The Arabic Style of Performing Medieval Music Author(s): John Haines Source: , Vol. 29, No. 3 (Aug., 2001), pp. 369-378 Published by: Oxford University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3519181 Accessed: 22-09-2015 15:13 UTC

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This content downloaded from 159.149.218.100 on Tue, 22 Sep 2015 15:13:07 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . RE-EXAMINING PERFORMANCE PRACTICES +

John Haines

The Arabicstyle of performingmedieval music

uninitiated customer browsing for recent THErecordings of medievalmonophonic music may be surprised by an eruption of Arabic sounds: antiphons and responsoriesundulating in a manner more reminiscent of Koranic recitation than the sober tones of conventionalinterpretations,' trouba- dour and trouveretunes declaimedto the accompa- niment of an 'ud (Arabiclute)2 and pulsing with the beat of various North African drums,3or French courtly dances filtered through a Moroccan bendir (frame drum).4Our curious customer might rightly enquire where the interpretationof medieval music using an Arabicstyle originated. In fact, this recent 'Arabic' interpretation goes back to a much earlier fascination with the Middle East, the phenomenon known as orientalism.5 Musical orientalism can be found as early as the monumental Description de l'1gypte (1809-28), which contained many beautiful engravings from Napoleon's Egyptianexpedition, including one of a '' (actually a rabdb) player (illus.1). The 19th centurymarked the beginningof both orientalism andmedievalism on a largescale; the West looked to 1 'Lejoueur de violon'from Description de l'Egypte,Ptat the MiddleAges and to the Orientfor its roots.6 moderne,Planches, vol.2, plate E (1817) Novelssuch as GustaveFlaubert's Salammb6 (1862) evokeda primitiveand sensuous East, while musical foundations for the study of medieval music. An works conjuredup an orientalsound with such oriental Middle Ages emerged in such works as Sir instrumentsas flutes and -generic Walter Scott's Ivanhoe(1819), where Scott described ratherthan country-specificsignifiers.7 the 'wild barbaricmusic' of a tournament proces- At around the same time medieval themes began sion: 'it was of Easternorigin', Scott wrote, 'having to appearin literature,from the popular'genre trou- been brought from the Holy Land.'8We also find the badour' around 18oo to Lord Alfred Tennyson's same oriental Middle Ages in music histories:Jean- Idylls of the King (1859), while scholars such as Frangois-Joseph Fetis claimed that troubadour Charles-Edmond-Henride Coussemaker laid the songs were 'nothing more than memories of oriental

John Haines is Assistant Professorof Musicologyat Shorter College, , where he teaches Westernand non-Westernmusics. He has published on medievalFrench music and its histori- ography,and is currentlyat workon a receptionhistory of troubadourand trouvcresong.

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This content downloaded from 159.149.218.100 on Tue, 22 Sep 2015 15:13:07 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions songs put to new words', concluding that the very The nascent industryof earlymusic sound record- 'origins of medieval secular music are Oriental'; ing at the beginning of the 2oth century would ulti- Edward Dent wrote of the close contact between mately not resist orientalism. Unlike Baroque and Easternmusic ('the Moors in Spain, the Saracensin Renaissancemusic, medieval monophonic repertor- Italy') and that of the medievalWest; GustaveReese ies were largely ignored by recording companies opened his account of medieval history with the until afterWorld War II, possibly because perform- idiophones of Mesopotamia and Egypt, and placed ers were less confident about how these should be the origins of Christiansacred chant in the lost vocal interpreted. Curt Sachs's Anthologie sonore drew art of Syria;and Curt Sachsplaced the beginnings of upon traditional Swiss mountain songs for inspira- Our musicalheritage in 'The Orient' (the title of his tion in one of the very few recordingsof Minnesinger second chapter), whose musical 'inertia' still con- and trouvbre melodies before the 195os. Sachs was tained echoes of the distant musical past.9 For all attemptingto produce as authentica performanceas these writers the primitive monophony of the possible by drawing on living traditional songs Middle Ages had been filtered from its pure, oral which he thought may have had links to medieval oriental state through the corrupting minds and Germanic ancestors.13The result was nonetheless a notation of the West. carefullyliteral interpretationof the musical text by Nineteenth-century orientalism led to Arabic the tenor Max Meili.'4 hypotheses in medieval scholarshipin the first half Beginningin the 1950sperformers such as Safford of the 20th century. Formal and topical similarities Cape (with Pro Musica Antiqua) and Russell Ober- between troubadourverse and earlierArabic poetry lin approachedtroubadour and trouv&resongs in a led to a theory that the one was influenced by the similar fashion to Sachs. Cape's group featured other. This 'Arabic hypothesis' produced some heavy voices and long, rubato phrasing,while Ober- remarkable research, most notably Alois Nykl's lin's statelycountertenor was echoed by a sparseviol magisterial defence of the hypothesis, Hispano- accompaniment.'5At the end of the decade, how- Arabic and its relationswith the old ever, New York Pro Musica's The Daniel poetry Provencal play of troubadours(1946), and the more tempered study of inaugurateda new approach,their costumes explod- PierreLe Gentil, Le virelaiet le villancico:le problame ing with colour, their sound bristling with 'Arabian des originesarabes (1954). However, since the hypo- nakers ... and jingles, and Near Eastern finger thesis was usually inferred from general points of cymbals'.'6Their exotic and ostentatiousdemeanour contact such as the Crusadesrather than conclusive was reminiscent of the costumes and antics of the evidence of troubadour knowledge of Arabic, the early music innovator Arnold Dolmetsch, who had majority of scholars, including specialists of Old gone so far as to make a pilgrimageto Morocco in Occitan, remained sceptical;Le Gentil, for instance, 1929 to draw inspiration from Arabic music.'7The concluded that no direct Arabic influence could be only instrumentsthe New York Pro Musica actually proven.'0 A similar hypothesis was developed for imported from the Orient were percussion, but as medieval music. Its main champion was Henry well-known signifiersthey were all that was needed George Farmer,an orientalistwhose position rested to evoke things Arabic.A F6tisiannarrative was even on certain indisputable facts, including the general recalledin Paul Henry Lang'sliner note preface: influence on Western music of Arabic schol- theory Christendom'smusic on the shores of the ars such as Early grew Al-Ffirbi (fl. early loth century)."l Mediterraneanand in its spirit ... It was not reallypurely Another proponent was JulianRibera, who based his Western,for the floweringmagic of the melody remained highly subjectivetranscriptions of troubadour mel- Easternin character... The oriental could create the long odies on loose connections between these and later coloraturachain of melodybut was unableto write it down; the western monk could, but as he did so he immediately Spanishsongs.12 Despite their advocacyof the Arabic exerted the characteristicrational and poetic bent of the hypothesis in medieval music, both Ribera and European. Farmerhad to admit the absence of positive musical documentation of contact between East and West. In other words, the West was smarterthan the East,

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This content downloaded from 159.149.218.100 on Tue, 22 Sep 2015 15:13:07 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions but lacked its vitality; Western music performance folk music';23and Howard MayerBrown went so far practice could be made more authentic by tapping as to call theirs 'an ethnomusicologicalapproach to the orientalsource. Theplay of Daniel was the perfect performance practice'.24 Listeners found in their piece for such an endeavour.Set in ancient Babylon, recordings a product of 'superior imagination and it even included at one point a fire-eater and a ... educated guesswork'; earlier efforts were now sword-swallower. It became the New York Pro deemed 'ill-conceived, bland and boring'.25By the Musica's most popular performance.,s early 1970s the Studio had single-handedlyinaugu- Rock music performers,too, would turn eastward rated an authoritativemodern performancepractice for musical inspiration in the next decade:the Beat- of medievalmonophony which continues to have an les to India and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones to enduringinfluence on both its critics and adherents. Morocco.19The early196os thus anticipatedan inno- vator who would forge a new sound for the field of W HAT was the nature of the Andalusianclassi- earlymusic. That innovator was Thomas Binkley. cal music, or Masiqd andalusiyya, that Bink- Thomas Binkley (1932-95) first studied at the Uni- ley and his ensemble heard in Morocco in the 1960s? versity of Illinois and later moved to Munich, where Rooted in Persian dance forms, the Andalusian in 1959 he founded the Studio der frtihen Musik musical style emigrated from Baghdad to Spain in (a.k.a. Early Music Quartet) with fellow American the 9th century, then to North Africa from the loth Sterling Jones and the Estonian singer Andrea von century on, after which each country developed its Ramm.2o Binkley, who had read the works of Le individual tradition. Since none of this music was Gentil and Farmer in support of the Arabic hypo- written down until modern times, it is impossible to thesis, travelled in the early 1960s to India, assess the stability of the tradition over eight cen- and North Africa, where he heard musical perfor- turies, though some, notably Farmer, have argued mances which inspiredhim to bring these theoriesto for a certain continuity.26 It is likely, however, that life.21 It was at this time that the Studio began a regional fragmentation and oral transmission marathon recordingspree, producing over 15LPs in assisted in significantly transforming Andalusian the span of a decade (1963-73), and covering music from the Middle Ages to the early Baroque. (See Table1 Studioder friihen Musik, selected discography, table i.) Taking its cue from New York Pro Musica, 1963-73 the ensemble releasedin 1964 an album of the Latin Carmina burana songs. This ushered the listener Abbreviatedtitles Label into an unprecedentedrecorded musical landscape Musik:Italien TeldecSAWT combiningjangling tambourines and bells, a Middle 1963 Frfihe 9466-B Bauern-lieder TeldecSAWT Easternrabab and darbukka,and the 1964 9486-A flutey subtlety Carmina vol. TeldecSAWT of and countertenor voices. Its release burana, 1 9455-A boy soprano Musicof ElizabethI Archiv199 ool the Studio der Musik to fame: 'the propelled fruihen High :Dowland ArchivAPM 14 345 was an immediate and was win- recording success, 1965 Florid-songin England TeldecSAWT 9472-A ning prizes' (liner notes). LikeDolmetsch in the late 1966 Minnesangund SpruchdichtungTeldec SAWT 9487-A 1920S the ensemble then journeyed to Morocco to Secularmusic TeldecSAWT 9504-A experienceArabic music at firsthand, specificallythe 1967 Carminaburana, vol. 2 TeldecSAWT 9522-A classicalMoroccan Andalusiansuite or naba."2As a 1968 High MiddleAges TeldecsMT 1244 result of the Moroccanpilgrimage the Studio gradu- MusicaIberica TeldecSAWT 9620-1 ally developed what Binkley called an 'Arabic' or 1970 Chansons der Troubadours Teldec SAWT9567-B 'Southern' which took after the 1972 Guillaumede Machaut Reflexe1 co63-3o1o6 style explicitly Oswaldvon Wolkenstein Reflexe1 Andalusian naba. As Harry Haskell later saw it, the co63-3lol Romande Fauvel Reflexe1 co63-3olo3 Studio had 'revolutionized the of interpretation 1973 MartinCodax Reflexe1 co63-3o118 medieval music ... monophonic by applying impro- Caminode Santiago Reflexe1 co63-301o7-8 visatory techniques derived from Middle Eastern

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This content downloaded from 159.149.218.100 on Tue, 22 Sep 2015 15:13:07 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions music during this long period of time; even Farmer 'ad (fretless ), kamenja (violin), nay (flute), had to admit that certain assumptions were neces- qanan (psaltery), tar () and darbukka sary,given the lack of evidence.27Furthermore, these (drum). Western instruments such as the double changes were accelerated in the 20th century. As bass and piano may also be used.29 Ruth Davis and Salwa El-Shawanhave pointed out Beyond the characteristicform and instrumenta- with regard to Tunisia and Egypt respectively,the tion, however, the proper ornamentation of the well-documented traditional Andalusian ensemble melody is the defining and integral element of Ara- has changed drasticallyin instrumentation, reper- bic music. Each instrument and voice actively tory and practice since the Middle Ages. In fact, in embroidersthe melody in some way. As Mahmoud recentlyreviving these repertories,Egypt and North Guettathas argued, Africa have often taken the Western orchestraas a It is to these ornamentsthat the individualparts of the nfba model.21 owe all their charm.When used with taste and in the right The modern Andalusian nfiba is a monophonic place ... they arouse, in performersand audience alike, a wonderful setting of several poems with instrumental inter- delight.30 ludes. Governedby a single melodic mode, a nfibais Some frequentlyused embellishmentsare so perva- usually divided into several movements, each with sive that they sometimes become part of the melody its own characteristicrhythm. It traditionallylasts itself.A typicalinstance of this is found in the second up to severalhours, although modern performances phraseof ex.1,which is transcribedfrom the opening consist only of selectionsfrom a given nhba.The tra- of a recent recording by the Fez Orchestra.31(See ditionalAndalusian ensemble is typicallymade up of illus.2.) a chorus and a male soloist accompaniedby the fol- Inspired by Andalusian music, the Studio lowing instruments:the rabab(two-stringed fiddle), returnedto with a view to transformingthe

Ex.1 Opening of nfiba,Hijazi al-Kabirby Fez Orchestra 7 1nn- -I I mm ! I I

?..?...... ~..? ...... br ...... ~ "~

2 TheFez Orchestra performing at the 1977Basel symposium, 'Woche der Begegnung'(photo: PeterArmbruster)

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This content downloaded from 159.149.218.100 on Tue, 22 Sep 2015 15:13:07 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions sound of early music performance.Shortly after his Western listeners who knew nothing about Arabic Moroccan journey Binkley introduced the concept music. of a 'Northernstyle' and a 'SouthernArabic style' of Two years later, in the Studio's second Carmina medieval music to the Studio's 1966 record Min- burana recording, the medieval Northern and nesang und Spruchdichtung.According to the liner Southern styles were more sharply defined in the notes, the Minnesingersong Nu alrest lebe ich mir liner notes: 'The two major poles were the tradi- werdewas rendered in what Binkley defined as the tional inherited performance styles indigenous to medieval SouthernArabic style of performance.The the area and the imported and superimposedArabic Studio's exposureto Andalusianmusic was manifest style.' The exact historical origins of this Arabic in several aspects. They first added an Egyptian importation were not specified, and listeners were tambourine to an ensemble which included a left to supply in their imaginationthe gradualorien- flute, fiddle and lute, the resulting whole being talization of the Carmina burana melodies as they vaguelysuggestive of an Andalusianensemble. These made the trek from their Austrian homes to the instruments then performed a prelude based on courts of southern Spain. The Studio's rendition of the original medieval melody (ex.2). Furthermore, Eccegratum linked it to the 'concept of the "nuba"' sung strophes alternatedwith various instrumental and 'the classical form of the late Andalusian style', interludes, a structure inspired by the Andalusian as Binkley wrote in the liner notes. An ensemble suite. consisting of a tenor, lute, fiddle and organetto was Thus was inaugurated the medieval Southern supplied with Arabic feel by means of several tam- Arabic style. Yet even with all these adjustments, bourines 'from the Orient' featured in the brief the Studio's sound could hardly have been called interludes. This rendition otherwise differed very 'Arabic'.Just as the rondo form was by no means little from the earlier Nu alrest and added nothing unique to the Andalusiansuite,32 the flute, drone and substantiallynew to the Southernstyle. But what the drum combination used on the record was not 1968 Carminaburana had accomplishedwas a more exclusively reminiscent of Andalusian music. More explicit formulation of the Southern style and its importantly, the lack of appropriateArabic or any presumed Andalusianconnection. other ornamentation recalled the austere perfor- It was in 1971that Binkley firmly seized the 'Arab mances of Max Meili and Russell Oberlin. The Stu- Nuba ... as a model for the creation of the accompa- dio had also introduced a more subtle element niments' in the Southern style. According to the which was not especiallycharacteristic of the naba, a liner notes of Chansons der Troubadours,Binkley continuous drone performed by the fiddle. Rather claimed that the naba was 'a form which seems to than emphasizing the melody's linear aspects as in have changed little since the time when Arabiancul- Andalusianmusic, the drone instead created strong ture exerted such a positive influence on Western vertical structures suggestive of common period Europe.'Hitherto a shadowy idea, the Southernstyle tonality. In Nu alrest the D drone brought out the had become with Chansonsder Troubadoursa clearly melody's outline of what amounted to a minor triad articulatedconcept, one which nonethelessrested on on that pitch, giving the reassuringsemblance of a dubious premises.The first of these was the unlikely minor key for the listenerunaccustomed to medieval notion of an unchangedmusical tradition over eight or Arabicmodes.33 Once the experimenthad begun, centuries, as mentioned earlier. Binkley's next it was clear that more would be needed to make the assumption of the 'extensive influence' of Arabic Southern style more convincingly Arabic even to music on European medieval performancepractice

Ex.2 Preludeto the Studioder frtihen Musik's Nu alrestlebe ich mir werde (1966)

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This content downloaded from 159.149.218.100 on Tue, 22 Sep 2015 15:13:07 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions was not substantiatedand is still regardedsceptically which merged several songs together into one con- today. Finally,as Binkleyhad earliermaintained, the tinuous whole. A l'entradadel tempsclar was shorter Studio's'accompaniments reveal the extensiveinflu- than A chantar,but the conspicuous percussion of ence exerted on medieval Europeanmusical perfor- this lively call and response tune suggested the nov- mance by Arab culture', bringing 'the performance elty of Easternexcitation to an audience more accus- of this music close to the elusive original, an accom- tomed to medieval music recordings in a slow and plishment thought impossible just a decade ago.'34 sober style. The notion of a recorded 'elusive original' would Despite earlier liner note claims, Binkley would soon come under attackin the polemic surrounding later admit that it was with the 1973 double LP authenticityin earlymusic performance.35 Camino de Santiagothat the Studio first incorpor- But the problems with these argumentswere not ated the Andalusian style: 'I tried here for the first remarkedon at the time, and Chansonsder Trouba- time to imitate the Andalusianpractice and to mix it doursreceived an enthusiasticreception. The Studio with other styles.'38This releasefocused on Mediter- had here revealed a new recorded interpretationof ranean repertoriesassociated with the pilgrimageto early music which, in the words of one reviewer, Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain. If the 'promises (and deserves) to become a classic.' The troubadours'musical contact with Arabic styles was same writerwent on to say that Chansonsder Trou- historicallyquestionable, the Spanish cantiga reper- badours 'compels one to declare: "That's what it tory could demonstrate indisputable iconographic could have sounded like."'36From this release on, proof of such a connection: the famous miniatures other early music groups began imitating the Stu- of cantigamanuscript El Escorialb.I.2 depict Span- dio's Arabicstyle by adopting extensivepreludes and ish and Arabicmusicians playing together (evidence interludes, drones, and Middle Eastern and North used earlier by Ribera); some of these were repro- Africaninstruments (especiallypercussion), with an duced on the record sleeve. The most distinctive increasing attention to instrumental improvisa- rendition on Camino de Santiago was Non e gran tion.37 causa. Like Nu alrest and A chantar, it alternated Following its gestation during the 1960s, the sung verses with strongly contrasting instrumental Southern style had burst into sound with Chansons interludes.This performancetook A chantar'sambi- der Troubadours.Nineteenth-century orientalism tions of length a step further, however, stretching and medievalismwere revivedon vinyl grooves with the cantiga into a 20-minute suite with solo and the new promise of an authentic medieval perfor- ensemble interludes. And here for the first time mance. Two tracks especially reflected the Studio's the Andalusian connection became explicit. The evolvingArabic style, the anonymousA l'entradadel very last interlude used a melody which was clearly tempsclar and the Comtessade Dia's A chantarm'er. an imitation of-if not a direct loan from-the The latter was much like earlier renditions with contemporary Andalusian repertory (ex.3). Several its rondo form and drone. But what distinguished melodic turns are reminiscent of the Fez Orchestra this performance were the lengthy instrumental excerpt from ex.1. interludesthat extended this single canso to over to Compared to previous efforts, this was a signifi- minutes in length; interestingly,precedents for this cant achievement and marked the culmination of had alreadybeen establishedin popularmusic, from the ensemble's Arabic style. But this brief Andalu- the Rolling Stones' single Going home (1965) to the sian interludewas also conspicuous, for it contrasted Beatles'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), with the music preceding and following it, which

Ex.3 Finalinterlude of the Studioder fruihen Musik's Non e gran causa (1973)

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This content downloaded from 159.149.218.100 on Tue, 22 Sep 2015 15:13:07 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions was more akin to the Studio's earlier experiments Studio followed the example of such performers as with the Southernstyle. The instrumentationof Non Max Meili and RussellOberlin. e gran causa featured vielle, lute and lira, not a In fact it would be difficult to characterize as kamenja,'ad or rabab;as before, ornamentationwas specificallyAndalusian or Arabicany of the Studio's kept to a minimum in favour of a literal musical performancesduring their crucial decade of record- reading.Throughout Caminode Santiagoa continu- ing, though a few features of their style are shared ous drone once again appealedto the vertical sensi- with Andalusian practice (table 2). Andalusian bilities of Westernlisteners, as in Quen a Virgenand music played only a minor role in the creation of Quis dabit, where one could hear F major and D Binkley'sSouthern style, which was largelyan eclec- minor, respectively. tic fabrication, albeit an effective one. Binkley's By 1973the Studio had perfected their Southern ensemble chose a middle ground between accepted Arabic style with the gradualaddition of percussion practice and innovative ideas, and successfullyjug- instruments, the creation of a Western Andalusian gled the paradoxicalmodern demands for fashion- hybrid ensemble, and the use of extensive instru- able sounds and historicalaccuracy. In this scheme, mental preludes and interludes. Yet these Arabic Arabic music was used more as a pretext to revive graftings,like the final interlude of Non e gran causa, orientalism than as a scientific working out of the made all the more clear the gap which separated actual sounds, as the tantalizinggoal of an authentic recorded early music repertoriesfrom orally trans- medieval performancewas attempted. Just as 19th- mitted traditional Arabic music. The most glaring centuryEurope had gone to the IslamicOrient for its discrepancywas the lack of appropriatestyle, best own roots, so did the European-AmericanStudio illustrated in the Studio's inability to integrate the turn to Arabic music after World War II for the ornamentation so fundamental to Arabic music.39 renewalof earlymusic performancepractice. Perhaps the ensemble could not bring itself to Following the publication of Binkley'sretrospec- improvise too much on Western art music, having tive in the 1977issue of the BaslerJahrbuch fiir his- inherited from SaffordCape and Noah Greenberga torischeMusikpraxis, Ren6 Clemencicpessimistically reluctance to tamper too much with the musical declaredthat 'a satisfyingreconstruction of medieval text, a need to presentit literally.This was not an iso- performance practice on purely scholarly grounds lated phenomenon. Robert Philip has pointed out is never possible-indeed, impossible even in for recorded Western orchestral repertory that a principle', thus expressing an idea which was soon restrainedapproach replacedthe more casual treat- to become common currency.Clemencic proposed ment characteristicof recordingsbefore World War the idea of a 'performance practice of medieval II.40 At the same time that it sought to depart from music in the twentieth century'.4'Thanks to the earlierrecorded interpretations,in its literalism the Studio's earlier contributions, such a practice

Table2 Somepoints of comparisonbetween Andalusian music and Studio der frifhen Musik recordings

AndalusianMusic StudioRecordings Repertory severalmodern poems transmitted orally one medievalpoem transmitted in writing Voice tenor:clear, no vibrato alto-bass:some vibrato Instruments rabdb,'ad, kamenja, nay, qdnan, tar, darbukka vielle,flute, , , etc. with 'ad,, tdr, darbukka Form fivemovements (several hours) one movement(3-10 minutes) Style heterophonic(extensive ornamentation) monophonic(little ornamentation) Tempo slow-fast-slowwithin movement no tempochange Metre varying(e.g. 4+2, 5+3) usually3/4 or 4/4 Melody modes(tuba') using 1/4 and 3/4 tones Westernmodes: no useof 1/4or 3/4tones

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This content downloaded from 159.149.218.100 on Tue, 22 Sep 2015 15:13:07 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions alreadyexisted in the form of the new Arabic style. (althougha key one) to an orientalismof earlymusic Following his remarkable decade of recording, performance practice already established by the Thomas Binkleywould go on to become one of the 1950s. It had been imagined by 19th-centurymusic most influentialfigures in early music performance, historiansand practisedas earlyas Dolmetsch;Noah first in his position at the Schola Cantorum in Basel Greenberg'sNew YorkPro Musica's'Arabian nakers in the 1970s,and later as founder of the EarlyMusic and Near Easternfinger cymbals'had etched it onto Institute at the Indiana University School of Music. vinyl posterity. Beginning with Carmina burana, His later official accomplishments have perhaps Binkley and the Studio built upon this existing ori- overshadowedwhat was, if not his most important, entalism and experimentedtheir way into the South- then at least one of his most enduringcontributions, ern style of performance,picking up the odd instru- although one about which he himself had ambiva- ment and fact as they became available.And on their lent feelings.4" way to discoveringan Arabicmedieval style, the Stu- The Studio der friihen Musik-to return to my dio der friihen Musik revitalized the 20oth-century opening argument-was but one contributor performancepractice of medieval music.

1 Chantsde l'1glisede Rome:V~pres du (1997),PP-137-70; R. P. Locke,'Cut- concerningWilliam IX of Aquitaine', jourde Pdques,Ensemble Organum, throatsand casbahdancers, muezzins Romania, cxiii (1995), pp.14-18. dir. MarcelP&r?s (Harmonia Mundi and timelesssands: musical images of 11 See especially G. H. Farmer, 'The HMC The liner notes the MiddleEast', The exotic in Western 901604, 1998). Arabicinfluence on Europeanmusic', explainthat this re-creationis actually music,ed. J. Bellman(Boston, 1998), Oriental chant. GlasgowUniversity Society, inspiredby Byzantine Compare pp.lo4-36. xix G. H. this to the Chant:the (1961-2), pp.1-15; Farmer, approach popular Ivanhoe:a romance Historical theArabian musical Benedictinemonks Santo 8 SirWalter Scott, factsfor of Domingo York: (London, 1930). See also de Silos,dir. IsmaelFernandez de la (New Signet,1962), pp.1o2, 383. influence Laterin the samework Scott refers S. Burstyn, 'The "Arabian influence" Cuesta (Angel CDc 7243-5-55138-2-3, to the sweetsound' of the thesis revisited', Current musicology, 1993). 'strangely characterRebecca's songs imported xlvi (1990), esp. p.119,n.1. 2 Manuscritdu Roi,Ensemble nativePalestine. fromher 12 J. Ribera,Music in ancientArabia Perceval,dir. Guy Robert(Arion 68225, and trans.E. and M. 9 FHtis,Histoire de la musique Spain, Hague 1992); Thesacred bridge:Jews and gdndrale and La depuisles tempsles plus anciens jusqu'di Leffingwell(London, 1929), Christiansin medievalEurope, Boston andaluzamedieval en las Camerata,dir. Joel Cohen (Erato2292- nosjours(Paris, 1876), v, pp.7,11; mutsica E.J. Dent, 'Social aspects of musicin cancionesde trovadores,troveros y 45513-2,1990). New the MiddleAges', The Oxford history minnesinger (1923-5; York, 1974). Thecourts love:music the 3 of from of music,introductory volume, ed. This is Sachs's in his time Eleanor 13 assumption of ofAquitaine,Sinfonye, P. Buck(London, 1929), pp.2o5-6; 'Theroad to major',Musical quarterly, dir. StevieWishart A 66367, (Hyperion G. Reese,Music in theMiddle Ages, xxix (1943), PP-381-404, and 'Primitive 199o); Trobare cantar: GdrardZuchetto withan introductionon the musicof andmedieval music: a chanteles troubadours: et parallel',Journal XIIe XIIIe ancienttimes (New York,1940), PP.5, of theAmerican Musicological Society, sikcles(Gallo 684, 1992). 67;C. Sachs,Our musical heritage: a xiii (196o), pp.43-9. 4 Belladomna: the medievalwoman: shorthistory of music(New York, 14 Anthologie sonore, vol. 1, record 1, lover, patronessand saint, 2/1955),P.9. Sachs also wrote that poet, Gregorianchant to the thirteenthcen- Sinfonye,dir. StevieWishart 'nearlyall the musicalinstruments of medieval camefrom Asia ... tury, AS-1 (The Haydn Society, 1954); (Hyperion A 66194, 1988). Europe these werefirst released in or fromthe Islamicempire': The recordings See E. Orientalism the and 5 Said, (New York, historyof musicalinstruments (New 1930s 1940s. 2. 2/1994), esp. ch.1, York,1940), p.26o. 15 Chansonset motetsdu treizibme 6 ProMusica dir.Safford Said, Orientalism, pp.113-15. referencesto these sikcle, Antiqua, lo Bibliographic APM14o68a 7 D. B. Scott,'Orientalism and musical and otherworks can be found in Cape (Archiv [1956]); Musicof theMiddle Ages, i: Troubadour style',Musical quarterly, lxxxii (1998), R. Taylor,La littgratureoccitane du and trouvaresongs, Russell Oberlin and pp.309-10, 327. See also J.-P. Bartoli, MoyenAge: bibliographie selective et Seymour Barab (Musical Heritage 'L'orientalismedans la musique critique(Toronto, 1977), pp.20-22. Society 675, 1956). frangaisedu XIXesi&le: la ponctuation, A recentsummary of pastscholarship la secondeaugment6e et l'apparition is found in G. T. Beech,'Troubadour 16 A twelfthcentury musical drama: de la modalitedans les procedures contactswith MuslimSpain and the play of Daniel (Decca DL9402, exotiques',Revue belge de musicologie,li knowledgeof Arabic:new evidence 1958), p.2.0

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This content downloaded from 159.149.218.100 on Tue, 22 Sep 2015 15:13:07 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 17 G. H. Farmer,'The music of Islam', 27 G. H. Farmer,A historyof Arabian Ancientand orientalmusic, New music to the thirteenthcentury (1929; OxfordHistory of Music,i, ed. London, 1994), p.2o6. See, for example, VON HUENE E. Wellesz (London, 1957), p.476. C. C. Wendt,'North Africa: an intro- TheGarland 18 J. Gollin,Pied the lives duction', encyclopediaof piper: many worldmusic: i, ed. R. Stone of Noah Greenberg(Hillsdale, NY, Africa, (New York, 1998), p.534. 2001), ch.28. See also H. Haskell, The 28 R. 'TraditionalArab music earlymusic revival: a history(Mineola, Davis, alto recorderat a=415 1996), pp.11o-11. ensemblesin Tunis:modernizing Al-Turdthin the shadowof The Beatles' wood Egypt', 19 Norwegian (from xxviii the Rubber and Love to Asian music, (1997), pp.73-1o8; 1965 soul) you S. El-Shawan,'Traditional Arab (Revolver,1966) featured the sitar; music ensembles in since 1967: RollingStones member Brian Jones's Egypt "Thecontinuity of traditionwithin a posthumouslyreleased Brian Jones contemporaryframework"?', Ethno- presentsthe pipes of Pan atl oujouka musicology,xxviii (1984), pp.271-88. See a (1971)included live music by Moroc- can musicians.I would like to thank also Burstyn,'The "Arabian influence" thesisrevisited', pp.121-5. RobertLug for his expertassistance on thesepoints; the Beatles'influence 29 M. Guettat,La musiqueclassique du 0 is also mentionedin GerardLe Vot's Maghreb (Paris, 1980), P.97; A. Chottin, 'Lestroubadours et la musiquearabe: Tableaude la musiquemarocaine malentenduset r6alitW',in Granadas (Paris, 1938), pp.85-6; Ah. Aydoun, du Maroc 1492:Histoire et representations(Amam, Musiques (Casablanca, 1992), 1993), p.127. p.26; on the Tunisiantradition, see 0 R. Davis,'Arab-Andalusian music in 0 20 H. M. Brown,'Pedantry or xxiv liberation?A sketchof the historical Tunisia', Early music, (1996), A PP.423-37. performancemovement', Authenticity 'C'est eux ... and earlymusic, a symposium,ed. N. 30 i [les ornements] que * Kenyon (Oxford, 1988), p.49, n.53. On les partiesde la ntba doiventtout leur Binkley,see D. Lasocki,'The several charme.Leur emploi avec goft et au livesof Tom Binkley:a tribute',Early bon endroit ... suscite, aussi bien chez music America, i (1995), pp.16-24, and les musiciensque chez les auditeursun J. Cohenand H. Snitzer,Reprise: the enchantementmerveilleux' (Guettat, extraordinaryrevival of earlymusic La musiqueclassique du Maghreb, (Toronto, 1985), ch.6. p.287). 21 As he laterrecalled in T. Binkley, 31 Excerptfrom instrumentalprelude 'ZurAuffiihrungspraxis der einstim- to noba,Hijazi al-Kabir from Maroc: Our Dennerrecorder is migen Musikdes Mittelalters-ein musiqueclassique andalou-maghrgbine, ideal for the virtuoso Werkstattbericht',Basler Jahrbuch ftir FezOrchestra, dir. HajjAbdelkrim Rais 16 It was Mr of the historischeMusikpraxis i (1977), (Ocora c 5590 [1988]). repertoire high ensemblewhich Made of select pp.21-2, 75. On Binkley'sfamiliarity Rais's participated Baroque. with Le Gentil,I would like to thankan alongwith the Studioder friihen Europeanboxwood with Musik in a on anonymousreader for communicating 1977 symposium double holes, its clear, first-handknowledge of this fact. Andalusianand medievalmusic at the ScholaCantorum Basiliensis. brighttone, easy response 22 laterrecollection of the Binkley's A recordingof the Fezensemble's superbarticulation make journey's date was 1964-5 (Binkley, & 1977performance is also available: it the choice of many 'Zur Auffiihrungspraxis', p.22); Andalusianmusic from Morocco: contemporary liner notes state 1963-4. MoroccanEnsemble Fez (Harmonia professionals. 23 Haskell,The early music revival, Mundi GD77241, [1991]). On the 1977 p.165. symposium('Woche der Begegnung') VON HUENE see variousarticles in BaslerJahrbuch 24 Brown,'Pedantry or liberation?', historischeMusikpraxis, i (1977), and WORKSHOP, INC. P.49. fir N. van Deusen,'Basel, Switzerland: 59-65 Street 25 J. Beck,review of Clemencic Wocheder Begegnung',Current Boylston Consort's 1977 Troubadours,Romance musicology,xxiii (1977), pp.20-22. Brookline,MA 02146 USA xxxviii Fax philology, (1985), p.42o. 32 The traditionalPersian tasnifand (617) 277-8690 (617) 277-7217 26 Farmer,Historical facts. Turkishfasl,for example,are cycles

EARLY MUSIC AUGUST 2001 377

This content downloaded from 159.149.218.100 on Tue, 22 Sep 2015 15:13:07 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions alternating vocal and instrumental 36 J. Beck, 'Thomas Binkley's of Toronto, a teacher 6f traditional pieces. Chansons der Troubadours',Romance Berber dance, for listening to and com- xxxi on several the 33 The of the philology, (1977), pp.361, 364. menting excerpts by enduring popularity record was the first reviewed Studio der Musik in November drone in performances of medieval Binkley's frfihen in Romance 1995.) music was recently questioned on philology. iconographical grounds by S. Howell, 37 Forexample, Troubadours, 40 R. Philip, Early recordingsand 'The medieval instrumental drone: Clemencic Consort, dir. Rene musical style (Cambridge, 1992), busy bee or lazy idler?', presentation at Clemencic (Harmonia Mundi 90396, pp.230-34. the First International Thirty Congress 1977). 41 'Rein wissenschaftlich ist eine on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, 38 'Hier versuchte ich zum ersten befriedigende Rekonstruktion mittel- 11 1996. See also T. Michigan, May Male, die andalusische Praxis alterlicher Aufftihrungspraxis niemals McGee, Medieval instrumentaldances nachzuahmen und sie mit anderen miglich, prinzipiell nicht m6glich' 1989), S. Wishart, (Bloomington, p.36; Stilen zu vermengen' (Binkley, 'Auf- (R. Clemencic, 'Aufftihrungspraxis 'Echoes of the past in the present', At the same mittelalterlicher Musik im 20. to medieval and Renais- fiihrungspraxis', p.25). Companion time he denied liner-note claims made Jahrhundert',Musica antiqua: acta sance music, ed. T. and D. Knighton between 1963 and 1971:'It was not my scientifica,v (Bydgoszcz, 1978), Fallows (Berkeley, 1992), pp.219-21. intention to create an imitative species pp.29-30). See also L. Dreyfus, 'Early 34 Carmina burana, i, Studio der of Arabic music' ('Es war nicht meine music defended against its devotees: a fruhen Musik (Teldec SAWT9455 Absicht ... eine Art Nachahmung der theory of historical performance in the [1964]), liner notes. arabischen Musikanzustreben'). 20th century', Musicql quarterly,xix and R. 'Minne, 35 'The "Arabianinfluence" 39 I A l'entrada for Moroccan (1983),PP.315-22, Lug, Burstyn, played Mittelalter- thesis revisited', N. natives who had internalized Andalu- Medien, Mfindlichkeit: pp.119-22; Kenyon Musik und ihre Wissenschaft im CD- and R. Taruskin in Authenticity and sian music from an early age. Their Zeitalter', Literatur- music, ed. Kenyon; R. Taruskin, response was that even this freer Zeitschriftfiir early und xc/xci Text and act: essays on music and performance felt only 'slightly Arabic' wissenschaft Linguistik, (1993), pp.77-8, esp. n.14. performance(Oxford, 1995), PP-3-47. because the necessary embellishments See also Haskell, The early music and correct feel were missing. (I wish 42 See Lasocki, 'The several lives of revival, ch.9. to thank Charles and Dahlia Obadiah Tom Binkley', p.19.

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