Sufi Music of India and Pakistan: Sound, Context and Meaning in Qawwali (Cambridge Studies in Ethnomusicology)

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 288 pages
• Published by: Cambridge University Press March 27, 1987
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0521267676
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0521267670
• Book Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 1.4 pounds

Product Description
For the Sufis of India and Pakistan, the Qawwali songs are 'food for the soul', a means of attaining union with God, the ecstatic culmination of mystical experience. Regula Burckhardt Qureshi's study carefully describes and documents the performance of this music in the traditional Sufi assembly, the ritual of sama', first presenting the rich musical repertoire of Qawwali song, and then exploring everything else that is relevant to an understanding of the ritual: the profound belief system and its powerful articulation through mystical poetry in three languages (Farsi, Hindi, Urdu), the social and economic relationships between Sufi listeners and musicians, and, finally, all the specific rules governing the making of and listening to Qawwali in the Sufi assembly. All this leads up to a momentby-moment account of actual Qawwali performances where the interplay between the musical sound and the diverse and often dramatic audience responses is described and analysed by the author.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Sufi Music of India and Pakistan: Sound, Context and Meaning in Qawwali (Paperback) Qureshi offers an in-depth analysis of Qawwali music, without ever referring to the ever-popular Nusrat Fateh Ali-Khan. Truly a provokative look at the context, meaning, and structure of Qawwali music and dance performances. At times, however, I felt that the analysis was unnecessarily complicated, constantly referring to the author's complicated (musical notation) field notes, but who am I to criticize the work of an ethnomusicologist. Besides, the only thing I wanted to get out of the book was the context of Qawwali performances, not the precise musical structures of Sufi music. g_money@hotmail.com Comment | Permalink | (Report this)