Three instrumental composed forms were borrowed from Turkish/Ottoman music and are still part of Arabic music today: the Sama‘i, the Longa and the Bashraf. The Sama‘i has survived the best of the three, as Arab musicians continue to compose in this form into the 21st century.
All three forms are based on a repeating refrain called "taslim" and a number of different verses called "khana". The three compositions are also anchored in a maqam and feature that maqam's sayr as well as its popular modulations. For this reason, the maqam (and the composer) are part of the composition's name.
The Sama‘i is an instrumental composed form consisting of four khana-s, each followed by the same taslim. The structure of a Sama‘i is K1, T, K2, T, K3, T, K4, T. All sections are composed in the Iqa‘ Sama‘i Thaqil, except the 4th khana which is usually composed in a short odd rhythmic cycle like Iqa‘ Sama‘i Saraband or Iqa‘ Sama‘i Darij.
The Longa is the second most popular Ottoman instrumental form. It is usually composed in the short and jumpy Iqa‘ Fox for the khana-s, and Iqa‘ Malfuf for the taslim.
Many longas from the Ottoman era used semitonal maqamat like Nahawand, Hijaz and Nikriz, and used melodies that evoked Eastern European music. A lot of Arab composers still follow that same approach.
The bashraf is the least widespread Ottoman instrumental form, and remains mostly in the realm of music lesson and instrumental exercises. The bashraf consists of 4 khana-s, each followed by the same taslim, and is rarely composed by Arab musicians.
Unlike the sama‘i, the bashraf usually follows one single iqa‘ throughout the composition, in most cases an even metered iqa‘ such as Masmudi Kabir (8/4), Mukhammas (16/4), Shanbar (24/4), Dawr al-Kabir (28/4), or longer Ottoman rhythmic cycles.
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