Book: Music, Sound, and Architecture in Islam

Bringing together the perspectives of ethnomusicology, Islamic studies, art history, and architecture, this edited collection investigates how sound production in built environments is central to Muslim religious and cultural expression.

Tracing the connections between music making and built space in both historical and contemporary times, Music, Sound, and Architecture in Islam brings together domains of intellectual reflection that have rarely been in dialogue to promote a greater understanding of the centrality of sound production in constructed environments in Muslim religious and cultural expression.

Representing the fields of ethnomusicology, anthropology, art history, architecture, history of architecture, religious studies, and Islamic studies, the volume’s contributors consider sonic performances ranging from poetry recitation to art, folk, popular, and ritual musics—as well as religious expressions that are not usually labeled as “music” from an Islamic perspective—in relation to monumental, vernacular, ephemeral, and landscape architectures; interior design; decoration and furniture; urban planning; and geography. Underscoring the intimate relationship between traditional Muslim sonic performances, such as the recitation of the Qur’an or devotional songs, and conventional Muslim architectural spaces, from mosques and Sufi shrines to historic aristocratic villas, gardens, and gymnasiums, the book reveals Islam as an ideal site for investigating the relationship between sound and architecture, which in turn proves to be an innovative and significant angle from which to explore Muslim cultures.

About the Author

Bibliographic Information

Title: Music, Sound, and Architecture in Islam

ٍAuthor: Michael Frishkopf

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Language: English

Length: 400 pages

ISBN: 978-1477312469

Pub. Date: March 13th 2018