By Wael Kakish

In the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, the takht ensemble was considered as the basic of Arabic music . The word takht came originally from al-dekkah (a high raised bench), which was used for the singer and his musical group. The dekkah, which was replaced later by chairs, is placed in a room facing the crowed where musicians can be seen and heard. The musical group consists of four musicians called al-ruba'i al- sharqi (the eastern quartet). It was decided later, to call the group after this setting, the takht ensemble.
Musical instruments played by the ensemble are: 'ud (lute), qanun (zither), nay (reed flute) and riqq (tambourine). The old takht ensemble did not really have a kaman (violin) player, but some of the groups had a rababah (spike fiddle) player, then the rababah was replaced later by a kaman, which is also called a kamanja (a Roman name for a spike fiddle).
Most of the musical compositions played by the takht were well ornamented, based on a dialogue among the instrument on one hand and between the instruments and the singer on the other. Improvisation took an important role, which normally showed the skill and proficiency of the musicians, something that is missing now in the modern Arabic music.

Most of the takht ensembles were named after the leader of the group or the main musician or singer. One of the first takht ensembles that arrived to Egypt from Syria in the early 20th century was the ruba'i al-Shawwa. In Egypt in the late 19th century, there were many professional takht ensembles such as: takht Mansi al-kabir, takht Mohammed al-Muqaddam, takht Mohammed al-Rashidi. Later in the early 20th century, some of the great artists formed other well-known takht(s) which accompanied famous singers at that time, such as: takht al-'Aqqad al-Kabir, takht Ibrahim Salwan, takht Mansour 'Awad, takht Sami al-Shawwa, takht Ibrahim al-'Aryan, takht 'Ali al-Rashidi and others.

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