Rashīd al-Qundargī

Biography

Rashid al-Qundarji was a Baghdad maqam singer. Husayn al-Azami identifies Ahmad al-Zaydan as his teacher and describes his use of zir, the falsetto voice employed in high registers.

Al-Azami connects his surname with shoemaking and recounts family poverty and learning outside school. His book reproduces recollections attributed to Turki al-Jarrakh, Sadiq al-Azdi and Abd al-Qadir Barrak, including al-Azdi’s meeting with him in May 1941.

Mustafa Said identifies surviving Ajam, Nari and Tahir recordings for Baidaphon and Odeon. He places some Baidaphon matrices in early 1924 and electrical Odeon recording around 1929.

Husayn Hindawi describes his school as developing maqam from within its inherited conventions. He names Abd al-Qadir Hassun and Makki al-Hajj Salih among its pupils and reports his work as an Iraqi Radio maqam expert until his death in 1945.

A 2023 British Library/Qatar Foundation Partnership update specifically mentions his Wayn tkhallini recording in the context of the Library’s sound archive.