April 2009
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AliJihad RacyExplores"MusicalEcstasyin the Arab Wo rld" atAnnual Distinguished Lecture r. Ali Jihad Racy, renowned performer, composer, and professor of ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, was the featured speaker at CCAS's KareemaKhoury Annual DistinguishedLecture in Arab Studieson February26,2009. Dr. Racy exploredthe idea of tarab, or musical ecstasy,in Arab music. Thrab, accordingto Dr. Racy, can be experiencedby musicians as well as listeners,and can even allude to such phenomenaas a young person passionately pursuing a musical careerdespitehis or her parents'displeasure. Dr. Racy played a number of instrumentsand musical recordings to demonstratetraditionalArab music and some of the meansby which tarab is achieved. Dr. Racy noted that the emotionalpower of music is something that has historically concemed philosophers, scientists, and moralists,aswell asmusicians.He spokeofinstancesinArab history in which audienceswould go into a trance-like, transformative statewhile listening to music. "When singerschantedtheir poetry at medieval Abbasid courts in Baghdad," he said, "listeners, including the rulers, had strong reactions.They moved their feet, danced,sobbed,wept, and tore their garments." Today,suchtransformativeexperiencesare still in evidence.Dr. Racy notedthat duringhis own performances,particularlyforArab audiences,he hears certain listenersvoicing emotionally loaded expressionssuchasyasalaam.He might alsonoticemembersofthe audiencewho listen carefully and creatively."They really inspire the musician by their focus, their body language,"he said. "The musicianscantell who they are,evenif they're not demonstrative." These instancesdemonstratethe conceptof sammi'ah, in which tarab is experiencedby listeners. Dr. Racy then played a number of instruments to show traditional aspectsofArab music. He played the nay, or reedflute, to demonstratean omamentationsimilar to western vibrato but "more like a slow wave." He also played the oud to exhibit the "microtones" ofArab music-those notesin betweenthe notesof a westernscale."In westemculture,we think of them asbeing out of tune," he said, "but they're integral to many of the scalesthat peopleplay in othercultures." He then discussedspeciflc ways tarab is brought about, such as through heterophonyand improvisation, when musicians in an ensembleeach play the piece a little diflerently, and when a musician takes liberties in the middle of a song, becoming "liberated from the beat." Dr. Racy played an example from the
Rolling waves of melodyr Dr. Ali Jihad Racy plays the nay, or reed flute, to demonstrate traditional aspectsof Arab music.
: 202687 5793 Center for ContemporaryArab Studies i GeorgetownUniversiry . WashingtonDC 20057-1020 hnp://ccas-georgetown.edu