Gendering Emotions: Ṭarab, Women and Musical Performance in Three Biographical Narratives from ‘The Book of Songs’

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-183
Author(s):  
Karen Moukheiber
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
Musical Performance ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
Islamic History ◽  
Musical Performances ◽  
Slave Women ◽  
Social Conduct ◽  
Literary Biographies ◽  
The One ◽  
The Book Of Songs

Musical performance was a distinctive feature of urban culture in the formative period of Islamic history. At the court of the Abbasid caliphs, and in the residences of the ruling elite, men and women singers performed to predominantly male audiences. The success of a performer was linked to his or her ability to elicit ṭarab, namely a spectrum of emotions and affects, in their audiences. Ṭarab was criticized by religious scholars due, in part, to the controversial performances at court of slave women singers depicted as using music to induce passion in men, diverting them from normative ethical social conduct. This critique, in turn, shaped the ethical boundaries of musical performances and affective responses to them. Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī’s tenth-century Kitāb al-Aghānī (‘The Book of Songs’) compiles literary biographies of prominent male and female singers from the formative period of Islamic history. It offers rich descriptions of musical performances as well as ensuing manifestations of ṭarab in audiences, revealing at times the polemics with which they were associated. Investigating three biographical narratives from Kitāb al-Aghānī, this paper seeks to answer the following question: How did emotions, gender and status shape on the one hand the musical performances of women singers and on the other their audiences’ emotional responses, holistically referred to as ṭarab. Through this question, this paper seeks to nuance and complicate our understanding of the constraints and opportunities that shaped slave and free women's musical performances, as well as men's performances, at the Abbasid court.

Dibdin and Jane Austen

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Pritchard-Pink
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Jane Austen ◽  
Musical Performance ◽  
Musical Education ◽  
Young Girls ◽  
Female Performance ◽  
The World ◽  
Music Collection ◽  
Conduct Book

Jane Austen was one of Dibdin’s greatest admirers and his songs feature prominently in her music collection. Yet the Dibdin songs she owned, with their bawdy comedy, political and social satire, and martial, masculine themes, were far removed from the musical diet prescribed for young ladies of Austen’s rank by conduct writers. Indeed, they were quite different from those advocated by Dibdin himself in his tract on the musical education of young girls, the Musical Mentor (1808), which suggested songs on ‘Constancy’, ‘A Portrait of Innocence’, or ‘Vanity Reproved’ as more suitable subject matter. By highlighting the contrasts between contemporary expectations of female performance and the contents of Austen’s collection, this interlude presents domestic musical performance less as an instrument of control and more as a means by which women could express themselves and participate in the world beyond the bounds of home, family, and conduct-book femininity.

Voices on the wind

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Curkpatrick
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Musical Performance ◽  
Orchestral Music ◽  
Australian Society ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Musical Interaction

The musical project Crossing Roper Bar (CRB) is based on a collaboration between Wägilak songmen from Australia’s Northern Territory and the Australian Art Orchestra (AAO). Individuals drawn into this collaboration bring their distinct voices and histories to performance, while opening themselves to those of others. A new, malleable approach to orchestral performance in Australia is the result of this collaboration, which places improvisation at the centre of conversational musical interaction. This chapter introduces orthodox narrative elements of Wägilak manikay (song) that are creatively renewed and sustained in CRB. It highlights how the collaboration demonstrates the compelling play of musical performance that can generate nuanced, respectful and ongoing interactions between individuals, and between individuals and traditions. Amidst the vibrant, cultural diversity of contemporary Australian society, CRB suggests new possibilities for productive and relevant orchestral music-making.

Conclusion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Llano
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Social Conflict ◽  
Musical Performance ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
Musical Practices ◽  
The Media ◽  
The City

As is described in this conclusion, more than the media and culture, Madrid’s public space constituted the primary arena where reactions and attitudes toward social conflict and inequalities were negotiated. Social conflict in the public space found expression through musical performance, as well as through the rise of noise that came with the expansion and modernization of the city. Through their impact on public health and morality, noise and unwelcomed musical practices contributed to the refinement of Madrid’s city code and the modernization of society. The interference of vested political interests, however, made the refining of legislation in these areas particularly difficult. Analysis of three musical practices, namely, flamenco, organilleros, and workhouse bands, has shown how difficult it was to adopt consistent policies and approaches to tackling the forms of social conflict that were associated with musical performance.

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