Tuesday (4a)

Islam as Musical Catalyst (Islamicate Music)  and Islam as Sonic Ritual (Islamic Language Performance)

Due today

Two page report on the following three works (2 readings and 1 film excerpt); submit on eClass 4a

"Min al-Mashāyikh": A View of Egyptian Musical Tradition, by Virginia Danielson. Asian Music. Vol. 22, No. 1 (Autumn, 1990 - Winter, 1991), pp. 113-127.
Watch Umm Kulthum: A Voice Like Egypt to 18:40 (NB: the subtitles contain errors) or on Rutherford Reserve (ML 420 U46 U46 2006). What was the role of Islam (through Qur'an, religious song, Sufi festival) in selecting singers and shaping or training their voices?
"Against ethnomusicology: Language performance and the social impact of ritual performance in Islam, Performing Islam, Volume 2, Number 1, December 2013 , pp. 11-43. Consider: why do I reject "music" (and "ethnomusicology")? What is "language performance" in Islam and why is it important? How can it be applied to ritual performance in Islam?

Also: review Shiloah reading from Week 2

LP: the mainstream sounds of Islam in social life and the social implications of sound.

Adhan soundscapes (Egypt, Tamale, Kazakhstan)
Tilawa (Qur'anic recitation):
- as worship
- as aesthetics
- as ideological messaging
- as sonic-ethical pedagogy
Salat as a compound ritual (refer to my article analyzing Salat)
- Adhan
- Qur'an
- Adhkar al-Salat
Examples:
- Dawn in Egypt
- Friday prayer in Kazakhstan

History
Core characteristics
Impact of Islam
- Discourses of Islam
- Practices of Islam
- Islam as civilizational catalyst
Examples:
- Egyptian Wasla
- Turkish Fasil
- Moroccan Nawba
- Persian Dastgah