User:Imantaoud/Mohammed Taoud

Mohammed Taoud (Arabic: محمد الطود), also spelled Mohamed Toud or Muhammad Al-Tûd, is a Moroccan conductor and master of Andalusian classical music.

Born in 1928 in Ksar el-Kebir and died on November 7, 2007 in Salé, Morocco, Mohammed Taoud, also known as Haj Mohamed Toud, is the husband of Moroccan singer Alioua Al Moujahid (in Arabic عولية المجاهد).

Biography
Mohammed Taoud was born in 1928 in Ksar El Kébir. The eldest of a family of seven children, he learned the entirety of the Holy Quran and tajwid from his father and hafiz Abdelsalam Taoud.

He left his hometown and joined the Zaouia Harrakiya of Tétouan where he learned the art of Samā ‘. In 1951, he left for Rabat and joined the Moroccan National Radio as a declamator of the Holy Quran, where he performed a daily recitation of fifteen minutes a day. Over the meetings, Mohammed Taoud heads towards Andalusian music. He became a percussionist, then a solo singer (mounchid) within the national Andalusian music orchestra of Moroccan Radio Television then directed by the master Birkou. When the latter died, the conduct of the orchestra passed to the master Moulay Ahmed Loukili. Mohammed Taoud plays in this orchestra, also known later as the Moulay Ahmed Loukili orchestra from Rabat. It was within this formation that he met in 1958 his wife and mother of his four children, the singer Alioua Al Moujahid.

Mohammed Taoud began training as a musician at the National Institute of Music and Dance, learned oud and perfected his art with big names in music like Loukili, Mohammed Al Jaidi and Mohammed Al Sbi, master in San'a and Twachi. In 1977, he completed his training with the greatest distinction.

In 1988, Loukili died and Mohammed Taoud succeeded him as head of the national Andalusian music orchestra of Moroccan Radio Television.

During the 1980s, he was also a professor of Andalusian music at the Moulay Rachid Institute in Rabat.

Mohammed Taoud retired from the artistic circuit in 1998. He died on November 7, 2007 in Salé, at the age of 79.

Style and artistic legacy
Mohammed Taoud distinguished himself very early on with his baritone voice, his speech and his innate talent for music which allowed him to impose himself naturally as a conductor. His favorite instrument is the oud, the sounds of which he masters in order to serve the art of Tarab al Ala or Tarab al Andaloussi. Mohammed Taoud is known for his great knowledge of the Andalusian repertoire and his passion for the religious genre of Madih Nabawi which he integrates into his works.

The artist contributes to the enrichment and transmission of Andalusian art throughout his career. He thus works on the development of models for the performance of the mawwāl in accordance with the codes of the Andalusian musical tradition.

Between May 1989 and February 1992, he participated in the recording of the entire repertoire of Arab-Andalusian classical music called "Anthologie Al-Âla: Andaluci-Marocain Music". This large-scale project is carried out by the Ministry of Culture of the Kingdom of Morocco and in cooperation with the Maison des cultures du monde de Paris,. The recording of the anthology aims to protect the Moroccan musical heritage by bringing together the biggest names in Andalusian music, ,. The project then takes the form of an anthology composed of 11 suites of nawba, recorded by the five most important Andalusian orchestras of the Cherifian kingdom. Mohammed Taoud conducts his orchestra in the recording of the two suites "Al-Âla: Nûba Al-‘Ushshâq" and « Al-Âla: Nûba Rasdal-Dhil ».

In 1992, the artist received from the hands of His Majesty Mohammed VI the takrim, or royal tribute, for his contribution to the Moroccan musical heritage.

Linked articles

 * Alioua Al Moujahid
 * Moulay Ahmed Loukili
 * Andalusian classical music