Music & culture
- Type
- Study of an artistic path
- Course
- The great voices of Arabic song (AR00503T) · Université Toulouse – Jean Jaurès
- Year
- 2025–26
The question
How did a Moroccan artist enter the classical Arabic song — a tradition centred on Cairo — without simply imitating it?
This study follows Abdelwahab Doukkali's path as an example of the Moroccan contribution to classical Arabic song: his training, his identity, his language and music, and a selection of his songs.
The voice that made classical song Moroccan
Doukkali kept the grammar of the classical tradition and filled it with Andalusi heritage, local Moroccan forms and the sensibility of his country.
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Which language does Doukkali sing in?
A third language: simple and clear, between classical Arabic and darija, with Moroccan words and expressions that listeners across the Arab world can still follow.
Milestones
- 1941
Born in Fez, in a rich cultural and artistic environment.
- 1960s
Theatre and training, then time in Egypt: direct contact with the heavyweights of Arabic song, cinema and theatre.
- 1975
National songs accompany the Green March, giving voice to a collective feeling.
- 1996
Grand Prize at the Cairo International Festival of Arabic Music.
- Today
More than 400 songs — a reference for the Moroccan musical memory.
Three details
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The full study analyses the musical and linguistic choices song by song.
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