as musical knowledge, which have been passed down to date.
