The aesthetic and the sacred

Assigned readings

Please read the following.

Festivals of Dhrupad in Northern India

Intrinsic Aesthetics in Balinese Artistic and Spiritual Practice

Tarab in the Mysic Sufi Chant of Egypt (pass briefly over descriptive sections; focus on the role of tarab aesthetics in mystical practice)

This coming week we'll also continue our discussions of last week's readings, which are closely related, so please bring them along.

Listenings, viewings

Example of Balinese Barong/Rangda ritual possession music Gamelan Pelegongan - Sisyan, Danse Des Apprenties-Sorcieres Du Theatre Exorciste Calonarang

Example of dhrupad, as performed by the Dagar brothers. Fifteen generations of Dagars have sung India's dhrupad devotional music. Rag Kambhoji: Alap is followed by Rag Kambhoji: Dhrupad in praise of Krishna.

Excerpt from a performance by Shaykh Yasin al-Tuhami. Read notes for this example.

Listening: (delayed from last week)

• Examples of Temiar ritual music and soundscape
• Examples of pentecostal preaching style and music

We will watch some videos on Tuesday, including:

• Excerpts from Mystic Iran (delayed from last week)

plus:

• Footage of the Rangda/Barong ritual dance (Bali)
• Dhrupad performance
• Shaykh Yasin al-Tuhami

Your selected readings

Music-Reform in the Catholic Church by Henry This reading touches on some of the themes that were brought up in the other readigns, such as distinctions between sacred and secular music and what is considered appropriate and ideal in a sacred context. The importance of focusing on God through the sacred text is prevalent and contrasts starkly with Sufi emotional expressivity, for example. It essentially outlines the do's and dont's for this religious group's sacred music, namely idealizing holiness, beauty, and universality.--Gloria 23:26, 12 February 2006 (MST)

The Duality of the Sacred and the Secular in Chinese Buddhist Music by Li Wei This article distinguishes between music in general (yue)as secular music leading to moral degradation or 'sense-pleasure', and religious music known as tianyue (music of the heavens) and fanbei (monastic chanting) in codified Chinese Buddhist literature. Wei explores this orthodox internal division of music and contrasts the (possibly Confucian-influenced classical aesthetic) Buddhist prohibition against non-Buddhist music with the actual practices of Chinese Buddhist nuns and monks who have been influenced by Western liberalism, classical music and mass media. While Wei refers to the "ancient Chinese Buddhist ideology of music" as the belief in the power of Buddhist chant to affect not just social but also spiritual and physical capacities (RE: Austen's 'perlocutionary' and 'illocutionary' consequences of speech), this essay is primarily concerned with the impact of globalization and with the socio-political and historical changes in the Chinese Buddhist attitudes towards music. Of interest, in his conclusion Wei counter-poses the liberalizing influence of the West on Buddhist attitudes towards non-Buddhist music, with the increased promotion of Buddhist music in the global public domain as a possible sign of "creating new traditions in religious expression".----Kreisha 04:35, 14 February 2006 (MST)