Muhammad al-Qubanchi

Muhammad Abd al-Razzaq al-Ta’i was born in Baghdad in 1904, and he worked with his father in the Shorja market as a crafter with his father. He was nicknamed "al-Qubanchi", a title given to someone who is skilled in weighing agricultural crops with a scale which was also his father's profession. At a young age, he was introduced to Iraqi maqam and its origins which is where his love for the genre began. He would also meet with many Maqam lovers at the market and the Kadouri Café. At age 12, he excelled in singing maqam and other genres and also practiced theatrical acting.[1][2]

Al-Qubanchi first considered becoming a grain merchant but decided to depend on singing for his livelihood, and in order to maintain his social position and financial sufficiency. by his 20s, he mastered the Iraqi Maqam and attended the Cairo Congress of Arab Music in 1932 as the leader of the Iraqi delegation in the presence of King Fuad I of Egypt. He competed with the artist Umm Kulthum and the artist Mohammed Abdel Wahab.[1][2] Reportedly, Ahmed Shawqi met with al-Qubanchi and told him "This is a great heritage, and you are a great Iraqi artist."[3]

Al-Qubanchi's renewal of the performance of the Iraqi Maqam is considered a major shift in the course of Iraqi music, and he was able, despite his opponents from the supporters of the older styles, to create a school of maqam with clear features, and his students were able to preserve it until it became his ideal method for readers. His teachings became dominant in the performance of the maqam and among his students were the artists Yousuf Omar, Nazem al-Ghazali and Abd al-Rahman Khader.[1]

Among his most important achievements is his employment of Arab lyrical colors, such as Muwashahat, Groans, Mawwal, and the Egyptian Dawr, and their combination with the Iraqi Maqam with the aim of making the Maqam familiar in the Arab countries.[4]

On May 28, 1969, al-Qubanchi announced his retirement and moved to al-Karkh district where he used his money to build a mosque, he had seen in a dream. He also became its first preacher in 1977. On the evening of April 2, 1989, he passed away in Ibn al-Bitar Hospital and was buried in the mosque he built.[2]

The Hungarian composer and pianist Béla Bartók wrote about al-Qubanchi when he visited the Cairo Congress of Arab Music "No Arab artist, other than the rural colors or the color of the city, presented a great performance filled with all the elements of drama, and I can even say that the Iraqi performer rose to the peak level in musical performance."[3]

• Iraqi maqam