Salamu Aleikum – Music of the Muslim World

2014 ACDA Western Division Conference in Santa Barbara, CA

Saturday, February 22, 2014, 9.45 am

André de Quadros, Boston University

adq@bu.edu
http://www.andredequadros.com/

Music of the Muslim world and its choral music are little understood or known. This is
because of three elements that are misunderstood and contested: Muslim music, Muslim
world, and Muslim choral music. It is beyond the scope of this presentation to go into
depth on each of these, but some explanation is necessary.

The role of music in Islam is hotly disputed by Islamic scholars. In representing their
divergent positions, they refer to the hadīth (‫)ﺣﺪ"ﺚ‬, the body of sayings ascribed to the
Prophet Muhammad, and the fiqh (!‫)ﻓﻘ‬, the code of Islamic jurisprudence. Both the hadīth
and the fiqh are ways in which the Qur’an may be understood and explained. But, quite
simply, the word “music” doesn't quite work when we speak about music in Islam. There
is a large body of Muslim religious recitation, of which Qur’anic recitation is the most
common. The iqama (‫ﻗﺎﻣﺔ‬%), or second call to prayer, is another such example.

Iqama
Recital Arabic Transliteration Translation
2x !""# $%&# !""# $%&# āllahu ākbar, āllahu ākbar God is Greatest, God is Greatest,
2x '!(# )# #" !"# #"# !""# āsh'hadu ān lā ilaha illā-llah I assert that there is no god but God,
2x '!(# )# '*+* ",-$ !""# āsh'hadu ānna mūhammadār rasūlu-llah I assert that Muhammad is the Messenger of God,
2x .+ /"0 1#"2"# hayyā `alā-s-salat Come to prayer,
2x .+ /"0 +#"3"# hayyā `alā-l-falāh Come to worship,
2x '4 5*#4 1#"2"# qad qāma tis-salaat Stand for prayer,
1x !""# $%&# !""# $%&# āllahu ākbar, āllahu ākbar God is Greatest, God is Greatest,
1x #" !"# #"# !""# lā ilaha illā-llah There is no god but God

Also widespread are the hymns, inshad, belonging within the category of religious
recitation. Looking with Western eyes, ears, and concepts of music, we may incorrectly
classify Muslim religious recitation as music.

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The Muslim world is vast, encompassing more than a quarter of the world’s population,
numbering more than 1.8 billion people. Frequently, the Muslim world is taken to refer to
Muslim civilizations, and including those minorities who are non-Muslims. It is in this
sense that Muslim world is used in this session. Common misconceptions concerning
Muslims are:
• Muslims are Arabs;
• Arabs are Muslims;
• Palestinians are Muslims;
• Muslims are anti-American; and
• Women are oppressed in Islam.
A simple investigation reveals factual inaccuracies and inconsistencies in this list. For
example, the largest Muslim country is Indonesia; almost a third of the population of
Lebanon is Christian, and so on.

What then, is Muslim choral music? Choral music, as we understand it, at a conference
such as this, consists of music that has emerged from seventeenth century European
liturgical and secular life, generally consisting of a group of people singing together,
frequently in parts. There are numerous examples of group singing in the Muslim world,
almost all of which is non-notated. Many of these group singing genres date back several
centuries, such as the genre of Arab music called the muwashshahat, a song tradition that
started in Muslim Spain and has continued vigorously until our times.

While there are numerous examples of Muslim group singing, notated part-singing is a
product of colonization, Westernization, Christianization, and now globalization. It is
becoming increasingly popular for composers in the Muslim world to arrange and
compose music for the Western-style choir, and this then becomes the focus of this
session. Thus, this session serves to introduce participants to the breadth of Muslim
culture, some Muslim songs, and the great diaspora of music of the Muslim world
through a selection of pieces from different social, and cultural contexts.

Scores for this session

Adinu, Shireen Abu Khader and André de Quadros (Earthsongs)

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Entarisi (Earthsongs)
Fog Elna Khel Salim Bali (Earthsongs)
Kabhi yun bhi to ho Jagjit Singh/Stacks (manuscript)
Soleram Ivan Yohan (Earthsongs)

Resources

Bibliography
Ahmed, Akbar S. “Journey into America: the challenge of Islam.” Washington DC:
Brookings Institution Press, 2010.
Huseynova, Aida. “From chanting the Quran to singing oratorio: choral music in West
and Central Asia.” In The Cambridge Companion to Choral Music, edited by
André de Quadros. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
de Quadros, André. "New voices in ancient lands: choral music in South and Southeast
Asia." In The Cambridge Companion to Choral Music, edited by André de
Quadros. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Qureshi, Regula. “Islam and Music.” in Sacred Sound: Experiencing Music in World
Religions, edited by Guy Beck. Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2004.

Other published choral scores from the Muslim world

Ai-yu, by Mohamad Abdelfatah (SSAATTBB). Earthsongs.
Lammaa Bada Yatathanna, by Shireen Abu Khader (SATB), Earthsongs.
Gai bintang, by Budi Susanto (SSAATTBB) Earthsongs.
Ilay Gandangan, by Rodolfo Delarmente (SATB) Earthsongs.
Luk luk lumbu, by Budi Susanto (SSAATTBB) Earthsongs.
Pok pok alimpako, by Francisco Feliciano (SSAATB) Earthsongs.
Potong padi, by Juliette Lai (SATB) Earthsongs.
Mayamog akun, by Fabian Obispo (SSATTBB) Earthsongs.
Yal asmar ellon, by Edward Torikian (SATB) Earthsongs.

de Quadros, André, ed. 2008. Spice, magic, and mystique: Southeast Asian choral
repertoire: for mixed choir a cappella: 12 songs from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,
Singapore, and Thailand. Stuttgart: Carus.
--

André&de&Quadros,&conductor,)scholar,)music)educator,)and)human)rights)activist,)has)conducted)
and)undertaken)research)in)over)forty)countries)and)is)a)professor)at)Boston)University’s)School)of)
Music)and)Institute)for)the)Study)of)Muslim)Societies)and)Civilizations.))His)involvement)in)the)
Muslim)world)stretches)from)Southesast)Asia,)through)India)and)Pakistan,)Iran,)and)the)Arab)world.)
As)Artistic)Director)of)Aswatuna)–)Arab)Choral)Festival)and)annual)festivals)in)Indonesia,)he)develops)
artistically)innovative)and)socially)responsive)choral)projects.))He)is)the)conductor)of)the)Manado)
State)University)Choir)(Indonesia).)He)is)the)editor)of)The$Cambridge$Companion$to$Choral$Music)
published)by)Cambridge)University)Press,)and)Salamu$Aleikum,$Choral$Music$of$the$Muslim$World,)
published)by)Earthsongs,)together)with)numerous)other)publications.)Since)2010,)he)has)conducted)
historic)projects)with)Palestinian)and)Israeli)choral)musicians)in)Jerusalem)and)Galilee)as)part)of)the)
Community)Heartsong)Project.)

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 Kabhi yun bhi to ho
Jagjit Singh
arr. Stephen Stacks

#
& 44 œ œ ˙ Ó Œ ‰ œ
œ œ ˙
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Voice

Kab - hi yun bhi to ho kab-hi yun bhi to ho

# j
& ‰ ! œr œ œ œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ Œ ‰ œ
5

œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
Da - ri - ya ka sa - hil ho Pu-re chan - da ki rat ho Aur

# m
& œ œ ˙ Ó Œ œ Ó Œ ‰œ
9

œ˙
Fine

m œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
tum a - o kab -hi yun bhi to ho kab-hi yun bhi to ho

#
Ó Œ œ œ œ. œ œ Ó ‰ œ œ œ œ. œ œ Œ
14

& œ œ œ J
Kab-hi yun bhi to ho yeh na - ram mu-laym

# ‰œ œœ œœ
œœ œ Œ Œ œœ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ
18

&
m m
tan - di ha -va - a - yein ja-ba ghar se tum-har - e gu-za-ren tum-har - ri

#œ
& ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Ó Œ
22 D.C. al Fine

khu-sha bu chu - ra - yein Me - re ghar le a - yein

kabhi yun bhi to ho.. sometimes this should happen..

dariya ka sahil ho, pure chand ki rat ho there is an endless sea, its a full moon night
aur tum ao.. and you come..

kabhi yun bhi to ho.. sometimes this should happen..

ye naram mulayam tandi havayein when this soft tender cool breeze
jab ghar se tumhare guzaren, tumhari khushbu churayein passes your house, it steals your fragrance
mere ghar le ayein.. and brings it to my house..

!
!
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!
Program!note!
!
Kabhi&yun&bhi&to&ho!is!an!Urdu!song!in!the!poetic!form!of!ghazal.!The!ghazal!is!from!ancient!
Arabic!verse!with!stringent!structural!and!formal!requirements,!usually!exploring!themes!
of!love,!separation,!and!mysticism.!A!ghazal!consists!of!a!series!of!couplets!with!the!second!
line!of!each!couplet!usually!ending!in!a!monorhyme.!!There!is!also!a!refrain,!which!can!be!as!
short!as!one!word,!repeated!throughout!the!ghazal.!Ghazals!are!widespread!in!IndoCPersoC
Arabic!civilization.!Even!Western!poets!have!written!ghazals!in!their!own!languages,!
including!Goethe,!Rückert,!and!Thomas!Hardy.!
!

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