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The Music of Islam, Volume 15

CH 14155CD CH 14155CD

"This final volume introduces the world to the Muslim Music of Indonesia. A land of about two hundred million inhabitants, Indonesia is home to the largest Muslim nation in the world. It is extraordinarily rich in musical genres which derived originally from the Arab-Persian world but were transformed by local genius into unique musical styles and genres, generally practiced by all-male or all-female groups. The great majority of Indonesian Muslims adhere to Sunni beliefs, but a few Shi'a outposts still remain, especially in west-coastal Sumatra. Disk one features many of these rich genres, such as: Sunni prayers; samples of the Shi'a ritual (tabut or tabuik) characterized by passionate vocal music and group drumming; religious or secular songs with body movement accompanied by frame drums (indang); and a musical genre performed by a pair of male singers accompanying themselves with rhythmic beating on round brass trays (salawat). One of the first provinces to develop Muslim art forms was Aceh, the northernmost province of Sumatra. Aceh has a wealth of Muslim musical genres and body movement or dance forms among its ethnic groups. Disk two features many of the rich genres, such as: music and dance associated with syncretic animist and Hindu-Buddhist beliefs with added Muslim components or prayers (daboih ceremony); the well-known male martial dance called seudati; the female dance-vocal form pho, based on the expression of grief at the death of a child, and very sad songs (ratap or ratep meuseukat); and a form of worship and courage raising via male group vocal and frame drum performance (rapai daboih). The instruments heard in this volume are both traditional Muslim instruments such as double-headed drums, frame drums, brass trays and the lute, as well as non-Muslim instruments such as bamboo flutes, oboes and bronze ensembles."