Taqsim - Violin solos from the Middle East & Balkans

Unofficial (self-made) compilation of violin Taqasim (solo improvisations) from the Middle East , North Africa and The Balkans. The oldest recordings included are from the late 1920s and early 1930s (tracks 9 & 10) and the most recent one is from 2005 (selection no. 4) (See Track listing below): 01. Taksim Mane (00:00) (performed by Ilmi Baki [Macedonia], recorded in 1971) 02. Taksim violin (01:50) (performed by an unnamed Syrian violinist, recorded in 1955) 03. Taqasim on violin (04:24) (performed by Palestinian oud & violin player Simon Shaheen, recorded in 1992) 04. Rast Taksim (05:57) (performed by Israeli multi instrumentalist Yinon Muallem, recorded in 2005) 05. Taksim Kurdi (07:10) (performed by Bekir Hadjikoune [Macedonia], recorded in 1971) 06. Taksim for Violin (08:51) (performed by Lebanese violin and kamancha player Ousama Hantira [member of Morkos Ensemble], recorded in 1999) 07. Rast Taksim (11:46) (performed by Greek violin player Kyriakos Petras [member of Ensemble En Chordais) 08. Mode Zidane (14:09) (performed by Algerian violinist Abdelghani Belkaid Ahmed) 09. Cifte Kiris Ile Rast Taksim (17:14) (performed by Turkish musician "Kemani" Ama Recep, recorded in the late 1920s or early 1930s) 10. Taqsim (20:14) (performed by Iraqi violin player Saleh Ibrahim. Recorded in the mid or late 1920s) - - 01. The violin in Arabic music: "The violin was adopted into Arabic music during the second half of the 19th century, replacing the indigenous Egyptian 2-string fiddle. - - 02. Because it is a fret-less instrument, it lends itself to producing all shades of the Arabic maqam. - - 03. Various tuning methods are used, but Traditional Arabic tuning is in fourths and fifths. - - 04. Playing style is ornate with slides, trills, wide vibrato and double stops, often using an open string as a drone. - - 05. The timbre ranges from rich to warm (similar to the sound of the Western violin), to nasal and penetrating, reminiscent of the sound of the rababah, a type of Arab folk fiddle. - - 06. The violin in held in the usual under-chin fashion or in gamba style on the knee.