Sufi Music of India and Pakistan: Sound, Context and Meaning in Qawwali, Volume 1For 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 moment-by-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. |
Contents
Introduction The Qawwali experience and ethnomusicological questions I | 1 |
Qawwali music | 17 |
the Qawwali occasion | 77 |
The structure of the Qawwali occasion | 103 |
the Qawwali event | 133 |
Observing the Qawwali performance | 143 |
Explaining the Qawwali performance | 187 |
Common terms and phrases
adjunct item ajabe Ajmer Amir Khusrau analysis analytical antară assembly leader asthāyi audience bandish Chilla Chishti classical music concept context couplet devotees dholak dimension disciple drum duration ecstasy ecstatic emotion ethnomusicology expression Farsi focus formal framework gānā ghazal girah Graph harmonium Hindi Iftekhar Indian Insert intensification interaction Introductory Verse Islamic Kachh jagmag lead singer listeners Masnavi meaning melodic Meraj Meraj Ahmad Muhammad multiple repetition musical metre musical setting musicians Muslim Nijām Nizami Nizamuddin Auliya offering opening line Pakistan pattern performer's pitch movement Plate poem poetic metre poetry principle Qaul Qawwal Bachche Qawwali assembly Qawwali music Qawwali occasion Qawwali performance Qawwali song raga raises arm recitative reference Repertoire representative response rhyming rhythm rhythmic ritual ruba'i saint saintly sequence sheikh shrine singing social spiritual arousal standard structure Sufi Sufism sūrat sways Table tonic Tori surat tradition tune Urdu verse line zikr تو حضرت ہے
References to this book
Ecstasy and Enlightenment: The Ismaili Devotional Literature of South Asia Ali S. Asani No preview available - 2002 |
Engendering Song: Singing and Subjectivity at Prespa Albanian Weddings Jane C. Sugarman No preview available - 1997 |