Music in Tunisian Arabic has appeared in the 17th century. It has developed a lot since the 19th century and has spread all over Tunisia mainly after the creation of Radio Tunis and Établissement de la radiodiffusion-télévision tunisienne. Nowadays, Tunisian Arabic has become the main language of songs in Tunisia including Tunisian music, Underground music and Opera.
The beginnings The oldest lyrics found written in Tunisian Arabic date back to the 17th century. Fakhfakh, N. (2007). Le répertoire musical de la confrérie religieuse" al-Karrâriyya" de Sfax (Tunisie) (Doctoral dissertation, Paris8). Their author was Sheykh Abu el-Hassan el-Karray, who died in 1693 in the medina quarter of Sfax, and wrote a poem in Tunisian Arabic during his youth: KARRÂY, Abû-l-Hassan al-. "Dîwân Abi-l-Hassan al-KARRÂY" in Fakhfakh, N. (2007). Le répertoire musical de la confrérie religieuse" al-Karrâriyya" de Sfax (Tunisie) (Doctoral dissertation, Paris8).
Moreover, another Tunisian Arabic poem was written later in the 17th century to cite the qualities of Karray:
The effective beginning of songs written in Tunisian Arabic was in the early 19th century, when Tunisian Jews in the Beylik of Tunis began writing songs in Tunisian Arabic about love, betrayal and other libertine subjects. Manoubi Snoussi, Initiation à la musique tunisienne, vol. I " Musique classique ", Tunis, Centre des musiques arabes et méditerranéennes Ennejma Ezzahra, 2004 The current strengthened at the beginning of the 20th century and affected the Tunisian malouf and folklore. Judeo-Tunisian song flowered in the 1930s, with such Jewish artists as Cheikh El Afrit and Habiba Msika. Hamadi Abassi, Tunis chante et danse. 1900–1950, Tunis/Paris, Alif/Du Layeur, 2001
This tendency was promoted by the creation of Radio Tunis in 1938, which allowed many musicians to better disseminate their works and helped spread the use of Tunisian Arabic in songs. The pioneers of Tunisian Arabic song between 1930 and 1950 drew most of their inspiration from traditional Tunisian music, oriental or to occidental colors were Kaddour Srarfi, Hedi Jouini, Saliha, Salah El Mahdi, Hassiba Rochdi, Fethia Khaïri, Hassiba Rochdi, Mohamed Triki, Mohamed Jamoussi, Sadok Thraya and Ali Riahi.
The rise of Tunisian formal songs Following the creation of the ERTT broadcasting organization in 1966, Tahar Melligi, Les immortels de la chanson tunisienne, Carthage Dermech, MediaCom, 2000 () a generation of composers and interpreters, mostly working in the ERTT orchestra, emerged. In this wave, the range occupies a prominent place. Kalaï Ridha, Salah El Mahdi (regarded as a disciple of Tarnane), Kaddour Srarfi, Ali Shalgham, Chedly Anwar, Abdelhamid Sassi and others helped to train several singers, including Naâma, Oulaya, Zouheïra Salem, Soulef, Safia Chamia, Youssef Temimi, Mustapha Charfi, Hana Rached, Choubeila Rached, Ezzeddine Idir and many others.
Tahar Gharsa (another disciple of Tarnane) worked to promote the characteristically modal and rhythmic traditional music written with Tunisian Arabic lyrics. The director Raoul Journo, in the same line, is a judeo-Tunisian singer, distinguished by his interpretation of taâlila (traditional songs associated with birth, circumcision, marriage and other rites). This kind of music developed under the National Troupe of Music, created in the early 1980s. Alchourouk Team (2005). National Troupe of Music: Means of realization. However,... alchourouk, 18 June 2005
The rise of Tunisian popular songs At the same time, popular music developed in the early 19th century, using Tunisian Arabic poems accompanied by Tunisian musical instruments. MuCEM (2005). Cornemuse Mezwed. Cornemuses de l'Europe et la Méditerranée, Version 2005 Popular music includes Rboukh that is accompanied by a Mezoued, El Mahdi, S. (1995). La danse folklorique en Tunisie. Música oral del Sur: revista internacional. I. La música y la danza del ciclo productivo agrario en la cuenca del Mediterráneo. II. La música de Al-Andalus, (1), 108-115. Salhi that is accompanied by a Ney and Sufi music that are religious songs mainly accompanied by Tambourins. This kind of music was promoted by the National Troupe of the Popular Arts, created in 1962. Ben Nhila, A. (2011). Recruitment needed: National Troupe of the Popular Arts. alchourouk, 22 March 2011 Later adaptation and promotion of popular songs, especially by Ahmed Hamza and later Kacem Kefi, further developed Tunisian music. Natives of Sfax, they were both influenced by Mohamed Ennouri and Mohamed Boudaya, leading masters of popular music in that city. Nowadays, this kind of music is very popular.Barone, S. (2015). Metal Identities in Tunisia: Locality, Islam, Revolution. International Academic Conference, IAC 2015
Tunisian Arabic became the main variety used in writing lyrics of songs in Tunisia and even the main technical words in music have their synonyms in Tunisian Arabic.
Underground and alternative music In the early 1990s, underground music in Tunisian Arabic appeared.Neil Curry, " Tunisia's rappers provide soundtrack to a revolution ", CNN, 2 mars 2011 This mainly consisted of rap and was not successful in the beginning because of the lack of media coverage. Tunisian Underground music became successful in the 2000s, thanks to its spread over the Internet, and came to involve other alternative genres like reggae and rock. Almi, H. (2009). "The Rock Scene in Tunisia". Réalités, 21 avril 2009 Underground music reached a height of popularity during and just after the Tunisian Revolution of 2011, as it spoke to the dire social matters faced by people in Tunisia.Dallaji, I. (2015). Tunisian Rap Music and the Arab Spring: Revolutionary Anthems and Post-Revolutionary Tendencies. Orient-Institut Studies 2, pp. 1–13
In 2014, the first opera songs in Tunisian Arabic had appeared. Sayadi, H. (2014). Un goût d'inachevé, Festival international de musique symphonique d'El Jem «Dreams of Tunisia» de Jalloul Ayed. La Presse de Tunisie, 02 September 2014. They were the ones of Yosra Zekri that were written by Emna Rmilli and composed by Jalloul Ayed.
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