Hiyam Younes

Mūsīqā lubnāniyya (Lebanese music) denotes the modern popular and art-music traditions that emerged in Lebanon, blending Levantine folk idioms, Arabic maqam-based composition, and Western pop/jazz orchestration. It is characterized by melodic lines rich in ornamentation and microtonal inflections, buoyant dabke rhythms for dance repertoire, and poetic lyrics in Lebanese Arabic that range from romantic to patriotic and nostalgic themes. In the second half of the 20th century, Beirut’s studios, composers, and star singers shaped a distinctive sound—at once rooted in regional modalities and open to European chanson, classical orchestration, and jazz harmony.

Al-jadīd (Arabic for "the new") is the modernist current in Arabic song that emerged from early 20th‑century urban centers—most prominently Cairo—and reshaped traditional, maqam‑based music with expanded orchestration, new song forms, and selective Western harmonies. It retains Arabic modal language (maqām) and rhythmic cycles (iqāʿāt), yet introduces larger string sections, cinematic introductions, modulating bridges, and dance‑derived meters such as waltz and tango alongside indigenous rhythms. Lyrically, it favors contemporary vernacular or refined colloquial poetry while preserving the expressive, melismatic vocal style associated with tarab. The result is a long‑form, emotionally intense song tradition that bridges courtly/urban classicism and popular mainstream appeal, forming the foundation of the Arab world’s mid‑century “golden age” of music and later Arabic pop.