MofA Week 3: Music in theory, theory in practice

• Bird's eye view of the history of music in the Arab world
  • Pre-Islamic
  • Early Islamic: rise of Great Tradition (to 750)
    • Multicultural influences
    • Rise of Arab consciousness and expansion of Arab character
  • Abbasid and Andalusian "golden age" of Great Tradition (750-900)
    • Increased Persian influence
    • Decline in Arab character
  • Fragmentation and decline of Arabic-speaking powers; "decline" (from late 9th c)
    • Berbers
    • Turks
    • Persians
    • Contraction of "Arab"
  • Emergence of regional art music tarab traditions, linked to Great Tradition
    • Arabic-speaking world
      • North Africa
      • Egypt
      • Levant
      • Iraq
      • Arabia
    • Turkic world
    • Persianate world
  • Rise of Arab nationalism, recording era, economy of music (1900)
    • Reclamation of an "Arab" heritage
    • "Old" art music labelled as Arabic "al-turath al-`arabi al-qadim" (old Arab heritage)
    • Influence of radio, film, commodification, western music
    • New modern music: mediated tarab
    • Few media producers/channels, centralized -> rise of pan-Arab music (top-down, Cairo-centered)
  • Rise of cassette tape, greater private sector freedom (1970s)
    • Explosion of decentralized producers/channels with limited distribution
    • decline of pan-Arab music
  • Rise of new mass media (satellite TV, mobile phone, Internet) (1990s)