Ethnomusicology I Wayne R. White II

Dr. Diane Baxter

The Culture and Music of Saudi Arabia:

The Oud

Bibliography

Monographs from the Hamersly Library at Western Oregon University

Sadie, Stanley, Ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, volume 26, 2nd edition. Grove, 2001; s.v. The Ud.

Sadie, Stanley, Ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, volume 3, Macmillan Publishers Limited, 1980.

Danielson, Virginia, Scott Marcus, Dwight Reynolds, Ed. The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, volume 6, The Middle East, Routlegde, Taylor and Francis Publishing, 2002; s.v. The Arabian Peninsula.

Shepherd, John. Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music, volume VII/ edited by John Shepherd, David Horn and Dave Laing. Continuum, New York, 2006

Jacobs, Arthur. The Penguin dictionary of musical performers, 2nd edition. London, England, Penguin Books, 1991.

Lipsky, George A. Saudi Arabia: Its People, Its Society, Its Culture. Hraf Press & United Printing Services, 1959.

Facey, William. A Land Transformed: The Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia. Aramco Services Company, Houston, Texas, 2006.

Hopwood, Derek, Ed. The Arabian Peninsula: Society and Politics. Rowman and Littlefield, Totowa, New Jersey, 1972.

Dr. Al-Sweel, Abdulaziz. Saudi Arabia: A kingdom in Transition. The Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission to the United States, Amanda Publications, 1993.

Nyrop, Richard F. Saudi Arabia: A Country Study. Headquarters, Departmentof the Army, 1984.

Monographs from the Knight Library at University of Oregon

Courtesy of the Summit System

Hassan Touma, Habib. The Music of the Arabs. New Expanded Edition. Amadeus Press, Portland, Oregon, 1996.

Racy, A. J. Making Music in the Arab World: The Culture and Artistry of Tarab. Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Marcus, Scott Lloyd, Ph.D. Arab Music Theory in the Modern Period. UMI Dissertation services, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1986.

Rovsing Olsen, Paul. Music in Bahrain: Traditional Music of the Arabian Gulf. Jutland Archeological Society, Moesgaard, Dansk, 2002.

Arabian Geography

1 The kingdom of Saudi Arabia occupies much of the geography of the Arabian Peninsula. This equals approximately 2,250,000 square kilometers. Saudi Arabia, with an estimated population of some 27 million people, comprises about nine-tenthsof the Arabian Peninsula in the extreme southwest of Asia. In thenorth its boundaries are the Gulf of Aqaba, Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait. The southern neighbors are Yemen, The Aden Protectorate, Muscat, and Oman. On the east are the Persian Gulf, Qatar and Trucial Oman. The Red Sea is the boundary to the west.

2 The political importance of Saudi Arabia’s geographical position is quickly apparent: it is strategically located betweenAfrica and mainland Asia, lies close to the Suez Canal and has frontiers on both the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. Huge oil depositsgive it vital economic importance as well.

1 Saudi Arabia is divided into four main geographic divisions, which in every case correspond to political divisions:Najd (translates as Highland), high country in the heart of SaudiArabia; al-Hijaz (barrier), an elongated shelf along the Red Sea coast, Asir (difficult area), in the southern Red Sea-Yemen

border area; al-Hasa (sandy ground with water), or Eastern Province, the sandy and stony eastern part of the country.

1 Najd is the main livable area and central core of Saudi Arabia. This area is a plateau sloping gently eastward from 5,000feet on the west to 2,000 feet on the east. In is described as anopen steppe with an annual rainfall of about 4 inches a year. Lying within this province are stony, sandy deserts, smaller plateaus and depressions. A major depression running northeast tosouthwest is bounded by escarpments that provide a natural dividing line between the nomadic people of the north and south.

1 Al-Hijaz encompasses an area of some 150,000 square miles. The coastline to the west runs about 700 miles along the Red Sea. This boundary stretches from the Gulf of Aqaba south to Asir then extends inland for approximately 100 to 200 miles to anundesignated boundary between it and Najd. The city of Medina is located at an altitude of 2,500 feet in the center of a plain in the mountainous area of the west coast. The most holy city of Islam, Mecca is set on the western side of a steep escarpment which separates the al-Hijaz from Najd.

1 Lipsky, George A. Saudi Arabia: Its People, Its Society, Its Culture. Hraf Press & United Printing Services, 1959.

2 Nyrop, Richard F. Saudi Arabia: A Country Study. Headquarters, Department of the Army, 1984.

1 Asir is an area approximately 180 miles wide which extendsalong the Red Sea border 230 miles. Its boundaries are al-Hjiaz in the north, Najd in the east and Yemen in the south. The western coastline is called al-Tihamah and is about 40 miles wide. A mountainous area about 80 miles inland rises up and then gradually slopes downward to meet the plains of Najd and the Rub al-Khali. The Rub al-Khali or Empty Quarter is a great sandy desert to the south. This is one of the largest deserts in the

world encompassing between 150,000 to 250,000 square miles, depending on the weather and wind. This is an inhospitable region, uninhabitable for the most part except for small insects,arachnids and rodents. There is desert vegetation that grows throughout this area.

1 Al-Hasa, the eastern province gets its name after the hugeoasis which is located in that region with its enormous springs of water. This region extends to the south for 200 miles from theneutral zone jointly administered with Kuwait. Its average width is less than 100 miles. The area is a composite of sedimentary rocks, gravel and sand which are common oil producing formations of Middle East culture. The area is known for having both cold and hot springs. The coastline is low and flat with sand dunes populating the landscape traveling into the desert.

2 Saudi Arabia has a desert climate characterized by extremeheat during the daylight hours and abrupt drops in temperature during the evening and nighttime hours. This is coupled with slight and erratic rainfall. Due to the influence of a highly stationary subtropical high pressure system and many differences in elevation considerable variations can be measured in temperature and humidity.

2 Along the coastline of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf the temperature and humidity are regulated by those large bodies of water. Temperatures above 38 degrees Celsius are rare, but therelative humidity is usually over 85% and in some cases as much as 100% for extended periods of time. The combination produces hot mist during daylight hours and a warm fog at night on a frequent basis. Prevailing winds travel from the northern quadrant, and when they blow make the coastal areas more bearablein the summer. During the winter months this effect makes these areas very pleasant and enjoyable. Southerly winds in this regionare the herald of a special type of storm known in the gulf area

as Kauf. Kauf are small storms that can blow sand and dust aroundand decrease visibility.

1 Lipsky, George A. Saudi Arabia: Its People, Its Society, Its Culture. Hraf Press & United Printing Services, 1959.

2 Nyrop, Richard F. Saudi Arabia: A Country Study. Headquarters, Department of the Army, 1984.

1 In the spring or early summer months, when they manifest themselves winds from the northwest can create a deadly and dangerous storm called a shamal. Shamal are huge storms, sometimes with gale force winds which can scatter sand and dust around so hard and fast they decrease visibility to a few meters.This type of storm is most severe in the eastern province where it can last a third of the season.

2 A uniform climate prevails in Najd and parts of the greatdeserts. During summer months the average temperature is 45 degrees Celsius. Readings of 56 degrees Celsius are common. Intense heat can be felt right after sunrise and this will last until sunset, followed by comparatively cold nights. During the winter months the temperature seldom drops below 0 degrees Celsius. The perceptible absence of humidity and high wind chill factor can make for bitterly cold atmosphere. In spring and autumn temperatures average 26 degrees Celsius.

1 Asir as a whole is subject to the monsoons that are created in the Indian Ocean which occur between October and March. 300 milliliters of rainfall occur on average during this time. The region as a whole receives around 500 milliliters of rainfall annually. Condensation caused by higher altitudes in Asir and southern Hijaz contributes part of that number to the total rainfall for the region.

2 As for the rest of the country rainfall is infinitesimal and erratic. One or two torrential cloudbursts are all that any one area may receive for the entire year. These rains flood the small wadis or shallow lake beds that exist scattered throughout the country sporadically. This rainfall swiftly disappears, either due to the intense heat and evaporation or from the groundquickly soaking it in where it is trapped under the sand and above the impervious rock below.

2 Since there are no permanent bodies of water or rivers rainfall sustains life in most areas of Saudi Arabia. When it does not rain for many months or in some extreme cases in historyfor years as it did in 1957 and 1958 these areas are devastated and many herds of pastoral animals can be lost causing a chain ofevents which can and has lead to many human deaths.

1 Lipsky, George A. Saudi Arabia: Its People, Its Society, Its Culture. Hraf Press & United Printing Services, 1959.

2 Nyrop, Richard F. Saudi Arabia: A Country Study. Headquarters, Department of the Army, 1984.

Saudi Arabian History

1 The kingdom of Saudi Arabia was fashioned by the hands of a man named Ibn Saud. His full name given at birth was Abd al-Aziz Ibn abd ar-Rahman al-Faisal Al Saud. Saud was born in exile in Kuwait in 1876. In 1907 at the age of 26 this Arab prince along with a band of less than 50 warriors staged a desperate raid to regain control of his family’s ancestral palace stronghold at Riyadh. With this attack being successful the youngprince immediately set out to launch new campaigns to reestablish

the domain of the House of Saud throughout Najd in central Arabia.

1 The foreign governments at this time particularly the British and Ottoman empires regarded the reemergence of the houseof Saud to power with a sort of curiosity. By 1926 most of what is now Saudi Arabia had been brought under House of Saud hegemony. In 1932 Abd al-Aziz proclaimed he had established the new Saudi Arabia to the rest of the world.

1 Outsiders viewed this new nation-state as an empty, foreboding, arid desert region ruled over by a loose warrior clanthat had pledged its allegiance to a staunchly orthodox Islamic sect named the Wahhabi.

1 Wahhabism is a movement within Sunni Islam developed by Muhammad ibn Abn al-Wahhab around the same time the first emergence of the House of Saud took place in the 18th century. Mohammed ibn Abd al-Wahhab was born around the turn of the century in 1700.

1 The new kingdom of Saudi Arabia demanded respect and attention as it contained two of the most holy sites of Islam, Mecca and Medina. At this time interest in this region was increasing because many speculated oil might be found there in vast supply.

1 Nyrop, Richard F. Saudi Arabia: A Country Study. Headquarters, Department of the Army, 1984.

Ethnomusicology IThe Culture and Music of Saudi

ArabiaAnd the OudA research paper by

Wayne R. White II

The Culture and Music of Saudi Arabia:

And the Oud

Contents

Arabian Geography

Topography and climate

Saudi Arabian History The House of Saud

Islam and Wahhabism

The Culture of Saudi ArabiaHow and why people do things

Adapting to the environment

Saudi Arabian MusicTheory

Cultural Significance

The Oud