British Forum for Ethnomusicology

Review: [untitled]
Author(s): Razia Sultanova
Reviewed work(s):
Heart to Heart: Afghan Songs of Love and Marriage, Women's Style by Veronica
Doubleday
Source: British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 10, No. 2 (2001), pp. 135-136
Published by: British Forum for Ethnomusicology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3060672
Accessed: 06/01/2009 19:50
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REVIEWS 135 REVIEWS 135
by
the duduk (duct flute), dvojke (double-
duct flute)
and
gajde (bagpipes) (tracks
28-30).
Some of the
songs
recorded
during
the 1970s in the autonomous
province
of
Kosovo, such as a
wedding song per-
formed in unison and a solo
epic song
(tracks 31, 32) are linked to rituals relat-
ing
to Serbian
religious
and national
identity
and a common Slavic ritual her-
itage (see Llubica and Danica Jankovic,
A contribution to the
study of
the survival
of
ritual dances in
Yugoslavia,
Serbian
Academy
of Sciences, Monographs,
vol.
CCLXXI, Ethnographical Institute,
No.
8,
Beograd 1957, 46-7).
The music of the
province
of
Vojvod-
ina is
represented by
an astalska (table)
song,
a becarac
(young rakes') song,
logovac (a wedding dance) and a tambura
(long-necked plucked lute)
orchestra
(tracks 33-6).
Pieces that
represent
more recent rural
music-making, using industrially produced
instruments, are
played
in ensemble (brass,
string,
tambura etc., tracks 18-20, 36).
These
provide pauses
between the
very
expressive, strong
traditional
singing pieces.
Thus a balance is created, making
the disc
more accessible for a wider audience.
Dimitrije
Golemovic and Katarina
Knezevic
provide
extensive notes in
French and
English.
In the first
part,
An
anthology of
Serbian
folk music, the
authors
explain
the
origins
of
recordings
and the criteria used for their
ordering
on
the CD. The second
part,
The historical
background,
tells of the
presence
of the
Serbian state from the ninth
century
and
how the Serbs
migrated
to areas north of
the rivers Sava and Danube at times of
Turkish invasion from the fourteenth to
the nineteenth centuries. It also
posits
sev-
eral Serbian
physical
and
psychological
types according
to which local musical
features of
particular
areas have been
formed. The third and most detailed
part,
Vocal and instrumental music, explains
by
the duduk (duct flute), dvojke (double-
duct flute)
and
gajde (bagpipes) (tracks
28-30).
Some of the
songs
recorded
during
the 1970s in the autonomous
province
of
Kosovo, such as a
wedding song per-
formed in unison and a solo
epic song
(tracks 31, 32) are linked to rituals relat-
ing
to Serbian
religious
and national
identity
and a common Slavic ritual her-
itage (see Llubica and Danica Jankovic,
A contribution to the
study of
the survival
of
ritual dances in
Yugoslavia,
Serbian
Academy
of Sciences, Monographs,
vol.
CCLXXI, Ethnographical Institute,
No.
8,
Beograd 1957, 46-7).
The music of the
province
of
Vojvod-
ina is
represented by
an astalska (table)
song,
a becarac
(young rakes') song,
logovac (a wedding dance) and a tambura
(long-necked plucked lute)
orchestra
(tracks 33-6).
Pieces that
represent
more recent rural
music-making, using industrially produced
instruments, are
played
in ensemble (brass,
string,
tambura etc., tracks 18-20, 36).
These
provide pauses
between the
very
expressive, strong
traditional
singing pieces.
Thus a balance is created, making
the disc
more accessible for a wider audience.
Dimitrije
Golemovic and Katarina
Knezevic
provide
extensive notes in
French and
English.
In the first
part,
An
anthology of
Serbian
folk music, the
authors
explain
the
origins
of
recordings
and the criteria used for their
ordering
on
the CD. The second
part,
The historical
background,
tells of the
presence
of the
Serbian state from the ninth
century
and
how the Serbs
migrated
to areas north of
the rivers Sava and Danube at times of
Turkish invasion from the fourteenth to
the nineteenth centuries. It also
posits
sev-
eral Serbian
physical
and
psychological
types according
to which local musical
features of
particular
areas have been
formed. The third and most detailed
part,
Vocal and instrumental music, explains
different
types
of Serbian musical
expres-
sion, classifies
songs (e.g. lyric,
ballad
and
epic song),
describes traditional and
contemporary
rural vocal
practice,
and
discusses
types
of
polyphonic (two-part)
singing
and their
geographical
distribu-
tion. Theoretical
questions
about the
development
of Serbian vocal musical
forms are debated, the use of
glas
and
characteristics of hand-made and indus-
trially produced
instruments discussed,
and their
repertoires,
functions and
geo-
graphical
diffusion described.
This CD is an
exceptionally
rich
anthology
that includes the most
repre-
sentative
examples
of Serbian rural music,
and the
extremely
informative notes will
help
listeners to
gain greater knowledge
of this fine
heritage.
JELENA JOVANOVIC
Institute
of Musicology,
Serbian
Academy of
Sciences and Arts,
Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
Music. INST@ bib. sanu. ac. uk
different
types
of Serbian musical
expres-
sion, classifies
songs (e.g. lyric,
ballad
and
epic song),
describes traditional and
contemporary
rural vocal
practice,
and
discusses
types
of
polyphonic (two-part)
singing
and their
geographical
distribu-
tion. Theoretical
questions
about the
development
of Serbian vocal musical
forms are debated, the use of
glas
and
characteristics of hand-made and indus-
trially produced
instruments discussed,
and their
repertoires,
functions and
geo-
graphical
diffusion described.
This CD is an
exceptionally
rich
anthology
that includes the most
repre-
sentative
examples
of Serbian rural music,
and the
extremely
informative notes will
help
listeners to
gain greater knowledge
of this fine
heritage.
JELENA JOVANOVIC
Institute
of Musicology,
Serbian
Academy of
Sciences and Arts,
Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
Music. INST@ bib. sanu. ac. uk
Heart to heart:
Afghan songs of
love and
marriage,
women's
style.
2001.
Vocals and music, Veronica Double-
day.
Recorded
by
J.
Baily,
artwork
and
photographs by
V.
Doubleday.
Available from
j.baily@gold.co.uk,
?10 incl.
p&p.
Bright
and sorrowful colours of the
voice, subtle and rich overtones, and
refined vocal decorations
developing
into a
magnificent
vocal stream all
go
to
make this first CD of
Afghan girls'
and
women's
songs, performed by
Veronica
Doubleday,
a
splendid
collection.
Doubleday
learnt the
songs
in Herat,
western
Afghanistan,
when she
spent
over two
years
there with her husband,
John
Baily,
in the mid-1970s.
Legend
tells of
Doubleday's
rise to fame from
Heart to heart:
Afghan songs of
love and
marriage,
women's
style.
2001.
Vocals and music, Veronica Double-
day.
Recorded
by
J.
Baily,
artwork
and
photographs by
V.
Doubleday.
Available from
j.baily@gold.co.uk,
?10 incl.
p&p.
Bright
and sorrowful colours of the
voice, subtle and rich overtones, and
refined vocal decorations
developing
into a
magnificent
vocal stream all
go
to
make this first CD of
Afghan girls'
and
women's
songs, performed by
Veronica
Doubleday,
a
splendid
collection.
Doubleday
learnt the
songs
in Herat,
western
Afghanistan,
when she
spent
over two
years
there with her husband,
John
Baily,
in the mid-1970s.
Legend
tells of
Doubleday's
rise to fame from
136
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.10/ii 2001 136
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.10/ii 2001
her initial success as a student of the
music to her status as a local star
provid-
ing bewitching
music at
wedding
celebrations. Her
performances
were
clearly respected by
the
rigorous Afghan
communities in
Afghanistan.
As a
Western
singer performing
local
songs,
Veronica became a
symbol
of a "new
age",
when Westerners not
only
learnt the
language
but also to
perform Afghan
music. With the
censorship
of music and
music-making
and the increased
repres-
sion of women under the recent Taliban
regime, Doubleday's songs
took on
renewed
importance
as she
performed
them in a
range
of
European countries,
including
the UK, France and
Germany.
For
many,
her
performances (often
together
with
Baily)
were the
only
"win-
dow" on to that
part
of the world and its
culture.
In the local dialect of Persian, these
love
songs
or
wedding songs,
which are
either
accompanied by
the frame drum,
daireh, or
unaccompanied,
evoke the real
and
imagined
lives and destinies of
Afghan
women and
girls, performed
in solitude
behind
clay
walls or at female
gatherings.
Starting
with "Leila", a
joyful
love
song,
the collection
proceeds through
a
variety
of
folksongs
set in different modes
(Shur,
Jog, Pilu, Pan)
and
quite sophisticated
rhythms (4, 7, 6 and unmetred Chaharbeiti
style), showing
the full
range
of female
"expressions
of the heart". "Shirin
dokhtar-e maldar"
(track 5)
and "Arus-e
jan-e
madar"
(track 9),
in
particular, cap-
ture the listener and remain as an
enduring
musical
picture
of the
grief
caused
by sep-
aration, whether from the loss of a lover
or from
leaving
home on
marriage.
Doubleday's performance
of
Afghan
women's music reminds ethnomusicolo-
gists
of the
importance
not
only
of field
research but also of
bi-musicality
as
method. She is also
responsible
for the
artistic direction of this CD as well as its
design (cover pictures
and
photographs).
her initial success as a student of the
music to her status as a local star
provid-
ing bewitching
music at
wedding
celebrations. Her
performances
were
clearly respected by
the
rigorous Afghan
communities in
Afghanistan.
As a
Western
singer performing
local
songs,
Veronica became a
symbol
of a "new
age",
when Westerners not
only
learnt the
language
but also to
perform Afghan
music. With the
censorship
of music and
music-making
and the increased
repres-
sion of women under the recent Taliban
regime, Doubleday's songs
took on
renewed
importance
as she
performed
them in a
range
of
European countries,
including
the UK, France and
Germany.
For
many,
her
performances (often
together
with
Baily)
were the
only
"win-
dow" on to that
part
of the world and its
culture.
In the local dialect of Persian, these
love
songs
or
wedding songs,
which are
either
accompanied by
the frame drum,
daireh, or
unaccompanied,
evoke the real
and
imagined
lives and destinies of
Afghan
women and
girls, performed
in solitude
behind
clay
walls or at female
gatherings.
Starting
with "Leila", a
joyful
love
song,
the collection
proceeds through
a
variety
of
folksongs
set in different modes
(Shur,
Jog, Pilu, Pan)
and
quite sophisticated
rhythms (4, 7, 6 and unmetred Chaharbeiti
style), showing
the full
range
of female
"expressions
of the heart". "Shirin
dokhtar-e maldar"
(track 5)
and "Arus-e
jan-e
madar"
(track 9),
in
particular, cap-
ture the listener and remain as an
enduring
musical
picture
of the
grief
caused
by sep-
aration, whether from the loss of a lover
or from
leaving
home on
marriage.
Doubleday's performance
of
Afghan
women's music reminds ethnomusicolo-
gists
of the
importance
not
only
of field
research but also of
bi-musicality
as
method. She is also
responsible
for the
artistic direction of this CD as well as its
design (cover pictures
and
photographs).
The liner notes
give
brief but
precise
information on
geography, politics
and
context, although
more indication of who
originally performed
the
songs,
when or
on what occasions, would have been
interesting.
From the civil war in 1978 until the
current crisis
Afghanistan
has suffered
terrible devastation
through
both natural
disasters and
fighting; Afghans
now con-
stitute the
largest refugee population
in
the world.
Although
these communities
have
kept Afghan
music alive, the tradi-
tions of
girls
and women have been
falling
into disuse. A famous
saying
of
the
Prophet
Muhammad is that "Paradise
lies at the feet of the mothers"; in Islam,
Muslim women are considered to be the
real
guardians
of cultural and ethnic
identity.
Let us
hope
that "this album
stimulates interest in this
neglected
area
of a valuable musical
heritage"
as Double-
day hopes
and as it deserves to do.
Although
not
yet widely available, the
current world focus on
Afghanistan surely
makes Heart to heart a viable commer-
cial and ethical
proposition.
RAZIA SULTANOVA
Goldsmiths'College, University of
London,
razia @
sultanova.freeserve.
co. uk
The liner notes
give
brief but
precise
information on
geography, politics
and
context, although
more indication of who
originally performed
the
songs,
when or
on what occasions, would have been
interesting.
From the civil war in 1978 until the
current crisis
Afghanistan
has suffered
terrible devastation
through
both natural
disasters and
fighting; Afghans
now con-
stitute the
largest refugee population
in
the world.
Although
these communities
have
kept Afghan
music alive, the tradi-
tions of
girls
and women have been
falling
into disuse. A famous
saying
of
the
Prophet
Muhammad is that "Paradise
lies at the feet of the mothers"; in Islam,
Muslim women are considered to be the
real
guardians
of cultural and ethnic
identity.
Let us
hope
that "this album
stimulates interest in this
neglected
area
of a valuable musical
heritage"
as Double-
day hopes
and as it deserves to do.
Although
not
yet widely available, the
current world focus on
Afghanistan surely
makes Heart to heart a viable commer-
cial and ethical
proposition.
RAZIA SULTANOVA
Goldsmiths'College, University of
London,
razia @
sultanova.freeserve.
co. uk
From Cabool to
California.
John
Baily
and Ustad
Asif
Bolbol CD 01,
2000. 67 mins. 55 secs. Recorded
in California. Distibutor:
Kemp
Town Books, 91 St
George's Road,
Brighton,
Sussex BN2 EE. ?10
incl.
p&p.
Anything
to do with
Afghanistan
at the
moment is bound to be of interest after
the Taliban's
repression
of music and the
enforced exile of
leading
artists. The title
From Cabool to
California (via London,
From Cabool to
California.
John
Baily
and Ustad
Asif
Bolbol CD 01,
2000. 67 mins. 55 secs. Recorded
in California. Distibutor:
Kemp
Town Books, 91 St
George's Road,
Brighton,
Sussex BN2 EE. ?10
incl.
p&p.
Anything
to do with
Afghanistan
at the
moment is bound to be of interest after
the Taliban's
repression
of music and the
enforced exile of
leading
artists. The title
From Cabool to
California (via London,