Music

190r: Music of Central Asia and its Neighbors.

Spring 2018
Professor Richard K. Wolf (Office: Memorial Hall 031)
rwolf@fas.harvard.edu

Downloadable Syllabus as of 1/24/18. View course website for up-to-date information!

Meeting time: Wed 4:00-6:00 Room: Music Building, Room 5

Course Description

This course focuses on the musical traditions of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, with
secondary attention to other countries of Central Asia, Afghanistan, India, and Iran. Course readings
include writings on music, politics, and the history of thought, fiction and autobiography, and
contemporary cultural theory—Deleuze and Guattari’s “nomadology”—inspired by the figure of the
nomad. Students from all academic backgrounds are welcome.

Course objectives

By the end of the semester, students should be able to recognize some of the principal musical
styles and genres in Central Asia and understand the critical role the peoples of this region have
played in the history of music, science, and philosophy across Europe and Asia. Students should
come away with an understanding of what “nomadic” and “sedentary” mean as analytic categories
for describing art, music, and other lifeways of specific populations. Through reading Central Asian
fiction and autobiography students will develop a sense of how Central Asians have lived and do
live, and the role of the arts in everyday life. Audiovisual and reading assignments are aimed at
helping students understand suite forms of maqam, the musical role of poetry and poetic meter,
and the social implications of intonation and timbre.

Course Policies and Expectations

• students are expected to attend and participate in every class
• reading, listening and writing assignments should be completed before each respective
class meeting
• writing assignments need to be printed and turned in on the due date as well as uploaded to
the assignments page (accessible from the left hand column and from a link the week an
assignment is due)
• extra assignments do not make up for missed classes
• late assignments are not accepted except in extreme circumstances. Please see me promptly
if you have serious issues
• please refrain from emailing, social networking, text messaging, browsing the web, or
engaging in any other activity that distracts you (and others) from classroom matters.
• if you tend to keep quiet in class, please make an effort to speak up (let me know if I can
help). If you tend to be enthusiastic and speak a great deal, please monitor yourself and be
aware of other voices.
• this course cannot be audited

1
Grading (undergraduates)

Quizzes 16%
Weekly writing assignments 40%
Attendance 24%
Final exam (In class essay) 16%
Ghazal-song project (final version) 4%

Accommodations for students with disabilities

Students needing academic adjustments or accommodations because of a documented disability
must present their Faculty Letter from the Accessible Education Office (AEO) and speak with the
professor by the end of the second week of the term. Failure to do so may result in the professor’s
inability to respond in a timely manner. All discussions will remain confidential, although Faculty
are invited to contact AEO to discuss appropriate implementation.

Schedule:

Week 1 (Jan 24): Ethnomusicology and Central Asian music

Reading:
Nettl, Bruno. 2015. The harmless drudge: reaching for the dictionary. Chapter 1 of The Study of
Ethnomusicology: Thirty Three Discussions. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Rice, Timothy. 2014. “Defining ethnomusicology” and “a bit of history.” Chapter 1 and 2 of
Ethnomusicology: A very short introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 1-26.
Levin, Theodore. 2016. Overview. Ch1 in Music of Central Asia (MCA), edited by Theodore Levin,
Saida Daukeyeva and Elmira Köchümkulova. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp 3-
25

Week 2 (Jan 31): Central Asia and Central Asians: Their identity and intellectual impact

Quiz 1: Map (Study tools: blank map and labeled map)

Themes for discussion: Central Asia as region for development and transmission of ideas; idea of
rhythmic cycle; attention to timbre.

Reading:
Starr, S. Frederick. 2013. Lost enlightenment: Central Asia’s golden age from the Arab conquest to
Tamerlane. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1-22; 62-71
Blum, S. 2002. Hearing the music of the Middle East. In The Middle East. The Garland Encyclopedia of
World Music v.6, pp. 3-14, ed. Danielson et al. New York: Routledge.
Levin, Theodore. 2016. Introduction to musical instruments. Music of Central Asia (MCA). Ch 2:
26-42.

Listening (browse linked pages):
Epics
Laments and songs of loss and separation
Music in Islam

2
Week 3 (Feb 7): Tradition, Innovation, and Transmission

Class visitor: Sirojiddin Juraev

Listening:
Sirojiddin Juraev: Dutar Fundamentals
Sirojiddin Juraev: Bilkuzuk on tanbur
Sirojiddin: Dutar Solo, own composition
[and see additional listening below]

Reading:
Levi, Scott. 2007. Turks and Tajiks in Central Asian history. In Everyday life in Central Asia: Past and
present, 15-31, ed. Jeff Sahadeo and Russell Zanca. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Levin, Theodore. 2016. Patterns of culture: Sedentary dwellers. MCA 317-343
Levin,Theodore. 1996. The hundred thousand fools of god: Music travels in Central Asia (and Queens,
New York). Bloominton: Indiana University Press. pp. 51-69.
Matyakubov, Otanazar. 1993 A Traditional Musician in Modern Society: A Case Study of Turgun
Alimatov's Art. Yearbook for Traditional Music, 25: 60-66.

[This article, along with Levin’s 1996 account for this week, discusses the highly influential
and original Uzbek master of dutar and tambur, Turgun Alimatov. Our visiting artist,
Sirojiddin Juraev, plays in the style of Turgun Alimatov]

Additional Listening Example:
Turgun Alimatov playing "Segoh" on the tanbur. Notice the oscillations.

Rapport, Evan. 2006. “The musical repertoire of Bukharian Jews in Queens, New York.” PhD diss.,
CUNY. Chapter 5, Teaching and learning repertoire, pp. 188-230.

[This personal account of a doctoral student learning Tajik-Uzbek classical music in Queens
raises many issues concerning musical transmission. Please use this reading to come up
with one or two questions to ask our visiting artist]

Writing assignment #1:
Write a paragraph or two describing as best you can some of the techniques of ornamentation and
variation you notice in the listening examples for today. If you are a musician, how are these
techniques similar to or different from those you employ in singing and/or playing?

Week 4 (Feb 14): Music and Islam in Central Asia

Background on Islam, emphasizing Shiism, Ismailism, and Sufism:
Farah, Cesar. 1970. Heterodoxy and Orthodoxy, Shiahs and Ismailis. Islam: Beliefs and observances,
pp. 174-179. Woodbury, NY: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.
Pinault, D. 1992. “ Shiism: An overview.” and “Essentials of Islam common to the Shiite and Sunni
traditions.” In The Shiites: Ritual and popular piety in a Muslim community New York: St.
Martin’s Press. (pp 4-19 required; remainder of pdf optional)
Hodgson, Marshall. 1974. The venture of Islam: Conscience and history in a world civilization 1: The
classical age of Islam. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 372-381 (on Shiism and
Ismailism).
Denny, Frederick M. 1985. An introduction to Islam. New York: MacMillan. pp. 241-247 (on Sufism)

3
Khalid, Adeeb. 2014. Introduction. Islam after communism: religion and politics in Central Asia, New
Ed. Berkeley : University of California Press. (Browse the book further if you have time).

Musical readings:
Mijit, Mukaddas. 2016. Sufism and the ceremony of zikr in Ghulja. MCA ch 23: 399-405
Goibnazarov, Chorshanbe. 2016. Qasoid-khonī in the Wakhan valley of Badakhshan. MCA 29 485-
503.
Koen, Benjamin. 2016. The maddoh tradition of Badakhshan. MCA ch 28: 470-484

Listening:
Associated musical examples for chapters in MCA: www.musicofcentralasia.org

Writing Assignment #2 (one page single spaced 12 pt):
How is religious symbolism reflected in Central Asian music and musical instruments? In what
ways do you feel the sound qualities of this week's examples do or do not support your sense of
spirituality? In what ways does music provide a key into understanding religious practices in
Tajikistan and Western China?

Week 5 (Feb 21): Soviet and Post-Soviet Situations

Spinetti, Frederico, 2009. Music, politics, and nation building in post-Soviet Tajikistan. In Music and
the Play of Power in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, 115-42, ed. Laudan
Nooshin. London: Ashgate.
Djumaev, Alexander. 1993. Power Structures, Culture Policy, and Traditional Music in Soviet
Central Asia. Yearbook for Traditional Music 25: 43-50.
Levin, Theodore. 2002. Making Marxist-Leninist Music in Uzbekistan. In Music and Marx: Ideas,
Practice, Politics, edited by Regula Burckhardt Qureshi, 190-203. New York and London:
Routledge.
Gronow, Pekka. 1975. Ethnic music and Soviet record industry. Ethnomusicology 19(1): 91–99.
Bibish. 2005. The Dancer from Khiva, tr. by Andrew Bromfield. New York: Black Hat.
[This book provides an intimate view of one woman’s life in the Khorezm region of
Uzbekistan during the Soviet period. Despite the title, it does not focus on aspects of the
writer’s life concerned with dancing.]
Quiz #2: 3 musical identifications and terms through week 4.

Writing assignment #3 (1-2 pages, single spaced 12 pt): Discuss themes and incidents in Bibish’s
life that implicate the former Soviet state as an economic and political force in the region. Be sure
to look up “collective farming” in the region if you are not already familiar with it.

Week 6 (Feb 28): Oral Epics

Reading:
Köchümkulova, Elmira. 2016. The Kyrgyz Epic Manas. MCA ch. 4: 52-68
Baibosynova, Uljan. 2016. Oral epic in Kazakhstan: Körughly and the Dynasty of the Great Jyraus.
MCA ch. 5: 69-78
Clinton, J. 1996. The tragedy of Sohrāb and Rostām from the Persian national epic, the Shahname of
Abdol-Qasem Ferdowsi. Seattle, University of Washington Press. Introduction.
Starr, S. Frederick. 2013. Lost enlightenment: Central Asia’s golden age from the Arab conquest to
Tamerlane. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 210-224 (on Ferdawsi)

4
Reichl, Karl. 1992. Performance and recitation: Musical aspects (Manas). In Turkic oral epic poetry:
Traditions, forms, poetic structure, 100-103. New York: Garland.

Writing Assignment #4 (1 p. single spaced): Pick any two audio or video recordings, describe and
compare what you hear and see, and reflect on the role of what you understand to be the context of
the performance in relation to the recording (you can be imaginative--extrapolate from visible and
audible clues, even if you might not infer correctly).

Listening and viewing
Shah nameh
Recitation: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebookbatch.ASP_batch:ASP72770glmu
Track 3: Part II (19:45). On liner notes, for those who read Persian, the recitation begins at
section 11 on p, 8. Listen to the rhythm of the recitation
Recitation in context of Iranian “house of strength” (Zurkhane), videotaped by R. Wolf, Isfahan, Iran,
Dec 2005.
Scansions of above excerpts

Manas
4.1 (video): “Chong Kazat” episode of Manas recited by Urkash Mambetaliev
4.3 (video): three excerpts of Sayakbay Manaschi’s recitation of Manas.
Children in music school, Rang Kul, Murghob district, Tajikistan, June 7, 2013 (rec. R. Wolf)

Listening instructions: In addition to thinking about the study questions in chapter 4 of MCA,
identify the performance aspects of the Manas epic described by Reichl.

Koroghli
(Kazakhstan, Kazakh) 5.1 Ulzhan Baibosynova studies the epic “Ker Ogly” with her ustaz, Bidas-aga
Rustembekov.
(Eastern Turkey, Turkish) Tr. 8: Istanbuldan çıktı bir ulu kervan (4:14) (notes) Asik Seref Tashova
accompanying himself on saz.
(Northern Afghanistan: Uzbek with Persian preamble) Slobin, M. 2003. Afghanistan untouched. CD
1 Tr. 16: Gur-oghli Tale excerpt, accompanied by dutar. (notes).
(Turkmenistan, Turkmen) Żerańska-Kominek, Sławomira. 1994. Turkmen epic singing sound
recording: Köroglu. Tr. 6 Övez öylenen (The Wedding of Övez), performed by Musaguly
Yazmyradov (singer/ bakhshy) and Overzmyrat Odaev (gidzhak player)
(Khorassan, Iran, Persian) Youssefzadeh, Ameneh 1998. Bardes du Khorassan. Tr. 7: Kuroghli, sung
by Roshan Golafruz, accompanying himself on dotar or two-stringed, long-necked lute
(Iran).Vocal technique aims to imitate animal sounds. Kuroghli addresses his enemies on
the battlefield. (notes)
Supplementary:
Rochard, P. 2002. The identities of the Iranian zūrkhānah. International Society for Iranian Studies
35(4): 313-340.
Reichl, Karl. 1992. Variation and diffusion: the Köroġlu/Göroġlï cyle. In Turkic oral epic poetry:
Traditions, forms, poetic structure, 319-333. New York: Garland.
Epics from Uzbekistan on Karl Reichl’s website:
http://www.iaak.uni-bonn.de/people/reichl/turkic-oral-epics
Read text and listen to examples of Uzbek epic Alpamish; Karakalpak epic Ashyk Gharip;
Karakalpak epic Edige

5
Additional Koroghlu examples:
(Turkmenistan) Saparova, D et al. 1995. Turkmenistan chants des femmes bakhshi. Paris: Maison
des Cultures du Monde. Tr. 2: Ashep Geldem (excerpt from epic Köroghlu).
(Eastern Turkey) Tr. 5: Kiziroğlu (3:36) (notes); Asik Murat Cobanoglu accompanying himself on
saz (listening guide);
(Afghanistan, Persian) Sakata, H. L. 2002. Music in the mind. CD Tr. 33: “Gorgholi” (notation),
performed by Palawan Asil accompanying himself on the dambura (listening guide).

Week 7 (March 7): Women and Innovation on the Modern Stage

Concert March 6th: Required
Qyrq-Qyz concert, Paine Hall, 8 p.m.

Reading:
Köchümkulova, Elmira. 2016. Introduction to Central Asian Epic traditions. MCA ch 3: 43-51
Mayor, Adrienne. 2014. Amazonistan: Central Asia. In The Amazons: Lives and legends of warrior
women across the ancient world. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Levin, Theodore. 2016. Revitalizing musical traditions: The Aga Khan music initiative. IN MCA,
521-540.
Levin, Theodore. 2006. Music, sound, and animals (excerpt). In When rivers and mountains sing. pp
125-133. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. (Note: Raushan Orazbaeva is one of the
performers this week).
Merchant, Tania. 2015 Ancient treasures, modernized: Women’s dutar ensembles and arranged
folk music. In Women musicians of Uzbekistan, 78-108. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Class guests: Qyrq-Qyz group

Writing Assignment #5: Write a page of fieldnotes describing your impressions of the March 6th
concert, including the performance itself as well as the conduct of the people around you, the hall--
your sensory as well as intellectual experiences. If possible, reflect on some aspect of the
performance in relation to what you have read for this week.

Spring Break: March 10-18

Week 8: (March 21): Kyrgyz and Kazakh Voices

Reading:
Starr, S. Frederick. 2013. Lost enlightenment: Central Asia’s golden age from the Arab conquest to
Tamerlane. Princeton: Princeton University Press., 71-100
Excerpt from “Jamila,” by Chingiz Aitmatov.
Köchümkulova, Elmira and Jangül Qojakhmetova. 2016 Aqïns and improvised poetry competitions
among the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz. MCA ch. 10. 149-178
Köchümkulova, Elmira. 2016. Kyrgyz Funeral laments. MCA ch 12: 198-216

Supplemental reading
Emsheimer, E. 1956. Singing Contests in Central Asia. Journal of the International Folk Music Council
8: 26-29.
Reichl, Karl. 1992. The singer: Shaman, minstrel, poet (excerpts). In Turkic oral epic poetry:
Traditions, forms, poetic structure, pp 57-66, 75-87. New York: Garland.

6
Listening and viewing:

1) 10.1 (video): Alim sabak aytïsh between senior master aqïn Tuuganbay and his pupil, Aalï aqïn.
2) 10.2 (audio): Tabïshmak aytïsh between the aqïns Chongdu and Artanbek performed by Azamat
Bolgonbaev
3) 10.6 (video): Aytïsh between Aalï Tutkuchev and Kanïsha Raisova (excerpt)
4). 12.1 (video): Koshok sung at a Kyrgyz memorial feast

Listening prompts: use study questions in MCA.

Writing Assignment #6 (2 p. single spaced): Based on the readings and your own responses to the
sound of the musical examples, reflect on the role of the voice in Kyrgyz society. You may wish to
address one or more of the following prompts: What work does the voice do in society? Would you
say the voice is or can be transformative? How? In what ways do sounds of these voices resemble
and differ from those of the instruments you heard last week? Can you comment on the epic, poetic,
and funerary traditions of the region in light of Starr’s points about Central Asia as a “cauldron of
skills, ideas, and faiths”?

Quiz #3: Listening and Short Answer

Week 9 (March 28): Theorizing the Nomad

Reading:
Levin, Theodore with Valentina Süzükei. 2006. Sound mimesis as narrative and the mimesis of
mimesis, In Where rivers and mountains sing: Sound, music and nomadism in Tuva and
beyond, 99-117. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Nyshanov, Nurlanbek. 2016 Kyrgyz Jaw harps. MCA ch 15: 282-286
Daukeyeva, Saida. 2016. The Kazakh Qobyz: Between tradition and modernity. MCA ch 16 287-301
Nyshanov, Nurlanbek. 2016. Part II of Narrative instrumental music: Kyrgyz Instrumental Music:
Küü: MCA ch 14 pt 2: 265-281
Deleuze, Gilles and Félix Guattari. 1997. A thousand plateaus, trans. Brian Massumi. Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press.

All read: forward: ix-xv and 420 (first full par)

And. . . Choose at least 4 of the following short excerpts (check with your classmates so
that most or all of these selections get covered by someone; graduate students: read whole
chapter)

“1227: Treatise on nomadology—the war machine”: 352-3 (1 par. beginning “let us take”),
361-362 (par. 1); 362 (par. 2)-365 (1st word); 367-368 (2 lines); 370 (from 3rd line,
“homogeneous space. . .”)-371 (penultimate sentence); 372 (1st full par. up to “size of your
territory”); 379 (up to “all-encompassing Being”); 380-82 (1st par); 384 (2nd par)-387 (par
1); 389 (par 2)-390 (1st par), 391 (2nd par)-392 (1st par); 394; 398 (1st full par); 400 (2nd
par)-401 (1st par); 406 ( middle of 2nd par from “We will call an assemblage. . .”); 409 (2nd
par)-410 (1st par); 411 (2nd par)-412 (1st par); 416 (last sentence)-417 (1st par)

Writing Assignment (1 page single spaced): What, in Deluze and Guattari’s view, distinguishes
“nomadic” from “State” ideal types? How might you use these ideas to think about actual
societies and musical practices in Central Asia? What problems or questions do you have

7
 with “nomadology”? (add to the end of this assignment, not part of the 1 page, responses to
the listening assignment according to the prompts below)

Listening and viewing:
1. Ooz komuz (Kyrgyz jew’s harp)
15.1 (video): “Kükük” (Cuckoo), küü performed on wooden jew’s harp by Nurlanbek
Nyshanov
15.3 (video): “Tagyldyr too,” played on metal jew’s harp by Gulbara Baygashkaeva
15.4 (video): “Jangylyk” performed by K. Kalendarov, K. Sultanbekov, G. Baygeshkaeva
2. Kazakh Kobyz
16.1 (audio): küi “Qoŋyr,” by Qorqyt, played by Zhappas Qalambaev
16.2 (video): folk küi “Aqqu” (White swan), performed by Raushan Orazbaeva
16.3 (audio): küi “Erden,” by Yqlas, played by Smatai Umbetbaev
16.4-16.5 (modern compositions for prima-qobyz optional)
3. Turkmen dutar
8.1 (video): “Garry saltyk,” played by Ÿazmyrat Rejepow
8.2 (video): “Goñurbaș mukamy,” played by Akmyrat Çaryÿew
4. Video: Kyrgyz Komuz
Video: Komuz, played by Saadabay Shabdanov. (recorded by Richard Wolf, Osh, Kyrgyzstan,
May 2013)
Saadabay's comments about the piece (note that this piece is also discussed in the Levin
reading for this week, pp. 108-9, "Toguz Qairyq")
(examples from küü subchapter optional: 14.16, 14.17, 14.18, 14.19, 14.20)

Listen to the varieties of timbre and articulation on these instrument and prepare a list of adjectives
and verbs to describe what you hear. What techniques are new and surprising? What if anything is
familiar?

Writing Assignment #7 (1 page single spaced): What, in Deluze and Guattari’s view, distinguishes
“nomadic” from “State” ideal types? How might you use these ideas to think about actual societies
and musical practices in Central Asia? What problems or questions do you have with
“nomadology”? (add to the end of this assignment, not part of the 1 page, responses to the listening
assignment according to the prompts above)

Week 10 (April 4): Poets and Poetry

Reading:
Starr, S. Frederick. 2013. Lost enlightenment: Central Asia’s golden age from the Arab conquest to
Tamerlane. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Navai: Patron and Poet, 500-506
Silver, Brian Q. 1994. The Urdu mushā‘irah. In Gott ist shön und Er liebt die Schönheit: God is
beautiful and he loves beauty. Festschrift in honour of Annemarie Schimmel, 363-375, eds.
A. Giese and J. C. Bürgel. Bern: Peter Lang.
(Note: this article concerns poetry recitation on the Indian subcontinent, but this tradition
grows out of an older tradition of poetry creation and performance in the Persianate world)
Sumits, William and Theodore Levin. 2016. Maqom traditions of the Tajiks and Uzbeks. MCA ch 18:
pp 320-344.
Corrected transliteration and rhyme delineation of talqincha-yi sabā text, p. 332
Table of Shashmaqom structure with links to examples
Pritchett, Frances. Overview of the ghazal. Website of Frances W. Pritchett

8
S. R. Faruqi and F. W. Pritchett. Lyric Poetry in Urdu: the Ghazal. Originally published in Delos 3,3-4
(Winter 1991), pp. 7-12. Slightly edited for online version.

Handouts:
Radif diagram
Ranges of a few gushehs in Mahur

Listening/viewing:
18.2 Talqincha-i sabo sung by Farhod Davletov
18.4 (audio): Nasr-i segoh played by Turgun Alimatov
Muqäddimä of rak: listening guide, notation (PDF)
Gushehs in the radif of mahur, sung by M. Karimi (notation):
darāmad
dād

Recommended (and required for graduate students):
Thackston, W. M. 1994. Metrics and prosody, pp viii-xxv. A millennium of classical Persian poetry : a
guide to the reading & understanding of Persian poetry from the tenth to the twentieth
century. Bethesda, Md., Iranbooks.
Slobin, Mark. 1971. Rhythmic aspects of the Tajik maqam. Ethnomusicology 15(1): 100-104
Yarshater, Ehsan. 1974. Affinities between persian poetry and music. In Studies in art and
literature of the Near East, in honor of Richard Ettinghausen, 59-78, ed. Peter Chelkowski.
Middle East Center, University of Utah; New York University Press.
Typo correction of meters listed on p. 71-72

Writing Assignment #8:
Compose a ghazal text of at least 6 lines (due today). Write 1 p. single spaced describing the
musical treatment of ghazal form in listening assignments for today (due today). Begin
conceptualizing your musical setting of your ghazal. You will present this to the class on the last
day. You do not necessarily have to notate the ghazal in Western notation, but you must either sing
(and teach it) to the class; or hand out the text and play the ghazal melody on an instrument.

Week 11 (April 11): Rhythm and text

Tsuge, Gen'ichi. 1970. Rhythmic Aspects of the Âvâz in Persian Music. Ethnomusicology 14(2): 205-
227.
Sawa, George Dimitri. 2009. Rhythmic theories and practices in Arabic writings to 339 AH/950 CE.
Annotation translations and commentaries. Ottawa: The Institute of Mediaeval Music.: pp. 1-
7, 120-126 and primary readings translated from Farabi:” A. preliminary definitions of the
īqā‘, the standard of measurement and the attacks,” 128-138 ; “types of attacks: dynamics
and timbral properties” 166-169; “E. principles and tools for rhythmic notation,” 259-272.
Randel, Don M. 1976. Al-Farabi and the Role of Arabic Music Theory in the Latin Middle Ages.
Journal of the American Musicological Society:29: 173-88.

Listening:
Saraxbar and Talqin-i Ushshaq, rast cycle
Täzä and nusxa from Rak cycle, Unikki Mugam

Listen for the usul or repeating percussion pattern and its relationship to musical phrases.
Contemplate the usul in relation to īqā‘ discussed by Farabi.

9
Writing Assignment #9 (1 p. single spaced):
What are the “sedentary” characteristics of the music Farabi describes? Why do you think such
colorful metaphors are used for musical terminology in Farabi’s time? Try to relate Farabi’s
conceptions of music in his own time to your experiences with any music.

Week 12: (April 18): Love and Loss in Central Asia and beyond

Reading:
Azizi, Faroghat. 2016. Falak: Spiritual songs of the mountain Tajiks. MCA ch 30: 504-517
Van den Berg, Gabrielle. 2004. Minstrel poetry from the Pamir Mountains: A study on the songs and
poems of the Ismāʻīlīs of Tajik Badakhshan. Wiesbaden: Reichert. 350-356
Van den Berg, Gabrielle. 2009. The performance of quatrains in Tajikistan, with special reference to
Badakhshan. In Falak: Ba mas’alahoi ta’rixī-nazariyabii musikii tojik, 35-46, edited by
Faroghat Azizi. Dushanbe: Ministry of Culture of Tajikistan.
Koen, Benjamin D. 2006. Musical healing in eastern Tajikistan: Transforming stress and depression
through falak performance. Asian Music 37(2): 58-83.
Sakata, Hiromi Lorraine. 2002. Music in the mind: The concepts of music and musician in
Afghanistan. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp 53-56, 156-165.
Blum. S. 2002. “Iran: An introduction.” In The Middle East. The Garland Encyclopedia of World
Music, vol. 6, ed. Danielson et al., 823-838. New York: Routledge. pp 829-831 (topics and
voices)

Listening and viewing:
30.1 “Falak-i Badakhshani” performed by Soheb Davlatshoeva (text p. 506)
30.5 “Navo-i kuhiston”
Van den Berg CD tr 5: falak: "Ruze ki Ali" (text on p 355 of 2004 reading selection)
Music in the Mind CD examples, Badakhshan, Afghanistan
Tr 24 Nai Falak: Jandar Shah, nai. p 156
Tr 25 Falak, Mohammad Adbar, voice and harmonium; with rabāb, zirbaghali, and tal. p 157
Tr 26 Chopāni, Ramazan-voice. p 157-158
Tr 27 Paron-e falak. Islam-voice and ghijak, with daf. p 158
Tr 28 Falak. Awaz-voice and dambura, with ghijak. p 161
Tr 29 Falak. Nazar Mohammed,-voice and ghijek; with Pamir rabāb. p. 162
Tr 30 Falak, Ezrat Murad, voice and daf, with ghijak. pp 162-63
Track 26: Gharībī, lyric song of Khorasan province, Iran,” recorded by S. Blum in Mashhad,
Iran, 1969.

We will discuss the following in class:

Ismoil Nazriev, suite of 3 songs beginning with a falak. (text)
Ismoil Nazriev, series of quatrains performed in the style of falak (text)
Bulbulik, Wakhi language, Shitkharv village, Tajikistan Oct 28, 2012 (text)

Supplementary

Badalkhan, Sabir. 2009. Zahīrok: The musical base of Baloch minstrelsy. In Theorizing the local:
Music, practice and experience in South Asia and beyond. New York: Oxford University Press.
225-237.

10
Listening: musical examples for ch 12 in www.oup.com/us/theorizingthelocal. Username: Music2;
password Book 4416.

Writing Assignment #10 (1p single spaced): What are the characteristics of a falak? How do you
distinguish a falak from other genres? What is the role of context and sentiment in defining a falak?

Quiz #4: Listening and short answer

Week 13 (April 25)

Final: In-Class Essay Exam
A week before the final exam you will be given three essay questions to study. On the last day of
class, you will be given 50 minutes to write on one of these questions. Professor Wolf will choose
the question. This will be a closed book exam: no notes, no books, no computers or other electronic
devices.

Present Ghazal Project
Over the course of the semester you will compose a ghazal text in English and set it to music. You
should be able to explain your compositional choices with reference to the ghazal settings we have
encountered during the semester, although it is not necessary that you adopt any one of them
exactly. On the last day of class, please pass out your ghazal text and teach the class the tune. If you
are more comfortable playing an instrument than singing, you may do so. It is not necessary to
notate your composition in Western staff notation.

Party!

11