MENAME Winter 2018 quiz

These are short answer questions: one exam book page, maximum.

In preparation, do not compose exhaustive essays for these questions; you’re only writing a page or less in the quiz! Simply be sure you have a number of main points to make for each of the following questions, and cover those points within the page.

For each I've given you a number of terms to which you should consider referring for a complete answer.

On the quiz I'll select four (4) of the following, and you'll write about two (2) of those four.

• What is the Maghrib? Briefly discuss the meaning of the word, the region, its history and peoples, languages and religions, connections to Africa, Europe, and the Mashriq, and indicate the broad range of its music. How does this region differ from the Muslim-majority world further east, the Mashriq? Hint - refer to the following: Berbers, Arabs, Andalusia.
• What is "Andalusian music” (al-musiqa al-Andalusiyya) in North Africa? Where does it come from, where is it performed today, and what makes this music distinctive, in comparison to other musics of the Maghrib, or music further east (in the Mashriq)? Trace to Andalusian Spain, and further back: to Baghdad and Damascus. Hint - refer to the following: Umayyads, Abbasids, Ziryab, nawba (or nuba), Cordoba, muwashshah, zajal, ma’luf, reconquista
• Who was Umm Kulthum? When and where (approximately) did she live? Why and how was her music so significant? How was she unique? How did her career reflect Egyptian history? What are some of the highlights of her life and music? Hint - refer to the following: Qur’an, kuttab, tarab, maqam, music media, Revolution of 1952 and other facts of Egyptian history.
• Explain the concept of maqam. What is a maqam, how is it used? How is it structured? Hint - refer to the following: scale, quartertone, jins (ajnas), taqsim, mawwal, qafla, Rast, Hijaz, Nahwand, Kurd, and others.
• Explain the concept of darb (or iqa`). What is a darb, how is it used and structured? Hint - refer to the following: cycle, iqa', dum, tek, maqsum, masmudi, bamb, sama`i thaqil, and others.
• Write about improvisation (irtijal) in music of the Arab world. What is its role and importance? How does it unfold, and in which genres? Hint - refer to the following: taqsim, layali, mawwal, qafla, maqam, darb, ciftetelli.