Errata for the Second edition
Audio CD 1
When we mastered the compact discs, we made an error. The music track for Chapter 8, “The Middle East,” Site 4, “Islamic Song with Takht Instrumental Accompaniment,” (CD 1, track 28) was accidentally copied from the wrong CD. Therefore, the description of the track in the text (pp. 250-255) does not match the music perfectly. The Listening Guide, however, describes the music heard on the book’s CD.
The following offers both the intended track of music and a description of the track actually heard on the CD. While the details of the two tracks contradict each other, both are in fact “Islamic songs accompanied by takht ensemble.”
The music heard on CD 1, track 28 is entitled “Islamic vocal music: Inshād in the public hadra,” recorded in the village of Izbat al-Mansi, Tanta, Egypt, on 17 January 1994 by Michael Frishkopf. Excerpts of Frishkopf’s description follow:
Performed by Shaykh Yasin al-Tuhami (munshid), with takht accompaniment, including kamanja, ‘ud, duff, riqq, and tabla. Shaykh Yasin begins the excerpt in maqam nahawand, darb wahda kabira, and sings the following two lines: ‘I left the others to obliteration in the tavern of our union/ and revealed my state in the Holy Presence. // It addresses me by night—I know its signs/ and understand its meanings, though by intimations’. The kamanja is a bowed spike-fiddle common in many areas of the Middle East; the ‘ud is the well-known pear-shaped lute; the duff is a small frame drum; the riqq is also a small frame drum but usually with discs in the frame; and the tabla refers to any of a variety of small Middle Eastern drums.
A complete description of the ceremony from which this is excerpted can be found in The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, vol. 6, The Middle East, pp. 147-151, in “Snapshot: Shaykh Yasin al-Tuhami in the Public Hadra: A Typical Layla Performance” by Michael Frishkopf. Dr. Frishkopf has graciously accepted our apology for accidental use of his track and allowed us to continue using it until the third edition is prepared.